Ask Us Anything - Dev Answers 7/7
The development team at id Software answered more questions during their "Ask Us Anything" session on the official forums. Questions to developers are still being accepted on the official Bethesda forum, pitch in and get some of your own questions answered!
Development Team Responses & Contributions from:
Q. Are there plans to fix or improve the Netcode and connectivity in the future?
Matt Charles: It’s one of our top priorities and you should see continual improvements – some small, some large – over time.
Q. Is there a way to improve loading times, especially between matches?
Matt Charles: We’re also working on improving load times for everyone. As code & content get locked in to place, optimizations can then happen more easily.
Q. When the game comes out, how much will it cost. Is it free for beta users?
Jason Bergman: When we’re finished with the beta period (which in true id tradition is officially “when it’s done”), the game will be free. Downloading the game will give you access to Ranger, and you can either rent or purchase individual Champions, or buy the whole lot as a single package and never be nagged again.
Q. Why does the Bethesda Launcher always notify me over the game with launcher updates?
Jason Bergman: We’re working on an update to the launcher that will stop notifications from happening when the game is running, and in general, be much less intrusive with those notifications.
Q. Will the soundtracks for the remade maps return from q3? because that could really stir things up a bit.
Matt Charles: Yes, we’d like to implement different soundtrack options. We don’t have an ETA for this, but we really want it too.
Jason Bergman: We’re all fans of the music from past games in the series, and we absolutely want to add some of those classic tracks to the game. Let us know which ones we should be sure to include.
Q. Could you make matchmaking less tedious by letting those who are queuing do warmup (even solo is fine) instead of putting us in matches that are already started?
Matt Charles: I don’t want to get into specifics since they may change, but we are working on various things which will 1) reduce queue times and 2) increase the odds of getting into a fresh match.
Q. The default keybindings should be mapped around WASD to promote that kind of good habit for faster weapon switching. A newcomer might think everyone plays with the weapons bound to the number keys because thats the default, when most veterans are able to destroy people, in part thanks to a more intelligent layout.
Matt Charles: Good point.
Q. Zero games played since last week Monday [because] ui_backend_error_1397.
Matt Charles: The 1397 error usually shows up when the game client can’t reach any of the data centers under a very high ping threshold. We don’t want this to happen, so continue to let us know your location and your pings to the data centers in the list if you see this error.
Q. Are you working on optimization plans for the game engine as we’ve seen reports of the game consuming a lot of PC resources?
Matt Charles: Absolutely. This is also one of the highest priorities.
Q. Do you guys plan on addressing the audio? Both environmental and announcer. One thing I've noticed while playing is that footsteps are a bit too subtle where as Anarki's hover board is easily detectable. Also vertical sound spatialization is off when it comes to things such as teleporters & boost pads. As far as the announcer, do you guys plan on bringing back the one used in the early gameplay trailer?
Matt Charles: We had some licensing steps to take care of first, but yes, the old announcer is coming back. As for audio in general, a mixing pass is in progress.
Q. Talking about esports, how do you plan to handle this aspect of the game? Will you just have a tournament approach, or will you create a sort of Rank system inside the game to allow everyone to climb a leader board?
Jason Bergman: Ranked matches are something we are working on.
Q. How difficult is it to keep each Champion balanced? Does user feedback help you with this? We ask because there seems to be some issues with B.J’s dual wield ability.
Jason Bergman: It’s very difficult. That’s why we’re in beta. We monitor feedback and make changes. You’ll note we tweaked BJ’s abilities in a recent patch. We’ll keep making changes as we go.
Q. Is server browser implementation in your plans?
Matt Charles: Yes, it’s on our big list o’ things to do.
Source: Bethesda.net
Development Team Responses & Contributions from:
- Matt Charles - Senior Producer at id Software
- Jason Bergman - Senior Producer at Bethesda Softworks
Q. Are there plans to fix or improve the Netcode and connectivity in the future?
Matt Charles: It’s one of our top priorities and you should see continual improvements – some small, some large – over time.
Q. Is there a way to improve loading times, especially between matches?
Matt Charles: We’re also working on improving load times for everyone. As code & content get locked in to place, optimizations can then happen more easily.
Q. When the game comes out, how much will it cost. Is it free for beta users?
Jason Bergman: When we’re finished with the beta period (which in true id tradition is officially “when it’s done”), the game will be free. Downloading the game will give you access to Ranger, and you can either rent or purchase individual Champions, or buy the whole lot as a single package and never be nagged again.
Q. Why does the Bethesda Launcher always notify me over the game with launcher updates?
Jason Bergman: We’re working on an update to the launcher that will stop notifications from happening when the game is running, and in general, be much less intrusive with those notifications.
Q. Will the soundtracks for the remade maps return from q3? because that could really stir things up a bit.
Matt Charles: Yes, we’d like to implement different soundtrack options. We don’t have an ETA for this, but we really want it too.
Jason Bergman: We’re all fans of the music from past games in the series, and we absolutely want to add some of those classic tracks to the game. Let us know which ones we should be sure to include.
Q. Could you make matchmaking less tedious by letting those who are queuing do warmup (even solo is fine) instead of putting us in matches that are already started?
Matt Charles: I don’t want to get into specifics since they may change, but we are working on various things which will 1) reduce queue times and 2) increase the odds of getting into a fresh match.
Q. The default keybindings should be mapped around WASD to promote that kind of good habit for faster weapon switching. A newcomer might think everyone plays with the weapons bound to the number keys because thats the default, when most veterans are able to destroy people, in part thanks to a more intelligent layout.
Matt Charles: Good point.
Q. Zero games played since last week Monday [because] ui_backend_error_1397.
Matt Charles: The 1397 error usually shows up when the game client can’t reach any of the data centers under a very high ping threshold. We don’t want this to happen, so continue to let us know your location and your pings to the data centers in the list if you see this error.
Q. Are you working on optimization plans for the game engine as we’ve seen reports of the game consuming a lot of PC resources?
Matt Charles: Absolutely. This is also one of the highest priorities.
Q. Do you guys plan on addressing the audio? Both environmental and announcer. One thing I've noticed while playing is that footsteps are a bit too subtle where as Anarki's hover board is easily detectable. Also vertical sound spatialization is off when it comes to things such as teleporters & boost pads. As far as the announcer, do you guys plan on bringing back the one used in the early gameplay trailer?
Matt Charles: We had some licensing steps to take care of first, but yes, the old announcer is coming back. As for audio in general, a mixing pass is in progress.
Q. Talking about esports, how do you plan to handle this aspect of the game? Will you just have a tournament approach, or will you create a sort of Rank system inside the game to allow everyone to climb a leader board?
Jason Bergman: Ranked matches are something we are working on.
Q. How difficult is it to keep each Champion balanced? Does user feedback help you with this? We ask because there seems to be some issues with B.J’s dual wield ability.
Jason Bergman: It’s very difficult. That’s why we’re in beta. We monitor feedback and make changes. You’ll note we tweaked BJ’s abilities in a recent patch. We’ll keep making changes as we go.
Q. Is server browser implementation in your plans?
Matt Charles: Yes, it’s on our big list o’ things to do.
Source: Bethesda.net