Welcome to Point Blank, the game dev blog of Magnus Larbrant, Hunt's Creative Director. A few times a month he'll be stopping by to give you an update about what's been happening around the studio in his own warped, Swedish way.
February 22
The Early Access Launch
The Early Access launch felt really good. It was nice to get the game out there. So that was a good feeling and everybody had beer, and for one night you could kind of relax a little bit.
At that point the game stopped being our baby and was now in the hands of the community. We were all pretty nervous. With an early access game, the work becomes more and more intense as you're trying to fix issues as fast as possible, reading through feedback, and then also staying on top of the original roadmap and future planning, all at once. You always wish you had more time, but at one point you just need to start.
We need to be transparent and stay focused on fixing the things that matter the most. After working on Hunt for so long, this was just the start of the hard work in getting the game to where it needs to be.
And so it begins…
February 23-March 6
Post Launch
I'm reading as many of the reviews as I can. Everybody here is reading the reviews and posts looking for the common threads to help us figure out which things to prioritize and what our players are saying about the game. We have a lot of meetings with the community team to go through the hot topics, and we prioritize our roadmap so what's in the patches is based on what the community says. There is a lot of that happening. Whatever the audience says, we have to listen and make sure our original plans even still fit, or do we need to adjust our plan to the needs and requests of our players.
Day to day, I'm focused on making sure we don't pull people away from fixing the core problems. We need to be constantly fixing issues, adding new content and just deliver and deliver and deliver.
March 7-March13
At the moment the priorities are connectivity, performance, and matchmaking. These are a big f%/§)($/ deal right now. We need to have them fixed yesterday. So we're working our asses off, and day to day, I'm still focused on making sure we don't pull people away from fixing the core problems. We have an endless amount of content planned, but we aren't putting people on anything that takes hands off of fixing the main problems.
On the case: Sebastien Laurent, Technical Director for Hunt, Fourth Musketeer
Sneak Preview
One thing we're planning has to do with the issue of camping. There are times in Hunt that waiting and stalking is a necessary part of the gameplay, however we agree that we need to provide better incentives and some more layout improvements to reduce the chances of stalemates.
Camping is a problem when a stalemate occurs and the first guys who make a move are the ones who get shot. We are currently making some improvements to compounds so it's less suicidal to make the first move and improving areas that have a lack of protection and cover (and options), as well as making it more rewarding to kill the boss. In the end, if you or your team slays the boss, you will get a reward over those who don't.
On top of that, we will introduce new gear and gadgets that help you flush out the campers. It will be exciting to see the progress and how the players use them!