3 replies to this topic

[AndY]

Greetings!

Let me begin by saying that Overwatch's first release was a complete success, with only a handful of minor bugs and an abundance of great feedback. We truly appreciate the contributions of each and every member of our community and can't tell you how pleased we are that Overwatch has been so well-received.



Development Reports: What are they?

Now that OW is finally out, we want to keep you, the community, informed about its progress and upcoming releases. We'll be giving you frequent development reports, providing insight into what the OW development team is actively working to add, improve and update in the game.

This will include new features we plan to implement and bugs we plan to eliminate. We unfortunately won't always be able to write out a complete list in these reports, but they will give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect to see in upcoming releases.


Each report is broken down into sections:

• Being Discussed
  These are features or issues we are currently discussing internally (or on the community forums), examining every aspect and the impact it could have on gameplay, eventually fleshing out the details in a specifications sheet before implementing a first version that we can test in-game.
  
  
• Being Implemented
  Once reviewed and discussed, features and fixes that are currently being prototyped and tested in-game will be moved to this list. For each of these items. we usually go through a number of iterations, tests and tweaks before settling on a version that we feel is suitable for release.
  
  
• Being Playtested
  Finally, new features or fixes that have been finalized, implemented and are currently being playtested (to find any glitches or inconsistencies) will be listed here. Some of the big new features in this list might even get their own blog post, giving you a preview of what's to come.

Disclaimer:
While these reports may list features or fixes as pending or coming soon, unforeseen circumstances may delay certain items from being released on time or alongside other items on this list.

I would also like to reiterate that not all items are listed here! If a feature or fix you care about is not in the report, it does not mean that it isn't coming or that it's not under development. We simply can't list *everything* that we are working on from week to week (but we will try our best!).


As always, your ideas and suggestions are more than welcome and we will be actively monitoring the threads for your feedback!



Development Report I

This Wednesday will mark the release of our first patch (v1.0.1) and a new batch of invites will be sent out to a much larger group of players. We expect another smooth, fun-filled week and, unless disaster strikes, Overwatch will be released openly to the general population much sooner than originally planned!

The first patch will be a small one, mostly due to the small number of bugs encountered, but also because we took the opportunity to finally play Overwatch with the community (and boy did we enjoy it)! Some of these fixes were implemented based on community feedback, while the rest were recommended by our internal playtesting team.


And now, without further ado, the report:

Being Discussed:

See the Ideas & Suggestions forum for more ongoing discussions..

• Respawning and respawn tickets;
  
• Voice commands and emotes;
  
• Dynamic ammo supply;
  
• Universal Union lingo;
  
• Abilities;
  
• Audio and visual cues for the GM (units under attack, unit lost, etc..);
  
• Hit detection issues when shooting at NPCs.

Being Implemented:

• General
  
  • [Improvement] Adding a hollow status circle beneath unselected units, to complement a thicker status circle beneath selected units;
    
  • [Improvement] Making the colour of the status circle beneath a unit change based on that unit's HP (updated in real-time). Top 33% = Green, mid 33% = Orange, bottom 33% = Red;
    
  • [Improvement] Adding sprites (images) to the trap buttons, to better differentiate between them and to be able to determine, at first glance, what each button does;
    
  • [Bug Fix] Fix for player's weapon v_model disappearing when certain conditions are met;
    
  • [Bug Fix] Fix to prevent mortar strikes from going through ceilings and hitting players.
• Map: ow_breach
  
  • [Improvement] Making the behaviour of both "Destroy Generator" indicators more consistent;
    
  • [Improvement] Overhaul of the orb objective in the train station.
• Map: ow_citadel
  
  • [Improvement] Adding an info_player_start so that players joining the map can see a bird's-eye view of the level instead of the insides of a wall.

Being Playtested:

• For Release on July 21, 2010 (v1.0.1)
  
  • General
    
    • [Improvement] Map will no longer change mid-round if time limit is reached (mp_timelimit). Overtime will kick in until the round ends or round time runs out;
      
    • [Improvement] Spectators will now change spectator target after a short delay if they were spectating a player and that player dies;
      
    • [Improvement] Increased maximum number of simultaneously-selectable NPCs to 20;
      
    • [Bug Fix] Fixed revive markers falling through displacements;
      
    • [Bug Fix] Turret alarm/alert sounds will now be forced to stop when turret is tipped, inactive, searching for a new target, or removed from world;
      
    • [Bug Fix] GM will no longer see invisible spectators as Enemy:PlayerName;
      
    • [Bug Fix] Weapons (like the Shotgun) will no longer automatically reload when holstered;
      
    • [Bug Fix] Target player information (like health) will now update in real-time for spectators of that player;
      
    • [Bug Fix] Game version information (located at the top-left of the screen) will now only show on the main menu;
      
    • [Bug Fix] NPCs will now forget dead players (and will not longer automatically start going after them again when they respawn or are revived).
  • Map: ow_breach
    
    • [Bug Fix] Players will no longer collide with inactive objects (like invisible objectives).
• For Subsequent Releases
  
  • General
    
    • [Feature] Implemented a new GM interface (HUD);
      
    • [Feature] Implemented a new overview map (minimap): GM can now see his units (dots), enemies and neutral NPCs and click on the minimap to move his camera to that location. GM can also issue orders (move to, attack) directly from the minimap;
      
    • [Feature] Implemented a similar overview map for players (simplified version);
      
    • [Feature] GM can now target individual players and order units to attack;
      
    • [Feature] GM can now center his view over an NPC group by double-tapping that group's assigned number.

Public Servers:

• Our public servers will also be updated on July 20th with the following:
  
  • ALLTALK will be enabled on all *01 servers (DAL01, DCA01 and LON01). It will remain disabled on all *02 servers.
    This will allow players on both sides to discuss the various features and gameplay elements of Overwatch, and any suggestions they may have.
    
  • Uploads will be enabled on all servers, allowing players to use custom sprays.

There are still tons of features and improvements currently being tested that I didn't have time to mention in this first report. I'll be putting together a more complete list by Development Report II.

Until then, I hope you all find this first of many reports to be useful and I look forward to reading your comments!

[Shisnopi]

This is going to be interesting. A nice look into what the developers are dealing with on a daily basis.

[Liamh101]

This is going to be fun... well if i got in it would prepell that fun to awsome... but alas your stuck with fun till i get into the alpah... or beta... or release. Shame really

[Tom]

Good read, always like to read about this stuff.