The Finals - Dev's Answer All. Big S3 Features. New Gadgets, Maps, Modes
The finals just had their official development Q&A, where we had a ton of questions answered, including those that pertain to future updates as well as quality of life improvements, some additional massively requested features that are also being worked on, as well as some of the backend stuff and the stuff related to dev work, the future of the finals, and a whole bunch more.
We have a ton to talk about. It's Utopia back in with another article. Today, we're checking out all the finals. Okay, so let's just jump right into it. This official Q&A session did happen over on Reddit again. This is also disclosed as an AM May, which Reddit does, which isn't asking me anything now.
As well. Rob Brunon, who is the executive producer. CCO, and co-founder of the finals, also goes on here to say that he was at EA and Dice for more than 20 years, and he headed up the studio's content crafts on games like Battlefield and Mirror's Edge, also joining us. We have Gustav Telby, the creative director of the finals, who was responsible for the game's pillars and the overall creative vision for the game.
He also worked as an art director for 20 years, and that was also with Battlefield games at EA and Dice. Now they also have a few individuals assisting them in today's event: Mikel and Hogstrom. He is probably pronouncing some of that wrong there, but he is the animation director. We also have Embark Dusty, who is the CX lead, as well as those patch notes and the community live stream of Embark Oscar, who is the community lead.
But let's just jump right into it. First up here, we have a major feature being discussed, one that I talked about previously in my articles. Again, all these questions were asked over on Reddit. This person came out here to say that it can be really difficult to coordinate with people who refuse to join in.
Is the introduction of text chat planned? This response was from Rob, who said we know we understand and we agree we're planning to add text chat during season 3, so again, a really cool feature that's going to be coming in season 3 potentially. It's absolutely huge to hear, as I said. I've gone over this in my previous articles and really wanted this feature.
I got another big question here about eSports, where they say many players think that the finals are an exciting game for eSports. Is there anything you can share about the potential esports futures for the finals? Is this on the radar for embark Rob went ahead and answered this; he said absolutely, yes, this is on our radar.
Another big question here is: are there any ideas to make it interactive? objects on future maps, such as the crane, that can be controlled. This was answered by Tibby, who said dynamicism is the key opponent in the finals, so wherever it makes sense, we will look to add more things like elevators, cranes, and the like.
They went on here to say that they want these to be interactive, objects to have strategic uses as well, so not just implement things out of random; they want them to actually have a purpose. There was someone here who asked about the Unreal Engine and, of course, the Frost Fit comparisons. Seeing as these developers do come from Dice and EA, they said here that they spent four years building specific tools to enable dynamicism and destruction.
It seems like they did spend a lot of time just developing the tools for the game to have this type of destruction level. Here's a big one: someone asked about a down cam and if it's considered to be implemented in the possible future. I know a lot of people really want this again. This was answered by Tibby.
He went on here to say we definitely want to build this, and we have for a long time. It is something we will make at some point for sure, and we realize that it's important. There was another commenter who pointed this out, but he says, as pointed out by Little Man on a can, it is super difficult to implement due to the dynamic nature of the game, but of course they're up for the challenge.
This does seem like something down the line, maybe even season 5 or season 6, so this might take a year or two to implement. Hopefully eventually it's implemented, as I do think the down cam's going to add some dynamic there, and there is a long time to respond, but at least it can definitely be implemented in that subset or at least that section of course games like Call of Duty respond quite quickly.
This one usually lasts around 20 seconds, at least on average, so there's definitely enough time to review that footage and kind of see what is going on there. Now, this was a massively long question here, but the first one was: how does the process of balancing the game work? and the second one was: would you consider adding more crosshair customization, especially for static and ad crosshairs for hogstrom?
went on to answer here. The first question here he addressed was whether we balance on different criteria, including data, internal play test feedback, and external feedback. That's all you wouldn't really say that we're balancing the game for fun over competitiveness, but we're trying to balance the game to be engaging and fun while supporting a wide range of strategies, tactics, and play styles.
Now he doesn't answer about the crosshair stuff, but Rob actually does come back here to answer this comment where he went on here to say yes, we want all C customizable crosshairs. We have a design laid out, and we'll try to implement more customizations in the future, so it seems like they're getting ready for a lot of stuff here, a lot of implementations of different things, like text chat and this custom crosshair.
Now, of course, people do want that career mode or career levels extended. Rob did enter here saying that in the long run, we don't want there to be an end to your progress, and in the future, we could add even more career levels. Here's a big one that's been discussed, which is the player count stuff.
Someone asked here what your plans are to ensure the player base stays at a healthy level. Of course, they're going to work on that anti-che, but still, having a safe game is crucial for them in the long run. Soone asked here about the backend stuff, which is this series that they made with the finals.
Episode 1 captures authentic sound; Episode 2 is from two months ago, and they ask if they will continue the series. Rob did go on here to say that yes, they will. Another big one here is: What are the future plans for the finals? Where do you see the finals in about 2 or 3 years? They went on here to say they have a long-term vision and plan, and they are in this for the long haul.
