Roadmap Revisited: Year 2
Over the past year of live server updates, we have achieved a great many things we set out to do, plus some surprise new features we knocked out along the way. Using the anniversary as an opportunity, we sat down and thought hard about what big items we need to do, and what you the players have been asking for since day one.
Now we have refocused our efforts on these larger items and we are excited to share what they are with you the players. Within the next year these are the major features we will be releasing:
Gamma
We are aware of the issues with the past Gamma. As such, Gamma will have a whole new world design and the Gamma also has a large balancing component we cannot ignore. This is a big task as you can imagine. Those ideas and mechanics that have worked, we will keep. Other ones we will redesign. This means new islands, rethinking base connections topologies, logistical distance of travel, proximities with building and much much more.
It also means rethinking base defense and of course base assaults. On that note we have an exciting secret that will be revealed in a later unveiling.
Gamma also offers opportunity for another level of endgame play that we think is lacking in the past Gamma iterations. This will tie into more end-game content that will lean on Gamma resources to add value to Gamma activities.
Mk3
This new class of robots is still in the concept design phase. What we can say is that they will be a departure from the emphasis on slots alone. Bonuses can deliver unique behaviors and functions and help these new bots excel in yet under-served roles within the game balance ecosystem of PVP, PVE and industrial activities. Furthermore, we are also considering new modules that allow for unique capabilities within this new line of robots.
New robots mean new production, different ores, different research, different CTs. Who knows where the necessary pieces may be scattered across Nia to assemble these new machines of war and industry!
API++
As many of you know we have had an existing public API which serves our current Kill-Board data, handles public facing account registration as well as account management (register, reset-password, resend verification etc).
We have also been aware that we want more from our API. As such, parallel public API features are currently in development. The new API routes will serve more data and statistics to be accessed so that better, more innovative presentation of server-wide statistics, leaderboards for various activities and achievements can be displayed. It will also allow for other enhanced features or 3rd parties (you!) to develop beautiful front ends to display this information.
A Killboard developed on APIv1 by Uvadzucumi at https://killboard.flyhub.ru
A major component which will be served by the API are a set of features we are calling “Leaderboards”. Now you the player can have more ways to check out how you are doing or compare to friends and enemies alike. Different types of leaderboards are imagined for different tasks so that players of all styles can get the rewards and recognition that they deserve. High achieving players may receive rewards for their efforts.
New Player Experience
Being a new player in a new game can be a frustrating and difficult time. We are aware that a lot of players don’t get beyond some critical aspect of the tutorial or the beginning of the game. While the specifics of some things are out of our control (eg. details of the tutorial, players not liking “The dying part”), we also think there may untapped opportunities to help new players despite some of these limitations.
The Dying Part
In this way we will be encouraging members of the Community Team and other players to engage with new players more. Helping new players feel part of the community in game is vital.
Furthermore, our subreddit will have a number of conversation topics around what we can do with messaging, tools, guides, features. We also have a growing YouTube page containing some overview guides around certain careers, bot fitting and help as well.
But it must be acknowledged that nothing will beat what active knowledgeable players like you contribute on a daily basis, both in-game and on discord, to help new and not so new players alike.
An astute reader such as you will have noticed that there wasn’t an explicit sequence, or timeframe in which the above will occur. This is intentional as some of the above needs ongoing conceptual, balance and game integration design. Other content and changes are contingent on certain technical and game challenges that our talented team is currently engaged with. Some will be ongoing efforts, as they have no end state, but rather are a continuous effort. What we want you the player to know is that we are embarking on the next new exciting development phase for The Open Perpetuum Project.