I need to admit I went into Summer season Recreation Fest with fairly low expectations. I used to be MOP’s “E3 man” again when E3 was going concern, and whereas it was good for connecting with small studios and indies, large titles primarily based on standard IPs at all times made me cautious. I anticipated the identical with Dune: Awakening, and whereas I can’t say my hands-off time totally relieved me of that cautiousness, I did turn out to be genuinely excited at a number of factors within the demo, notably as Social and Financial Director Matt Woodward and World Director Jean-François Gagné mentioned MMOs, secure zones, and endgame, plus Artistic Director Joel Bylos answered just a few post-SGF questions for us.
Learn on to listen to what I noticed at SGF together with the Dune Awakening Direct 2 showcase this afternoon.
A brand new world
Now, earlier than we get into the demo, I do know some individuals are in all probability questioning concerning the sport popping out nicely after the second Dune film was in theaters. Bylos instructed us that it might have been good to have been on that hype prepare, however “Dune has been a preferred universe for over 60 years,” and that Dune Awakening is “only one a part of an extended legacy.” He additionally famous, nonetheless, that “there’s nonetheless the upcoming TV Present that gives alternatives for [Funcom]!”
The half about being a part of that lengthy Dune legacy struck me. Whereas I by no means learn the Dune books and have but to see the second film, one of many first issues that make Dune Awakening’s world work is the lore. It’s not the Dune from the books or motion pictures that I and others might have missed; the sport is about in an alternate universe the place Home Atreides didn’t fall they usually’re at struggle with Harkonnen, with “assassins” (you) fueling the struggle as widespread troopers on either side burn out and flee to the desert. The clip above explains the thought fairly nicely, from the viewpoint of a reasonably vital however lacking character.
For IP followers, although, Bylos says that in sport growth areas the place Funcom has to “make modifications to accommodate gameplay on the expense of strict adherence to lore,” the staff discusses it with “Legendary and the Herbert Property,” which is the place Funcom submits it work “for basic approval.” Whereas respawning gamers is a little bit of a handwave for the lore state of affairs, Funcom says it normally discusses issues with its companions to “give you a grounded lore cause [for mechanics].
For instance, somewhat than having lasgun-shield interactions inflicting nuclear explosions within the sport, Dune: Awakening marks a historic incident. “Following this incident and the risk to spice harvesting, CHOAM now solely imports lasguns fitted with defend detection units,” the studio says. “And you are feeling it within the sport [as] the lasgun takes barely longer to begin up.” So for probably the most half, the steadiness comes “not by altering [the lore], however by discovering an affordable clarification for the way it works within the sport.” Nicely, aside from the entire different universe factor, in any case.
In order an murderer on this new universe, you don’t be a part of a faction instantly, because the devs say that different factions might pop up later. You simply freelance and aspect with another than the opposite, if you wish to get the deeper faction rewards. As I used to be instructed, DA is a “sport of politics,” so don’t get too cozy with who pays you. That being stated, neither launch faction actually needs you to play either side, so if you need the very best faction rewards, you’re gonna must align with one ultimately.
Naturally, engaged on Arrakis means you’re going to be coping with sand. Lots of sand. However fortunate you, Funcom appeared to real-world desert biomes to assist be certain that the panorama modifications, not less than with some considerably refined variations. You’ve obtained purple sand, yellow sand, black rock sand, compact sand, unfastened sand, effervescent sand (which is quicksand and it will kill you), dune (heh) crammed deserts, grassy-patched deserts… you get loads of desert selection.
Talking of desert (there will be phrase play, folks, and I’m not sorry), the thought is that the struggle has dragged on and is taking a morale toll on each the Atreides and Harkonnen, inflicting the troopers to abandon to the desert, therefore the necessity for you. Don’t be fooled although, as escaping from Arrakis means the desert dwelling deserters will find yourself attacking you once in a while, amongst different mobs, and sure, that features the sandworms.
Now, to be clear, Bylos instructed us that all autos appeal to sandworms. Funcom doesn’t “use wheel primarily based autos, however somewhat tread primarily based” ones, and that idea, like many different points of the sport, relies on Funcom’s collaboration with Legendary and the Herbert Property.
Through the presentation, we obtained to see the Ornithopter in motion. Whereas I do know some folks have complained about wheeled autos whenever you’re out within the wilds close to sandworms, we are able to all agree that Ornithopters might be one of the simplest ways to remain secure from worms. There are just a few potential points with them, although, exterior of buying them (which was not mentioned).
First, sandstorms. These demos ham issues up a bit, however I believe the in-game sandstorm that appeared throughout our demo was genuinely unplanned; we have been on too tight a schedule with apparent deliberate pauses, and this wasn’t one. We watched the darkish clouds strategy and the sand hit our demo ‘thopter. Our seasoned pilot, who had made flying the factor look simple, nonetheless gave the impression to be doing nicely in that the automobile didn’t crash. Nevertheless, I paid consideration to the compass and map, and I noticed we had been spun round and knocked a bit of the best way off our authentic path. Whereas climate in my Monster Hunter Wilds preview added some spice, DA’s climate was simply plain spicy-looking.
That brings us to our second difficulty: worms. Sure, the ‘thopters appear finest for avoiding worms, however worm deaths are totally different from different deaths. If a participant or NPC kills you, you could possibly hold a few of your stuff or get it again. If a worm will get you, although, you lose the whole lot you had. Gone. No getting again to the chopper. Bylos says, “The objective is to attempt to sprint between secure areas with out being eaten. It creates a tense, thrilling gameplay loop the place you’re at all times surrounded by hazard and also you select how a lot danger to take.” You’ve been warned.
There are different motion choices past autos, although. Gamers get talents and devices to make use of exterior of autos. Climbing is feasible, and the Sword Grasp talent tree offers you a knee-charge you may as well use to extend mobility. The are different talent timber primarily based in your class/mentor, akin to Mentat or Bene Gesserit, which additionally might grant talents that may double as motion abilities. There’s additionally a grappling hook, which appears like a theme this SGF.
Publish-presentation, Bylos instructed press that Dune “expands upon the climbing and constructing techniques of Conan Exiles.” Considerably associated for lapsed Exiles gamers, Bylos additionally famous that Dune’s constructing interface impressed the time to “return and enhance the constructing system interface in Conan Exiles,” so you would return and play that when you watch for launch.
Staging PvE to stagger PvP
Whereas gathering supplies for bases and survival is okay, there’s additionally doing missions for the factions. Admittedly, one faction, The Sardaukar, aka “the Padishah Emperor’s final navy drive and elite fighters,” might be scouring the sands at evening. When you’re caught of their highlight, it gained’t matter whom you’re aligned with, as they’ll ship down a few of their weaker fights to have interaction you. Or not less than, “in the beginning of the sport,” as we have been instructed.
For the opposite two factions, there’s a mixture of actions, considered one of which entails scavenging the wreckages of their ships. Be warned, as we noticed not less than one massive downed ship that was radioactive. Whilst you’ll be capable to ultimately be capable to construct protecting gear, you’ll have to find out the chance vs. reward of moving into with out it.
Getting popularity doesn’t simply imply not being seen as rubbish within the faction bases. Actually, high-enough rep lets you get schematics to construct the dev-made faction bases. You’ll additionally get faction-themed stuff, like autos and weapons too.
The Harkonnen base we noticed had restricted PvP too, so regardless that it’s a survival sport, it appeared as if Funcom has added some guard rails to not less than assist make sure that the PvE content material has some likelihood to shine. It gave me a little bit of an EVE On-line vibe, theoretically opening the sport to open FFA PvP slowly than proper out of the field and into the respawn level, like so many different FFA PvP/survival video games.
Letting folks get used to fight in PvE conditions whereas slowly opening up PvP feels crucial for survival video games for my part, as I really feel like I’ve simply seen so many begin with FFA PvP after which crash and burn whereas devs battle to cobble collectively a complete and enjoyable PvE expertise. Whether or not or not it’ll be sufficient stays to be seen, however I used to be completely happy to see the devs have been good sufficient to maintain their palms on the proverbial wheel on this side.
Equally, as that is an MMO, there might be no non-public servers, not less than at launch, with Bylos confirming that Funcom is wanting into the choice however has nothing to announce but. At launch, the whole lot might be hosted by Funcom, additional making this appear extra of a sturdy, structured MMO than the wild-west feeling of many survival video games that largely make the most of participant hosted servers that shut down nearly as quick as they seem.
Bylos insists that Funcom is utilizing the time period MMO survival in advertising and marketing versus MMORPG to hopefully join extra with old-school sandbox MMOs, which doesn’t actually make a entire lot of sense since old-school sandbox MMOs have been referred to as MMORPGs and actually coined the time period. “Whereas the sport has ranges, gear will not be degree gated,” he says. “Whereas enemies turn out to be extra highly effective primarily based on their area, you may’t see a reputation floating above them or a really helpful degree for combating them.”
However actually, he simply doesn’t need folks to assume it is a World of Warcraft-style themepark; and he put it, gamers “searching for a quest hub to quest hub kind development with very clearly outlined gear limitations and lengthy quest chains” might be disillusioned as “this isn’t [Funcom’s] major focus.” He warns that if folks dislike survival mechanics, nicely, “This sport has loads of these.”
Within the demo, nonetheless, we didn’t focus an excessive amount of on the survival points other than water (you want it, and as Bylos notes, “What occurs within the stillsuit stays within the stillsuit!”), and fight wasn’t terribly memorable. It appeared like first rate action-combat, however I’m somebody who values hands-on time, and we didn’t get any. That being stated, when our demo led to a large canyon in the midst of the map referred to as the Hagga Rift or Graben, it did assist give me an concept of what PvE appears like.
As a substitute of dungeons, you’ve Imperial Testing Stations, or “Eco Labs” for brief. Our demo chief flew into the canyon, warning us that deserters have been residing in pockets of the fault partitions, then jumped into an Eco Lab. It jogged my memory a little of open-world MMOs like Asheron’s Name, the place dungeons have been constructed into the overworld as a substitute of gamers simply portaling into an instanced zone. As Hagga Rift is a PvP zone, I totally anticipate that stay play will contain each slicing by mobs and participant to retrieve the loot inside.
Whereas water and different supplies have been among the many treasure we noticed, there have been additionally distinctive schematics. Primary schematics allow you to construct limitless gadgets, however the distinctive ones permit for a one-time-build of stated merchandise, akin to a gun. How good these things are is tough to inform with out my spending extra time with the sport, however the idea isn’t horrible.
What did catch my consideration was the endgame. Within the Deep Desert, gamers (particularly guilds) will discover tons of uncommon supplies. Nevertheless, Coriolis Storms will hit every week, not solely wiping out participant buildings however reforming the structure of the land and its assets. This implies not solely do you must rediscover the map every week, however you additionally should decide whether or not you wish to gamble your (or your guild’s) assets by rebuilding and changing base supplies after every reset. PvP endgame stuff is OK, and guild-focused battles really feel a bit higher, however random maps, scattered assets, and having frequent land-grabs theoretically seem to be good methods to maintain issues contemporary, if you happen to’re into PvP and group play.
That’s sort of an vital factor to think about. From the skin, I do know folks might take a look at Dune Awakening like a brand new Conan Exiles, however that’s not fully correct. Bylos famous that “individuals who loved Conan Exiles will in all probability discover that Dune Awakening incorporates loads of the learnings [Funcom has] made alongside the journey of that venture.” Whereas each video games are thematically very totally different, Funcom believes what resonates with avid gamers is the power to discover and stay out their fantasies, so “roleplayers ought to really feel proper at dwelling” – as will “builders, crafters, and explorers.”
So if you happen to’re not into group PvP, don’t fret, as there’s different stuff so that you can do. For instance, Bylos instructed us that MMO gamers who get pleasure from “social interplay, exploring with buddies, and being part of one thing bigger like a guild or faction battle” ought to have religion that Funcom “has you lined.”
For these enthusiastic about story and lore, there’s a “predominant narrative instructed all through the sport.” The contracts (quests) and eco labs (dungeons) proven within the demo have been neat, however Bylos warns that Funcom doesn’t assume they’re the “defining components” of Dune Awakening, which to me drives dwelling that despite the PvE components, we should always anticipate this to be a PvP sport, even when it doesn’t essentially contain direct fight.
Actually, post-SGF, Bylos continued to emphasise that Funcom doesn’t imagine participant vs. participant simply means gamers killing gamers.
Gamers can compete over significant aims within the sport with out ever coming to blows. Identical to we compete in sports activities – who’s quickest, who’s extra environment friendly – we imagine that PvP can concerned proxies.
In our sport this type of competitors is dealt with by the Landsraad – the place factions and guilds compete to regulate the choices that the ruling physique is making. And whereas a few of this does contain direct fight, it isn’t the principle level.
Bylos factors again to the Deep Desert, saying that “territory management in Dune is usually about controlling harvesting areas akin to spice fields,” which primarily takes place on this devoted PvP space. Because it’s worn out each week, he hopes that gamers know they’re “mentally ready” to lose what they construct there and “way more ready to battle it out over the areas in there.”
However as soon as that area is acquired and a base is constructed, you’re protected by Home Shields, which “stop them from being broken in any respect for so long as you keep your energy mills with gas.” A key factor Funcom says it discovered from Exiles was “simply how devastating it’s for folks to spend hours constructing an ideal dwelling,” just for different folks to “simply present up and kick down their sandcastle.” It’s why the studio gives a base copy system that allows you to copy your constructed base as a blueprint so you may go place it elsewhere.
“The philosophy right here is straightforward,” he says. “Create in secure areas, then make it so simple as doable to carry that creation with you into extra harmful PvP areas of the map” which hopefully makes the loss much less devastating.
The staff additionally believes it has a “pretty complete resolution” to the standard survival pitfalls with regards to PvP. “Relatively than placing the fox amongst the chickens, [Funcom has] tried to discover a good set of incentives to have gamers transfer between taking part in as foxes or chickens relying on the place they’re and what their aims are,” Bylos says.
Once more, which means there might be direct PvP, however the sport not less than appears to be making an attempt to intention at totally different PvP communities, and as an auction-house PvPer in PvE video games, I get that. There are MMO-inspired social hubs (banks, commerce markets, quest NPCs, distributors, and many others.) and the Deep Desert, so the thought is the sport can maintain extra gamers than your common survival sport. It’s additionally not fully about brutality. Whereas flying across the map, we noticed some NPC slavers, however in contrast to in Conan Exiles, you don’t personal or take any slaves. You may assist them out. If exploration is extra your factor although, there’s that too.
The map we noticed was apparently considered one of a number of. When you hit the sting of the map on an Ornithopter, you get the overworld map the place you may transfer round to different areas, akin to PvE areas or high-risk, high-reward PvP zones. The map above really appears smaller than what we noticed in our demo, although possibly it’s extraordinarily zoomed out. Whereas the trailer indicated that the Fremen could also be gone, the devs teased that possibly that’s not the case, and the big map makes it appear as if they might be on the market hiding someplace.
I went into the demo pondering this may be one other survival sport with a lightweight MMO theme, however that appears inaccurate now. It’s not Conan Exiles 2.0; it’s nearer to Conan Exiles having a baby with an MMO that has extra of a PvE leaning. We have been instructed growth time has taken a bit longer as a result of Funcom is utilizing all its expertise for the sport, from Anarchy On-line to Conan Exiles. The standard Funcom “jank” is hopefully going to be much less of an element, as Bylos famous the sport is in a “closed, persistent beta” and that the devs are working with core testers to wash it up: “There may be at all times jank, however the objective of getting a long-term persistent beta is to easy it out.”
Bylos gave us two clear examples of how these testers have helped repair some latest “jank” points:
[…] we just lately had a sequence of beta points with massive areas that may trigger constructing hundreds to take as much as 600ms. This prompted, at finest, consumer stuttering points and at worst, lengthy freezes. Refactoring that system to get it under 1ms has eradicated loads of stuttering whereas taking part in the sport.
Now that’s not to say one thing this extreme would have been neglected in previous initiatives, however simply that these are the sort of points we’re actively squashing within the sport which ends up in a extra responsive expertise when taking part in.
One other instance is the interplay system, the place interacting with some objects requires completely excellent positioning of the character/cursor so as to work together. That is one thing I see in lots of video games and is allowed to cross as a result of, ultimately, you may really work together.
That will not appear earth-shattering to many gamers, however MMO gamers will know that these are precisely a few of the mundane bugs we might hope could be mounted throughout testing phases, and but many firms push it out the door unfixed with post-launch guarantees that will or might not materialize.
Finally, DA appears to have the Conan Exiles soul, however with extra guardrails to hopefully stop the degeneration into yet one more tedious gankbox. Sure, it’s nonetheless a PvP sport, however it does really feel like Dune Awakening might the vacation spot for gamers who need their PvP to be a bit extra structured, slowly tiered from security to FFA PvP, and happen in one of many twentieth century’s nice sci-fi settings.
