Day[9] AMA for Test Weekend 2!
Day9
Member, Administrator
Hey all!
For this test weekend, I'm happy to answer any and all questions you have about Atlas development past, present, and future! Post your questions here and, upon the conclusion of TW2, I'll record a long video answering everything. You'll then receive an email where you can see me answering all these questions 
.
Thanks again for helping us out :D
-Sean
Comments
Why is it called a nexus?
I haven't stepped into the game yet, but one thing I noticed right away from the tutorial is that the health/action bars underneath units are a bit hard to read using your peripheral vision because the colors are from the same palette and/or the bars are really skinny. I like how non-intrusive they are by being smallish, but I can already tell I'll be glancing down at them a lot. I assume these are simple aesthetic nuances that can be adjusted easily, but just my two cents at the moment.
Can't wait for Sunday... GLHF, all.
Looking forward to playing this a bunch this weekend, got an interview tomorrow though.
I feel like you may have answered this elsewhere, but what average game length are you guys shooting for?
Is all-out aggression a possible style of play?
It seems like the map is an interesting 2v2 1v1 hybrid. Are you guys looking to get into esports and if so would it be team based, 1v1, or a hybrid?
Ladders/etc in the works for competitive players? Yes, found out that in earlier AMA.
I'll be reading through the forums/etc later so I might be asking some dumb question, but overall I really like where this thing is headed. The lack of queuing up workers means you get to focus on exciting things, and the gems/neutral mobs mean it hopefully won't have that long build up boring period like SC2. Looking forward to playing!
are there any plans to have a pool of several maps, or a rotating map schedule? as a starcraft player, one of my favorite parts of the game is having different maps which all influence strategy/tactics in unique ways.
Wasn't Artillery heavily focused on WebGL for a long time? Why the native client?
Will there be 5v5?
I know it's at the very bottom in priorities atm, but will lore be implemented later on? I'm a big fan of any story I can get my hands on!
Do you predict that certain squad compositions will become "The Meta" of Atlas, or do you think most combinations of three will be viable, if played correctly? Is that something you guys are aiming for, or are you mostly okay with certain sets of three being just better/more synergistic than others.
That being said, I personally find it hard to instinctively know what my particular Squad should be good at doing, and what the "roles" (Gem collecting? Tower sieging? Scouting?) of a given squad should even be.
While I'm here I also wanted to point out:
I just wanted to second this opinion to give it a bit more visibility. I found it very hard to get a sense of unit health at a glace, due mostly I think to the color palette, but also the thin-ness of the health bars.
Just to give you an answer ahead of time, here's the blog post on this topic: http://blog.artillery.com/2015/09/artillery-native-game-client.html
I tried asking this in the client chat but perhaps I was being too nebulous. Does the game have a clear identity of what it is trying to be? A super competitive RTS vs a very chill RTS, or maybe a happy middle ground?
Ill use a comparison to the games I am most familiar with: Super Smash Bros. There is Melee, which is the hard line, unforgiving, extremely competitive fighter, where mistakes are met with swift death. There is Brawl, which had nearly every competitive element stripped out of it; an ultra casual game where mistakes are not nearly as punishing. And then there is Smash 4, which tries to be a happy medium. Mistakes arent met with instant and swift death, but there is enough of a competitive edge, that if you really want to test your mettle against other players, you can.
What is Atlas trying to be? I dont know much about game design, but I imagine you cant be all three at the same time. From the play test, I dont know if I would say there is a clear vein that Atlas identifies with.
Do you feel the Ion Cannon strategy is too strong in the 1v1 lane?
What plans are there for the store?
Any plans on introducing skins and other rewards? Have they been discussed?
TW3 date? :D
-Cheers
bliss/Jeremy
Some more questions for you Day[J]:
Are you guys thinking in terms of power spikes/etc when considering upgrades/etc or is that something you feel will naturally come about? One of the things I really enjoy about Starcraft and League are the power spikes that certain items or upgrades/units can give you that turn a game around. Windows of opportunity (he blew up the tech lab researching stim!) that can make or break a game.
I feel like having very obvious discrete material gaining opportunities iis kind of key to the resource part of most games today. League for example has steady gold accrual, but most of the impact is from kills and cs which are noticeable jumps. Could things your hero or a caravan/etc unit do make spikes in the gold level? I'm thinking things like the entrance to a mine showing up on the map and if you go there with your hero you can mine some gold or things like that, might potentially increase interaction.
I haven't been able to play the game yet (won't run on my poor laptop at this hotel) but once I get back home I'm excited to try this out!
I heard that you said you do not want to make a stressful 1v1 style RTS, which is why this is a team RTS. Are there any plans to still cater to people that would want the game to be more competitive/mechanically based by adding 1v1 or 2v2 options? 3v3 is interesting ofc but just from my first play through it seems as though games can, and will, go relatively long and having come from SC2, I'm used to more fast paced and quicker games.
While that's probably not the approach you're going with Atlas I'm just curious if there will ever be multiple game types similar to what Rocket League has done to cater to multiple preferences.
So I know you fine folks cannot commit to a target date for the game (e.g. "It'll be done when it's done") - but do you have some idea of the window between when you, as a team, determine the game is ready to go vs when it'll actually be available to the general public?
Heyo!
So I was browsing your main website for laughs and giggles, and I read the "Our Story" section on the about page. This description seemed satisfying in terms of a timeline, but I was wondering precisely how you all began. Was it a group of you who came together and had a common idea? A specific person? Competition between companies that lead into friendship? What is the in-depth origin story of Artillery? Thanks!
do you have any plans to bring forth more squad's cause from what ive seen theres alot you could do to add more squads just my thoughts
What are your thoughts on downtime? It feels like there are moments in the game where there aren't gems to collect, my arm isn't big enough to take on a titan camp, or to engage the enemy tower, and I don't have enough resources to buy anything.
Is there a plan to remedy this? For example adding weaker, respawning titans that can be killed in between gem collection to get a little extra gold, shortening the time between gem respawn, or increasing the game speed?
Did you have any design paradigms or beliefs you held before working on Atlas that changed during development?
First of all, I will say that I absolutely love where this game has come comparing it to the previous test weekend, mostly on the titan camps+mercs rework.
My question has to do with kiting titans at the moment. Right now there is an exploit(I will call it) that allows the player to attack the titans from a certain distance and keeping them at their max leash distance, and they do not return to their camp and do not heal, so the camp can be easily done without a lot of units. This made taking even some of the hardest camps easy, especially with the melee only ones. I feel like the titans should not be able to be kited in this way, as it takes the varying levels of difficulty to them out of the equation. Thoughts?
What do you want a player to experience in the middle of a game? Do you want us to be focusing entirely on our armies with very little thought going into macro / economy?
How do you feel about the length of the games? I only manage to get two PvPs in today and both were upwards of 45 minutes. Perhaps seasoned players are able to get things done more efficiently but once we reach a steady state (max upgrades, regular income, maxed out squad) then I feel like there is nothing propelling the game forward.
What was the main motivating factor to make this game? Is there a specific mechanic / style that you want players to focus on, or are you guys just exploring and having fun?
Thanks for the opportunity to test the game out, it's been a blast!
Hi, I have a couple questions about the game.
Is seasons somethings you guys are planning to introduce to the game ?
Are you guys going to make a public API for developers ?
Is Atlas going to be available on Steam ?
Thanks <3
My first question is perhaps getting ahead of things a bit... Are there plans to add strong story elements like character backgrounds and a single player campaign? Or is the main focus for now on building and releasing a strictly pvp/pvb multiplayer skirmish engine?
Second, are you hoping to have a game where the players need to invest substantial amounts of time researching strategies and learning stats before being able to play on a casually competitive level? Or do you plan to have a few core strategies that are viable and well documented, but that might be harder to use when up against someone who knows the game in-depth enough to follow the meta?
An alternative to my second question could be, what plans, if any, do you have to ensure that casual low APM players still have fun even if work and life prevent them from investing endless hours practicing?
It's been a great experience so far, even with a few mild travails. The test group seem a wonder set of individuals. I look forward to hearing the questions and answers when those are ready. While I don't feel I can commit to the weekly/daily testing, I will try to join in the next time there is an invite for a test weekend!
Love the game. I hope the next test weekend isn't too far away.
I know its probably not set in stone yet, but I was wondering what kind of a business model you were thinking of. If its Free to Play, would you charge for new squads like LoL, would you sell cosmetics like DotA 2, or something else?
I love the feeling of semi-disconnected-but-still-interacting MOBA-esque lanes! Was this an intentional parallel and are there plans to preserve or change the play pattern on this and other maps?
What is the state of design thought about resource pacing?
To me Gold seems outpaced by the rate of Scrap and Gem collection if you're active about controlling the middle and taking expos. I also feel they could all stand to be raised to make the midgame a little more active and reach lategame in less than 40 minutes.
I'd be interested to hear your/other designers' thoughts on this.
Someone mentioned a respawning Gold-granting Titan camp.
I like the idea of this trade-off between short-term weakness and long-term strength, assuming you'll lose a unit or two. However, some Squads would are much better equipped to take them without losses...that could encourage team play, but would limit the Squads that could handle it solo in the 1v1 lane...hmmm. Another thing: it may become an annoying chore later to keep clearing it the moment it spawns lest you fall behind.
Have you planned for competitive development?
I've noticed that many new games I play begin staging tournaments through ESL to build competitive interest early on (towards the end of beta). Is this something you'd want? Not want? Is it just too early to think about?
What are the team's thoughts on developing Merc compositions and proving a variety of meaningful choices?
When I take Raider Mercs it feels like nothing is nearly as good as Leviathans and a couple Ion Cannons.
Blinders and Enhancers seem ok, but many like the Trapper, Chiller, Shrike, and Shielder don't seem to pull their weight.
When I run Assault it feels like there are no Mercs that justify giving up Leviathans. The Teleporter's effects are both strong but I feel uneasy about the healthiness of such a strong back-dooring tool.
I don't feel that the Leviathan itself should be nerfed, though limiting them to 3-4 per player might make sense. I'd like to see faster, bigger effects on the spellcaster Mercs.
Overall I'm super hyped to see where the game goes and how the refreshing mix of MOBA and RTS plays out!
I would love to do the weekly/daily testing, but I was wondering how much time per day needed to be spent on it. Also, is it okay if something comes up and I have to skip a day, or a few days? Most of the time, this won't be an issue, but I don't want to commit unless I'm sure it won't cause problems.
What was the development thought process behind adding regenerating shields to structures? This was confusing to me because incremental damage is a big part of pushing in MOBA style games and can be in RTS as well where you destroy one defensive structure at a time.
Its obvious to see that you are drawing a lot from League of Legends and SC2 when developing this game in both play style and art. Are there any other games you guys play and draw upon for inspiration?
For balance, what is your long term plan? Lots of regular balance patches? Try to get stability, then add in additional factions? Do you intend to try to go for a "easy to play, difficult to master similar to Sc2" balance more towards your average player similar to LoL, or balance largely towards the best players similar to Dota 2?
It was hard for me to tell what the health of my smaller units was during battle. Am I alone in this or is this something others are experiencing as well? If so are there any plans to add a setting for users to move the health bars to above units heads or somewhere else more visible?
Are you guys thinking about keeping the building design and sound effects robotic and futuristic? It seems almost like there's clashing themes going on, some of the units seem very nature focused but the majority of the game feels robotic and based on the future, like the mercenaries and the in game announcements.
Wanted to springboard off this idea. While a respawning neutral like League's jungle camps leads to a timed "buy-in" towards keeping up... perhaps something more like a capacitor. An area or target that you stand in or attack periodically. It isn't defeated, but there is some maximum limit you reach. At the end of some timer, everyone gets a payout for whether they reached their maximum. Place it in a way where you have to choose between seeking gold or gems... or some other trade off for the time spent in the area. That way if an enemy tries to deny you access, you get free reign in some other area. This would probably mean that we would need more flexibility to spend one resource by itself in meaningful and equivalent ways?
TLDR: I too am curious as to what the current design thoughts are around resource pacing. What factors are being given priority and what are you trying to avoid through resource costs/income?