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Developer update: Projects in the works

by - 7 years ago

Originally Posted by PlayOverwatch (Blue Tracker)
Game director Jeff Kaplan addresses some of the community’s most popular discussion topics, including hero balance, progress on Overwatch’s spectator system, and what kind of new hero and map content are in the early stages of development

Jeff Kaplan goes into some of the projects in the works for Overwatch.

He states the ptr is being used to play test the balance changes. They are playing around with Widowmaker’s scope animation to help min/maxers and yet make it easily understood by casual players. The goal of these changes is to bring her more inline with other characters in terms of play. Junk rat’s trap is also getting some attention. Genji can no longer dash past his trap. These are only some of the changes they are working on.

Kaplan goes over why some characters aren’t getting changes right away. Symmetra specifically he stated is not just a simple number change. He thinks it might take ability tweaks to get her played more. They do not plan to make her a healer. If need be they will take her out of the support category. She only seems to be viable for defending first points. They plan to make her more viable in a wide array of situations. Don’t expect any changes right away. At earliest we will not see live changes tell November.

Spectator mode is getting some love. They plan to let us add bookmarked cameras. These cameras would be stationary.  They have also added an Objective camera that will focus around payloads or capture points. The ptr is showing camera improvements so you get less jitter. They also plan to make it easy to switch to a certain player. All these features will be able to be assigned to a hotkey for quick access.

Kaplan explains they have heroes still in the works. They have one hero we will see “sooner rather then later.” Another one is being heavily tested internally. The play style has been tested using generic models and affects to assure it will be fun to play.  We may see this hero early next year.

We can also look forward to new maps. One has been heavily play testes internally. They are working on adding art to it. This shows how confident they are we will enjoy this map. They have 4 prototype maps they are currently working on. He states it is unlikely they will all make it to live. It is just part of the process to see what feels right and fun. They want to make sure the maps are viable for most heroes, and not depend on gimmicks. They also have in the works new maps for new games modes.

They are not forgetting smaller items as well. They are also planning to add more emotes. We can expect new voice lines and ways to equip these at the same time.

 

 


JR Cook

JR has been writing for fan sites since 2000 and has been involved with Blizzard Exclusive fansites since 2003. JR was also a co-host for 6 years on the Hearthstone podcast Well Met! He helped co-found BlizzPro in 2013.


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