  Mission Design Â
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Objectives for
the players
Objectives for
the players
Testing a new game mode always created the biggest excitement among the dev team. We went through numerous iterations in refining each mode, trying to find a version that creates a session with strategic depth and narrative flow.Â
Designing an objective for a large number of players where they can align themselves differently as a team or a squad was a tough challenge. We focused on finding various ways to break up the cluster of players.
Key Design Features
Key Design Features
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UNIQUE POIs WITH SPECIAL ABILITIES
Finding clear motivations to attack or defend
UNIQUE POIs WITH SPECIAL ABILITIES
Finding clear motivations to attack or defend
Each points of interest (POI) was weighed differently with unique abilities. The goal was to provide a clear reason to attack or defend a point, allowing players to build strategy that prefers one point over another from moment to moment -- providing improved versatility in gameplay with increased number of tactics.
Each mode was built with different combination of three POI types. Unique combinations resulted in various strategies.
Main Foothold: Directly affects the winning condition
Support Foothold: Offers special combat abilities (Ex. faster respawn, access to cannon or glider, etc...)Â
Relic Spawn: Regularly spawns special items (Ex. temporarily lock main foothold, splash damage on main foothold, free redeploy, etc...)
OVERTIME
The final climax for all 32 players
OVERTIME
The final climax for all 32 players
Keeping players focused on the same goal is extremely challenging, especially in large battles. Players often got too carried away killing a nearby enemy or capturing a foothold that they didn't know why they won/lost the match at the end.
This is why we created overtime -- where losing team was given a small amount of extra time to make their last stand. Final defeat was announced if the losing team failed to meet the winning condition in a given overtime.
With overtime, all players were brought together once again to align their goal as a team (to win!) and create a big climax moment at the end. It also allowed players to better perceive the result of the match, giving them stronger sense of self-efficacy.
Dominion mode
Dominion mode
Video Introduction (Link)
**Dominion was previously named Skirmish (as indicated in the video).
Dominion mode
Dominion mode
VARIETY OF COMBINATIONS
Tactical footholds and devices
VARIETY OF COMBINATIONS
Tactical footholds and devices
Dominion mode is the most versatile of all modes, as it demonstrates various combination of different foothold types (main / respawn / cannon). Each map offers different tactical approach based on the type of footholds it offers -- in Podden it's important to defend the powerful cannon foothold, whereas in Gella it's important to dominate main footholds with continued lurking attempts.
MAJORITY WINS
An opportunity to turn the game around
MAJORITY WINS
An opportunity to turn the game around
To improve on one-sided game in Dominion mode, we introduced the "majority" rule; where only one team that dominates more footholds earns the points (instead of both teams earning points simultaneously from the claimed footholds). The change significantly decreased the percentage of one-sided sessions, and was later applied to the Onslaught mode as well.
Win Condition
Win Condition
Earn points and reach 100% before the enemy.
Main Foothold
Main Foothold
Claim the Main Foothold to earn points.
A team must have more players on the foothold to capture it.With multiple footholds, the team that controls greater number of footholds will earn points.
Overtime
Overtime
When a team reaches 99% Morale, the match enters Overtime; the last chance to push back.
If the leading team has captured more footholds, Overtime will count down.
If the trailing team has captured more footholds, Overtime will freeze.
Dominion mode
Dominion mode
TUG-OF-WAR
Shifting frontline
TUG-OF-WAR
Shifting frontline
Inspired by building a mode that resembles war, onslaught gives players the feeling of conquering a battlefield with ever-shifting frontline. It allowed players to explore larger areas of the map within a single session, diversifying the gameplay experience and strategy.
U-shaped Balance & Called Game
Minimizing one-sided games
U-shaped Balance & Called Game
Minimizing one-sided games
Relics and special equipments were arranged differently with onslaught mode to make frontline shifting more challenging when closer to the enemy's base -- which reduced the percentage of one-sided defeat (frontline shift only happened one way throughout the session) by more than 15%. Called game was declared when the last foothold was held for a given amount of time, further mitigating the pain of one-sided sessions.
Win Condition
Win Condition
Reach 100% before the enemy.
Capture more foothold(s) to earn points.
Control all footholds for a given amount of time. (Called game)
Shifting Frontlines
Shifting Frontlines
A frontline consists of two main footholds.
Capturing all two footholds will push the frontline towards enemy territory.
Overtime
Overtime
When a team reaches 99% Morale, the match enters Overtime; the last chance to push back.
If the leading team has captured more footholds, Overtime will count down.
If the trailing team has captured more footholds, Overtime will freeze.
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