Added: 29.01.2015 14:33 | 0 views | 0 comments

2K Games and Turtle Rock Studios on Thursday released a new gameplay video for upcoming 4v1 monster-hunting game

Added: 29.01.2015 10:10 | 1 views | 0 comments


AUTOMATON's Charles Battersby fills us in on his hands-on experience with the beta version of Turtle Rock Studios' upcoming title Evolve.

Added: 28.01.2015 22:50 | 0 views | 0 comments


Evolve is the upcoming competitive game that pits one monster against four hunters. After four years of development, one delay, a closed alpha, and an open beta, developer Turtle Rock went in-depth with us to explore the process of finding balance.

Added: 28.01.2015 20:49 | 0 views | 0 comments

Turtle Rock Studios on Wednesday .

Matchmaking Changes:

"We made matchmaking changes from the Big Alpha to the Beta and we were able to get confirmation that those were working well. No more level 20 players versus level 1 players and as a result, the stats were staggeringly balanced. But we still had matchmaking rough edges. In some situations we were trying to match people into full games, or parties into games that didn't have enough open slots, so that should be sorted for launch."

On Balance:

"To be honest, when we started making the game, we never really thought about--or worried about--the balance. That's just part of the job. We've had to work through that with every game we've ever made. Our primary concern was always the fun factor. Making sure that the game was incredibly fun for both sides. But I am proud of the balance work we’ve done. Just take a look at what happened with Kraken. We were really pleased to see Kraken fall into place this time. During the Big Alpha he was too strong so we made adjustments and the Beta confirmed we were spot on. He had a 52% win ratio."

General Goals Coming Out Of The Beta:

• Make the Wraith easier to track. Even good Hunters have a hard time keeping tabs on Wraith because she can move so far while cloaked.
• Make the Decoy less spammy. It doesn’t take any skill to keep punching that ability button and let the AI Decoy go to work. We want to increase the “cost” of using it so that people use it more sparingly/strategically.
• Bring Supernova down a notch. It is okay if it’s her primary damage dealer, but it felt a little on the buff side for a while internally and we saw it prove true during the Beta.
• Make Abduction a little easier to land. It’s a really fun ability to use and it was underutilized during the beta.
• Make Warp Blast a threat. This should be a straight forward damage dealer that also has some nice mobility utility.

Wraith-Specific Changes:

• Wraith can no longer warp while cloaked. If she does, the cloak wears off and the Decoy vanishes (just like when you melee attack). This means that when she cloaks, she normally won't get far and it opens the door for skilled players to do smart things like break line of sight before warping away.
• Decoy takes 30% longer to cool down. This immediately makes it 30% less spammy and hopefully results in players saving it for the more opportune moments.
• Supernova damage reduced by 10%. Not a huge change, but it will make a measurable difference.
• Abduction radius increased by .5 meters (now 3.5). This will make it a little more forgiving.
• Warp Blast radius increased by .5 meters (now 8.5). Increasing the radius here has proven a great way to increase the damage output in the past as players are able to hit their targets more often.

Added: 28.01.2015 20:49 | 0 views | 0 comments

Turtle Rock Studios on Wednesday .

Matchmaking Changes:

"We made matchmaking changes from the Big Alpha to the Beta and we were able to get confirmation that those were working well. No more level 20 players versus level 1 players and as a result, the stats were staggeringly balanced. But we still had matchmaking rough edges. In some situations we were trying to match people into full games, or parties into games that didn't have enough open slots, so that should be sorted for launch."

On Balance:

"To be honest, when we started making the game, we never really thought about--or worried about--the balance. That's just part of the job. We've had to work through that with every game we've ever made. Our primary concern was always the fun factor. Making sure that the game was incredibly fun for both sides. But I am proud of the balance work we’ve done. Just take a look at what happened with Kraken. We were really pleased to see Kraken fall into place this time. During the Big Alpha he was too strong so we made adjustments and the Beta confirmed we were spot on. He had a 52% win ratio."

General Goals Coming Out Of The Beta:

• Make the Wraith easier to track. Even good Hunters have a hard time keeping tabs on Wraith because she can move so far while cloaked.
• Make the Decoy less spammy. It doesn’t take any skill to keep punching that ability button and let the AI Decoy go to work. We want to increase the “cost” of using it so that people use it more sparingly/strategically.
• Bring Supernova down a notch. It is okay if it’s her primary damage dealer, but it felt a little on the buff side for a while internally and we saw it prove true during the Beta.
• Make Abduction a little easier to land. It’s a really fun ability to use and it was underutilized during the beta.
• Make Warp Blast a threat. This should be a straight forward damage dealer that also has some nice mobility utility.

Wraith-Specific Changes:

• Wraith can no longer warp while cloaked. If she does, the cloak wears off and the Decoy vanishes (just like when you melee attack). This means that when she cloaks, she normally won't get far and it opens the door for skilled players to do smart things like break line of sight before warping away.
• Decoy takes 30% longer to cool down. This immediately makes it 30% less spammy and hopefully results in players saving it for the more opportune moments.
• Supernova damage reduced by 10%. Not a huge change, but it will make a measurable difference.
• Abduction radius increased by .5 meters (now 3.5). This will make it a little more forgiving.
• Warp Blast radius increased by .5 meters (now 8.5). Increasing the radius here has proven a great way to increase the damage output in the past as players are able to hit their targets more often.