Clover Bite, Team Malignant and Akupara Games Released dirt It was released on PC in August 2021 and has been lucky enough to receive a lot of positive feedback and critical acclaim. IGN rated the game 9 out of 10 for him, rated it “mostly positive” on Steam, and had players from all over the world playing the game. dirt Discord let us know how much they loved the accurate combat and surreal visuals. However, while 9 out of 10 left room for improvement, “mostly positive” means there were negative reviews, and for all players on Discord, dirt was their new favorite, but we also saw players come in and explain what they didn’t like about the game.
This is the story of those players.
This is Buddy, Marketing Lead at Akupara Games.Today we will talk about how the developers at Akupara Games dirt, in particular its game director, Yarden Weissbrot, responded to the negative feedback it received from players.What were the player complaints like? How did you create solutions to fix them? And most importantly, how did the new content perform? Grime: the color of rot Will today’s release address some of these concerns?
One of the first strains we saw upon release dirt Players needed to move quickly between points in the game. dirt is a 2.5D hybrid of the genre, combining elements of Metroidvania gameplay, such as unlocking different movement types that allow interesting new areas when the player backtracks. It has a great play element, requiring players to master tight melee combat with dodges and parries. Advance the game to the end. There is tension between his two genres, Metroidvania and Soullike, and Clover Bite had to balance that.
In Metroidvania, travel is expected to be part of the game. As you progress further and defeat bosses, you unlock new ways to traverse the map.of dirt, double jump, pull, air dash, and other abilities allow the player to access different parts of the map in different ways. Maybe there’s a secret, hidden passageway that leads to a whole new area, accessible only to players who can do a long series of double jumps. These mechanics allow players to develop the expectation that they will have to return to locations they have already cleared to see if they can find new nooks and crannies to explore. Exploring means going from point A to point B and investigating anything that catches your eye.
But like Souls, expectations are set by the genre’s best games, which let you fast-travel between all your saved points. elden ring For example, 2022 blows through genre doors like Souls, allowing players to teleport between sites of grace encountered so far. dirt There is a checkpoint similar to the place of grace called Surrogate. This is a crystalline pillar that allows the ship piloted by the player to become more powerful. much less than one. elden ring. why?
For Metroidvania players, the over-reliance on fast travel robs them of the sense of vast worlds that unlock and open over time. When fast travel points are sparse, it helps players get back to spots they’ve been to before and discover little nooks and crannies they might otherwise have missed! It’s very frustrating for a player to be forced to go all the way back to an area they’ve already cleared to see if they can get any closer to clearing. Yarden has doubled the number of fast travel locations throughout the game , allowing players to properly combine backtracking exploration with convenient transportation. We had a system, but we had to adjust the numbers.
But there was also another major complaint dirt The adjustable system was not connected. Many players have wondered why the game’s armor is purely cosmetic and doesn’t give the player some sort of ability or stat bonus?
Fear of Yarden when first designed dirt It was that players chose stats over visuals. Youtubers such as ProZD and Dan Olson have each created a video on the topic. One is an easy and irreverent skit, and his other is an academic deep dive into the sociological phenomenon of minimax. by removing all stats from items in dirtYarden confirmed that armor is something that players can only use to express themselves.
Interestingly, however, many players were against this system because they liked the process of minimizing their character. Without stats, getting armor isn’t as exciting. For these players, all the new armor was a bit of a disappointment. It was something that should be ignored as it was not key to how the character was optimized. . fair enough!
The solution here was much more technical than any other change made to the game, as it required creating a completely new solution. And I’ve borrowed the term “transmogification” from other RPGs. world of warcraftthat system was added dirt By Breakthrough by Theodore Kovalev, the game’s technical director. By allowing players to customize their appearance regardless of item stats, you can choose the items that look the best and combine stats that best complement the player’s build. This is an elegant solution to a simple problem.of Grime: the color of rotWe’re also keeping that feedback in mind for the free DLC content that comes with the game’s release on December 15th. The team at Clover Bite are on a quest to address all the feedback we get with new traversal features like sprint and hover and new items to equip. dirtcommunity. Enjoy your trip!
Grime
Akpara Games
$24.99
Destroy… Absorb… Grow… GRIME is a methodical and unforgiving 2.5D soul-like Metroidvania that crushes your foes with living weapons that shift form and function. Dodge attacks and absorb prey, master skills and power your ship in a world of anatomical horror and intrigue.
