[2020] Developer Update: June 4, 2020

: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page [url=https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/1057240/announcements/detail/2235421525027429859]here[/url].

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks for Crucible! We’ve been thrilled to see people checking out the game and having fun.

While there’s been a great response to the premise of our game from many players, we’ve also heard the feedback that there are features that we need to add as a top priority, like voice chat. We agree, and we’re going to stay in Pre-Season until those features and polish are in Crucible. We’re also going to use our time in Pre-Season as a chance to go all-in on the parts of Crucible that are resonating most strongly with you, our community.

Our next steps:
The community has rallied around Heart of the Hives in an amazing way. Moving forward, we’ll be putting all of our efforts towards Heart of the Hives and what we can do to make that mode shine. Focusing on one mode allows us to refine the design of core systems without the compromises we needed to make to support three game modes. This does mean that we’ll be retiring Harvester Command and Alpha Hunters for the foreseeable future. We'll be removing Alpha Hunters from the list of game modes soon, and Harvester Command once our new player experience has been improved.

Our plan for this updated game direction will have two phases. In the first, we will build and iterate on the core systems necessary to support this Heart of the Hives-centered vision for the game. We’re starting the first phase by developing the features we know we need: voice chat, a surrender option, a system to deal with AFK players ruining matches, an expanded ping system, and potentially some form of mini-map. We don’t have an exhaustive list of changes yet, but those are some of our top priorities. While we’re working on adding those features, we’ll also be working on improving framerate, hit feedback, matchmaking, and how we teach the game to new players.

In the second phase, we will add additional systems and polish that will help elevate the Crucible experience. A lot of the work in this second phase will depend on what we hear from you during phase one. Right now our plans for improvements in the second phase include custom tailoring the map for Heart of the Hives, improving the creatures in the world, adding support for custom games, and enhanced social system functionality.

You can read about our priorities and the features in development here[trello.com].

Here’s generally what you can expect from us: we’ll keep putting out builds regularly with bug fixes and improvements, we’ll share developer updates talking about the feedback we’re hearing and how we’re thinking about the systems and features going into the game, and we’ll continue to engage in active listening and conversation across our supported channels.



Thank you
We’re excited about the road ahead. We're going to be making a lot of changes based on your feedback, and at the end of this we'll have built a great game together. From the bottom of our hearts: thank you. Thanks for being part of the community and for being passionate about how you want to see Crucible grow.

We’ll see you in game!
Colin Johanson & the Crucible team