Developer Ready at Dawn managed to strike a chord with its zero-g team-based e-sport, Echo Arena, which was itself a spin-off from sci-fi adventure Lone Echo. The development team are not content to sit on their laurels, however, and are gearing up to launch the third title in the series, Echo Combat.
Nina sat down with Ready at Dawn Game Director Dana Jan to get the inside scoop on what players can expect from Echo Combat.
Echo Combat is described as a team-based ‘payload’ multiplayer which brings the zero-g combat into a more objective-based structure.
Jan said that the closed beta for Echo Combat is currently ongoing, with the open beta due to go live on 21st June, 2018. Jan said that the community had provided much helpful feedback to the development team, which has given the team a place to begin to improve before the title goes live.
Asked about what sort of feedback the team received, Jan said there was a lot of comments about the weaponry types, and the balance between the various weapons and how to make it fair. In particular, one of the off-hand deployable weapons was particularly tricky to use, so the team are attempting to smooth out the difficulty curve for that weapon.
Jan described the range of weaponry that is available and went into some detail about how teams can adjust their tactics based upon what weapons players currently have currently equipped, indicating a more dynamic and cooperative approach.
The team at Ready at Dawn are experimenting with other game modes, with Jan indicating that Echo Combat will have a life outside the single mode that is currently available, though what those other game modes are is not yet ready for announcement.
Jan said that the developers hope to make Echo Combat a smooth, balanced experience that is fun for everyone, and will be concentrating on making that a reality.
The full interview is available to view below. For future news and coverage from E3 2018, keep checking back with VRFocus.