Large-scale public testing best reveals the problem.
At 8 p.m. on April 13, the first-person space shooter "Frontier" developed by The Lancet Studios opened early access on the Steam platform, with mixed reviews. Since that night, the studio has worked overtime to fix bugs on station B live, and replied to the comments on site B and Steam as timely as possible, trying to retain players with sincerity.
Live overtime isn't performance art, and the employees' efforts have really improved the relatively poor experience when "Border" debuted. As of this writing, the positive rating of the Frontier Steam platform has risen to "mostly positive", reaching 74%.
The first version of Frontier failed to become the ideal game for many. However, looking at the FPS games that are still in operation on the market, Frontier absorbs player feedback and corrects problems faster than ever - there are many more players who are willing to stay in Border.
1
Most of the new players who come under the name of "Zhang Beihai Simulator" will find themselves inferior to the "old spaceflight" who was killed by Zhang Beihai in the original novel "Three-Body Problem".
Although they dare to mention "Zhang Beihai" in their names, most of them are old players who played during the closed beta period
"Frontier" throws the player into a cold, empty universe and wrapped in a sturdy spacesuit. The two-dimensional or three-dimensional motion laws in traditional FPS are no longer universal, replaced by all-round movement in six dimensions, and the overall performance is more like an air combat game, but there is no link to calculate gravitational potential energy.
Take the default operation of keyboard and mouse as an example. The four keys of WASD are used to move forward, backward, left, and right, which is consistent with traditional FPS. The Q and E keys next to it are responsible for tilting and rolling the body, holding both keys and rotating 360 degrees is not a problem. The space and Ctrl keys traditionally used in FPS for jumping and crouching are now used for vertical up and down movements. With the mouse to control the direction, "Border" has an incomparably rich selection of body style and tactics.
Roll 180 degrees to the left
The enemy's head may be pointed in any direction
Frontier currently supports up to 10 players in two teams to fight each other, depending on the mode and map. The game map of "Border", mostly space buildings or their wreckage, is basically designed according to the characteristics and ideas of this six-dimensional movement, using the main body of the building to divide a number of battlefields with different combat distances.
The exterior of the building is generally empty, but there is no shortage of space junk used as embellishment and cover, because there is inertia in moving in space and it needs to be close to the cover. The interior of the building is unique, and the corridors inside are more closed than the street battles in traditional FPS. In target-oriented modes such as occupying points, points are often designed inside the building, which seems easy to defend and difficult to attack, but a building often has multiple exits, creating more fortification and gun angles for the attacker.
A map whose height conforms to the above rules
In addition, in the team deathmatch map pool, which only counts the number of kills, there is a small map of indoor combat, "Orbital Unloading Yard", consisting of only three interconnected corridors, and is designed for players who prefer fast-paced and close-quartered combat.
Bombarding the end of the corridor is also a way to play
There is no air resistance in space, and Border's weapon damage does not decay with distance. However, the recoil of the weapon is still there, and the player still has to decide which weapon to use based on the distance of the battle on the map.
The current version of Frontier features 6 Operators, dozens of primary and secondary weapons, and mounted equipment (similar to the grenades or skill slots of a traditional FPS). The types of weapons and equipment that players can use are related to the Operator they choose. For example, medics and assassins used submachine guns and shotguns for close combat, and powerful machine guns were exclusively owned by the operator "Bastion".
In addition to the weapon pool, each Operator has different health, armor, and mobility attributes to divide Operator functions. For example, "Fortress" belongs to the operator with the thickest armor but less mobility, and is more suitable for point defense than close-range dog fighting. Weapons and mounted equipment have their own appearance fees, as long as the cost of full-body equipment is controlled within 20, throw away the pistol, and carry two main weapons.
Operator selection interface
Weapon selection screen
By killing opponents with a particular firearm, players can unlock the corresponding accessories for the firearm and use the Call of Duty-like gunsmith system to change the gun to improve performance. Most accessories sacrifice some of the firearm stats in exchange for another, leaving it up to the player to explore the most profitable or convenient gun change solution.
Gun interface
Since it comes to firearms, it must be mentioned: the shooting feel and blow of "Border" is very good, and it is close to the level of triple-A shooting games. The guns in the game have relatively controllable recoil and do not have much "muscle weakness" feeling. The vacuum environment of space cannot transmit sound, and the noise of gunshots and jetpacks can only be transmitted through solid media, which has a unique sense of dullness and substitution. When hitting different parts of the enemy's body, visual and auditory feedback also differs.
Left: hit, but reduced by armor, right: valid hit with higher damage
The dull sound can cause difficulties for the enemy in the open space, but fortunately every operator of "Border" is equipped with radar. Aiming at the enemy for a long time, or using reconnaissance-type equipment of some operators, can mark the enemy on the radar for a period of time. Current radars are more intelligent and optimized than earlier versions, using only simple graphics on a two-dimensional plane to restore the relative positions of players and enemies in three-dimensional space.
The vertical line is facing up, indicating that the enemy is below, and vice versa
Radar needs to be used in conjunction with map understanding. Players who are new to the game are not familiar with the map, it is easy to find no one, and end up being stolen by old players around. In order to prevent players who steal their butts from taking too advantage of the back, "Border" equips each operator with a hard backpack that can reduce bullet damage; Backpacks like "fortresses" are even big enough to block the head.
A typical case of backpacks saving lives
Overall, Frontier is expensive to learn, but there aren't many hardcore mechanics that require brains. Players with traditional FPS experience can become independent operators as long as they are familiar with the use of radar, the characteristics of operators, and map construction, and then practice marksmanship properly.
2
The Frontier experience is unique – it's a conclusion that combines Border's closed beta and post-launch experience. We've already participated in two pre-beta sessions, but there's a gap between the beta and production experiences.
That time was a deletion test, and the late equipment that required level unlocking was too late to experience; What's more, the server hasn't exploded as it did during the beta. Just talking about the closed beta is unfair and respectful for the first batch of players to enter the game after the open beta.
At 8 p.m. on April 13, the number of players pouring into the server exceeded official expectations, resulting in overloaded servers and frequent connection problems. After the battle, players will not be able to gain experience to level up, let alone unlock new weapons and equipment. Some people pointed out that they couldn't access the settings menu, adjust graphics, controls, and language options, as well as player feedback, some maps were poorly optimized, and the game and the engine it used occasionally crashed or reported errors.
The newly launched "Frontier" does not have a matching system based on game level and data, nor does it match black teams separately, which is very unfriendly to new players. The game also does not set a mid-time join function and withdrawal penalty, one person quits the game early, and everyone on the same team will be jailed for a whole game.
The unbalanced game makes both sides inexperienced, and the strange player name is due to the streamer mode turned on
On the first day of service, shops selling "Border" auxiliary plug-ins appeared on Taobao; In the following days, players reported that they encountered more cases of plug-in users in the game.
The balance of weapons and classes is also debatable. In the test version, the sniper rifle and semi-automatic precision shooter rifle had universal suppressive power in the event of a medium- and long-range engagement in an open scene, and it did not fall behind in close combat.
Frontier is similar to traditional FPS in that bullets will scatter uncontrollably when the player fires blindly (without right-pressing). Sniper weapons are generally more dispersed than other weapons, forcing players to aim and shoot. Perhaps due to a momentary negligence in the design, players can eliminate the blind shot scattering penalty and achieve accurate shooting by quickly pressing the right button to switch between the open mirror and blind shooting, which is commonly known as "instant sniping".
Instant sniper kill
But this trait, which gave the sniper rifle too much a melee advantage, was quickly overshadowed by an operator with a more melee advantage, and a weapon nicknamed "wheelchair".
The assassin operator "Long Nail" is a character that I personally did not like very favorably during the closed beta. She is the opposite of "fortress", has the highest mobility, the least armor and health, and is very intolerant to fighting. But after the game went live and players unlocked the weapons and skills of the "spike" one after another, everyone discovered her good.
The "Spike" has an exclusive mobile equipment "Maneuver Controller" that can only be unlocked at a higher level, which can generate three thrusts in any direction out of thin air without the help of the default hook and claw, like teleportation, coming and going like the wind. Another exclusive piece of equipment is the "Squid Smoke", which can disorient enemies and be led by highly mobile "spikes".
Kill, pull smoke, run, all in one go
At the same time, the weapon pool of the "Spike" has a submachine gun "GSW-SMG" with an ultra-fast rate of fire, which resembles the butt-free version of the real-life KRISS Vector submachine gun, and has similar characteristics to the real prototype: fast rate of fire. Because the power of bullets in space does not decay with distance, this submachine gun has the ability to melt opponents at medium and close range, and is ridiculed by players as a "wheelchair".
And because of the "spikes" high-mobility continuous running characteristics, it is difficult for other operators and weapons to match it, unless the "instantaneous sniper" technique is used to kill in seconds, or reconnaissance-type equipment is used, and after finding its position, the engagement distance is extended in advance.
A meme circulating in the community two days ago
Game operation problems, matching dissuasion problems, plug-in problems, balance problems, these four mountains almost crushed "Border".
However, over the next week, the Lancet Studios fought backwater. They use a "slow live" way to fix the above problems live. They placed a whiteboard in front of the camera, listing the problems that players focused on, the corresponding solutions, and the estimated resolution time.
Under the supervision of the majority of players, most of the bugs that did not give experience were fixed in one day, and other operational problems were gradually improved. The unstable connection of Hong Kong services provided by suppliers was removed, and several maps that had been poorly optimized by feedback were also redone. A crude, simple KD (kill/death ratio) matching scheme is already online, and while it doesn't yet effectively protect Moe Xin, at least veterans can no longer recklessly cut novices as leeks.
On April 15, the official released an anti-plug-in statement, vowing to fight the plug-in to the end. From now on, the official has connected Tencent's ACE anti-plug-in component to "Border", and expressed its willingness to use legal means to crack down on plug-in gangs. On April 19, the first issue of the ban list was officially announced, permanently banning 127 cheaters. As of the end of this article, the number of shops selling "Border" plugins on Taobao has greatly decreased, and it is impossible to find it without careful searching.
On the same day, the first balance optimization update was officially announced: fixed the problem that the scatter converged too quickly during the instantaneous mirror, weakened the maneuverability of the "spike", and reduced the bullet speed and change speed of the submachine gun.
Here's a digression from a personal point of view. Recently, my B-site client posted a video that reported a garbled bug Chinese Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The bug has been in place since last fall's open beta, and now that the game is in its third season, it still shows no signs of being fixed. I don't know if the Call of Duty production team and publisher ignored the opinions of most players or only ignored the feedback of Chinese players.
It is not advisable to step on one or the other. But the importance that "Border" attaches to player feedback is unprecedented in the 3A-level FPS games of major manufacturers, which is also an indisputable fact. While the current "Border" still has a vote of holes, optimizations, and balance issues that need to be addressed, at least the studio's employees don't have to stay up late and work overtime.
3
Good faith is certainly not enough to change the fact that Frontier players are being lost. According to the SteamDB website, the number of people online on Frontier continues to decline, from 24,000 at launch to thousands.
This is a predictable outcome, after all, Frontier is destined to be a game with niche tastes. FPS games themselves have a certain entry threshold, which will screen out a batch of 3D vertigo patients; Space FPS is even more dizzy, and it is necessary to filter out a group of players who cannot adapt to space combat after hours of trying and are "bound by gravity" (not pejorative).
What's more, Frontier is still a "Early Access Stage" semi-finished product, and if you buy it before the official confirmation of the official release, you will have to bear the regrets and risks of unfinished games.
However, the choices players made are justifiable, as the biggest problem Frontier currently faces is the lack of depth in the game.
The game's existing modes, maps, operators, and weapons are not rich (this is also infinitely magnified after several maps are removed). The only elements for players to develop through the game are character levels, weapons, and accessories, and the freshness of the game may be exhausted during the brushing of repeated matches.
Personal experience, it takes at least 10 hours to turn an operator liver to full grade
Nowadays, FPS games that also have repeated matches, brush levels and brush gun designs have long found a way to retain players and increase players' online rate.
Taking Call of Duty, the most successful shooter IP paid tribute to by "Frontier", as an example, in addition to the single-player campaign, each Call of Duty must have a multiplayer cooperative PVE mode, such as special operations and zombie mode. The old Call of Duty's PVP has a respawn system that allows players to return to their initial level and lose the unlock option for weapons and equipment in exchange for exclusive titles or decorations. In recent years, Call of Duty has abandoned the reincarnation system, but introduced battle royale and pass modes, making a lot of money by selling advanced passes, weapons, and character skins.
During the planned Q&A session on April 9, officials promised to launch more PVP, PVE modes, and weapon skins
However, the superstructure outside the bureau needs to be supported by excellent quality internal counter-bureau and infrastructure, otherwise it is just a castle in the air. The Lancet Studio, which lacked manpower and reference cases, once did not know the direction of development, and was hit by the epidemic, let alone the former, and even the latter was full of loopholes.
Early Access Testing is the right strategy. In the previous internal test of "Border", the number of participants was small, and the sample size was still insufficient, resulting in many problems that only appeared during the large-scale open test. Early Access opens up Steam's comment channels, which is conducive to open up and honest, so that officials can notice potential problems and correct them one by one.
To be fair, Frontier didn't live up to the expectations some players had had for seven years, but the game's ability to go live has increased players' confidence in it. There will definitely be a new batch of players who have gone on to the airwaves and willingly stay in Border, or temporarily withdraw from the pit and wait patiently for the game to become more perfect.