Hoewel PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds nog altijd ontzettend populair is, heeft het ondertussen de hete adem van Fortnite in de nek. En waar Epic er bij Fortnite lustig op los experimenteert, verlopen de ontwikkelingen bij PUBG allemaal wat traag. Voor 2018 hebben Brendan Greene en zijn kompanen echter genoeg plannen voor PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds en dat blijkt wel uit de onderstaande roadmap die ze hebben onthuld.
Zo laat de studio weten dat er volgende maand een nieuwe map op de Experimental Test Server zal verschijnen. Waar de andere maps in PUBG afmetingen hebben van 8x8km beduidend kleiner zijn. Met een afmeting van 4x4km beslaat dit nieuwe strijdtoneel slechts een kwart van Erangel en Miramar, en dat moet voor snellere, intensere potjes PUBG zorgen. Zit je daar nu niet bepaald op te wachten? Ook dan is er goed nieuws, want er staat ook nog een ‘reguliere’ 8 bij 8km map in de stijgers.
Daar blijft het in de roadmap natuurlijk niet bij. Ook al het onderstaande is in ontwikkeling om in 2018 aan PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds toegevoegd te worden. Hiertoe behoren onder andere nieuwe spelmodi, voertuigen en wapens:
Emote system coming to the Test Servers very soon. New and interesting Game Modes, which are still in the early days – not in a place where specifics can be shared. New vehicles coming in the first half of the year. Continued weapon set expansion and new weapon attachments this year. A look at one of the new weapons coming soon is posted below. Achievements, in-game friends list and squad voice chat in the main menu is ready for testing. Further character customization and both parachute and weapon skins will be added in the future. Limb and vehicle bullet penetration testingwill be on the test servers later. This will add “new depth” to the ballistic system, and increase the realism of gameplay. The team is looking to overhauling the entire TPP and FPP animation systems to make them smoother and more reactive to the environment. This will include everything from getting inside vehicles and changing seats to how the character moves. An overhaul for the parachuting system is also part of the roadmap. The goal is to make it “more responsive and polish the overall look of the animations.” Improvements to armed and unarmed melee combat systems are also in the works. Continuing daily work to combat cheaters, improve server stability and further optimize servers and clients. In the first half of 2018 there are plans to increase the detail of vehicle sounds. This includes introducing suspension sounds and more skidding sounds. The plan is to work with surfaces that would reflect different weather conditions and add rain sounds to vehicle surfaces. Also in the first half of the year, the team plans to make gun sounds more distinctly different depending on POV. The sounds the player produces while moving so that it corresponds to the equipment they are carrying is planned for the second half of the year. Different breathing sounds when the player is running, aiming down sight or holding breath are also in the planning stages. esports: plans to further improve the live spectator tool; integrate a replay system for spectators to use during live matches; work on improving MMR and the overall ranking system. Custom Game System: thiswill be further expanded to allow more fine grain control and quality of life features like saving presets. Plans are in the worked to distribute access to a wider audience of players to provide more custom games available to join at any given time. PUBG Developer Portal: introduce the PUBG Developer API, a development blog, and technical notes regarding game updates. The API Service will support developers in the community by providing player and match data around gameplay performance. It will also provide match-level, season-level, and lifetime-level data for developers to create compelling resources for players. It will provide players a way to create custom games and enable esports groups to effectively manage games while minimizing ongoing technical work on the part of PUBG Corp.
