March 20 2020

Dev Blog: Rink Updates

Let's talk about the Roller Champions rink. The design of the very first Roller Champions rink was highly inspired by skate parks. When we decided to revamp the original rink, we continued to draw inspiration from skate parks and their unique flow.

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So, before we dive into the details of what we've changed about the rink you discovered at E3, let's talk about the anatomy of a Roller Champions rink and some Skatepark terms you'll hear us throw around.

Official Terms

Inner Wall & Outer Wall
Hips — Protruding corner
Bowls — The edge of the rink
Straights — Straight lines of the rink
Decks — Highest ground of the straights
Bottoms — Lowest ground of the straights
Transitions — Vertical curves connecting the ground and wall

More Consistency

When tackling the challenge of revamping our rink, it was important for us to make every zone more defined and consistent. We hope that by doing so, it will allow better anticipation and expectations for everyone in the rink. Regarding the competitiveness of the game, players should always know how their champion will react when skating around the rink.

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This was in part achieved by using specific angles and radiuses to recreate the original rink with precise measurements. Where the original E3 rink was created by freehand, we used rulers and compasses to make the revamped rink.

If you would cut the rink in half vertically or horizontally and you would find that it's perfectly symmetrical (the goal not withstanding).

Outer Wall Update

We added a wider radius to the Transitions at the bottom of the Outer Wall. This means more space to navigate the Decks and improved navigation flow when skating down the Outer Wall.

Bowl Update

The extremities of the Inner Wall have been flattened and its corners (Hips) refined.

We did this to improve navigation on, around, and across the Inner Wall, while also adding new Skatepark ingredients in the form of a narrow half-pipe.

By merging sections between the Straights and Bowls, we've created additional ramps that allow players to pump down into the Bowl or jump out of them.

Less Goal Camping

A new bouncer mechanic has been implemented to prevent players from sitting inside the goal to intercept the ball. Stopping a team from scoring at the goal should be an exciting moment that comes from the defensive team making an extraordinary play.