Dev Update #2: Aiming Down Sights!
Outlaws,
Welcome to another Dev Update here from the team at Massive. Our focus this week is the weapons and combat of Star Wars Outlaws!
From the development of the combat system to recent tweaks we've made in response to player feedback, we'd love to dive in and give you more insight into the workings of this integral part of the Outlaws experience.
After all, a scoundrel is only as good as their getaway!
To speak more to this, here's Drew Rechner, Creative Director:
Outlaws,
One of the key pieces of feedback we hear is that there is a desire for a deeper and more engaging combat loop. In Title Update 1.4, releasing on November 21st, we are bringing big updates to enemy AI and your freedom of approach, allowing you to go silent or loud in all scenarios - more on the latter in a future update. Along with these improvements, we also revamped the feel and utility of weapons and core combat.
First, we've updated the stats on all weapons and enemies, making headshots more rewarding and tuning armor and health for all enemy types, to differentiate archetypes and make them more distinct. We've also added weak points to enemies which allow you take down tough opponents with a well-placed precision shot at the right moment. To bring it all together, new defeat animations and hit reactions have been added to make sure hitting enemies is as rewarding and gratifying as it can be.
Second, we took a step back to review what we would call "weapon feel", to really upgrade gameplay mechanic aspects like recoil, fire rate, ammo and accuracy for every weapon, and we updated feedback in terms of audio, VFX and UI. The goal was to create weapons and blaster modules that feel distinct and rewarding to master. On some weapons, such as the Ashiga ABR-2 Zato Blaster Rifle, we had the opportunity to completely redesign the shooting pattern to bring out the weapon's unique gameplay style.
Next, we reviewed and improved the utility of weapons. For Kay's blaster, we added the ability for the Power module to hit cover and knock out enemies that were hiding behind it. We also updated the Ion module to stun enemies for longer and make them vulnerable to damage while they are stunned. Our intention is to give you more freedom and to make using the different modules during combat even more fun.
For weapons that Kay finds in the field, we made sure that you get to hold onto them longer, even when climbing and traversing the environment or interacting with enemies and the world. This change, that was highly requested, means you can now make longer term strategic choices, get more rewarded for turning enemy weapons against them, and have more varied combat encounters.
Lastly, we've taken a new approach to how cover works. The camera will no longer try and predict which shoulder it should be on, it will now be more comfortable and stable around cover. To facilitate this, we've added the ability to shoulder swap when aiming, giving you greater control and precision. Add to that a host of improvements to the animations around and reliability of using cover and we hope this will let you focus on tactics and action, rather than thinking about the cover mechanics.
All in all, we believe and hope that this update to weapons, cover and damage stats will create a much deeper and more engaging combat loop with more variety, choice and satisfaction.
We look forward to hearing your feedback when you get your hands on this huge update to the core combat systems in this update, and hope you enjoy your journey across the galaxy with Kay and Nix.
As said, we're bringing you many requested changes in Title Update 1.4, which will be our biggest update yet, coming your way on November 21st!
As always, keep an eye on our socials for more from us, and be sure to give us your thoughts on Twitter, Instagram and start a conversation with us in our Official Discord.
Thank you again for your feedback and excitement!
- The Star Wars Outlaws Team
