Hawken
Weekly Update - 2015-08-01
1. Hired on a new developer :)
- Engine and rendering-level stuff primarily. Starts this week.
- Still looking for the right senior gameplay programmer and technical artist
2. Set up a new gameserver host as a test in Istanbul
- submit a support ticket with your experiences and thoughts
- should we set up a new region rather than have it in the Europe region?
3. Finished migrating gameserver hosts to physical machines
4. Finished migrating to the lower-CPU-utilization server management system
- mostly some consolidation tweaks and removing a few virtual machines still running
5. The social server took a dive last week, so we fixed it up on a better platform
6. Reduced data size in server-to-client communications
- should decrease sync times a little
7. Started collecting client-to-server network data from volunteers
- Early results are showing high retry rates. We need more samples to get an idea of why though
- If you experience long account sync times and you want to help, submit a support ticket
8. MatchMaker changes
- Reduced server browser skill range down to +-300
- Reduced the Skill Rating Expand Time used in MatchMaking to 330 seconds (should find better servers for very high and very low MMR players)
9. Game Balance:
- Slightly increased turret health (both MG and Rocket)
- Slightly reduce detection range on the Portable Scanner
10. Economy
- Increased HC rewards on new-user achievements
- Increased pricing on primary weapons
- Increased max per-match HC gains
11. The Markee Fest event was really great
- It was the first in-person event we've done, and we'll be doing more in the future.
Let's try something a little different for feedback - submit a support ticket at https://hawken.zendesk.com. It makes it easy to see direct feedback come in and it lets us categorize things more effectively.
CapnJosh Weekly Update - 2015-07-02
1. Double HC weekend starts now!
2. We've significantly increased the HC rewards for new user achievements
- The idea is to remove the sense of too much grind
- New users should be able to buy new stuff - more choice, more fun, less stress at making the "wrong purchase choice"
- We will be watching "the numbers" to see how it *actually* affects the new user experience
3. We're reviving a different gameserver management system that may actually improve performance a bit
- It's Ansible-based in case you like that level of detail ;)
4. We have an all-new server in Dallas
- look for "dallas2"
- it's running in an Internap data center (they're way into good networking)
5. Community tournaments - if you're running one or if you want to run one, send in a support ticket and tell us about it
- We want to help make your event a success.
- those "na" servers are running with this
6. There's a cosmetic item available for HC that's usually only an MC item.
- Be quick though, this time it really is a limited-time-only thing
7. Probably the most important development this last week was this: http://www.megabots.com/
- I started talking with them. How could we partner up? What do you think?
- Does this mean we need to somehow challenge the MWO team? Post your feedback to https://community.playhawken.com/topic/2666-weekly-update-2015-07-02/
Love Wins Event!
To celebrate this historic ruling, any player that logs in today through Sunday, June 28th 11:59 PDT will receive a forum badge
We're also celebrating by putting the RWB-Cross Paint, LessThan 3 LTD Paint and Neon Tech Paint on sale (deep discount) (until Sunday, June 28th 11:59 PDT).
Please post links to your #lovewins Hawken style ingame screenshots to this thread, and logos and your image may get highlighted on Facebook this weekend and throughout the week! Don't forget to use the spoiler tags with your images!
Forum badge will be delivered by Friday, July 3rd, it takes time to manually apply to all those that login!
Weekly Update - 2015-06-26
- look for "dallas2" in the server name.
- I want to hear your experience.
2. We got rid of the worst of the Dallas-based hosts.
- The networking infrastructure just couldn't hang
3. E3 was productive
- Several pretty big developments wrapping up; can't say anything yet ;)
- The AirMech VR demo for the Oculus was great
4. Signed on a new core engine programmer
- he's starting in early July
5. Actively interviewing Sr. Technical Artists and Gameplay Programmers
- if you're interested or you know someone who might be, email resume and stuff here: http://reloadedinc.com/jobs.html
- we're aiming for experienced vets
- tell them capnjosh sent you
6. We're going to throw some active support at tournaments and leagues:
- for now submit a support ticket with any and all updates you want us to know about
- we will be sure to advertise them on the official Hawken channels
7. For this next week or so we're going to try something with HC: increase the per-minute HC gain rate
- we're doubling it and doubling the max you can get per match
- we're hoping to take some more of the edge of the sense of the "grind" and "paywall" that many have complained about.
- Also, we didn't like how lame this looked (it's a simple chart showing how many users receive how much HC due to time in-match):
Docgotgame live streaming with Hawken giveaway codes!
Weekly Update - 2015-06-12
1. Pricing adjustments
- they're not permanent, but I'm leaving them at these lower levels for a while to gather more data
- we'll make further adjustments in the next week or so
2. Gameserver hosts are handling incoming packets more quickly
- you should see some smoother gameplay
- if you've got some bad experience, let us know via a support ticket
3. We started up a new gameserver host in a different data center so we could get some comparison data
- we will keep this going for a while
4. We've got source control branches in a state where we are now actively working with them
5. E3 meeting prep and roadmap planning
- we've seen how Hawken has performed over the past few months, so now we can start solidifying plans
6. Steam Summer Sale fun
- Yup, MC is 20% off
Here's what's happening in the next week (at a high level):
1. Next week is E3, and quite honestly things turn toward meetings, introductions, conversations and "strategy"
- This is often times where the seeds of great ideas are planted, so I'm focusing on ensuring we stay focused on that
2. High level design direction will be happening
- hint: it's rooted in how the technology and politics develops on Illal
3. Dev team interviews and hiring will continue, though with more gusto
- Top needs: Technical art and gameplay/engine programming with 7+ years experience
Double HC Weekend and Free Mech Test Drive: Technician, Predator and Rocketeer!
Free Mech Test Drive: Infiltrator,Raider and Vanguard
For a limited time, you can test drive the Infiltrator, Raider and Vanguard Mechs for free. All mechs come fully equipped with items and internals. Stop by your garage to test drive these Mechs until Friday, June 12th.