Hello Descendants. This is the Creative Director for The First Descendant, Minsuk Joo.
Today, I would like to talk about improvements made to the Rune System, which is the most important function in strategizing in The First Descendant. In particular, we will be taking a close look at the improvements made and functions newly added from the previous Steam Beta Test.
Here is our new Dev Talk video. In the video you can find latest updates about The First Descendant, including console gameplay footage and new characters etc. in the video!
We plan to constantly share more details about the newly revealed content in this video through our official Twitter and Discord channels. Plus, don’t forget to participate for the upcoming cross-play beta test in August. If you have any questions regarding The First Descendant, please feel free to leave them in the #ASKDESCENDANT channel on Discord. (Collecting questions: June 14 to June 30)
Thank you.
About Crossplay Beta
Hello, Descendants!
We are happy to announce the test schedule that you've been waiting for. You may register for the Crossplay Beta starting today, so please check the test information and schedule below. The good news is that you can play The First Descendant not only on Steam, but also on console platforms. We hope you experience the game in various ways with the support of Crossplay.
■ Crossplay Beta Schedule
- 08/22/2023 00:00 - 08/28/2023 23:59 PDT
■ Supported Platforms
- Steam, XBOX SERIES X/S, XBOX ONE, PS4, PS5 - As this test will be supporting Crossplay, you can access your game information across multiple platforms. Ex. Link your Steam game information to your Nexon ID to access the same game information on XBOX and PS. Instructions on how to link your Nexon ID will be explained in detail through an announcement in tandem with the August test schedule.
■ How to Register
You can check the tester application instructions by selecting your preferred platform on the tester application page. [Link]
■ Supported Languages
- In-Game Languages: Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional) ※ For the sake of the translation quality, we are only able to provide support in a limited number of languages currently. Sorry for the inconvenience. Please stay tuned as the languages supported on the Official Homepage will also be supported in-game upon launch.
Check out various information related to The First Descendant on our official Twitter, Discord, and YouTube channels! - [Twitter] - [Discord] - [Youtube]
■ FAQ
Please check the articles below for FAQ regarding tester pre-application.
- I am unable to find the Request Access button on Steam.
If you have requested access during the Steam Beta Tester Application last October, you will automatically receive access to the game and be able to participate in the beta test this August.
-I am not receiving the tester application email.
If you have entered an email to participate as a tester, you will receive an Application Complete email through the provided email. If you do not receive an Application Complete email through the provided email, please try entering your email again through the event application page. [Go to Tester Application]
-I want to check if my tester application email was processed properly.
If you have entered your email to participate as a tester, you will receive an Application Complete email through the provided email. Should you receive an Application Complete email, please be aware that your application has been processed properly. If you do not receive an Application Complete email through the provided email, please try entering your email again through the event application page. [Go to Tester Application]
- Can I use my XBOX tester application email on PS as well?
Although duplicate applications with a single email is not possible on a single platform, it is possible between different platforms. Ex. - Entering email A after selecting X-BOX → Entering email A after selecting X-BOX again. (Not possible) - Entering email A after selecting X-BOX → Entering email A after selecting PS. (Possible)
- I want to cancel the email I used for the tester application.
If you wish to cancel the email used for the tester application, please use [Submit a Request] and fill out the form below to submit your inquiry. [Go to Customer Support] [Inquiry Form] - Tester Application Date: - Tester Application Email
- I do not wish to receive promotional emails.
Please follow the steps below to stop receiving promotional emails. - Click a Nexon promotional email - Click 'Stop Receiving Promotional Emails' at the bottom of the promotional email.
Thank you.
Dev Note vol.2
Hello from The First Descendant Dev Team.
We'd like to thank our community for your valuable feedback about the jump motion we released in the Dev Notes vol. 1. It is heartening to know that our efforts to refine the more awkward motions are paying off. As we continue to improve The First Descendant together, we intend to keep posting these Dev Notes to showcase the various enhancements we're making to the game.
Today we'd like to show where our gun improvement goals are headed for The First Descendant. Please check out the link below for details.
First and foremost, we would like to thank all Descendants for all the love you have shown our last Dev Note (we think of it as vol.0) and improvements to gun sounds. In addition, we are deeply grateful for your patience during the three months it took for the update.
In today's Dev Note vol.1, we will reveal the jump motions that our Animation Team has been working on, so check it out!
Hello Descendants! This is the The First Descendant Dev team.
We hope everyone spent a warm 2022 year end as well as a vibrant new year! We know its quite late to say ‘Happy New Year!’ but our Dev team has been busy over the past few months, working on improvements that reflect the results of last year's Steam Beta test, whilst developing new contents.
To keep everyone informed about what we're working on and how we're adapting Steam Beta feedback to the project, we'll be providing regular updates on our community channels.
Through this note, our Dev team would like to share where we are headed in terms of development since the Steam Beta test, and we would like to show some details of our current objectives.
We broke down our development plan into 3 key objectives: Overall Completion, Game Depth Enhancement and Play Experience Enhancements. The first focuses on the core integrity of The First Descendant to exceeding the standards of the latest global games. 'Game Depth Enhancement' will provide a more sustainable and enriching gameplay experience, and lastly, we are focusing on improving the gameplay and leveling to provide a more comprehensive and satisfying gaming experience.
We will continue to share and gather feedback on the specific preparations made for each key objective. Today, we would like to share more details, focusing on the Overall Completion of the game.
■ Improvements Towards Overall Completion
First of all, we'd like to talk about optimization.
Currently, our Dev team has completed the implementation of Unreal Engine 5.1 and is working on the latest version, 5.2. With the latest version, 5.2, we expect to see many positive results, as we attempt to resolve instability issues and improve optimization. Additionally, we're conducting various optimizations to provide a more stable play environment for both low-end and high-end PCs compared to before. Of course, we are working on console versions as well. Further information will be shared in the future.
Secondly, we are implementing solutions on controls based on your feedback.
To begin with, we would like to share that we are actively addressing various issues related to sprinting in the game, particularly unintentional sprinting cancellation and issues with reloading. We are also working on addressing the grappling hook, which made up a huge portion of the feedback from the community, by implementing full-scale improvements such as rotation, inertial movement, acceleration, and deceleration. We are currently testing these improvements and hope to provide visual contents to share the changes in the near future.
Last but not least, we'd like to share the improvements made to the gun sound effects.
Following feedback received during the previous Steam Beta test, where users reported that the gun sound effects were lackluster, we are currently committed to enhancing the sound effects of firearms, such as firing, bullets, impacts, kills, and other elements, with a focus on improving the overall user experience.
We are also adding an in-game Audio Mix option, which will allow players to personalize their audio experience by not only adjusting the Equalizer but also other sound elements like Compression and Loudness.
We're excited to reveal some of the gun sound effects we've been working on. We're confident that you'll notice a significant improvement in the gun sound effects compared to the previous version. Please keep in mind that we've deliberately left out the recoil of the guns in this video to focus on the sound changes.
Also, as you can see in the assault rifle "After" section, we have minimized the delay motion between reloads. Previously, characters would make a standby position after reloading, which resulted in a clunky combat experience. So, we have worked on enhancing the gun's usability to enable immediate firing after reloads.
In addition to the improvements mentioned so far, we are also making adjustments to gun characteristics and balance. Furthermore, we are currently completely revamping our UI/UX, in response to the feedback that many of you have shared with us. We will discuss these updates in greater detail next time.
Our Dev team will try to be as transparent as possible and provide regular updates on our progress, so we hope you follow along and continue to share your thoughts. We will bring you more development news and updates in the future.
Thank you.
2022 Recap - The First Descendant's Highlight Video
Hello, Descendants!
This year was extra meaningful and memorable as it was the first time we met our Descendants.
Thank you for all your active support this year, and to commemorate the moments we spent with our Descendants in 2022, we prepared a highlight video that includes a montage of our creators' exciting moments during the 2022 Steam Beta.
Please look forward to The First Descendant in 2023, as much more will come next year just like the exciting moments in the highlight video.
We sincerely thank you for all your love and support for The First Descendant. We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
More than 170 countries have participated in our Steam Beta, and we are truly thankful for all your interests and feedbacks.
For those who have been waiting for more news about us, we came back with some interesting statistics about how our Steam Beta went.
Check out the statistics below to find out the most popular weapons, average level, total damage of Void Intercept Battles, etc.
We will try our best to keep everyone updated with more information about The First Descendant.
Thank you.
Steam Beta Feedback FAQ
Hello, Descendants!
Once again, we are greatly thankful for your participation on the latest Steam Beta test, and we prepared an FAQ based upon your valuable feedbacks and expressions toward ‘The First Descendant’.
Please check below for details. We will continue to pay close attention to your thoughts and opinions.
Thank you.
Q1. Where was the most active region during the beta test A1. It was amazing to find out that 175 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, etc. actively participated the Steam Beta test, and one of the largest portion of players came from North America. During the test there was definitely many feedbacks about the storyline, sound effects, repeating missions, motion improvements. Nevertheless, overall satisfaction was quite high, and majority answered that they would wish to play again when the game officially launches. So, our main priority is to match the satisfactory to the highest.
Q2. What was the most frequent feedbacks A2. First above all, we were truly surprised of how many suggestions we’ve got through various channels during and after the beta test. Other than optimization, which we are already working on with high priority, we’ve got feedbacks about Jumping Motion/Reloading/Grappling hook, etc. Our development team is working to improve movement motions as well as overall quality of The First Descendant. We are also aware of the inconvenience coming from the absence of ‘Loadouts’, and we are developing a way to improve the UX, so our Descendants can switch, setup their equipment in an easier way.
Q3. Will there be any improvements for shooting experience A3 As we know, The First Descendant is a TPS as well as a Character-driven game, so we are not aiming to meet the standards for FPS. But we also got various feedbacks from the Steam Beta about the shooting experience and the Dev team fully agrees that there needs to be more improvement. So, we are in the proccess of renewing weapons by separating each class more distinctively, improving percussion and hitmarkers, along with shooting sound effects which will clearly improve our shooting experience. Although, until now and henceforth we aim to build a Character-driven game, so we will do our best to improve our shooting experience but try to find balance to avoid the game being too dependent on physical (aiming/reflexes) conditions.
Q4. How will the Grappling Hook turn out? A4 There were many feedbacks, suggesting improvements for grappling hook. Dev team is looking into many different ways to improve it. Especially, we are working with high priority on occasions where players fail to land after grappling, unnecessary jumping after landing, and long hovering time. Besides these urgent matters we are re-examining the fundamental use of grappling hooks and how it should work. One of the many feedbacks we are positively looking into is applying inertia to the grappling hook motion and we expect it will bring more satisfaction if it gets applied. We consider grappling hooks to work as a very important role in our gameplay, so we plan to continuously advance it.
Q5. Item System improvements compared to existing Looter Shooter A5. First of all, our Dev team enjoys looting and farming, which is why we wanted players to loot many items during the Steam Bets test. But there were feedbacks about too many unnecessary items filling the inventory which led to breaking the combat streek. We intend to improve this by adding convenient features that will help players to focus on playing without stopping to reorganize. Additionally, Tier 3 weapons were not in the Steam Beta, but these special items will have perks that add more abilities which we expect make farming to be more enjoyable. Besides item farming, we are also working on The First Descendant’s core contents such as character grinding, rune farming, build setting etc., for a better gaming experience.
Q6. Will new characters still be starting at level 1 in the future? A6. As we mentioned before, The First Descendant’s fundamental fun comes mainly from the characters. Researching, customizing, changing abilities, modifying skills, etc. are the very core aspects and fun of gathering each character. We aim to deliver various builds so players can use each character for different purposes and experience the fun during the growth of the character. In order to deliver that intention, we decided to maintain the policy for every new character to start from level 1 and grow step by step. We also think the assets and equipments that are already stacked in the account will make it easier for additional new characters to grow. We will also improve the growth experience, which was quite dull during Steam Beta, to be more fun and appealing.
Q7. Party matching system on the field didn’t work so well A7. Currently, there is a function called ‘interference’ while forming a party in the field. It’s a function that adds a player in a vacant spot of the party without considering the player’s condition. It didn’t turn out to be favorable to the players during the test, and we have plans to fix it. Little bit off the topic but, party matching systems that were applied on contents such as Void Intercept Battles worked very fine.
Q8. Will The First Descendant be on other platforms rather than PC? A8. Yes, as opened, The First Descendant will be supported on PS4, PS5, XBOX ONE, XSX, and we are keep testing. For many players that weren’t able to experience PS5 demo at G-star 2022, we would like to briefly introduce it. The latest technology such as VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), HFR (High Refresh Rate) was applied to the PS5 demo, making the gameplay on a higher level. And ‘Adaptive Triggers’, ‘Haptic Feedback’ of PS5 DualSense pad made the controlling experience like weapon shooting more realistic. Many who got to play on-stage gave super positive feedbacks. As we have been doing, we will keep optimizing The First Descendant on each platform.
Q9. What’s the future Development plan? A9. First of all, the Dev team and everyone who are involved have aligned to launch after making The First Descendant a high-quality game. And we acknowledge that as much good attention we got from the Steam Beta there was much more feedbacks for improvement. So, the Dev team will do our best to apply much of the feedback and improve the game. We are building up improvement plans in detail, and we hope to share the progress time to time. At the moment, it is hard to share a fixed date for future tests and launch, since there can always be changes during development. Additionally, we plan to support multi-platforms at launching state, along with cross-play so players can enjoy the game as a single build globally and on multi-platforms. And as an online service game, we will deliver constant updates, so we hope for your continuous attention and feedbacks.
Notice on G-STAR 2022 Participation
Hello, Descendants!
We kindly inform you that The First Descendant is showcasing in G-STAR 2022, one of the largest gameshows in Korea.
In The First Descendant’s exhibition booth, PS5 (PlayStation 5) console version will be presented for the first time, and on-site visitors will have a chance to play the demonstration. Unfortunately, the first console demonstration will be limited to the visitors of G-STAR 2022 this time, due to the fact, we are sorry since we know there are many Descendants eager and looking forward to how the console version will turn out. Although the circumstances, we will come back to you with the latest updates about the console version in the near future, and please look forward to the news and further updates for The First Descendant.
■ Period - 11/16/2022 (Wed) - 11/20/2022 (Sun), PST (UTC-8)
■ Location - Nexon, G-STAR 2022, BEXCO, Busan, Korea
■ Photo of Booth
Please find the details on the G-STAR 2022 official website! [Link]
