http://www.gogigantic.com/https://youtu.be/E9J98V8B63U?si=1z5xl-YsfLSq62ND
The game is a third person action game
with many elements borrowed from MOBA play (See thread title) and a charming art style. The "twist" is that each "base" is actually a gigantic monster that moves and behaves of its own accord that has to be protected by each team. FUN!
Game was a moba that died back in 2018, but has been revived by Gearbox in 2024. More details to come!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zMDeSteqhM
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If SMNC has taught me anything it's that you can make mobas fun by using fps elements
Oh and dibs on the mech.
WoWtcg and general gaming podcast
WoWtcg and gaming website
"...only mights and maybes."
"...only mights and maybes."
"...only mights and maybes."
Hands on report as follows.
First off: This is not a MOBA. Not even close. There are no lanes, there are no creeps, there are no set towers to destroy, there are no items to buy and the base mechanics work nothing like a normal MOBA. The only thing this has in common with a MOBA is that your character levels up and I guess you could call the map an "arena."
On the map there are nodes your team can capture. The more nodes you capture the faster your team's kaiju Guardian builds rage. Once your Guardian's rage meter fills up it will then stomp over to kick the enemy Guardian in the dick, opening it up for your team to try and press into the enemy base to damage it. If after 15 minutes there is no winner, the action moves to a much smaller area where Guardian attacks happen much more frequently and the combat gets really crazy due to the close proximity.
The classes are super varied, each with its own distinct style of play so there's guaranteed to be someone in the cast you like. The combat is fun because it's not a spray and pray game. Some characters are more lenient than others due to their abilities but generally aiming ability is actually relevant here in a big way. Each character is very role specific so really getting into the nitty gritties of how they perform is pretty important. It is, dare I say it, "role warfare."
EDIT: Each team can only have one of each character. My old, now incorrect, info is, I think, based on some videos from some old builds.
It's a really damn fun game and Kusmeroglu, Mvrck, Notorious Ben, Kaboodles, and myself all had a ball trying it.
"...only mights and maybes."
Apparently not relevant to this game, and a lot of this is going to be personal preference stuff, but:
- Skillshots are extremely fiddly when your camera is essentially fused to the torso of a character, and you have to physically turn to position your caster UI. A lot of Smite involves this fiddly skillshot mechanic.
- Map awareness is just crippled and map control is almost non-existent. A fixed camera really strips away the impact of warding - in a game like MNC, this isn't a big deal because the maps are designed to accommodate the change in perspective, but Smite still uses a variant on the old Summoner's Rift map, and that shit is not designed with third person in mind.
- Players game the camera more than they game anything else. Some little bastard will get behind you where you cannot deal with them because lol 3rd person camera and kill you, and it will feel extremely cheap every time it happens.
- The spectacle of the team fight is lost because you no longer have a bird's eye view of the action. Instead you'll be staring directly into a tornado of particle effects, sometimes making sense of it, sometimes not, but never feeling like you're part of anything to write home about.
- in a genre that is already PUG unfriendly, Smite takes the cake for worst experience without voice communication. It's very difficult to read what a given teammate is about to do before it's too late, and then comes the usual river of toxic MOBA obscenities.
In a nuthsell, it doesn't work for the same reason most FPS / 3PS spins on RTS games don't work: the genre hinges on information that is provided to the player via putting them in the sky overlooking the battlefield. To do it right (like MNC, for example), you basically have to rebuild the whole thing from the ground up & make the MOBA part secondary to the shooter part.
I asked them to pick characters they don't normally play, they conceded in letting me pick their lineup and who would be that line up.
we held our own until the game crashed.
oosiks... We were the only team to not lose
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
These are all just the weirdest criticisms that are basically just "I don't like change!" that I've ever heard about Smite.
Skillshots are skillshots, they work like aiming in any other 3rd person action game. The only thing that can be a little wonky is if you get stunned and turn your camera, because then your character and camera can be facing different directions for a moment, but as soon as you start moving, your character will immediately return to facing the same direction as the camera. I'm just happy to be able to control my character directly and not have to click-fest to play a game.
The challenges in awareness are part of what make it interesting. The minimap still functions exactly the same way however, and it is an important tool because of that. There's no change in the way warding is impacted, they still give vision on the minimap, though additionally vision from wards or allies allows you to see revealed gods as a silhouette through walls, which can aid you in landing abilities over walls. A change some months back actually made it so that when an enemy enters ward range, the ward will ping the minimap audibly and visibly to call your attention to it as well.
Your third point is just weird. Yes, there are a lot of advantages in getting behind an opponent, some abilities give benefits to being behind an opponent. But the idea that "you cannot deal with them"? Turn around!
Your description of the spectacle of the team fight being lost exactly describes every time I see a teamfight in DotA or LoL. It's a mass of pixels and particle effects. It has nothing to do with perspective and everything to do with becoming familiar with the game and learning to recognize the different abilities and their signs, which basically just comes in time with playing the game. I won't say that big team fights aren't chaotic in Smite, because they certainly are, but it's no different than any other MOBA.
Your last point sounds exactly like something from someone who didn't even know that the VGS existed, because it has been around since the beginning and is the exact solution to fast communication to teammates without voice comms being available. It lets you call out a ton of commands to give information to your teammates in just a few keystrokes that become verbal callouts in the game. VF2 would call "Enemy Missing Middle", VCC would call "Be careful!", VVB calls "Be Right Back", etc. There are literally 50-100 things you can call out in only 3 or 4 keystrokes, it's really a nice system.
That said, Smite has joined as one of the games supported by Curse Voice, which is a pretty neat system. Not everyone uses it, but even if they don't, you can still communicate with the VGS with people who aren't on voice.
If by 'doesn't work' you mean, is growing in popularity nicely to the point that Hirez has been able to more than double the size of the company in the past year or so, has expanded its coverage to include separate regions for China as well as South America and is set to host a world tournament with a decent sized prize pool with qualifiers from all 4 current regions in January, then yes, Smite doesn't work at all as a 3rd person MOBA. I wish all games could fail as hard as Smite has. :P
There's honestly a bit much and it's a bit late to talk about it all, but if anyone has specific questions, please ask. A lot of us got to discuss a lot of topics in terms of development, so someone probably has an answer to whatever questions you have.
Doubly so when shitty drunk.
Triply so when we're shitty drunk too.
I also edited a prior post due to some incorrect information.
Two things stood out to me: Control points and Skill points
1) Teams gain control by summoning creatures on the control point. Each creature has a different immediate and long term effect and also affects end game.
Control points also help your guardian attack more frequently so you can score a hit on the other team's guardian. Having to wait on your guardian to win isn't too bad and I kinda like how it makes player characters seem not the most powerful characters in the game, enforcing the fact that you need teamwork to bring the enemy down, like a Raid Boss.
2) All the skills are available when you start the game while ult charges up over time. Every level gives you a point to add to your skills AND/OR Attack, Defence, Movespeed/Stamina and an unknown category. Adding points to your skills augment them, like giving your jump an extra aoe at the point where you jump rather than a stat increase.
Can't wait for the Alpha to start. Very tight feel, very speedy gameplay.
Streaming 8PST on weeknights
@TOGSolid Would you say the game is more set up like an arena shooter? Opportunities for play based on map control and team comp/personal skill?
"...only mights and maybes."
like arenasnet
TF2 is a more appropriate comparison imo
Also, please sign up for the Alpha
Streaming 8PST on weeknights
Unreal Engine 4 Developers Community.
I'm working on a cute little video game! Here's a link for you.
I signed up back when I saw some random video on it a month or so ago. I'm looking forward to this one.
XBL:Phenyhelm - 3DS:Phenyhelm
Fortunately, "kaiju Guardian" was there to hook me.
And this is a timely thing, too. I was just lamenting how I didn't have anything to replace MWO now that the Clan tech is making fights even less giant-robot-slugfesty than ever.
EDIT: DAMMIT, ALPHA INVITE, WHERE ARE YOU?! I signed up literally minutes ago. I demand my instant gratification!
EDIT EDIT: SUPPORT MY CHILDISH IMPATIENCE, GETH.
The Margrave. By far my favorite character in this game. The guy is a walking slab of armor and in a hand-to-hand straight up fight, he cannot be beaten. He simply has too much frontal armor. His molten arm transforms into a battleaxe for when he gets swinging and he reminds me of Soul Edge from Soul Calibur. He's simple to understand how to use, but to maximize kills and minimize deaths requires an inhuman understanding of his capabilities, or you'll basically be a 1.2 to 1.3 Kill : Death ratio person. In a game with heavy emphasis on kills, you don't want to be a feeder.
That said, this guy is an incredible blocker, nobody save King Knossos stands taller than Margrave, so your team can actually use you as the meat shield you are. When the guardian was weakened from the enemy attack, I've literally prevented all ranged damage from hitting him because Margrave is bigger than the weak spot on a Guardian.
All of his attacks require him to be close to unleash the hurt, his main attack is simply swinging an axe around, but the 3 augments let you hit harder, swing farther, and add a final swing that momentarily stuns enemies, perfect for keeping them from getting away.
Margrave may not have ranged attacks, but that doesnt mean he's a sure sniper kill. A good Margrave will make use of Spinning Chain to reflect all ranged damage back at the attacker. Yes, even special ranged spells if they follow a flight path. But Margrave can't keep it up forever. It has 3 augments, one lets him use it twice as long before cooldown, another lets him use it and maintain normal speed, and I forget the third...
Then there is Margrave's Dash Attack. He can cover a scarey amount of distance quick, and watching a dev play, if you time a jump properly you can ramp up stairs and practically cross a room before you come down from the speed. press the dash key again during the dash and you'll hit someone. Its the perfect way to close and engage or run away from a fight if need be.
Margrave's Leap let's you stun your opponent. Augments let you stun longer or in a wider area. Very useful.
Margrave's Ultimate is a devastating smash attack. the 1 augment on it lets you increase your fellow Hero's armor by 100 points for about 20 or so seconds. that's a big deal because even squishy casters can take quite a few hits with that much armor.
As far as character conceptions go, Xenobia is my second favorite character and one that I intend to learn how to play well after I've had my fill of Margrave for a bit. Xenobia is basically Ursula's younger, hotter sister >.>
She is a mid-range debilitating support character and by far one of the more complex characters to play due to her inherent caster squishy-ness and requirement to set up kills.
Her main attack is a life drain ability and if you've fired laser weapons Mechwarrior Online, you will note that she requires excellent mouse tracking to keep her life drain going. Margrave, Tyto, and Tripp swing wildly, HK-206 and Imani the Sniper require you to lead your shots, Xenobia needs you to remain on-target or she'll stutter her cast. Still, it is most fun to keep just enough away from a melee hero and watch them cut away the health you stole from them.
Her second attack breaks Armor, perfect for fighting beastly brawlers.
She has an AOE that breaks attack power as well, and when aug'd will mire even the most agile heroes in black tar to be shot apart by your team.
Xenobia's ultimate ability is a curse that is applied to the enemy that weakens and opens them up to more hurt. Also, your allies heal up the damage they inflict on those cursed enemies.
More to come later, unless one of the other Oosiks beats me to it.
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
"...only mights and maybes."
I don't know what handle he goes by, he was introduced to us as "The Legendary Troy" by one of the programmers. Mostly just Troy though.
Now, the way that stuff applies and the visuals are wildly different here, but I'm still put more in mind of Evolve than any MOBA I can think of. Which means this is something pretty awesomely unique.
Troy Hewitt! Same guy, awesome and good at his job.
"...only mights and maybes."
They already have almost 100 people working on the game. They've got fucking resources to throw at it, which bodes well for being able to actually hit deadlines.
My question is... What's oosiks? >_>
some of the posters in this thread have signatures designating themselves as part of the oosik irregulars
they are the oosiks