In 2024, we are going behind the curtain, which means we will be doing fewer major releases (like Snapshots) and focusing on the heavy lifting required to bring DEADROP to the finish line. Here’s what that looks like:
Releases
Since founding the studio in 2021 and starting CODENAME: PROJECT MOON, we have released seven major releases to our early players. We referred to these as the Foundation and Expansion years. We are now in the Refinement year, which means we will still be doing public releases, but they’ll be focused on specific design tests and feedback sessions with our players. This is all leading to a publicly available ‘early access’ release on all approved platforms.
Optimization
We are working directly with Epic to optimize how we utilize Unreal Engine 5. Ensuring that we can use all the bells and whistles the engine provides while also honoring our players on a diverse range of hardware. Our target is keeping players on a 1070-equivalent card running at a solid framerate while allowing high-end machines to enjoy a higher framerate.
Hideout
We introduced the Hideout in early snapshots. This is the player’s pre-game area where players can squad up, display their stash, and socialize with friends. Its new design is being finalized and will be reintroduced to support all the new features of the game (vehicles, vendors, displays).
Planning for the Future
We are doing all the necessary ‘under the hood’ work to ensure our community can create, import, and sell their own creations within the game. That means building systems in a way that can easily integrate future third-party authored content.
Visuals
It’s time to take the visuals of DEADROP to the finish line. That means taking the environments, sectors, characters, weapons, and all other aspects of the game to the final art stages. This is a time consuming and large effort that will directly conflict with the optimization of the game, which is why we will be shifting to fewer releases with targeted testing.
Quests and Contracts
Quests and Contracts are a major design system of DEADROP that will give players an opportunity to work with or for the various factions within the game and be rewarded for it. These quests and contracts will be a large part of the focused testing we do in the future.
Console
Console certification is the highest priority of the team. The console platforms rightfully have very strict requirements for releasing early releases to the public. We are working to ensure we meet all of those requirements and can include all of our players in this early stage of development as soon as possible.
In conclusion, we are heads down and focused on what it will take to get the game to a publicly releasable status while also including our community as we fine-tune the gameplay and visuals of the overall experience. As we reach major milestones, we’ll release specific updates. Keep an eye on Discord for announcements on playtests and other releases along the way.