Something is happening in the MMORPG New World (Steam). Starting from March 12, a major overhaul in combat and animations is set to go live: it aims to ensure that combat feels good even when many players are fighting in the same zone. Additionally, controller support is coming. Fans on reddit have already discovered an improvement.
What is set to change in New World?
- Amazon has announced a new season for New World on March 12, called “Season of the Guardian.”
- The update will bring new content such as a season pass, new artifacts, and a 10-man trial.
- But players can also expect gameplay improvements: New World will receive controller support and an extensive overhaul of the combat system. Performance should improve.
Amazon is improving the combat system in busy zones
What is changing in the combat system of New World? Amazon has released a long technical blog post explaining what exactly is being changed “under the hood” (via amazon):
They have manually converted 400 actions in the new system to ensure that while gameplay remains the same, it now runs much smoother and will be easier to modify in the future.
The developers state: The original system worked well in development but had performance issues as New World grew.
The new “Slayer Script” project is now supposed to ensure that combat and animations feel good even in areas where many players are present.
“Combat is now less jittery and smoother”
Is it working? It’s already live on the test server, and players on reddit are saying: Combat feels “smoother” now:
“I’ve only spent 200 hours in the game, but I’m messing around a bit on the test server. Combat just feels better overall. It feels less heavy and jittery. The action is now much more predictable.”
Many agree, but there are also some dissenting voices, especially from PvP players. They are countered with the argument that they are just angry because certain animation exploits no longer work with the new system.
Free movement is already possible
What have players already discovered? Players on reddit have found that it is already possible to activate “Free Movement” in New World.
That’s “really cool”; the character now doesn’t walk slowly backward when moved backward, but actually rushes towards the camera. It feels very fluid.
You can read how to activate this on live servers on reddit.
What’s behind this: The feeling of combat being sluggish and laggy when many players are present in a zone is a problem in these “action MMORPGs,” which has also plagued The Elder Scrolls Online for a long time. Certain tricks, such as “animation cancels,” that give experienced PvP players an unfair advantage are also known in MMORPGs.
This completely kills the excitement of large battles when combat doesn’t feel snappy anymore, and you feel like you’re losing control of your character.
The actual effects of the system will be visible starting in mid-March.
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