Overwatch 2: Overwatch 2: Invasion, the biggest revision since the launch of Overwatch 2, will launch on August 11th. Before the game was launched, 4Gamers and other Taiwanese media interviewed the production team of Overwatch 2 and asked them to talk about the various designs of the game.
The interviewed development team members are as follows
Daniel McGowan Environment Artist Dylan Snyder Senior Game Designer Jorge Murillo Quest Designer Josh Zhang Story Designer Monika Lee Game Designer Piero Herrera Hero Designer Ryan Smith Level Designer Scott Lawlor Sound and Technical Story Design Director Rakan Khamash Senior Character art designer
Q: Can you tell the players a little about the official story of “Omnic Invasion”? What old friends will we meet? Will the advancement of the official story continue to be released in the form of the season in the future?
Scott Lawlor: The story takes place after the “Action Hour” animation, in which the Zero Quadrant is attacking Paris. Players will see heroes like Winston and Reinhardt resist the attack, interact with Lucio and Sojourn, and even see what happened between Torbjörn and the Bastion. We’re looking forward to seeing the story unfold in future seasons, but we don’t have much more to reveal at this time.
Q: The story will start with “summoning”. What plot lines will be covered in the current design? For new players who may not have read past animations or novels, will the team respond to this?
Scott Lawlor: When performing the first mission “Rio”, we will play an animation to let players know what happened before. The development team hopes that new players will not need to watch all animations, or after reading comics and novels. to play these missions.
Q: The production team said that the content of “Omnic Invasion” this time is more than that of “Defending the Order” in the past. Specifically, how much is it? Like how many tasks are there, how long is the playing time?
Monika Lee: The average play time for each of the three new missions is about 30 minutes, and several animations have been added to each mission. Quests like “Defending the Order” are small battles that showcase the history of the Defenders, but the most anticipated aspect of this new mission is the ability to advance the story through hundreds of new voice lines, while also being able to interact with More powerful enemies fight, and the overall experience is more complete and massive.
Q: “Overwatch” has many plot details hidden in the battle map since the first generation, and it has always been a topic of discussion in the player community. Although this story mission is not a plot mode, it is also the first time to explain the story clearly. , Is there a plot easter egg that focuses on the player’s attention, and can it be used in the story mission?
Jorge Murillo: These missions are part of the larger story of Overwatch 2, and this is the first time we’re actually telling the story of the Defenders through the game. Players can find a lot of interesting easter eggs inside, but we don’t want to reveal too much.
Q: After clearing the PvE mode, what rewards are expected to be obtained? Is the customs clearance activity limited or open continuously?
Scott Lawlor: These missions are not limited-time content. Winston’s laboratory unlocks the next stage of the story after completing the mission.
Q: Can players explore the hero’s personal story in the hero specialization task?
Dylan Snyder: Hero Specialization is a single-player map where you play as individual heroes to complete challenges. These challenges are designed to help players improve their skills while showing everyone how good you are.
Q: Will there be a new story mission every season in the future? Will there be separate charges? Can new in-game animations see more PvE story content in the future?
A: Scott Lawlor, Director of Sound Effects and Technical Plot Design: We cannot disclose the time for the next launch of story missions, but we will share them with players when we are ready. These stories will be told through more animations or other media in the future.
Q: This time, the PvE story mode is launched for a fee. Many players feel disgusted by this, especially those who have bought a generation of games, and express their strong opposition. Why did Blizzard make such a decision?
Scott Lawlor: We are very confident in the quality of these story missions, and believe that the pricing is reasonable for the experience players get from the game.
New Core Game Mode: Blitz Point
Q: The flash point mode is opened randomly. Is it different every time you enter, or is there a fixed rule? Why did you add this design in the first place? Did you encounter any difficulties during the development process?
Ryan Smith: The first stronghold will definitely be in the center. In order to allow players to have a different combat experience in each Flashpoint game, we want to make the locations where other strongholds appear more random.
Q: The flash point map is larger and randomness is added at the same time. Will this affect players, who prefer to use output-type characters, making tanks and support useless?
Daniel McGowan: Every hero has a role to play on every map. Each map is large and uniquely designed, and a hero who is good at taking one stronghold may not be so effective in another stronghold. One of the best things about Overwatch is that players will have a variety of creativity and use various heroes in different situations, and the flash point will bring this to the fullest.
Q: Is it possible to launch a flashpoint mode version of the existing map in the future? The official expects to update how many flashpoint maps in the next year?
Ryan Smith: These are the largest PvP maps we’ve ever made, and we’ve spent a lot of time making them. When developing future maps, we want to hear what players like most, so we don’t have any new map launch schedules or locations to share.
Q: How long is the game time of each flash point? Are there any special considerations and adjustments for such a length of time? Is there a big difference between the sense of rhythm and the existing multi-target maps? Is it expected to be set for what type of players to play? (leisure/pursuit of teamwork or…)
Ryan Smith: The battle time is not much different from the previous capture stronghold and hybrid map. We increased the map size and increased the number of strongholds, but also reduced the time to capture a stronghold, from 120 seconds in other modes to 70 seconds in Blitz Point.
Q: Do you inherit the development experience of the previous map mode and make improvements?
Ryan Smith: Every time we create a map, we learn more about how to make it interesting for players. We are also looking forward to receiving feedback from players on the flash point.
Q: Are the flash point points and past points calculated independently or combined? Will the “Flashpoint” mode join eSports?
Daniel McGowan: Flash Point will join competitive battles during the season, and this season’s “Special Attack” professional e-sports league will also conduct Flash Point battles in the future.
Q: Overseas streamer KarQ shared his first experience with the game on the community before. The snowball effect mentioned in it made many players quite concerned. How should the party that did not get the advantage in the early stage recover from the disadvantage? What is the development team’s opinion? Planning to make those adjustments? The previous orientation of the occupation mode is that the win rate problem caused by the snowball effect has been removed. Can the flash point be truly balanced?
Ryan Smith: One of the best ways to turn the tables on flashpoints is to know the map and team composition like the back of your hand. Every stronghold and every map is different, so being able to adjust the team and tactics in a timely manner will be the key to the lagging team. After launch, we will review player feedback and the performance data of different heroes to determine if any adjustments are required.
New Hero: Ilari
Q: Why did you choose to use Peru as the background this time? Which cultural element in Peru is the source of inspiration? What is the specific connection or influence of Ilari’s identity to this story mission? Is there anything impressive about the setting of researching Peru? What power does the sun actually bring to this hero?
Piero Herrera: We like to explore new cultures and countries through heroes, and Peru is a country I am particularly looking forward to. My family is from Peru and I have a few photos of my grandma that we use for inspiration and to communicate with cultural experts.
The sun is a very important symbol for the natives of Peru, and it was a good fit to design a hero who could harness the power of the sun to aid in battles and assist his team. You can feel this in her ultimate moves, her weapons are imbued with the power of the sun.
Josh Zhang: Ilari is not part of the story missions in Overwatch 2: Omnic Invasion, but we look forward to sharing her connections to The Defender and other characters in the future.
Rakan Khamash: The photo of Grandma Piero is really beautiful. In Hilari’s original design, she had only one braid, but cultural consultants told us that there are usually two. Grandma Piero’s photo was a great reference when we were making this change, as Ilari’s hair looks exactly like hers.
Q: What is the biggest difference between Ilari and other auxiliary heroes? Does its role positioning tend to be more active and aggressive?
Piero Herrera: She is more active and aggressive than the other supporting characters. You can deal a lot of damage, then use her heal towers to save teammates in other areas of the map, while still fighting the enemy team.
Q: Although Ilari is positioned as a support, it seems to be very aggressive. Does this mean that Blizzard officials have begun to focus on the output capabilities of support characters, instead of letting support only focus on support like Mercy and Lucio did in the past? Functionally?
Piero Herrera: Considering the various hero combinations, we need to find the right balance. Hilari may be more aggressive and aggressive than other support characters, but her healing is the key ability to be a strong member of the team.
Q: Will the healing tower change with the increase or decrease of characters in the range?e.g. replies per second
Piero Herrera: “The Healing Tower fires healing projectiles to heal a single target.”
Q: Ilari can place the building of the healing tower, is it a target that can be attacked like a machine gun? Can the enemy destroy the healing tower?
Piero Herrera: The Healing Tower has 150 health and can be destroyed.
Q: Ilari has the building of the healing tower, and the balance of the building has always been a problem, especially after many balances in the console version, will there be a problem of overpowering?
Piero Herrera: From recent playtests, we think her balance is great. We are always happy to receive feedback from players and make adjustments if necessary.
