We recently got a hands-on multiplayer session with Crysis 3, but we were eager to learn more about the game and how it is shaping up. We sat down with Lead Multiplayer Designer, Adam Duckett, to talk about the changes to the multiplayer, how the team is balancing every aspect and what we can expect after Crysis 3 is released.Click:We’ve seen Hunted and Crash Site, but what are the other game modes which will be featured in Crysis 3?Adam Duckett: Yes, so there are eight in total. There are a couple of new ones: Hunted, which you got to play today. There’s another one which we’re not giving too much information on just yet, and then the others are going to be from previous Crysis games. So Crash Site for example, the favourites will be fairly similar: Standard Deathmatches and Team Deathmatches. And we’ve got sort of three or four from previous Crysis games which have been tweaked.
Click:What lessons have you learned from Crysis 2's multiplayer?AD: I think the big thing for us is accessibility was a big part of Crysis 2 multiplayer. So a lot of feedback we were seeing was people coming into the environment and it was quite an overwhelming experience to go into first of all. So we took a look at what we could do to have entry level players come in and actually enjoy the experience right from the first game. So what we’ve done with the Nanosuit for multiplayer is we’ve decoupled the various types of energy you will use. So we’ve removed sprint energy as a concept, so now it’s player’s utilising the Nanosuit and all power abilities. They can sprint, power jump, ledge grap, rip up signs, kick cars, all that stuff, without using suit energy. But then you have the stealth abilities, which is more the support abilities where they can use that energy bar. But after they’ve used all that, they can then go into a firefight on a level playing field. So they can turn up to a firefight with the same amount of health and armour as a guy who was waiting. So one thing we noticed with Crysis 2 was anyone who sprinted to a firefight would die, because they were essentially eating into their armour so we’ve decoupled that to prevent that and create a cleaner, crisper and more user friendly experience.
Click:How are you striking the balance between the unlocks and perks that you earn so that new players can still come in and stand a fighting chance?AD: So we have the default classes which you guys played today. Obviously we will have customisation options. We are front loading a lot of the unlocks this time. So new players in the first couple of hours will have unlocked an infinitely wider variety of weapons and modules. So anyone can use the default classes, which will have weapons that are available later in the progression system, and then also have a wide range of customisable classes. So the playing field should be flattened considerably. We’ve also taken a look at some of the modules that were favoured in Crysis 2 and thought to ourselves, “hey, everyone’s using this stealth enhancement, which makes the suit last longer when cloaking.” So the energy consumption of stealth is now less so you can use it for longer. And then the same with mobility where you had people making sprint energy last longer. We’ve now integrated that into the suit.
Click: We’ve seen Museum today. Can you tell us about any of the others?AD: Museum is the one being shown today. We’re gonna be revealing the Wonders coming out now until release. And so each map will feature one of the seven Wonders that have been built in. Obviously with twelve multiplayer maps, there may be some Wonders featured multiple times and others that are unique to multiplayer.
Click: How does the New York feed feature integrate into Crysis 3?AD: So what we tried to do, we wanted to give players something in multiplayer when they first played multiplayer. The New York feed is completely passive. If you want to utilise its features, it’s very simple: you just go into it and take a look at the challenges. But what it does is it provides updates from Crytek, so you’ll be able to see that on the broadcast channel. It shows where your friends are levelling up, what they’re unlocking, any challenges they’ve completed, any achievements, all on the map that they’ve done it on. And that will then move around the map as of when they complete that challenge. As a friend completes a challenge, that will then be issued to you. So in your friend challenge section you can have say, if you get ten headshots it’ll issue an 11 headshot challenge to a friend. If they then complete it, they get an XP reward. And it’s all dynamically generated, so in theory there are infinite challenges. There’s also the Lobby Challenge, which at the end of each map will be dynamically generated by someone inside the lobby you’re playing. So you can actually see who got the highest stats on that map whether it’s dog tag collection, kills, objective points. And then you can complete that for XP.
Click: Are you going to be tweaking multiplayer before release based on play sessions such as Gamescom?AD: Yes, 100%. We’ve had focus tests that have already led us to the point we’re at now. With Gamescom coming up and various other focus groups or scenarios, it allows us to generate feedback. The work we’ve done on telemetry behind the scenes is quite expansive so it allows us to collate data and greater feedback that allows us to tweak it until release. Post release, we’ll also be able to issue tweaks
Click: You’ve mentioned the advanced community support; what was the feedback you were getting from the community after the last Crysis?AD: I think just general teething issues with connections to servers being lost, which is something we’ve now addressed with a whole new backend. Just listening to the community, we’ve got a new system in place that allows us to integrate changes into the game with minimal hassle. So we’ve actually got the MyCrysis website, which we collect data from and then we react accordingly. And the aim for Crysis 3 is that we have extensive community support.
Click: What made you decide to put the mech in the game and how did you balance that then?AD: The pinger is pre-alpha obviously at the moment. It was just a cool idea. People enjoy fighting it, we saw a couple of people try to get into it. We thought, well what can we do with it? How can we bring that into the multiplayer experience? And how can we make it as much fun as possible? And we started playing around with a few mechanics and then the coolest thing you could get up to was pilot it. So we sunk a bit of time into prototyping it. We’re looking at applying it to some of the other maps so it won’t just be in the one map. Obviously there’s a lot of balancing still to be done. It is cool to get inside it and take control. And you can jump on its head and kill anyone piloting it. The levels have been designed, like Museum where there are gaps you can jump across, so as people go through you can jump on its head, take the guy out and off you go. Just creates more of a dynamic fighting environment.
Click: As you’ve made sprint unlimited, how much of the level design is deliberately built around free running and carrying as much speed as possible?AD: Because we made the decision early on to decouple sprinting and suit energy, it allows us to create bigger running environments. So it was no longer a case of, you know, all jumps must be able to be made by sprint power jump and also normal jumps. You could actually just make these vast expansive environments where free running became a big part of it. You’ve got your vault mechanic as well. It’s not just the ledge grab from Crysis 2, which allowed you to get higher up; this also just allows you to interact with the environment. It doesn’t mean we have linear rooms anymore. It means that if you think you can get over there, you probably can. It allows us to create more versatile environments.
Click: Have you seen any strategies forming for Hunted or Crash Site already?AD: Yes, definitely so
. Which is good for the game I think. You know when we first started playing it, everyone would charge off. I think because it’s essentially All versus All, but you’ve got teams: You’ve got ten versus two, then you’ve got five versus seven and as the teams begin to change, the strategies began to change. So, I was playing the other day and I saw a Hunter go after one of our guys. They shot an explosive arrow into the shield. Instead of just holding on to the shield and using it as cover against the exploding arrow he then threw the shield at me, which meant that he killed me, so he gets more points for staying alive longer. So you end up with these metagames that evolve as people play. Again, the shield can be used with one guy behind and the other guy over the top shooting. But then that guy could just turn around with the shield or throw it away as you’re being lined up…I think we’ll start to see different things when it goes live. You never know how a game’s going to play when it goes live. And it’ll just be interesting to see what the community comes up with. And then as they’re playing, we’ll be able to get feedback and try to hone the game further.