Question and Answers

Hey, Survivors! 

Some time ago, we collected questions that you would be interested in getting an answer from the developers. It's time for you to hear the answers.
Unfortunately in mid April there was a spacetime anomaly created by Waderkvarn engineers that delayed this post for two months, but we’ve decided to share the answers with you anyway.

“Hey! I’d like to know how statistics are collected on the test server, since a fairly small number of people play there. What’s the meaning of the statistics on the basis of which vehicle parts are then balanced (even on the test server), if all the battles are mainly played against bots. Plus, the players often use builds with old armouring. Or maybe the effectiveness against players and bots is determined separately?” 

The data processing works the same as it does on the Live server. We check analytics, pickrates, winrates. Surely, we’d like more players to participate on a public test server. But unfortunately, it often turns out that players mostly play with bots. There are cases where with 8000 PS you can fight against cars with 17000 PS — this isn't good data. It’s worth mentioning that our volunteers also participate in the testing. In general, we observe all feedback — from streamers, YouTubers, and their audience. But if we talk about dry figures and data, unfortunately, for now these data are not enough. Therefore, we pay more attention to the reaction and opinion of the team that deals with the in-game balance, and our internal data that we have. 
We encourage the players to take part in these tests. They often contain big features that change the game quite dramatically. However we don’t test each balance update publicly — there is no point in it. 

“What are the wrecks for? Most often they cause negative emotions and interfere with gameplay.”

The wrecks were introduced during the official livestream when the “Supercharged” update was released, in order to add realism to the game, because before, the builds simply disappeared into nowhere. Secondly, there are new game situations. In some cases you can take cover behind a wreck, and it creates new gameplay events that will give you a new experience. Yes, not everyone likes this gameplay experience. But it’s still important. As for the negative feedback from the players, the main remark is that the wrecks are still too durable. It may remain on the player’s build and it’s difficult to get out from under. In the next update [note: at the time of the release of this material, the change is already introduced in the game] we will add a certain change: the wreckage will become more fragile — it will be much easier to shoot it off. But still, we don’t plan to abandon this gameplay mechanic. We think this is quite an interesting gameplay feature. At the moment we’re just refining it to make it more comfortable for the players. 

“What role do clan battles and their statistics play in the balance of parts?”

When balancing weapons, we take into account both clan battles and random battles, because not all types of weapons are played in clan battles. In general there are legendary parts, relics, some parts of “epic” weapons, “Crickets”, “Locusts” or “Kapkans”. We can check what types of weapons prevail in CB. Movement parts as well. In balancing changes we leave comments for what reasons they’ve been changed. For example: “It’s effective in CB, so that’s why we implement these changes”. Plus, our balance department, as mentioned, mostly plays CB in different leagues, with different builds and styles of gameplay. There are those who prefer heavy cabins, who play on hovers and those who love to play on “melees” — all types of players to balance each other’s opinion. We’ve heard people saying, allegedly, we have a special “lobby” in CB. No, there are no such people who promote any of their own interests. We are trying to balance everything.

“We’ve got structural parts that provide durability, shield parts, in other words, they help in battle and therefore have PS. The higher the damage, durability and rarity of the weapon, the higher the PS, as this also helps in battle. Cabins and modules have their power score according to the same principle. All of the above parts HELP me in combat, make me EFFECTIVE. The higher my power, the higher my PS.
But there are 2 modules that absolutely USELESS — fuel tank and fuel barrel. I can leave the battle faster because of them. But I accept it. Makes sense. Fuel is worth it. But why are they given PS if they have no special use in battle? I just mount a barrel, my car becomes explosive, receives additional PS and, accordingly, I’m thrown against stronger players. I’m less effective in combat, but still fight against stronger opponents. There is a decor that can shield your parts and add small amount of power score.”

This has been the case for quite some time. There are builds where barrels are intentionally put forward as they cause damage in collisions. So, in some cases they’re used as weapons. Thus, this should also give additional power score. Plus, it allows you to farm the fuel that can be converted into coins. There must be some kind of balance. In this case, this is done with a power score.
And still the player has to sacrifice something. In this case it is survivability, instead of which the player gets the opportunity to farm fuel, and in some builds — it’s the possibility to deal increased damage.

“Why can't you add detailed battle statistics and player profile information? The information that is currently available in the game is not enough.”

We’ve already answered this question before. At the moment, there are certain statistics that can be viewed in the player's profile. What kind of statistics would you like to see? Winrates? Where exactly do you want to see them? In every raid or in missions? In clan battles?
Therefore, we don’t fully understand what personal statistics of the player we are talking about, and we would appreciate it if the feedback in this regard would be more detailed.

“Why isn’t it possible to increase the rate of fire of automatic weapons, even at the expense of heating or accuracy?”
Firstly, there are technical problems. This can cause some issues with effects, sounds, because they’re designed for a special timing, rate of fire, etc. Secondly, there needs to be a way to show this information to the enemy. Not only does the player have to understand what they are using, but also their opponents. 
“Why is there no possibility to reduce the time of minigun rotation / charging for a shot (for example: time of pressing the button to fire from “Kaiju”)?”

Almost the same: sounds, effects, the impossibility to inform the opponent.
“Physical models of weapons. “Quasars” themselves are very large, plus their physical model is much larger than the visual one. The “Wasp” and “Locust” models are very similar, but the “Pyralid” is very different from them, so it’s difficult to install it so that it shoots fine and isn’t blocked by armouring parts. Why can’t I mount the “Gravastar” weapon even though visually I still seem to have enough space for it? Why does the top of the “Whirl” have the shape of a dome visually, and the model is cylindrical? This way, the weapon is easier to hit, and it receives much more damage than it could.” 
We won’t consider every gun that the player described here — it will take lots of time. 
Here's how it works: when you put the parts together, the system checks their collision. If there is an intersection — it’s impossible to mount them. You can see it in the descriptions of updates: “updated visual and collision models for certain weapons”. Your eye is an imprecise tool. It may seem to you that this part can be mounted, but in fact there is not enough space. And the game checks it and doesn’t let the mistake happen. Considering that there are lots of parts in our constructor, there can be a bunch of such combinations. If we receive a comment like: “This fender cannot be properly mounted with the wheels”, we change it. We monitor and fix these kinds of issues.

“Don’t you think that the energy consumption of “Varun” is too high? Especially after its nerf. Maybe it's time to give it 6 energy?”

Let's not talk specifically about “Varun”, but more about our approach to balance. 
We check the analytics, statistics, how often a certain part is used, what percentage of the winrate the part has, at what power score levels, etc. If we find a mismatch — either the winrate is too high or too low we’re implementing changes. In some cases we can raise the amount of power score, somewhere — increase the durability, reduce the rate of fire, etc.
There are cases when a certain weapon performs poorly at 8300 PS, but it plays well at 9600 PS. Or some people say: “I don't play well with special weapons at 9000 PS.” Special guns shouldn't be there. Sometimes you can put simpler wheels, some cabin, or replace some modules, and you will already find yourself with a special cannon with 6000-7000 PS, and it will be comfortable to play.
We check statistics and look for deviations — we fix them, release balance changes, but there can be no perfect balance in a PvP game.

“What is the current status of the game lore? Why doesn’t the game’s plot move forward? Is it worth waiting for the development of the story of Hyperborea and the Mentor?”

The lore is currently being developed in several ways. First, you can see various events like the recent “Operation Radiance”. It had a story — Mentor and a story about the Ravagers. Sometimes we show it in our videos. We also advise you to read the description of certain weapons. When, for example, a new machine gun becomes available for a new faction, it has a detailed description. The lore can also be found in the descriptions of portraits. There are even special sources where you can read about our lore.
Let’s talk about the “Adventure” mode. This is information for April 2023 and it can change.
At the moment, there are no plans for further development of the “Adventure” mode. There are several reasons for that. The first is the development options that we’ve previously discussed are quite time consuming and difficult in development. These are new maps, new quests — all this is laborious work. Now we’re more focused on the development of PvP and PvE modes. In general, even our analytics showed that once the players complete the adventure, they rarely return there. Spending a half of a year or a whole year on the development in this case may simply be impractical. So… We apologize if we disappointed you. We’ve seen the suggestions of the players, some even offered us stories on how to develop the plot. But there are no plans for this yet.

“Is the possibility of changing the rarity of parts in different directions planned? For example, to spend a lot of time and resources to make “Docker” epic, or to “lower” the “Omnibox” to a special rarity?”

That’s an interesting suggestion.
However, firstly we need to understand the purpose of such mechanics. For example: a player sees that there’s an epic weapon. Then a player thinks that after spending resources, this part can be upgraded, like in other videogames, and it will have a higher rarity. Yes, such mechanics are found in other games, but there are a few simple technical questions that come to mind.
It’s necessary to display this with some kind of effect. It’s important to change the effects, models, sounds so that the opponent understands what weapon he is dealing with. The second point is balance. Every time new parts are added, it increases the complexity of the in-game balance as a whole, because the game is about a constructor. Thus, if we can change the rarity of all types of weapons, then the balance becomes even more complicated