Additional hotfixes & server improvements
[h3]Hotfixes to prioritize bug fixing[/h3]
Our first hotfix was delivered yesterday, which tackled some localized issues that players have been reporting, as we continue to work rapidly and proactively on improving the situation.
We are committing to rolling out hotfixes on a weekly basis for now, so preparations for a second hotfix next week are already underway. We will also be looking into our first pass at balance improvements and smaller fixes on the experiential side.
Our aim is to deliver hotfixes as often as we can to address issues in batches rather than all at once. For now, we are prioritizing incremental improvements that can be rolled out rapidly to keep making progress on this situation.
[h3]Servers situation continues to improve[/h3]
Since launch day, we have rolled out a series of server optimization initiatives to improve the live health of the game -- essentially, getting more players playing with reasonable ping.
You can read more about the servers work over the past week here.
Yesterday we made improvements to server performance in Asia and US-West.
Today we rolled out an optimization of our matchmaking parameters to ensure we’re maximizing performance for the highest number of players. Players globally are going to be matched closer to their best ping region. As we iron this out actively, sometimes these changes might lead to increased waiting time or smaller matches but should massively help decrease latency which is causing perceived bugs.
[h3]Quality-of-life improvements, rather than new content & features [/h3]
In order to focus on delivering hotfixes and addressing critical issues, we’ve reduced the overall scope of our intended “Update 1” (which is separate to hotfixes) that was initially planned for the end of November. The date of this update may also change as we continue to work on the core improvements to the game.
This means that “in development” content and features discussed in our roadmap, although not canceled, will now take more time to come to the game. In particular, Responder Respawn and Firefighter Zombie types may now be coming later than the first proper Update 1.
These are features we are not hearing of an urgent need for, in the community, as we firmly believe that most players are today looking for quality-of-life “game health” improvements. Responder Respawn will be an ability to, under certain conditions, respawn as a new permadeath character if you die mid-match. This was a feature we had originally planned as a priority addition post-launch, because of our own assumptions about areas the game needed fast attention on. We're trying our best here to actively listen to community feedback at every level. We know that will mean rearranging, even potentially removing features from the roadmap, and replacing them with others - if those features don't resonate with the feedback from the community.
We still have all of our exciting content and feature plans highlighted in the Roadmap in the back of our minds but are focusing on improving what we presented to players on Day 1 of Early Access.
[h3]Issues we’ll continue to address…[/h3]
Despite setbacks at Early Access launch, we’re truly excited to be on a road towards a completed 1.0 vision of No More Room in Hell 2. We feel that it’s really beneficial that we have this game out in the hands of our community of Early Access players, while the game remains in active development, so that the end result of this game at its proper launch next year will deliver on its promise.
We’re seeing that the game’s atmosphere and one-of-a-kind co-op gameplay are genuinely resonating with players. We share your optimism about the game's potential.
We know we still have a ways to go, and hope this continues to be a project that our players are excited to watch grow and improve towards its full launch.
Below is a sampling of some key areas that we’re prioritizing to address. We’re aware of these issues and more, but it will be an ongoing process throughout Early Access for us to address everything we’re hearing and seeing in the community.
General technical issues and bugs
We are aware that the game has a high number of technical issues, including severe bugs, performance problems, and server instability. These issues significantly hinder the gameplay experience, leading to widespread frustration among players.
This area is our number one focus to address, with many of the server issues rapidly improving already due to our server optimization work.
Zombie movement and behavior
We know that AI behavior and movement bugs involving zombies fell short of expectations. We have kicked off a Zombie locomotion and behavior strike team to tackle some of the issues around locomotion (warping, phasing, teleporting, etc.). These bugs and issues are currently exacerbated by poor server performance, but will certainly need to be properly fixed down the line to improve things further.
Server and Connectivity Issues
As we’ve detailed since launch day, we are highly aware that server and connectivity issues are a significant problem, with players experiencing high ping, lag, and disconnections. These issues disrupt gameplay and make it difficult to enjoy the game. We feel that we’ve made great progress on this, with the majority of improvements not actually requiring a hotfix, and it remains a focus until we feel it’s in the right place.
Replayability
While we know the majority of players are looking for quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes, we’re aware that players with a high number of hours in the game are hoping for further replayability and more reasons to come back to Power Plant. As we mention above, our current focus on bug fixing and hotfixes may mean that some of our planned future content arrives a bit later than we’d hoped. However, we are already at work in implementing solutions to provide more replayability to our first map, in particular the final sequence, and look forward to discussing this more in the near future.
We hope everyone enjoys playing No More Room in Hell 2 over the weekend, and look forward to sharing further news on our plans again next week.
Help to make us aware of new issues and feedback by sending a report to nmrih2.com/support.
Our first hotfix was delivered yesterday, which tackled some localized issues that players have been reporting, as we continue to work rapidly and proactively on improving the situation.
We are committing to rolling out hotfixes on a weekly basis for now, so preparations for a second hotfix next week are already underway. We will also be looking into our first pass at balance improvements and smaller fixes on the experiential side.
Our aim is to deliver hotfixes as often as we can to address issues in batches rather than all at once. For now, we are prioritizing incremental improvements that can be rolled out rapidly to keep making progress on this situation.
[h3]Servers situation continues to improve[/h3]
Since launch day, we have rolled out a series of server optimization initiatives to improve the live health of the game -- essentially, getting more players playing with reasonable ping.
You can read more about the servers work over the past week here.
Yesterday we made improvements to server performance in Asia and US-West.
Today we rolled out an optimization of our matchmaking parameters to ensure we’re maximizing performance for the highest number of players. Players globally are going to be matched closer to their best ping region. As we iron this out actively, sometimes these changes might lead to increased waiting time or smaller matches but should massively help decrease latency which is causing perceived bugs.
[h3]Quality-of-life improvements, rather than new content & features [/h3]
In order to focus on delivering hotfixes and addressing critical issues, we’ve reduced the overall scope of our intended “Update 1” (which is separate to hotfixes) that was initially planned for the end of November. The date of this update may also change as we continue to work on the core improvements to the game.
This means that “in development” content and features discussed in our roadmap, although not canceled, will now take more time to come to the game. In particular, Responder Respawn and Firefighter Zombie types may now be coming later than the first proper Update 1.
These are features we are not hearing of an urgent need for, in the community, as we firmly believe that most players are today looking for quality-of-life “game health” improvements. Responder Respawn will be an ability to, under certain conditions, respawn as a new permadeath character if you die mid-match. This was a feature we had originally planned as a priority addition post-launch, because of our own assumptions about areas the game needed fast attention on. We're trying our best here to actively listen to community feedback at every level. We know that will mean rearranging, even potentially removing features from the roadmap, and replacing them with others - if those features don't resonate with the feedback from the community.
We still have all of our exciting content and feature plans highlighted in the Roadmap in the back of our minds but are focusing on improving what we presented to players on Day 1 of Early Access.
[h3]Issues we’ll continue to address…[/h3]
Despite setbacks at Early Access launch, we’re truly excited to be on a road towards a completed 1.0 vision of No More Room in Hell 2. We feel that it’s really beneficial that we have this game out in the hands of our community of Early Access players, while the game remains in active development, so that the end result of this game at its proper launch next year will deliver on its promise.
We’re seeing that the game’s atmosphere and one-of-a-kind co-op gameplay are genuinely resonating with players. We share your optimism about the game's potential.
We know we still have a ways to go, and hope this continues to be a project that our players are excited to watch grow and improve towards its full launch.
Below is a sampling of some key areas that we’re prioritizing to address. We’re aware of these issues and more, but it will be an ongoing process throughout Early Access for us to address everything we’re hearing and seeing in the community.
General technical issues and bugs
We are aware that the game has a high number of technical issues, including severe bugs, performance problems, and server instability. These issues significantly hinder the gameplay experience, leading to widespread frustration among players.
This area is our number one focus to address, with many of the server issues rapidly improving already due to our server optimization work.
Zombie movement and behavior
We know that AI behavior and movement bugs involving zombies fell short of expectations. We have kicked off a Zombie locomotion and behavior strike team to tackle some of the issues around locomotion (warping, phasing, teleporting, etc.). These bugs and issues are currently exacerbated by poor server performance, but will certainly need to be properly fixed down the line to improve things further.
Server and Connectivity Issues
As we’ve detailed since launch day, we are highly aware that server and connectivity issues are a significant problem, with players experiencing high ping, lag, and disconnections. These issues disrupt gameplay and make it difficult to enjoy the game. We feel that we’ve made great progress on this, with the majority of improvements not actually requiring a hotfix, and it remains a focus until we feel it’s in the right place.
Replayability
While we know the majority of players are looking for quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes, we’re aware that players with a high number of hours in the game are hoping for further replayability and more reasons to come back to Power Plant. As we mention above, our current focus on bug fixing and hotfixes may mean that some of our planned future content arrives a bit later than we’d hoped. However, we are already at work in implementing solutions to provide more replayability to our first map, in particular the final sequence, and look forward to discussing this more in the near future.
We hope everyone enjoys playing No More Room in Hell 2 over the weekend, and look forward to sharing further news on our plans again next week.
Help to make us aware of new issues and feedback by sending a report to nmrih2.com/support.
