Clone Drone in the Danger Zone News

[p]Hello Humans![/p][p]Today we're talking to our artist Isaac about how the Commentators have been adapted to work with the new King of the Hill team battle mode![/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][h3]What are you working on right now? [/h3][p]Recently I’ve been working on the King of the Hill update. I’m focusing on some holograms of Commentatron and Analysis-Bot, the visual effects, and how those will affect gameplay in that mode. I’m making key art, which we will reveal on the store page when the update launches![/p][p]I’ve also helped playtest the new mode. The times we’ve played as a team have been the most fun I’ve had in Danger Zone. I was wondering why we didn’t have this mode before![/p][p][/p][h3]What new visual effects have you added?[/h3][p]We have a few things in the capture area. There are some hologram walls around the capture area that tell you who’s in control of the area. There are funny new holographic heads of Analysis-Bot and Commentatron. They need to be seen from every angle in the world and tell you what’s happening. Some of the first versions we experimented with looked like a jail, because there were multiple bars around it and it felt like you were in a cage! So we kept iterating until we had what you see now.[/p][p][/p][p]There’s also a bar on the top of the screen that we didn’t have before. It’s pretty interesting because even if it sounds like a small detail, it’s really important for this mode. We need to communicate how the team’s doing, who’s winning, and it needs to be clear. The challenge is to maintain the game’s fun without being distracting. That means when you glance at it, the UI should make you excited that you’re winning or eager to fight if you’re losing![/p][p][/p][h3]The Hologram heads are really important to the new game mode. How did you make them?[/h3][p]The objective was to create a visible place to draw everyone to fight. The holographic commentator heads tell you who’s winning and are an easy-to-see landmark.[/p][p]For the animations, we wanted to try some laughing, angry, and chaotic faces. Robots aren’t expressive, and in Clone Drone, they don’t have a lot of ways to show emotion. Both of the robots have different mouths and we only really animate those while they’re moving, so we broke their original rig for these new ones. We move the head in ways that you’ll never see otherwise, because it would break their necks! Wherever the neck moves, the head will follow, because they’re one solid piece. So we took that away. It gave me a lot more freedom for animation. I made the heads dance around a lot to show those emotions, because they should be funny when you see them.[/p][p]The process of making them look holographic was a little tricky. We wanted to have the old-school scan line effect that makes them look like they’re being displayed on a monitor. It was challenging, because we have an older version of the Unity render pipeline to make those. It’s easier to recreate in more modern pipelines, but we used procedural textures to add the lines and it works for all the objects in the world. [/p][p][/p][p]Normally we see the pair together, as if they’re behind their desk. Now is the time to see them shine alone! They’ve always been in the game, but this feels new because both of them were re-rigged to work more like the normal Clone Drone characters. There is still work to do on them. They still turn their heads 180 degrees behind them to look at you. That’s ok, they’re robots. They can do that. But we might want to look at that before launch.[/p][p][/p][h3]Do you have a favourite between the two commentators?[/h3][p]Oh, hell yeah! Analysis-Bot all the way. I think he’s a funny character. He has no hands or legs and I think it’s pretty fun. He’s more challenging to work with because he’s so constrained by that. If you think outside of the box, you can find some creative ways to show his “feelings”. If you look at the hologram head laughing, you’ll never see that animation anywhere else in the game. I broke his head to make him go backwards and I think it’s funny. We also did some backflips as celebration animations. I don’t know if those will make it into the update, but we will see! [/p][p][/p][h3]Anything else you’d like to say to the players?[/h3][p]Please give us some feedback on what you think of the King of the Hill mode and want to see in the game. In this team, we’re really open to suggestions. If it’s a good idea, we’ll take that on board![/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]Like Isaac said, we'd love to hear your feedback and you can do that on Discord, TikTok, BlueSky, Instagram, Reddit or YouTube![/p]

[p]Hello Humans![/p][p]As we've been building the new King of the Hill team battle mode, our new Server Engineer has been making sure everything about multiplayer works smoothly. Scarlett has only been with the team a few months but it's likely you've already felt the effects of her work! We asked her a little bit more about the technical side of the game to show you what has been happening "under the hood."[/p][hr][/hr][h3]What have you been up to?[/h3][p]Oh gosh, so many things. Although my official title is “Server Engineer,” I work on a wide variety of things because we’re a small team. A big chunk of my time recently has been spent feeling like I’m cosplaying as a sysadmin, managing lots of computer systems and wrangling all the different servers and services we’re using behind the scenes. I’ve also been focusing a lot on improving the multiplayer experience, with fixing up our game servers and matchmaking alongside updating some things that had become a bit out of date over the past couple years. (Technology moves fast!)[/p][p][/p][h3]How are you improving the multiplayer experience?[/h3][p]Over the past month, I’ve been focusing on fixing our existing systems. Although we like to think about software as something that keeps working once it’s written, with backend services, it’s more like a car or an instrument: after it’s been in use for a while, it could really use a tune-up. Our matchmaker and game servers have finally gotten some of that much-needed attention. Now that we’ve gotten everything a bit more stabilized and back to where it was before, we can go from “it’s back to working as well as it was before” to starting on making it even better than it was before. That includes everything from new features like supporting team-based game modes, to improving how everything runs behind the scenes with adding more metrics and logging so we can proactively fix things without relying so much on player reports that things aren’t working quite right.[/p][p][/p][h3]What do we want matchmaking and connecting to games to feel like?[/h3][p]Ideally, it shouldn’t feel like anything at all. It should be one of those things that “just works,” so you barely even notice it’s there. When it is working, and we’re along that golden path, I think we do hit that mark. However, when anything goes wrong, it currently feels pretty… well, clumsy. You sit for a really long time staring at a connection screen that will never finish, before getting presented with a probably-unhelpful error, and then even if you reach out to support afterwards, it’s hard for us to help because we have so little information to go on. I’d really like to shore up that worst case scenario to make it feel a lot better, so that even when something goes wrong, you get useful messaging and aren’t stuck waiting around as long. (See our recent “multiplayer improvements” blog post for more details on plans for that.)[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Even though some of the things you’re working on won’t be visible to players, how will they experience the effects of your work?[/h3][p]Hopefully, players will feel less friction when playing multiplayer. But beyond that, the work I’m doing will help enable the team to make a lot of the updates and changes we have planned. To use another analogy: being a server engineer is sort of like working on the plumbing or electrical wiring in a house. It’s really important work that everything else depends on. And yet, it’s also hidden behind the walls and floors and ceilings, where people don’t see it. You definitely notice it when things start going wrong. But when it works well and it’s easy to maintain? You just have a good, frictionless experience that you don’t have to spend time and effort actively thinking about.[/p][hr][/hr][p]Thanks Scarlett![/p][p]If you’d like to join the King of the Hill playtests, make sure to watch the development live on Twitch![/p][p]While we're talking servers, we'd like to say thank you to our Russian players for their patience and helpfulness! Right now there's still no clear way for us to directly connect Russian players to the game because of the blocks in place. We're still thinking about what we can do to change the situation but for now the community has been really active in finding ways around so they can play, so please visit the Discord if you'd like to ask for help![/p][p]Have fun in the Danger Zone,[/p][p]The Doborog Team[/p]

[p]Hello Humans![/p][p]Today we have TWO of our team talking about their work on the new King of the Hill mode. The Commentators are busy and have a brand new job! Meanwhile, we're thinking about how to make the maps as fun as possible.[/p][hr][/hr][h2]Geoffrey, Narrative Design[/h2][h3]What is the premise of the new King in the Hill mode?[/h3][p]King of the Hill is the first team-based PvP mode in Danger Zone! In the lobby, players are divided into two teams with familiar captains: Commentatron and Analysis-Bot. There is an elevated zone in the middle of the map called “the hill.” The commentators push their human players to conquer the hill by any means necessary. The team that spends the most time on the hill uncontested wins the match. The losing team, uh, explodes. And that’s King of the Hill![/p][h3]Where did that idea come from?[/h3][p]The idea of the commentators being team captains came from Erik. It was a great idea! I generally write the commentators as being united by their shared disgust of humans and delight in seeing them slaughtered, but every so often I have them needle each other. They spend their entire lives talking only to one another in a tiny room. I imagine that would get irksome after a while. So the idea of them finally being outright rivals was intriguing and let me explore their dynamic even more. [/p][p]
[/p][h3]If the commentators are fighting, what do they have to say to each other?[/h3][p]Of course, they both want their team to win. So they’re pointing out how well their team is doing and mocking their opponent. Neither wants to suffer the indignity of watching their humans explode! Their egos are on the line. Analysis-Bot thinks he should be the sole commentator. In his mind, Commentatron is dead weight. Commentatron questions the value of his partner’s so-called “analysis.” But even as rivals, they always agree that humans are generally gross. Even the ones on their own team.[/p][p]
[/p][h3]Who is your favourite?[/h3][p]I relate more to Commentatron, a straight-laced professional who likes the occasional pun and finds himself collaborating with over-the-top personalities. But Analysis-Bot, who has a big ego and can be shockingly mean, is more fun to write. I’ll say Analysis-Bot, but if I had to get robot beers with one, I’d definitely pick Commentatron.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][h2]Dylan, Level Design[/h2][h3]What sort of game experience are you excited to explore with this update?[/h3][p]Co-op is fun. Team modes are basically Co-op but against better enemies. I imagine players will also be a lot more risky and willing to try new strategies, since it’s not a big deal if you die compared to LBS.[/p][p][/p][h3]How is a team based mode map different?[/h3][p]In LBS, there are many hot spots around the map for players to have mini, unstructured battles in (mainly, the upgrade drops and final zones), but not always a central point. In team based modes there’s usually a central objective area that funnels everyone in. The battles are also much more structured, usually having two clear sides that need to be decently balanced so each team has a fair chance.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]What is special about clone drone’s weapons and abilities that you have to keep in mind while designing this update?[/h3][p]In most other games you just point at the enemy and click to deal damage. Clone Drone in the Danger Zone mainly features melee weapons, kicking, and some slow moving projectiles. This works great with more verticality and hazards that you need to avoid and can try to knock your opponents into.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]What other multiplayer game maps inspired your work?[/h3][p]More casual team based games like Team Fortress 2, where the focus is less on the individual players’ ability to kill as many opponents as possible, and more on having fun and doing cool things. Also games like Deadlock that have many things for the player to do during the round, other than just fighting players.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]Thanks for reading! Next week we'll have Scarlett, our Server Engineer discussing how the coming update will support multiplayer and matchmaking.
Good luck in the Danger Zone![/p][p]If you want more updates about Doborog Games, make sure to follow us on your favourite Social Media site below![/p]

[p]Hello Humans![/p][p]The Doborog Team and Community Judges have taken their time looking over every single drawing, screenshot, video and voxel! A massive thank you to Niek, Myeh and TVCat for looking through all the art and helping us decide the winners! It was HARD to pick our favourites because there were so many incredible submissions for this competition. If you're not mentioned here, please don't feel bad. Thank you to everyone who submitted art to the competition![/p][p]Here are the winners:[/p][h2]Community Pick[/h2][p]This was the category that you all voted in. Thank you for taking the time to look through all the amazing art. These three got the most votes! You chose well![/p][p][/p][h3]N_Artist[/h3][p][/p][h3]FunnyBassist[/h3][p][/p][h3]Squiddy[/h3][p][/p][h2]Best Dressed[/h2][p]This was a category to show off your favourite customisation combinations! You're all so fashionable! Our team and the community judges picked these three winners based on their amazing taste in robot parts. Is that you Optimus Prime?![/p][p][/p][h3]Noah[/h3][h3][/h3][h3]Pytherr_[/h3][p][/p][h3]Dvachevsky[/h3][p][/p][h2]Your Ride or Die[/h2][p]Clone Drone in the Danger Zone is about playing together, love and friendships! (And taking down an evil emperor but you do it with friendship so it still counts) These are our favourite images showing exactly how caring our community is![/p][p][/p][h3]John Weathers[/h3][p][/p][h3]OrangeBee[/h3][p][/p][h3]Nook[/h3][p][/p][h2]Need for Speed[/h2][p]The last category is for Robots riding stuff! The new Rip Rider and Raptors were really popular picks but we also had some unexpected rides too![/p][p][/p][h3]SonicGleb[/h3][p][/p][h3]Звездокрыл[/h3][p][/p][h3]NeonPod Animations[/h3][h3][/h3][p]The winners will be contacted this week to get their choice of Bot Skin and Weapon Skin added to their accounts![/p][p]And keep an eye on these forums as there will be more dev logs about the upcoming King of the Hill update soon![/p][p]Have fun in the Danger Zone,[/p][p]The Doborog Team[/p]

[p]Hello Humans![/p][p]We’re starting a brand new series of dev logs to give you a look into what we’re making and how game development works![/p][h3]This is our first official announcement that new multiplayer modes will be coming to Clone Drone![/h3][p]Erik the Creative Director answered some questions to get you up to speed on where we are in development.[/p][p][/p][p]All screenshots are work in progress levels. They'll look a lot cooler on release![/p][p]Why are we adding multiplayer modes now?[/p][p]We’re a small team and that means we mostly focus on making one thing at a time, and for a long time that was Clone Drone in the Hyperdome![/p][p]After the launch of Hyperdome and its big Skyscrapper Update, we took a moment to ask ourselves what we should do next. We always want to entertain and take care of our players, so we looked at what most people were playing. That was still Danger Zone.[/p][p]So we want to breathe even more life into this awesome old game, and the most exciting way I can think of to do that is with Team Based PvP![/p][p][/p][p]What is important for us about the multiplayer experience?[/p][p]We know from our stats that people love playing co-op with their friends. A smaller number of people love our current PvP mode, Last Bot Standing, which puts a lot more emphasis on fierce competition and individual skill! One hit and YOU LOSE.[/p][p]Team Based PvP is really interesting because I think it can combine the great vibes of working as a team from co-op, but maintain the sort of tension you only get from facing off against fellow humans.[/p][p]King of the Hill is our first take on this. You’ll find familiar elements from LBS like upgrade drops, but also new dynamics like infinite respawns.[/p][p]Our one hit kill voxel mechanics mean that our game has different dynamics from other PvP games, and it’s going to be a lot of fun to figure out what other modes, rules and levels will make it shine![/p][p][/p][p]What have we seen the community doing with mods? How do we want to make something unique?[/p][p]Modders have already toyed with multiplayer and I think that’s super cool! There are fantastic people in our Community like TVCat who have created their own versions of PvP modes. People keep mentioning the Juggernaut mode especially, which sounds really fun. :)[/p][p]With the team modes we’re exploring, we want to make it possible for the community to create new and unique experiences alongside our own efforts. So supporting workshop content and allowing people to make cool things in the Level Editor is definitely on our list of things we’re looking at. (But we want to put King of the Hill live asap, so this might come in a future update.)[/p][p][/p][p]What about the future of multiplayer after this update? What are we doing now that we will build on in later updates?[/p][p]Right now, we need your feedback on this next update. Thank you to everyone who has helped us playtest the rough and buggy version on my Twitch channel! If you're interested in joining in, find me on [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink] where I develop this game right in front of your eyes![/p][p]Developing Hyperdome was lonely without an early access process. We’re returning to our roots by going back to open development. Eventually the multiplayer modes we're making will be available to test on the "experimental" branch of Steam.[/p][p]When our players can play the things we’re making while we’re making it, great things happen![/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]Thanks for reading everyone. As Erik said, we can’t wait to see what you get up to in the latest update. There will be more Dev Logs from other members of the team as we get closer to launching the update. Until then, good luck in the Danger Zone![/p][p]Make sure to follow us on all our channels to keep up with Danger Zone news:[/p]