Elite Dangerous Oddysey - The Scorpion SRV and other post launch updates
This article describes some of the post launch content we released for Elite Dangerous Odyssey. If you want to read some more about the initial development and launch content, you can find lots of detail in these posts - TKewell Design - Elite Dangerous Odyssey and TKewell Design - Elite Dangerous.
After the initial launch of Odyssey, we identified several areas of the game that we wanted to make improvements in. These ranged from smaller quality of life changes and bug fixes, to larger content additions, such as missions and mechanics that were not ready for launch.
One of the key areas we identified as needing improvement was how the 3 areas of the gameplay, ship flight, ground vehicles and on foot interfaced with each other. This ultimately lead to the development and release of one of my favourite pieces of content I've ever worked on, the Scorpion SRV.
We started with the initial problem:
- players who were on foot and in ground vehicles are overly vulnerable to attacks from players using ships to strafe the area.
From this start point we explored a number of solutions, including adding static anti-air defences to certain scenarios, but the primary focus of our solution was to create a tough vehicle that was equipped to threaten and engage any passing ships enough to make flying over a combat scenario a more risky and engaging experience. We also needed to make sure that these powerful weapons would not become dominant in the on foot combat space.
With a firm plan and direction in place, we were then able to bread down the remaining design problems:
- The vehicle needs to handle and feel differently to existing surface vehicles.
- The weaponry needs to be effective against ships in the area, but not dominant.
- The weaponry and armour need to be balanced against on foot combatants.
Handling
Due to Elite allowing players to land and deploy vehicles on literally billions of planets, each with different gravity levels and surface types, vehicles use a very physics driven vehicle handling system. Wheels are given grip and slip levels determined by the dimensions and properties assigned to them, and the engine's power is determined by authoring the RPMs and torque of the motor.
The first steps were to set up a "gymnasium" test level, allowing me to measure and gauge the handling of the existing Scarab SRV in a number or realistic gameplay situations, as a base point of comparison. I also set up some documentation to visualise the outcomes of both the tyre grip model (using pacejka magic formula) and the engine power output, and then began prototyping driving models.
We wanted to really lean in to the heavy, military character of the vehicle, and drew inspiration from similar vehicles in modern culture, such as the Batmobile, and Halo's Warthog. We soon arrived at a driving model that provided a slower, but incredibly reliable grip level, allowing the Scorpion to cross most terrain in the game, but always being something of a slower larger target than the Scorpion. We made sure to keep some lateral slipperyness in the model to ensure interesting moments while maneuvering still occur, ending with a model that gave a fun driving experience that resembled driving a heavy tank on ice.
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| This gif was used in the design doc to help communicate the intended feel of the Scorpion |
Weaponry
Armour levels on ships are substantially higher than those of on foot targets, so in order to make the weapons effective against ships but balanced against on foot targets we knew we were going to need to rely on more than just damage values. The scorpion ended up with two weapons:
- The Surge Repeater
- Functions like a plasma powered mini-gun. Projectiles pierce armour to damage ship's internal components.
- Fire rate increases over time up to rapid fire
- Cone of fire reduces over time, making this weapon more accurate as it "heats up"
The wide cone of fire on the surge repeater makes it effective against larger targets instantaneously. As the player continues firing, the cone reduces and the weapon becomes more accurate, allowing for sustained fire on target. Players can also use this increasing accuracy to target on foot opponents, with targeted players given the opportunity to seek cover while the cone closes.
- A lock on missile launcher that can target ships and other SRVs, but not on foot players.
- Can knock out a ships shield generator, leaving it vulnerable to other attacks.
- A long lock on time alerts incoming ships to the danger and allows them the opportunity to land and engage in other vehicle types.
The Aculeus Launcher (Aculeus is the word for the sting on a scorpion's tail) gives the scorpion some meaningful and reliable firepower against ships. The launcher does a decent amount of damage, but will require a fair few hits to take out most of the bigger ships in the game. What it will do is damage and disable a ship's shield generator, making them more vulnerable to other forms of fire, and thus encouraging a more cautious style of play from the pilot. Missiles can't be locked on to on foot targets, so although you can "dumbfire" them at infantry, you will need to aim carefully to be effective.
It took plenty of iteration, playtesting, stat gathering and analysis to arrive at the final balance, but I'm really pleased with how the development of the Scorpion went. We were able to establish quickly what our direction was, and produce playable prototypes to help us reach it. By using this rapid prototyping method, other departments were able to see the tone and style we were aiming for, giving the Scorpion it's tank like visuals and throaty motor noise. The final proof of our success was seeing streamers using the Scorpion in on foot combat scenarios to protect their squads from strafing enemy aircraft, and planning their strategies around the cover that the scorpion provides.
Following on from the post launch updates are the events of the Thargoid war, which you can read about in a subsequent post.