Slant Six developers care!

[Scuba Steve]

I don't know if some of you already know this, but it is fairly new. A developer for SS at the Playstation.com Forums posted a thread recently that he will update as progress on the game develops. He has made a few posts, but this is the newest update on Confrontation.

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey everyone! I am one of the developers at Slant Six Games working on SOCOM Confrontation, and I will be posting on this forum from time to time. The dev team is working very hard to recreate the classic SOCOM experience that everyone knows and loves while at the same time evolving and updating it for the PlayStation 3. We know you have a lot of questions regarding SOCOM Confrontation, and I am here to provide answers where I can. Today I am going to address three consistent concerns I have seen expressed in your posts in the weeks since the first videos of Confrontation were released.



Over the Shoulder Camera View

We are very happy with the way the OTS camera view looks and feels in game. However, we know that many of the community members are apprehensive about this new camera mode. Both Fire Team Bravo and Fire Team Bravo 2 use the OTS camera, and it works great. I encourage all of you to give it a go if you have not already. Nevertheless, rest assured that Confrontation includes the classic camera mode as an option.

Red Dots on the Radar

This is another mechanic that many people feel very strongly about so I’d like to explain the current design. Because this feature is still being honed, I am only going to concentrate on what everyone has seen at this point. Currently, when a player targets an opponent and his crosshairs turn red, a red dot may appear on a teammate’s radar depending on player proximity. The radar only provides info that teammates would otherwise communicate to their allies through speech or callout IF they were playing as a team. Some of the benefits of the red dots include helping teammate’s spot campers, reducing frustration of playing with teammates who never communicate and helping to track down opponents in no re-spawn game modes.

The Gun Spray

We are still very early in the tuning of all the weapons but are very conscious about weapon balance and feel. Currently a player’s first shot or two will be deadly accurate, the longer the trigger is held down the more inaccuracy the weapon will become (which is what you were seeing in the videos). Weapon accuracy is affected by stance, so that a player will be much less accurate while running and firing compared to a player who is standing still to target or better yet crouching or prone. Weapon tuning is extremely important and is an element of Confrontation’s production that is in constant iteration. The weapons will continue to be tweaked and tuned until we are confident with their balance and feel.


We appreciate all of your support, and take your feedback very seriously. I am a full-time member of Confrontation’s development team, so unlike a dedicated community manager I will not be able to respond to all of your questions and posts, but we do read everything on this board. It’s probably best to avoid PM’s altogether because of my limited time, and because any information that I share is intended for the whole SOCOM community.

BOOM headshot!



Previous updates from Slant Six

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey guys, I am following this thread, and I have to ease your minds about one area of concern. The Target Spotting mechanic (the Red Dots) on the radar are an option for Custom Matches, but are not enabled for Ranked Matches. If a player sets up a room with “Target Spotting” enabled then they can give the Red Dots a try, but it’s up to them. Don’t be afraid to try it, you might like it

Have a great weekend!

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey guys,



I am back this week with a really quick update so I’m not going to start a new thread. To clarify my comments about lobby system filters, it will be similar to what you have experienced in previous SOCOM games. You will choose “Custom Game” and sort through the region filters such as US East, US West, Canada West etc. to find or create a game. I can address one other concern: in Confrontation, SEALs will *not* have RPG’s as a loadout option.



With respect to the posts about the details of Confrontation’s release and beta, I think you guys know how this works, but I can’t comment on dates. The good folks at Sony will be sure to let you know as soon as there is official news. Keep posting questions, and hopefully I can provide an interesting update next week.



- ST6

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey Guys,

Quick post to let you all know that we are looking in to all of your feedback and making notes of all your suggestions and comments. We have nothing new to add this week but we are continuing to work hard on Confrontation and there will be plenty to talk about in the next couple of months.

SealTeam-6

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey SOCOMers, back with a quick update to clarify another issue that resides high on the community’s wish-list of required fixes before Confrontation’s release, the “Crouch to Stand” movement mechanic. The “Crouch to Stand” is the movement system where the player can go from crouch to standing/running depending on the amount of input the player applies to the analogue stick, and yes Confrontation has it. It wasn't visible in previous videos as the mechanic wasn’t completed at that time. Today it is in the game and working great.

Have a great weekend,

SealTeam-6

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey SOCOMers, thanks for sticking with us even through the drought of news. I know you guys are waiting to see the game again, and the anticipation is torcher, so this week I want to give the community a heads up on development. The team is working very hard, pushing forward to hit essential milestones. We want to be sure the next time you see the game you have plenty to talk about.

In the future when we hit slow news weeks I will still come and post to let you guys know how thing are going at Slant and to let you know how development is coming along.


Till next week,
SealTeam-6

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey everyone, I’m back from the dead! Actually I am back from a field trip where we were capturing high resolution audio for SOCOM: Confrontation. I can see the community isn’t pleased that I haven’t had a chance to post for a little while and it wasn’t my intention to be away from the forum for this long. As you have all noticed there have been no official Confrontation announcements as of late, and as a result there isn’t much that I can comment on. As for development, we are making solid progress and the team is really excited about the game.

Thanks for sticking with us, and I will continue to pop in weekly even if it’s going to be another slow news week.

SealTeam-6

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey everyone, back again with my weekly update and before I disappoint the community by admitting once again this is a no-news week I figured I would pose a question.

When there are weeks with no news about SOCOM Confrontation do you the community members still want me to come by and post? As developers, we don’t release new media or make announcements – all of that is handled by the team at Sony. That means I can’t comment on release dates, public betas or new game features until they have been announced at which point I can answer as many questions as possible. I read the forum regularly and I understand the frustrations with a “no content post” so I can avoid posting on weeks where there is no news. Does someone want to set up a poll?


Have a great weekend!

SealTeam-6

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey SOCOMers,

There has been some fantastic discussion in these boards since last I posted and it’s great to read your feedback. Your thoughts help provide discussion points for my future posts.

People seem to be interested in the Slant Six team so I encourage all of you to check out our website Slant Six Games. We have a culture section where you can check out pictures of the team members as well as employee highlights where you can learn more about some of the individuals that are working hard on the game everyday.

It was asked if we play SOCOM 1 and 2 at Slant and the short answer is an enthusiastic “yes”. We also play SOCOM 3, SOCOMCA the Fireteam Bravo series on the PSP, not to mention SOCOM Tactical Strike. Each edition in the franchise expands on the SOCOM experience. New features and functionality are added to keep the series fresh and entertaining and because the player base is so diverse everyone tends to like and dislike different aspects of these changes and updates. Beyond that we also read the forums faithfully so that we know which of these features the community believed were the most successful; after all (along with us) we are the fans.

So for next week please keep the questions coming and as long as they focus on the footage and media that has already been released I will be able to provide insight.




Have a great weekend,

SealTeam-6 out

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey SOCOMers,

This was another great week of questions so I will dive right in.
To begin, there was a question regarding map design and the scope of the maps with respect to buildings that can be occupied and explored. As a general rule we are trying to make as many building interiors as accessible as possible. There are some limitations in maps such as Crossroads, where specific building are designed as blockers to create good flow and to balance encounter times. In general we give as much space and freedom to the player as possible.

As for the animation in the preview videos seen a while back, let’s just say we have come a long way since then. At the time many of our animations simply didn’t exist (the jump is a good example), much of the animation blending wasn’t in place and the gameplay you saw was using placeholder animation data. We have recently completed a huge mocap shoot at Sony’s awesome facility in San Diego, and you guys can be the judge of the animation the next time media is released.

As for character/weapon customization and encumbrance, I can’t comment yet. When more details are officially released I will provide insight into those mechanics if you still have questions.

Also if you missed it SOCOM: Tactical Strike has gone Gold! and we here at Slant are proud of Tactical Strike team and their amazing accomplishment.


Check out the post on the PlayStation Blog PlayStation.Blog » SOCOM Tactical Strike Goes Gold!
oes-gold/ and we look forward to the fan response.



Keep the questions coming!



SealTeam-6 Out

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey SOCOMers, I’m back with answers to a few questions.

First off I would like to take a moment to clear up some confusion that has arisen in regards of Crossroads map and how many players it can support. What you have seen to date is a rebuilt version of the classic Crossroads map. The artwork has been redone for PS3 with high fidelity textures, shaders and lighting as well as some small adjustments to scale in certain spaces. To reiterate, the only area that has been shown is the 16 player area of the map. The 32 player mode for Crossroads is an expansion to the original map that creates an additional ring of buildings, roads and terrain around the original core. If you ever wondered what lay beyond the barricaded roads in the original map, we are going to show you. Also, for those who were concerned, the destructible bridges in the map will function exactly the same way they have in the past. The paths underneath the bridges will be blocked with the debris of the ruined bridge once destroyed.

To respond to the feedback on audio, our sound quality will be a dramatic improvement over the previous SOCOM games due to the fact that we can push a lot more with the PS3. Like I mentioned in a previous post we have captured high resolution samples of our weapons being fired and I’m positive everyone will be impressed with the final results.

Let’s move on to the mocap questions. For the mocap we hired actors to wear the suits as they were able to deliver more dramatic movement which translates really well into games. Don’t fear however: Rob Roy was at the shoot (the ex-US Navy SEAL that you’ve seen on the box art of every SOCOM game) giving detailed examples and guidance to the actors to keep it authentic. Also, have you ever ask tried asking a SEAL to do a victory dance? Neither have we.

The last question I am going to cover this week was if I or any of the other members of the dev team plan on playing the game with the community when it comes out: the answer is YOU BET, we can’t wait to face you guys online! When the game goes gold, the Slant Six clan will be active and dispensing justice.

SealTeam-6

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Yes, you can choose to play Crossroads core (16 players, classic map, new art) or Crossroads full (32 players, new areas beyond the core).

Victory dances will be in the game! I was simply saying that we used actors to do the mocap, who in addition to doing great work on the game's moveset were willing to do the victory dances. They did them, we captured them, all is well. I was just joking that Rob may have kicked our asses if we had asked HIM to do the victory dances...

SealTeam-6

Originally Posted by Slant Six

As I have posted before, I will never be able to talk about dates. Our production team at Sony handles all announcements of that nature. Once dates and features are announced, I can answer your questions as best as I can - but I will never be able to discuss the development schedule.

SealTeam-6

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey SOCOMers,

A few perceptive individuals noticed that in the announcement videos the players had 30 magazines (or more) and 30 bullets in each magazine which seems like a lot of ammo. All I can say is great catch! We just got busted. When we made this demo build for video recording we purposely gave the players more ammo then they could ever use. The reason for this is so that we could get as much action footage as possible without worrying about ammo. The funny thing was, even though you didn’t see it each player had 99 grenades too.

To reiterate, I will not be answering questions that I receive thought private messages. It's not that I am ignoring anyone, but I simply just don’t have enough time during the day to respond to each one. I am part of the dev team and all my time is taken up over the course of the week.


Keep the questions coming guys! I am running low on things I can comment on until there are new official announcements.




Have a great weekend!

SealTeam-6

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey SOCOMers,

I have been working on a small tidbit of news to comment on for my post this week but it got caught up in approval so I’m hoping everything resolves for early next week. It’s not a huge announcement and won’t be earth shattering but it is a topic that the community is interested in.




Till next week
SealTeam-6 out

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey SOCOMers,

Sorry about the delay on the small bit of news I hinted at last week but I have your update in hand. SOCOM: Confrontation has officially been pushed back to 2008. To quote the latest issue of EGM in regard to Confrontation’s new release date.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“[It was] purely due to the fact that we didn’t want to compromise the quality of SOCOM Confrontation,” says Sony Producer Mark Rogers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So there you have it guys; even though you may want Confrontation now, our main focus is quality. We are making this game for you and we want to be proud of what we deliver to the fans.


On a side note, SOCOM: 3 / SOCOM: Combined Assault just received a patch (which I am sure you are all aware of by now) and you can check out the details here: PlayStation.com Forums - PlayStation.com Forums
d=barracks&thread.id=107562

Also please continue posting your questions. As long as they pertain to the things that have been shown or announced so far, I can try and give some insight.




Have a really great Thanksgiving everyone!


-SealTeam-6 out




PS. I am very jealous thinking about the fresh turkey and stuffing you guys below the border are enjoying while we here at Slant Six are busy at work.

Originally Posted by Slant Six

SealTeam-6 wrote:

Hey SOCOMers,

I noticed that there was a bit of a debate going on in this thread in regards to SEALs using vehicles during their missions so I thought for this week I could tell a story. To be honest I can’t clarify 100% one way or another if SEALs use vehicles in combat the SEAL consultants that I have spoken to are very vague when talking about their missions (they are top secret) but I have heard a few things. A while back two SEALs consultants came to Slant Six to teach us about teamwork in combat situations as well as procedures and tactics utilize in the field. Listening to them was interesting and enlightening as well as painful as we were taught our lessons while playing Airsoft. Let’s just say in the video games I play I am a very good shot but in real life the SEALs consultants that we worked with were champs not to mention very good sports.

It was during these sessions that one of the SEALs consultants told a story about being in a convoy. He was the driver of a Humvee at night while wearing monocular style night vision goggles. He explained that the difficulty in this task was the combination of the loss of depth perception (because of the NV goggles) while following another Humvee while also keeping an eye out for any unusual activity. He didn’t enlighten us to whether this was a training exercise or a mission but you could tell there was an element of danger in his task as he mentioned continually scanning for any signs of land mines and driving bumper to bumper at high speeds while in night vision. In general his story was less about driving vehicles and more about how adaptable SEALs are in order to perform under any conditions and in any situation.

So that’s my contribution to the debate, take it as you will, but regardless it still doesn’t change the fact that there will be no vehicles in SOCOM Confrontation.




Have a great weekend guys,

SealTeam-6 out

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Happy New Years Everyone!

The forums have been abuzz over the last month as a result of me being away combined with the lack of news and media coverage of the game. As for any new information on the game I can see that the community has already discovered the new 1UP preview that was posted on the 3rd but other then this there is nothing new for me to comment on.

I should clarify that Slant Six does not have a community manager; I am a developer working directly on the game every day which is why my updates aren’t quite as robust as some of the other game sites you might visit. We here at Slant Six understand the importance of being active with the community and I do my best to keep up communication with the forum, and I hope that the Community can understand I am not in a position to release information. As a reminder I can’t comment on official release dates or reveal and information on public betas so you can continue to ask but I am unable to comment.

Keep your questions coming and I will do my best to answer what I can.

SealTeam-6 Out

Hey SOCOMers,
It’s been another crazy week. The team is cranking on important milestones right now and the game is looking and playing better than ever. I didn’t get a chance to post last week for which I apologize, although I admit that it took some pressure off not to come in and tell you guys that here is no news! As per usual, nothing has been announced since I last posted, but I *believe* that the information drought is going to improve towards the end of February. The team is firing on all cylinders in full production mode, building, tuning, tweaking and testing and with more content and features coming online every day, the game has never been more exciting to work on. Hang in there guys, it will be worth the wait!
SealTeam-6

[razor]

Im glad somebody actually cares enough to tell us what's going on. Since none of the morons could ever tell us anything new about CA.

[Negative Creep]

Originally Posted by razor

Im glad somebody actually cares enough to tell us what's going on. Since none of the morons could ever tell us anything new about CA.

No doubt... it's refreshing to see that the developers are already explaining things to the "audience".

Nice post, Steve!!!

[Scuba Steve]

No argument with you guys, it's beyond better than what Zipper "did" for us. The thread he made that post in has over 100 pages, so when I have more time I'll try and find the rest of his posts. He said that they are looking at most responses, but he also mentions it is hard to hear everyone's voice (which is understandable). When I find his other posts I'll be sure to post them here.

Thanks, Creep!

[PhysX]

can you possibly give us the link scuba

[Scuba Steve]

No problem. I'm not trying to advertise for PS.com or their forums (a bit too big for my tastes, only the staff is knows, unlike this community which is much better, in my opinion), but I do advise all of you to post your requests or comments on the game. If you want SS to see what you think, your best (and probably only) chance is to post there.

Here's the link: Message From the Developers: We are among you. - SOCOM Confrontation (PS3) - PlayStation.com Forums

[Conflicted]

That's not to say DevGru-Echo never had updated us on anything. He still is, but asking the same question every five minutes, gets the same answer. Anyway, I have him bookmarked, so if he ever says anything worthy about the "upcoming" patch, I'll know. (not that it matters....it's a little too late to be patching up the game/releasing map pack 2)

DevGru-Echo Tracker - PlayStation.com Forums

But, I have to agree, it's nice that Slant Six allowed people to have a say in the whole OTS/TPS view arguement, and put in a selection of which you prefer. They're really learning from the community of what we want in a game, and seem to be trying to put it all in.

[Cylon]

Now this is definitely good news:

Originally Posted by Slant Six

Hey guys, I am following this thread, and I have to ease your minds about one area of concern. The Target Spotting mechanic (the Red Dots) on the radar are an option for Custom Matches, but are not enabled for Ranked Matches. If a player sets up a room with “Target Spotting” enabled then they can give the Red Dots a try, but it’s up to them. Don’t be afraid to try it, you might like it

Have a great weekend!

[oxfordfreestyl]

If memory serves me right though, didn't this exact community help Zipper with ideas for Socom3?

[Scuba Steve]

No.

I think people "e-mailed" them, but Zipper won't look at anything.

If people from here did help with S3, I will pack my bags and leave. We would be known as the people who ruined the Socom series.

/sarcasm