EVE Vanguard Roadmap Shows Upcoming Testing Schedule While CCP Games Looks Back On First Strike Learnings
Since the First Strike event wrapped earlier this month for EVE Online's FPS module, EVE Vanguard, CCP Games has been crunching the data. Ahead of the holiday break, the team laid out its early 2024 roadmap and talked about what they have learned from the first of many tests.
CCP Games' Vanguard team admits that the scale and scope of the test may not have been up to some players' expectations, as they mention that many players expected a "more complete game" than what was on offer. While the EVE Vanguard team was adamant that this was just the first test of many to come, and it would be a single weapon, map, and gameplay loop, they are committed to ensuring that they do even better at setting expectations with future testing.
On the positive side, CCP notes that players praised the performance of the First Strike test (it was rather stable in our experience), as well as praising the atmosphere, audio, and much more. Combat was also praised, with the gunplay being particularly good for such an early test - something that felt just way off the mark with the limited testing of CCP's last shooter attempt, Project Nova. However, while much of the feedback was positive, the team is also looking to incorporate feedback to improve the experience ahead of its next test, which is already scheduled for next month.
"That said, we received very helpful suggestions and feedback on ways we can continue to improve the environment (such as geometry collision issues), the audio (such as footsteps volume), and make the gunplay feel even better (such as refining weapon recoil)."
Speaking of the next test, CCP Games has committed to holding a test every month for the first six months of 2024. While we knew that the next test would take place in January, the dates have been revealed, taking place on January 25th through the 29th. For the first four months of testing, each test will focus on what CCP Games is calling "minor patch updates, primarily centered around bug fixes and balancing changes." March itself will have a feature update, with a major feature update coming in June's test.
March's update will prototype its mining gameplay, with new contract types and mining available on planet. Given CCP's desire to ensure that every playstyle from EVE Online is represented in some way in Vanguard, it'll be interesting to see how this mining gameplay is implemented and how it affects what is happening in space above.
June's update brings a whole new battlefield to Vanguard, as well as weapon fittings, and expansion of the mining prototype.
We really enjoyed our time in EVE Vanguard, and it looks to be an incredible addition to the EVE Online universe. Dust 514 players have been yearning for another CCP Games shooter set within EVE Online's space opera, and Vanguard already feels like it's on its way to being just that.