Smite 2 by Hi-Rez studios has been trickling out new details, and most recently in a “Developer Deep Dive,” it’s gone into detail about its standard gameplay mode. Conquest was the primary five-versus-five MOBA game mode in the original Smite, and it makes a return in a fresh way in the follow-up.
As explained in the new video, the upgrade to Unreal Engine 5 eases much of the process needed in creating detailed maps and gameplay components—and even updating it, where need be. An example given is obtaining buffs from jungle mobs, which can now be done with a new shortcut button and a much nicer buff display description. There are also similar interactions throughout the new map, with base doors most importantly having better player interactions.
The “Deep Dive” also unveils Warhorn, which, after a channeling period, sends a more powerful wave of minions, plus some new Fury objectives that help mix things up and change the tides for teams.
Legacy MOBAs have certainly had similar points where developer ambitions were restricted by engine. A common complaint is that LoL’s updates are restricted by its decade-plus-old engine. Meanwhile, original Defense of the Ancients developers updated the Warcraft 3 mod and the Dota 2 standalone client with parallel, identical patches, until new additions were beyond WC3’s capacities and only possible on the Source 2 version, unveiled in 2015.
In comparison, a lead level designer for Smite 2 showcases how easy it is to make updates to the map with UE5, with literal brush strokes changing the visual and textural assets, smoothing out the staff pipeline for these processes. Good for them.
Alpha tests for Smite 2 are slated for later this year, with sign-ups available now on the official site.
