Developer Update - June 29

Lead Systems Designer Tony Morton shares some insight into the latest game update!

 

In the above video, Lead Systems Designer Tony Morton shares the latest on team scoring, Pre-Season 5, gas changes, a new Skirmish, and more - all included in the June 29, 2017 Game Update! We also sat down with Tony for a quick Q&A:

What's your role on the H1Z1 team?

Tony: I'm the Lead Systems Designer on H1Z1, and that means I'm in charge of the mechanics behind gas, loot, match pacing, vehicles, and quite a few other systems in the game.

What projects did you work on prior to joining the H1Z1 team?

Tony: I've been fortunate enough to call San Diego home for quite a while, and I've spent the last several years between PlayStation and Trion. From the systems side of things, my time at PlayStation allowed me to dive into pretty complex systems design for a F2P MOBA called Kill Strain, and I also assisted on some other unannounced competitive titles. Prior to PlayStation, I spent a few years at Trion working on the MMO Defiance. I was a level designer during my time at Trion, and I was also the main designer for all of our PvP content.

Tell us a little bit about your game design philosophy.

Tony: When I design, I try to do my best to take a holistic approach and keep an eye out for how a design impacts the game as a whole. As a designer, it is my responsibility to understand that any change I make can have a domino effect and inadvertently change something else somewhere else in the game. This is important to me when it comes to systems design because of how integrated the systems of the game are with each other. In H1Z1, a change to how the gas mechanic works can change how people loot, use vehicles, and traverse the map, so I need to do my best to consider all of these things when creating or adjusting a system.

What are you most excited for in the future of H1Z1?

Tony: Consistency. The team is currently working on quite a few things based around combat, gunplay, hit registration, and server performance, and all of these together should deliver a much more consistent experience for the player. We have a ton of other exciting features and work in progress, but as a person who plays H1Z1 quite a bit, the idea behind having consistent and reliable gameplay/combat is the one thing I'm looking forward to the most.

What are YOU most excited for in this game update? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, and Discord!