Free-to-play game Crucible is getting two of its game modes removed by developer Relentless Games. This comes in a developer update blog post and video that was released by Relentless Games on their website.
The modes that are being removed from Crucible are Harvester Command and Alpha Hunters. This is being done so that the developers can focus on working on the Heart of the Hives mode which is the community has been playing more.
The community has rallied around Heart of the Hives in an amazing way. Moving forward, we’ll be putting all of our efforts towards Heart of the Hives and what we can do to make that mode shine. Focusing on one mode allows us to refine the design of core systems without the compromises we needed to make to support three game modes. This does mean that we’ll be retiring Harvester Command and Alpha Hunters for the foreseeable future. We’ll be removing Alpha Hunters from the list of game modes soon, and Harvester Command once our new player experience has been improved.
The blog goes on to talk about the plan that the team has for the game, and that it will be done in two phases. The first will be to build and iterate on the core systems necessary to support the Heart of the Hives mode in the game. This is to be done by developing the features that the team knows it needs, which include voice chat, a surrender option, a system to deal with AFK players that ruin matches, an expanded ping system, and potentially some sort of mini-map.
We don’t have an exhaustive list of changes yet, but those are some of our top priorities. While we’re working on adding those features, we’ll also be working on improving framerate, hit feedback, matchmaking, and how we teach the game to new players
The second phase will bring in additional system s and polish that will help elevate the experience of the game.
A lot of the work in this second phase will depend on what we hear from you during phase one. Right now our plans for improvements in the second phase include custom tailoring the map for Heart of the Hives, improving the creatures in the world, adding support for custom games, and enhanced social system functionality.
What do you think of the new changes planned for Crucible? What do you think of the two modes removed from the game? Post your comments below.
