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The Anacrusis dev blog talks design feedback and co-op valuesWith a promise that mods will be supported
With a promise that mods will be supported
The Anacrusisshowed its first trailer at E3, and it left me a little worried. It’s a four player co-operative shooter from Chet Faliszek’s new studio Stray Bombay, but in aswarm of in-development Left 4 Deadlikes, it looked the most shambling.
The Anacrusis: Announce TrailerWatch on YouTube
The Anacrusis: Announce Trailer
Let’s also wholly fabricate the idea that this is a direct swipe atArkane’s cinematic Redfall trailer. Beef! Beef! Beef! Beef!
My real interest in the post lies elsewhere, however. First, there’s the heatmap of one of The Anacrusis’s existing levels, showing “where playertesters were standing every time they took damage.” It’s an example of the kind of data they’re collecting to help inform their design, and the “AI Driver” who, as inLeft 4 Dead, is shaping the player experience on the fly.
Second, there’s the stated company values which underpin the games Stray Bombay are making and how they’re making them:
I’m on board with all of that. The Anacrusis’s trailer makes the enemies look clumsy, the levels look empty, and it builds towards a joke I don’t think works, but it’s just a trailer and it’s an unfinished game. Left 4 Dead and its sequel were smartly designed, and if The Anacrusis follows in kind then my other complaints will quickly seem superficial.
Next week’s Anacrusis dev blog will apparently be talking about mods, which they “think are incredible important to the kind of game we want to make.” More good news. Keep an eye onthe game on Steamif you want to see that when it drops.
