Dev Diary
Hello everyone! Eroizek is here with the Dev Diary №2!
Today I'll share with you the details about the upcoming 1.34 update, plans for the future, and thoughts on the current state of Shadow Fight 3.
Current state of the game
Before talking about the future, we should share our view on the current state of the game.
The world of Shadow Fight 3 has changed a lot in the last six years. It grew from a few chapters to a huge story and now even includes the Void world. From Duels and several Events to Raids, Journal and Adventures.
We've come a long way. Some of our innovations turned out to be successful and received a warm welcome from you. Some didn't live up to expectations.
Since the launch of Shadow Fight 3, a significant number of problems have accumulated that have prevented us from moving forward and limited our future plans.
These problems can be divided into several main topics:
Economic System
“Having a lot of currency is not always good.”
Current in-game economy has a critical problem of significant oversupply of coins and shadow energy. It greatly depreciates them and prevents us from using them as a basis for a healthy system that rewards effort.
As a result of this problem the ability to upgrade items using shadow energy has been limited, and the store becomes useless at a certain point.
The first step towards solving this problem was the reworking of event items, which made it possible to receive a fixed equipment boost for each completed event.
Like most such tasks, this one requires a comprehensive solution, which we are already working on and will be ready to present along with social activities.
Combat system
“The combat system should be clear, dynamic and controllable”
Combat is a hallmark of the Shadow Fight series. Stacking combos with hit after hit is what we all love about SF3.
But if the enemy is too weak, too strong or too passive, it makes the battle boring.
Stupid opponents, overpowered combinations of perks, sets and special moves due to which attacks begin to cause damage that can kill the enemy in one hit - these are problems that worsen the gaming experience and prevent us from fully developing this part of Shadow Fight 3.
The combat system changes planned for the next update will be significant.
They will include changes to damage formulas, the strength of perks and supers and interactions between different characteristics. This will allow us to completely rework the set system: you will be able to create an even more interesting and unique fighting style and experience exciting battles.
We will tell you more about all the changes to the combat system closer to the update's release.
In the near future, we also plan to make opponents in some modes more intelligent and proactive, solving the problem of boring battles.
Event System
“Events should an activity that you can completely immerse yourself in and play as a fully-functional game mode”
Over the past year, we have been actively reworking events. They have become much larger and more complex.
But in pursuit of making the events more intense, we sacrificed their transparency. The events have become so voluminous that you may now have trouble understanding where and why they need to go and what they can get for it.
Our goal is to rework the events at the beginning of next year in such a way that each player will be able to understand the inner workings of each event, set goals for themselves and achieve them in the most optimal way.
Interface
“Sometimes you just have to go and do it”
The interface history in Shadow Fight 3 is quite interesting. Over time, the complexity of the interface has constantly increased. New sections and activities were added, and the mechanics became more complex.
We have concluded that at the moment the current interface of Shadow Fight 3 has reached its limit and does not allow us to move further.
We were faced with a question: what do we want the game interface to look like in the future? When Faction Wars and Clans will be released, when events, raids, and the store will be improved?
These thoughts led us to the decision to completely rework the interface, one step at a time.
The interface changes that you will see in the next update are what we want to achieve in the future. A light, understandable and functional interface that allows you to easily find the sections you are interested in and interact with the game world.
To summarize, at the moment we have a clear understanding of how we want to solve the problems that have accumulated since Shadow Fight 3 release and hinder its further development.
But the correction of each individual problem requires the solution of another, and so long and so forth. As a result, to fully correct one problem, it is necessary to comprehensively solve a number of issues, which requires a careful and systematic approach - and therefore time.
The first of these comprehensive changes will be Faction Wars, which we will talk about in more detail below.
Faction Wars
Already in the next month, version 1.34.0 awaits you, which will introduce Faction Wars!
We’ve already covered them in previous Dev Diaries, but today I want to share some more details with you.
The Faction Wars update will be the biggest since the launch of Shadow Fight 3 and will include overhauls to various core mechanics of the game.
It was the complex reworking, rethinking and improvement of mechanics that delayed the development of Faction Wars, which should have been released in the first half of the year.
But during the development process, we came to the conclusion that without larger overhauls to the core systems, Faction Wars would not be able to fully achieve their full potential.
So, what do Faction Wars consist of?
- Confrontation between factions
- Rework of set and combat systems
Confrontation between Factions
Starting from Chapter 3, you will be able to take part in the confrontation between 3 influential groups representing the Legion, the Dynasty and the Heralds. By taking the side of one of them, you will be able to participate in battles, expanding the influence of your chosen faction on a particular territory in the world of Shadow Fight.
The confrontation will take place in two stages. Each stage lasts a week.
During the first stage, the position of your faction in each specific territory will be determined: will you be trying to capture it, defend, or, under special conditions, do both.
The players who performed best during the first week in each territory and collected the most Fame will not only receive additional rewards, but will also act as opponents for the second stage.
Don't worry, you can change your choice of faction at any time, but then you will lose all your weekly Faction Wars progress, so always choose the right time to "change camps".
Every day you will be given Combat Tasks.
By completing these tasks, you will progress a weekly Faction Wars marathon that contains rewards unique to the mode.
Rework of set and combat systems
As we mentioned before, the current combat system is one of the core problems that hinder the further development of Shadow Fight 3.
Changing the combat system allowed us to take a step forward in improving equipment, providing the opportunity to create deeper and more interesting mechanics. The first such improvement will be a new set system.
Previously, when you collected all items of a particular set, you automatically activated the set bonus.
From now on, you’ll get the 1st level set and be able to upgrade it at the Forge.
By participating in Faction Wars and earning rewards, you will be able to obtain resources to improve set bonuses.
At the moment, set upgrade system has six levels.
At first, third and fourth levels, the basic characteristics of the set are improved.
Second, fourth and sixth levels improve set gameplay bonus by adding or expanding the mechanics of the set, making it unique and opening up even more possibilities in battles.
The second level corresponds to the current set bonus. Don't worry, all those who will have the full set at the time the update is released will immediately receive the second level of the set!
Sets can be simple or complex. Focused on dealing damage or survival (yes, in the future you will have the opportunity to use them both effectively).
By reworking the sets, we tried to bring them to a comparable “level of effectiveness”, reducing the pain of choosing between the effectiveness of a set and its convenience for your playstyle.
Some sets have had their base bonuses changed. Some fully open up upon reaching level six, creating unique ways of fighting.
SCOURGE LIQUIDATOR
1 level - Defense +10% Ranged weapon damage +50%
2 level - BURNOUT - Passive Burnout Every successful weapon or ranged weapon hit burns opponent's shadow energy equal to 125% of the damage dealt. Passive Devastation The less shadow energy your opponent has left, the more damage your weapon and ranged weapon attacks do.
3 level - Burnout effectiveness +20%
4 level - PAINFUL CLEANSING - Passive: Painful Cleansing Your opponent will receive additional damage for each unit of their shadow energy burned by Burnout. Passive:
Purified Charge You restore health equal to 50% of opponent's shadow energy burned by Burnout.
5 level - Devastation damage +50%
6 level - SHADOW ULTIMATUM - Passive: When you enter shadow form, you deal 15% shadow damage to all nearby enemies. While you are in shadow form, the effectiveness of Burnout, Devastation, Painful Cleansing, and Purified Charge is increased by 50%, and you extend the duration of your shadow form by 1 second for every 10% of your opponents's shadow energy burned by Burnout.
Rework of seasons and duels
Duels and seasons have been with us for a very long time, but at the moment they seem uninteresting and irrelevant, so we decided to rework them, taking into account the planned updates.
Now duels are part of factional wars and are called Tournament of Fame.
After opening Faction Wars and choosing a side, you will defend its honor by participating in the Tournament of Fame fights.
These battles will allow you to progress the Faction Wars marathon and receive additional rewards and additional Fame.
How is the Tournament different from Duels?
Rating system. Danes and leagues were abolished. Monthly seasons have been added instead.
You will receive rewards at the end of the season, just as before.
Players who took the highest places in the ratings of the last season will not only receive unique rewards, but will also have their names placed on the rating board in the new Tournament location!
We believe this league system will give you a better sense of value and rewards for your time, while the new Tournament of Fame system will provide a better feel for the world of Shadow Fight 3 and lay the groundwork for future updates to the social systems.
Future plans
The next major update will be update 2.0.0 which includes Clans (Guilds).
But before its release, we will make a number of small updates that will fix accumulated problems, improve gameplay and game optimization.
Like Faction Wars, Clans will require systemic changes to some aspects of Shadow Fight 3, which means their development will take additional time.
Player feedback results
We continue to actively listen to your feedback, but we plan to do this more systematically.
This summer we held an event on one of the social networks related to suggestions and ideas for Shadow Fight 3.
This helped us highlight many of the problem areas and gave us even more insight into the pain points of our players.
We plan to continue communicating with you and improve our ways of doing so, so we can make the world of Shadow Fight 3 a better place together.
Our plan is to create in-game survey systems that will allow us to interact more closely with you and receive feedback much faster and more efficiently, and allow you to receive rewards for your contributions to the development of Shadow Fight 3!
The upcoming midterm updates following Faction Wars will implement some of the suggestions that were selected and developed based on your feedback.
You will be able to see some of them this year already!
Quests in the pause menu
Displaying active sets in the Raid screen
Sorting inventory and the possibility to visually hide the helmet in battle
Additional tab for skins and aspects in collection
