From now until the release of the game next year, this will be a
place where you can get information on our progress as we build the
game.
But first some of you might be thinking, “What is Dota 2?” Dota began
as a user-made modification for Warcraft 3 and has grown into one of
the most played online games in the world. Following in the tradition of
Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, Portal, and Alien Swarm,
Dota 2 is the result of Valve hiring the community developers who built
the mod and giving them the chance to finally build a full product out
of their idea with the help of a professional team of developers and
artists at Valve.
As for the gameplay, it’s a little hard to describe. The camera is
set in the traditional RTS perspective, but it wouldn’t be fair to call
Dota an RTS. And while each hero starts at level 1, and many times hits
the level cap of 25, it wouldn’t be fair to call it an RPG.
Lots of people have tried to assign various genre names to Dota, but
we think Action RTS is probably the most descriptive. And while we don’t
spend a lot of time trying to figure out what genre the game is
inventing, we can’t stop playing it internally and we’re pretty excited
to show everyone how we’re doing.
This site is where you can come to follow us along as we build the game. The first four images we shipped with the
initial announcement are just the start of us showing you our work as we build it. We’re all
looking forward to getting more of the game in front of you all.
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Reddit this Dota 2 Q&A November 1, 2010 -
IceFrog Q: Is there reconnect support for DotA 2? (by Vanes-UT)A: This was actually one of the very first things we added early on,
before the game was stable, in order to help with testing. You’ll also
be able to have a friend of similar skill level substitute for you in
case you have to leave. Players that want to improve their reputation in
the game and community will also be able to help out by joining ongoing
games that are missing players.
Q: Can I still play with my friends from America even though I am European? (by Adam Mosley)A: Yes, a lot of people have friends in different regions and we want to
allow them to easily interact. One of the things that makes DotA
special is how big the community is, so we will do our best to make it
easy to connect and communicate with one another.
Q: How are you going to handle delay and lag between players? (by Alex)A: This is something we are putting a lot of time and resources into.
Minimizing delay to servers, along with optimizing networking code, is
very important to being able to enjoy DotA on both a casual and
competitive level. We’re expanding the Steam infrastructure around the
world so the matchmaking service for DotA 2 is able to provide the
lowest possible ping wherever you are playing. There will also be some
uniquely located servers that are optimized regionally for handling
longer distance matches.
Q: What kind of hardware requirements will the game have? (by S.Hong)A: We don’t have an official minimum spec just yet. The goal is to make
sure that people with older computers and the PCs at LAN centers will be
able to support the game, while also allowing for newer computers to
scale well.
Q: I heard there was going to be an AI feature for when a
player leaves. Is there going to be an option to take direct control of
the hero? (by Stephen)A: The AI features will be optional to the players in the game. You can
have teammates use it, send it to the base, or give it AI modes and
behaviors to follow.
Q: Will there be anything like the AI maps in DotA or a “training mode” with difficulty levels? (by L.Pham)A: Yes there will be bot support if you just want to play by yourself,
or you can create a party of friends and fill the rest of the slots with
bots. There are a variety of different settings you can use in order to
configure the bots, ranging from selectable difficulty levels to
specific behaviors that you want to practice against. For example, if
you want to practice your lane control, you could configure the bots to
be stronger at denying, last hitting, and harassing. We’ll also have
some specially crafted challenge scenarios, similar to things like Pudge
Wars, which I’ll elaborate on in the future.
Q: Will the replay system allow me to move freely backwards and forwards in time rather than having to watch a whole replay? (by Luciando)A: You’ll be able to jump around to any point in the replay, add
bookmarks for easy referencing, view detailed stats and graphs while the
game is going, and watch through a specific player’s view (with regards
to their camera movement). You’ll also be able to watch replays with
friends if you want to review a game or learn from your mistakes. To aid
videomakers, the replay system will have flexible camera angle and
speed controls. There will also be a bunch of commentating and editing
features you can add to your replays.
Q: Don’t you think you should make a lot of changes to the gameplay? (by Robert)A: Significant changes would not necessarily make it a better game.
There are countless features we are building around the game that will
make the experience a much better one. The gameplay itself, though, has
always evolved step by step, and it will continue with that methodology.
We consider this a long term project, in the same way DotA has always
been. We want to provide a quality experience and not just change for
the sake of change. You’ll naturally see additions and improvements to
the game as time passes, but it would be a natural progression aimed at
improving the game for the players and not for other arbitrary reasons.
Valve and I strongly believe that the player focused development process
the game has gone through is what will allow us to continue making the
best decisions with regards to where we spend our development time.
Q: Can you spectate an already ongoing DotA 2 game? (by Valo)A: A lot of the game will be built around spectating and shoutcasting
support. You will be able to join most ongoing games (unless the players
marked it as private) and just watch them. You can join a game your
friend is in, see what your favorite clan is doing, or simply pick a
skill level and a hero you like and it will find you one to watch. We
also have a system in place that automatically distributes the load to
multiple servers so that the game itself won’t be affected by users
joining to spectate. Our distribution network will allow us to support
any number of users that want to watch, by dynamically assigning more
servers to the task. There will also be special tags and search options
to help you find live or old shoutcasted games. Shoutcasters will be
able to operate as directors, so anyone watching will have his camera
looking at the same things the shoutcaster is viewing. There is also an
optional anti-cheat mechanism built in so that the game you are
spectating can be time delayed by any amount of time to reduce potential
abuse.
Q: Will you keep loyal to casting times like Torrent and will
it still be possible to do the advanced tricks, like animation
canceling, fog of war tricks we’ve learned, etc? (by Lycan)A: Yes, those mechanics are implemented. They are a very integral part of the game and it wouldn’t feel the same without them.
Q: How will we manage replay files? (by Nikos)A: They will be automatically saved with your identity online utilizing
the Steam Cloud storage system, so you don’t have to worry about losing
them. You’ll be able to use the replay browser tools to search, sort,
tag, rank, and favorite them.
Q: Are you going to work on DotA after DotA 2 is released? (by Jack Lee)A: I plan to keep DotA updated for as long as the community wants. That
being said though, I think that DotA 2 represents the long term future
for the game.
Q: How will development change with regards to your role, current beta testers, community feedback, etc? (by Basel)A: All that stuff will remain the same, except that now I also get to
work with the developers at Valve. All of our current playtesters and
even contributors like Kunkka are helping. One of the most important
things for me has always been getting input from the community. There
will be a lot of opportunities, throughout the next year, to give your
feedback on all the things we are working on, ranging from features to
visuals.
Q: Are the upgraded graphics going to be distracting? New
graphics are great, but when there’s too much, you can’t see what’s
going on anymore. (by Lycan)A: Gameplay is definitely the most important aspect, everyone on the
team understands this concern. The number one priority is making sure
players can quickly and easily tell what’s happening on the screen at
all times. Fine tuning the right visual balance with each ability,
effect, hero, etc., will be an ongoing process as the game is playtested
and we get your feedback. A clean and understandable visual
representation of the action is important to everyone from experienced
players, spectators, to new players.
Q: Will I be able to help test DotA 2? (by Sing Liu)A: There will certainly be an opportunity to get involved with beta
testing DotA 2 and help us with your feedback. We’ll release more
information about how to sign up in the future.
Q: Are you going to do anything to make it easier for new players to get into the game and feel welcome? (by Arvin)A: Some of what makes it hard, in current DotA, stems from the lack of
services around the game that can help foster a better relationship
between players and that it’s hard for players to be matched up with
equally skilled allies and opponents. Things like tutorials,
matchmaking, AI bots, identity, coaching, and community contribution
will go a long way to making it easier for new players to fit in.
Q: What hotkey setup will exist in DotA 2? (by Stany Kaff)A: We have a few default templates that cover the most popular
configurations, but you’ll also be able to fully customize them to your
liking. You can customize it on a global level or on a per hero basis if
you choose. The hotkey configuration will include everything, not just
heroes and items, but also how you navigate in the game, control the
camera, autocast, set control groups, etc. Your settings are saved to
your identity online, so if you go to a LAN center you will not have to
reconfigure your keys.
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