Techland has quite the zombie slaying record. With both Dead Island and Dying Light under the studio’s belt, it certainly knows how to make first-person melee combat feel weighty, powerful, and full of on-the-spot decision-making. That’s why I’m excited to see what the team is cooking with Dying Light The Beast. Speaking exclusively to PCGamesN, Techland explains how player feedback influences the creation of Dying Light, especially in connection with driving mechanics in the upcoming sequel.
With the Dying Light The Beast release date firmly set for next year, it’s time to get excited about the return of the original game’s protagonist, Kyle Crane. The standalone zombie game started life as a DLC for Dying Light 2, but quickly became its own thing. That’s good for DL2 Ultimate Edition owners, however, as it means they’ll get Dying Light The Beast for free whenever it arrives.
To get ready for the launch we talked to Dying Light franchise director Tymon Smektała while at The Game Awards. Smektała and Techland make a point of always keeping up with what fans are saying, and this led to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it gameplay change from the newest trailer.
“When we were announcing [Dying Light The Beast] we actually wanted the driving to just be [third-person] because we felt it gives you better awareness of the environment so it was easier to steer around,” Smektała explains. “But then we heard a lot of feedback from our players that actually, they would love to try the vehicles in [first-person] and get more immersed, and continue the immersion they have when they play on foot.”
So if you noticed the optional change in driving perspective, which was implemented in the months between the announcement and TGA trailer, that’s why. Smektała makes it clear that Techland wants to hear player feedback and that this is a vital part of development.
“If we work on a game, it’s not just our game,” Smektała continues. “It’s a game that we share with tens of millions of people. So we kind of need to hear their voices as well. In terms of examples, when DL2 was released we had moved to a new engine and the physicality of the environment wasn’t really as sophisticated as players had expected, especially looking at the fact that there was a seven-year gap between those two games. So players probably expected more.”
Smektała says this is why Techland has focused on the physicality of the environment in Dying Light The Beast. “We understood that it’s so important for our players,” the developer says. “There’s a team of people that just focuses on that physical aspect and everything around the environment – zombie reactions, enemy reactions, player movement, skills, combat, etc – to make sure that the aspect of physicality is there.”
We’re told that Techland is always keeping an eye on what players think of its games, and that the feedback is collated to help the development of future projects. “I trust the very smart and dedicated players that we have, and it’s a constant back and forth, so we definitely don’t develop the game in the void,” Smektała says.
While you wait for Dying Light The Beast to come out, you can already check out more and wishlist the game on Steam right here.
We’ve also got loads of free Steam games and free PC games you can play while you wait for The Beast to finally drop.
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Additional reporting by Danielle Rose for PCGamesN at The Game Awards.