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What now after the Riders Republic Beta? We ask Ubisoft...
The Riders Republic beta has been and gone. We sessioned, and we sessioned hard. We’ll tell you a bit about what you might have missed, but more importantly we grilled Ubisoft about what we played...
“This MTB shit could be a game on its own,” read my gameplay notes on the beta access I had with Riders Republic. We’re in it, you know. Red Bull that is. Not me personally, but I feel as attached to the game as any of the developers, having been at the helm of the Aussie branch of Red Bull Gaming from an online content and editorial creation sense for close to a decade. So whenever I see us (Red Bull) branded in anything games-related, a sense of pride, and critical review emerges. Pride in seeing the brand that loves life, loving its best digital life. And review in making sure we’ve been represented to nth degree of ultimate wiiingsage, because it’s what we give on the reg, even if by proxy.
“So mountain biking… you know, the way it interacts with the world; the physics behind it, the gameplay behind it, the tricks… it adds such a great dynamic,” enthuses Manfred Neber, lead designer for Riders Republic, when asked specifically about the MTB inclusion in the game, and Red Bull’s MTB influence overall. “As opposed to the wingsuit or the snowboarding -- you know, the [other] sports that we feature in Riders Republic, it (MTB) was quite a bit of a challenge.
[To] really give the player the feel of being a, you know… a rider in a huge and awesome world.
“It's kind of cool, we have people here [at Ubisoft Annecy] who mountain bike,” he adds. “[People] who do these different [action] sports; people who wingsuit, who snowboard... and I think they brought a lot of insight. But I think for us it's really about coming through with the genuine thrill of what it is to play [with a] mountain bike, but then also making that one of the things that when players pick up and play it, they enjoy it right away -- they can see the inspiration from real-life mountain bike, but they know that they're playing a game and they're just having a great time either exploring or playing these events.
“And as you said we've been inspired by real-life events as well. And I think those add a lot to not only having great gameplay, but then having these events that, you know, have this inspirational aspect to them and really give the player the feel of being a, you know… a rider in a huge and awesome world.”
It honestly could be its own game. And to many who play, it likely will be all they dabble in. There’s enough variety baked into Riders Republic as it currently sits to sate even the most fickle player, but what stands out is you can feel a genuine sense of difference across all disciplines sat alongside the option to focus on just the one. The depth is there. And it’s something the team has worked hard on, and in the beta it stood out as maybe Riders Republic’s strongest suit.
As far as beta learnings go, these types of exercises are more often than not released upon the controlled masses to look at backend networking and such, but the creatives over at Annecy were also keeping a keen eye on player behaviours and interactions.
MTB is where the real meat is!
© Ubisoft
“When it comes to the beta, the things that we're really looking at is volumes of players in the game,” Manfred explains. “How they interact with each other, use our social features and, you know, how much fun players get from [things like] the emotes and customisation and interacting socially by joining up in groups and playing together. We really built this game as a huge, huge party with [action] sports.
“So we really want to see how that kind of manifests as players play in the different multiplayer events as they meet up in Rider’s Ridge, which is the social hub; the epicentre of all social interaction in our game,” he continues. “So I think this beta has been really, really eye-opening in seeing how social [players are] and how the masses start to form, like in the mass races and just seeing the volumes of people joining this chaotic multiplayer mode together has been really good for us to watch.
“I think some of the things that we're looking to improve upon are, you know, just making sure some of the bugs and some of the little hiccups and hitches are accounted for so we can solve them before launch. So that's kind of what we're looking at right now.”
One of the more humorous things we came across in our time with the beta was seeing an entire array of 64 players lined up for a mass event, all decked out in the same gear. As if the game wigged out and just replicated one player’s kit on repeat. It was made all the more funny for the twitching animations of each player lined up against each other, but this was simply a byproduct of the beta itself, Manfred confirmed. Though he also found the humour there. This prompted another query though in how the team handled the physical body-on-body aspect of these types of events when players are jockeying for position.
The game-world in between events needs to be just as fun
© Ubisoft
If you missed the beta at all, this is a pertinent question because it’s fricking huge...
“From a design standpoint what we were going for, for the player[-to-player] interaction, was that we wanted you to have the thrill of racing in [action] sports,” Manfred explains. “And a lot of times with these competitive races, where players are next to each other, you will see them kind of bump and jostle a little bit. So we want to give you that feeling, [but] what we didn't want to do is we didn't want to make it so that when players collide it feels unfair or, you know, it puts you off too much because it’s a game and we want you to have fun.
“And so I think striking that balance was really key to us there, where you can still enjoy the race, but we want you to know that you’re a substantial body in the world and you’re interacting with other players. We found that very important.”
In speaking to the world, it was another area we found interesting; the sheer size of the map against the disciplines on offer, how that balances when you have players who just want to go off and find their own spaces to session in, and then how to also make it feel like a real-world with impediments as well as trickable terrain. If you missed the beta at all, this is a pertinent question because it’s fricking huge.
“So yeah, that was another big undertaking for us,” Manfred says. “You know, we're dealing with nature and places inspired by real life. So we had to make sure that all of these locations felt similar to what we’re representing in the game. But then also we want to make sure that as players play in these places [that] it was great for our sports: it was great for mountain biking, it was great for skiing, it was great for wingsuiting. So I think that, you know, what we tried to do was we tried to stay inspired by the locations, but then also make sure that the locations, you know, had rocks that were shaped in a way that if you hit them just right, they could become a ramp, or the berms in deep snow… when you hit [them] you took off just right.
“You know, you're in the natural world, but you can still have a great time using these sports.”
Sky's the limit. Literally.
© Ubisoft
Across all the sports we played, there was no question MTB and snowboarding stood out the most. And BMX is a confirmed addition as a discipline set to join the chorus of opportunities post-release, but we couldn’t ignore that all-important question we’d already asked Ubisoft’s Arnaud Ragot -- where is skateboarding in the grand planning?
“So you mentioned a point about the community and, ahhh… enough voices behind the concept, right?” Manfred answers with a tad unease when asked if enough people shout for it, could skateboarding make it into Riders Republic down the track. “ Yeah. We’ve been working with the community throughout the development of this game. [And] they do influence small things and big things. And I think if the community voices their opinion about something enough, it definitely becomes a heavier consideration for us, and can push us… towards a direction.
“And, you know, whatever things the community is asking for... umm I mean, like, I'll just level with you; like, just hanging out -- I love skateboarding,” he adds enthusiastically. “I love watching skating videos. I think it's a cool sport... but we’ll see what happens with the community. And right now we're just really focused on our BMX [addition] and how cool that's gonna make the world and all the cool events that are going to come online for that. So, you know, our Year One content is really exciting. And I think when the community sees the exotic sports and BMX, I think they're gonna see that the possibilities of our game could be really cool.
“[So] when we talk about where we're going, we have a year pass plan for the first year, and it comes along with eight exotic sports. And so just to let you know, what an exotic kit, or [exotic] gear is, they’re gear and sports that let you explore the world in new and kind of surprising ways. They add a lot to exploration and just, you know, [opportunities for] sessioning different spots in the world.
“So they'll kind of be released during the year. And they'll give you some new opportunities this year -- you know, new events and new modes to [play]. I think moving forward we're set up to deliver a year full of content and keep players interested and, you know, just having a blast in the world and discovering more exciting ways to play the game.”
Riders Republic is due to hit most platforms this October 28.
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