AMAs Gone.

Days Gone developer Bend Studio held an AMA over Reddit last night and while the development team didn’t manage to answer every question that came their way, we did get a bit of an insight into what we can expect to see changed in the coming weeks and months of Days Gone.

Something that crept up a couple of time during the AMA was the future of aim controls in the game, with fans asking whether a horizontal invert aim had been considered while another asked whether the devs were working on fixing the lag that pops up when aiming. Ron Allen, lead designer of Days Gone, said that both these topics were being looked at; he said that “we are working on splitting horizontal and vertical aim speeds, allowing players to adjust your controller deadzone, how ‘sticky’ your aim is as well as how much magnetism is applied when aiming at an enemy.”

The devs also covered a couple of questions surrounding general updates to the game (but didn’t give anything away about DLC or new outfits). The studio explained that bugs that block players from being able to crack on with the story are a priority to solve, saying that the “focus is to continue fixing any issues that halt any progression with each coming patch.” And the studio also suggested that it’s working on accessibility options for players with handicaps. One player explained that because of the game’s QTEs, they weren’t able to play and Bend has said that the “issue is really important to us and we’re definitely looking into it, so stay tuned for more updates!”

One of the criticisms that we’ve heard most about Days Gone since its release is Deacon’s baffling approach to stealth, which has him screaming at his mates down the radio which is only really stealth if you’re Mike Channel. Days Gone’s audio lead, Paul Deakin, answered a few of these questions surrounding the “immersion breaking” screams of the biker. Deakin explained that a major part of Deacon’s unwarranted screams was down to context, he said that “open world games are challenging to make, due to the very nature of them being open world and unpredictable. It’s really difficult to predict every players’ decision and play style,” suggesting that the studio thought more players would be running around the place and embracing the post-apocalyptic anarchy rather than creeping around. Paul Deakin hinted at the possibility of an update to the game so that players would get a more plausible volume from Deacon in stealthy segments but backtracked a bit, joking that “one of our goals was to make sure the player feels a sense of anxiety in situations like stealth… so, Deacon yelling a little louder than expected may keep some players on their toes!” We might get one such update for Deacon’s screaming at one point but it sounds like Deakin is quite happy to leave it as it is.

There’s a lot covered in the AMA about Bend Studio’s aproach to environment, lighting, sound, and lore as well so it’s well worth having a read through when you get a chance.