Devstream 35 was the livestream held at Gamescom 2014, and it started on August 15, 2014, @ 3 PM EST. As with most livestreams, it showcased upcoming content including the Archwing and the Infested MOA, now known as Tar-Mutalist Moa and Swarm-Mutalist MOA, who both made their debut, in Update 15.5 with the Operation: Mutalist Incursions.
Summary[]
Although it’s hard to believe it went by so quickly our very first TennoLive is already behind us. Before I kick off this overview I just wanted to give a huge shout out to everyone that made TennoLive 2014 such a blast. Over 150 fans showed up to greet us in person and over 14,000 of you watched live on Twitch.tv while we made some pretty sweet gameplay reveals, not to mention Steve now adding Buttscoot to the already long index of Warframe inside jokes.
Fortunately our TennoLive Devstream wasn’t all about pink shorts. It was filled to the brim with details on what we have to look forward to in Update 14.5 and beyond, so let’s jump into it all taking a look at what may have been our biggest reveal of the evening.
Archwing[]
We don’t really know a whole lot about Archwing beyond its ability to let our Tenno fly in space, give us an enormous blade, and also make Gundam fans pretty much self-destruct in excitement. Heero Yuy would be proud of that last part, I think.
Outside of that there are few details of the Archwing that we can discuss but an immediate concern noted in our community was whether or not Archwing was going to be an ‘on rails’ adventure, meaning that players would only have control over where to shoot. I’m happy to inform you that our Archwing missions will be taking place in a mission area just like any other objective – no rails!
How your Tenno is able to survive in space but somehow die from lack of oxygen on Earth is something we knew you all would question, which is why in the wake of Archwing we’re happy to announce a few changes to Survival missions that take place on a planet’s surface. The new game mode will replace the existing Survival mode on Tilesets such as Earth. I couldn’t snake any additional details from the team on that but will be sure to get you more information on it the closer it gets to release!
Frozen Tileset[]
Next up we go from the cold depth of space to the frozen wastes of...Mars? Sedna? Neptune? It hasn’t been made too clear where the new Tileset is going to be placed, but we can confirm that it will be pretty cold.
PC Tenno have gotten a small taste of what’s to come in our latest event featuring the Red Veil and Corpus. Arctic Eximus enemies that seem not only prepared for an icy climate but who also seemed to have harnessed the extreme cold to shield themselves and slow attackers. Whether or not this is an ingenious new invention or simply a clever working of the thermostat has yet to be seen.
Either way, our in-game shots of the new environment are nothing short of stunning.
Underwater Tileset[]
Joining our list of ever-growing Tilesets is some concept work on a Grineer underwater facility, also on an unknown world at this time. What exactly the Grineer are doing under the sea is a secret to everyone.
Swimming space ninjas? Why not?! Some new swimming mechanics will help players better assault / invade / visit the Grineer’s fancy new facilities; and although there hasn’t been any official word, you can expect more information on our underwater levels sometime after the release of the Corpus frozen Tileset.
As to how we suddenly learn swimming? I like to imagine that the Grineer trying to accomplish anything makes Tenno so collectively mad that we just learn how to swim on the spot, but that’s probably because I’m a Valkyr player. Being angry and killing stuff better as a result is the solution to everything. Steve will probably have a much better reason, but this bit of imaginary lore will always live on in my heart.
Infested MOAs[]
We gave a sneak peek of our Infested enemies back in Devstream 30 but what we had to show at the time were some very rough sketches and in-game animations. Since then they’ve done a great job turning innocent MOAs into walking nightmare fuel, although our most ambitious Infested has yet to be shown!
I am of course talking about the J3 Golem, who should get his own time in the spotlight soon enough. For now you’ll just have to picture what it’ll be like to have one of those slimy Infested tentacles lash out and grab you without warning. Probably with its own gross sound effect, but I’ll leave that part to you.
Melee Stances[]
Since programming new weapons require unique attack animations, stance options for weapons like the Venka have been pretty limited. So limited, there’s only one stance to choose from! Other weapons like the Katana haven’t been given a whole lot of attention since Melee 2.0 came out in general. Fortunately for fans of slashing and slicing that’s about to change.
The Venka and the Katana will both be seeing an expansion to their melee combos, with new stances opening up a wide range of deadly moves for both weapons. To top it off we also took some of your feedback on the difficulty in obtaining these stances and are happy to announce that the next weapon stance we release will be made uncommon. This is great news for anyone not being pierced, slashed, or generally maimed by these new techniques.
Tonfas[]
Speaking of deadly weapons, we probably shouldn’t forget to include mention of the Tonfa. Originally designed by our contest winner, Datareaper the Tonfa was selected by our community Design Council to be implemented in the game. It’s never easy to capture the spirit of someone else’s idea, but the team has really taken making the Tonfa one of the more unique tools of war at the Tenno’s disposal. You can even see how close the suggested attack animations come to the original concept.
Seeing the final product come to life is pretty wild stuff. We don’t have a release date on the Tonfa yet, but nailing the timing on that second combo to throw your weapons down into an Infested Ancient is going to be a personal goal of mine the moment it’s crafted.
Kubrow[]
There are a few other details that were covered in TennoLive that don’t quite have a fancy trailer to accompany them. Kubrow customization will be making a return soon in full force, with selectable patterns and colors to make your special puppy more like a unique snowflake. For the Kubrow you just can’t grow to love? A puppy blen-I mean, a wild release option is in the making to free up some room for others. Kubrow will also gain the ability to wall run, something Ordis is absolutely going to love us for I’m sure.
A little known fact about Kubrow is that the order you place the abilities within the mod chart is actually the order in which they’ll prioritize their actions. From top left being the most important all the way across to bottom right, if you’re having a hard time getting your Kubrow to take the right action maybe a sorting of mods is in order!
Wyrmius[]
Finally, we’ll leave you with what’s probably the single greatest creation in all of Wyrm history. A lot of you have this misconception that being a Sentinel is easy work. Just a lot of floating around and the occasional laser blast. But this is the real story. Enjoy this extended version of Wyrmius; the only game that puts your Space Wyrm Ninja skills to the test.
Be sure to join in on the discussion over on our forums as well, we would love to hear what you thought of what we revealed on TennoLive 2014!