Release Details and New Videos news

Naively when we started this project, it took us a long time to realise just how long it would take to finish. Creating levels and content is one thing, delivering a fully functional game, with polished levels and balanced gameplay is something else entirely. When enthusiasm was high, we made promises and hinted at content that, over time have become difficult to keep. As I’m sure everyone is more than aware, the biggest problem with TRW has been trying to stay faithful to our promises, while delivering the final mod in a timely manner.

Fortunately, it’s got to a point where there’s enough content to release the mod, at least in part. The only reason we haven’t so far is because there are various key features and levels I still want to include, which either haven’t been started yet or just aren’t up to scratch. In addition, there’s certain core content that needs to be polished and the whole game database needs tidying up in general.

As result of all of this, we’re going to do something I said we’d never do — TRW is going to follow a staged delivery system similar to DLC on consoles. In other words, we’re going to release it in bite-sized mod ‘packs’, which can then (hopefully) be combined into a bigger mod. In theory, this more agile and focused approach to development should drastically speed things up, allowing you to play the mod and give me feedback while it’s still being developed. Moreover, there’s now enough levels, characters, and movesets to truly justify releasing the mod in this way — each pack has it’s own ‘character’ and enough new content to warrant the time and effort. As playtesting is always difficult for small teams, it also means we can address bugs and issues iteratively, and integrate them into the next content pack. When everything is done, we’ll re-release the entire mod as a final package (TRW Epic Epic Edition is the wip name ;) ) – if that’s even necessary.

I expect that the first two packs will make up 80% of the mod that most people are looking for – they’ll have the greatest priority and the most time spent on them. The second two packs are finishing off loose ends for people who want the extra content. I realise that some people will be disappointed that X feature, level, or character isn’t included in the first pack, but this way allows me to focus specific levels and content, and avoid feature creep. Above all, it means you get to play the mod as soon as possible. At present, I have no specific date in mind (please don’t bother asking), but it would be good to have them both out before Christmas (the first pack at the very least).

So the tentative release plan is as follows:

‘Neophyte’ Pack
(initial core release)

• Neo moveset (Kung fu and dodges)
• New guns
• Swat and police enemies
• Standard Agents

Included Levels:

• Intro
• Training levels (TBC)
• The Dojo (Battle with Morpheus)
• The Lobby
• Rooftop assault
• Subway battle
• Street chase

TRW Profile Launcher — allows you to customise your skin, moves, and abilities.

‘Anomaly’ Pack
(Mx Reloaded release)

• ‘The One’ advanced moveset
• Bojutsu weapon and moveset
• Upgraded Agents
• Merovingian’s Henchmen
• New guns TBC

Included Levels:

• The Alley (Fight with Agents)
• The Teahouse (Fight with Seraph)
• The Burly Brawl
• The Chateau

TRW Profile update – adds more skins, moves, and abilities. Lets you play the entire mod with new characters, movesets, and weapons (e.g. Neo’s advanced moves).

‘Trinity’ Pack
Trinity and Morpheus release — exact details and levels to be confirmed later on, but it should be fairly obvious what to expect — new levels, weapons, and moves, related to these characters are in the pipeline. This pack will include the opening rooftops chase from the first film, and the Freeway battle from the second film.

TRW Profile update – more skins, moves, and abilities. Lets you play the entire mod with new movesets and weapons (e.g. Trinity and Morpheus’ moves).

‘Omega’ Pack
Final release — new content will be… inevitable? =)

Final TRW Profile update – all skins, moves, and abilities. Lets you play the entire mod with all characters, moves, and weapons.

If you're wondering why I'm doing it this way, instead of chronologically (i.e. film by film), the answer is simply that there's too much content in each film to include in a single release. Trinity and Morpheus' levels span both films, but are also holding the mod back as they're the least developed. My experience is that most gamers want to play as Neo, so it's better for most people if I focus on those levels first, and release the other levels later on.

On the plus side, this modular approach means that every time a new pack is released, you get to play not only the new levels, but revisit the old ones with new characters, moves, and weapons.

New videos
Last but not least, in case you haven’t been following TRW on Twitter, Facebook, or Youtube (please do for the latest updates), I’ve released a few new videos: