Just a quick post to jot down my reason for why the default versus game mode in Akuto Zero is stock mode.
So in Akuto: Showdown (formerly known as Akuto: Mad World) I used to have the default versus game mode as Score. Score mode is simple, the first person/team to reach the designated score would win the match. Sounds like the default versus mode in most multiplayer games. Initially I thought this game mode would be a perfect introduction to new and seasoned players. Only after testing the game and releasing it on Early Access I found a major issue.
Now this issue is primarily to do with Akuto and not with other multiplayer games. In Akuto, you don’t know who is in the lead or if someone is about to win because most players are primarily concerned about themselves and who to attack next. This means when someone wins everyone, including the winner, are surprised they won because they were not paying attention to the score.
One way I thought about fixing this is by highlighting players who are on a killstreak or by creating announcements that a certain player is 2 kills away from winning. But this would have led to that one player being targeted and that usually isn’t a bad thing because in Akuto it is quite easy to get a kill when a group of players come to kill you. Sure, that player will die, but that 1 kill he gets before he dies every time being ganged up will still lead to them winning the game.
So instead, I decided to make the default versus game mode in Akuto Zero to be stock mode. Stock mode is where each player has a limited number of lives and the last player standing wins the match. This means even if the player focuses on themselves, they will know they will have lost if they do not respawn no longer and the winner will not come out of nowhere. I could add in an announcement when a player is on their last life, but I am still deciding on that part.