Hawken devs working on VOIP problems, team balancing and more

Hawken, Adhesive Games' mech-based shooter, will receive improvements to VOIP chat and team balancing, according to a recent developer update.

Producer Jason "[HWK] Hughes" Hughes wrote that VOIP "only works some of the time," and the developer is working on that problem. There doesn't appear to be a quick solution, and that puts a strain on the developer.

"Voice communication is deeply integrated into our platform SDK and as there is no quick and easy fix," Hughes wrote. "We are exploring solutions which include potentially ripping out what we have and replacing it with something else but that's not ideal. We have a finite amount of resources and although it's a very high priority issue for us, sometimes there is work for the platform team that takes a higher priority over VOIP fixing. Again, it's important to us and we will continue to keep you up to date on details as they develop."

Regarding team balancing in the multiplayer game, the developer isn't "satisfied with how it's currently functioning." Adjustments are headed to the game "sooner rather than later" and details will follow when Adhesive has finalized its balancing plans.

The developer will also release an update sometime this month, which will focus on "smaller improvements" like bug fixing and "adding some cockpit options that weren't there previously."

"Some new features include offering reticle choices and HUD coloring," Hughes wrote. "We'll also be offering some cockpit decorations which are pretty cool to be honest and we'll share some more details shortly! Patch notes are still being drafted and won't be posted for at least another week as we continue to make fixes."

Last month, Adhesive launched Hawken on Steam, where the Windows PC game is available to download for free. You can also purchase the $19.99 Prosk Starter Bundle, which includes three mechs for a limited time, as well as the $29.99 Nemesis Bundle, which includes nine mech, also for a limited time.