Blizzard Announces New Workshop Mode for Overwatch

By Colin Stevens

Blizzard Entertainment has announced the launch of Workshop for Overwatch, a mode that extends the customization features available to players in the game browser.

Announced on the official Overwatch website, Workshop is a "simplified game scripting system that extends the customization features available in the game browser". This workshop is available on the Overwatch Over-the-Sea Public Domain Region (PTR) server.

In addition to the already established Overwatch game modes, players can create a script and add unique rules and game conditions to their games. These rules can be applied to movement speed, abilities, damage and healing mechanisms, displaying text under certain conditions, and so on. One specific theoretical mode described is Molten Floor, where a hero ignites if he is on the ground, forcing players to jump frequently and search for objects to move.

To create a script, players must first add a rule. The rules contain an event (which defines when the rule will be executed), a condition (an optional list of items to check for the rule to apply), and actions (which occurs when the rule is executed). an event and conditions are fulfilled). A sharing feature will allow users to generate code to facilitate access to their creatives. You will find a detailed description of this process here.

In the introductory video at the workshop, the game's director, Jeff Kaplan, explained the workshop, saying that he was robust enough to even "create a prototype of your own hero" Overwatch using this system ". He has described it as a "powerful user feature" that will apply widely to background programming players and some script execution engines experience. He pointed out that the Workshop is not a map editor and that it will not allow players to add geometry or import artwork into the game.

To learn more about Overwatch, check out the currently available Storm Rising event, which seems to tease the next hero of the game.

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Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN. Follow on Twitter.