First Source 2 Game Launching Soon as DOTA 2 Reborn Beta is Announced
Valve won’t be at E3 this year, but that’s not stopping them from making a wave in gaming news. During the past two weeks, SteamDB dataminers found references to Dota 2 Source 2 giving evidence that DOTA 2’s previously known engine overhaul was nearing completion. Further evidence came when DOTABUFF, a site that tracks DOTA 2 matches, received data on a match between known Valve employees played on a Source 2 version of the game.
We won’t have to wait much longer for the first Source 2 game to come out. On June 12, an official DOTA 2 announcement was posted giving notice of the upcoming DOTA 2 Reborn open beta. Information will be released in three phases on the mini-site with the first outlining the completely redesigned menu interface. Next week, the second announcement will go over custom games and the last announcement will go over engine details and the beta launch.
“NEW INTERFACE.
NEW ENGINE.
NEW WAYS TO PLAY.”
Videos of the new main menu interface show a slicker and richer layout. Other menus have been redesigned as well and DOTA 2 players will soon be able to use the new features for friends, custom games, in-game cosmetics, tutorials, in-game live match spectating, and viewing match replays.
“Welcome to the new Dota 2. We have rebuilt the entire dashboard from scratch to make it more intuitive and easier to use. We’re using a new UI framework which enables us to make the game more lightweight while also building a stronger foundation for new features here and in future updates.”
DOTA 2 fans are especially excited for a streamlined custom game support which will be outlined in an announcement next week. DOTA 2 itself is the standalone remake of Defense of the Ancients All-Stars, itself a custom game mode created for WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne. The biggest draw for WarCraft III players on Battle.net were custom game modes such as board game remakes, top-down RPGs including Baldur’s Gate remakes, dodgeball games, tag games, mazes, and many many more original ideas. One of the most custom game types were tower defenses which like DotA, evolved into its own standalone genre.
Based on a preview of the DOTA 2 lobby viewer, it looks likely, though not confirmed, that DOTA 2 Source 2’s custom game lobby is going to hark back to the chaotic list layout seen in WarCraft III’s custom game mode menu. This is exciting because many consider the re-envisioned design implemented in the StarCraft II Arcade to be a failure because its app store layout stifles the discovery of new and innovative game modes. The alpha version of the DOTA 2 Workshop already supports custom DOTA 2 games and many favorites have already been or are in the process of being recreated including Pudge Wars and Run Kitty Run. Do you have fond memories of playing custom games in StarCraft Brood War or WarCraft III? Did you have some favorite game modes? Custom games in DOTA 2 might become your thing soon.