The new Season is right around the corner and while the developers have disclosed a ton of information about it, it's kind of spread about all over the place. I figured I would make a discussion post that localizes it all in one, cohesive list.
OVERVIEW:
Season 7 is going to be the developer's deepest dive into the core gameplay mechanics of Mad City. Because of this, they'll be taking a short break from story elements and events to put their full effort in on things like the heist system rework.
CONFIRMED FEATURES:
These are features confirmed to be coming during Season 7.
- New UI
The UI is the menu; the loading screen, map markers, phone, etc. This has been a long effort that I believe started back in Season 5 and they're finally happy with it. They also posted a job listing for an SFX designer semi-recently who will be adding sound effects to the UI. I believe the new sounds will come after S7's release and until then they'll just recycle the old ones.
- Heist Rework
This is a whole lot more than what we saw with the Bank and the Casino. They really want to change what heists are. They addressed their disdain for the "obby, vault, obby" formula. The goal is to make them all unique in their own right and to eliminate some of that grind monotony. This won't be packaged with the release of Season 7 but is set to be the first update coming afterward.
- Expanded Vehicle Customization
Nitro trail customization is coming soon. The way they worded the Tweet announcing this new feature makes me think we'll see even more options, maybe custom horn sounds or headlight colors?
- Two New Emotes
They recently asked players what emotes they'd like to see in Mad City for the S7 XP reward track. They then hosted a poll and in the end, Distraction Dance was the winner. They confirmed there is another emote coming but it will not be any of the user-requested ones, namely Say So, Moonwalk, and Goopie Dance.
- New Thumbnails
I5k (@rightless) was commissioned by Schwifty Studios to make a set of renders for Mad City. These will replace the old update thumbnails on the web page. The goal is for these images to better represent the game to new players. Not really an in-game feature, but I thought it was neat.
INFERRED FEATURES:
These are features that we can count on being in the game, even if they weren't explicitly stated.
- The Usual
The S6 XP rewards will be locked and replaced by a new set, along with the S6 Challenges. Your level will be reset. I'm sure a lot of you guys already knew this, but Season 6 was the longest season by far so I'm sure there's a ton of new faces.
- More Optimization
There has been an ongoing effort to make Mad City run smoothly on all platforms - things like texture size reduction, local vehicle spawning, etc. This will surely continue in Season 7.
- Bug Fixes
Season 7 will have less bugs. Hopefully.
MAYBE? FEATURES:
These are features that they've gone over but aren't necessarily confirmed.
- New Vehicle Chassis
The developers have expressed how they're unhappy with the current vehicle physics, specifically how it reacts to terrain. FamedChris said he is praying this releases sometime during Season 7.
- Cash Rebalancing
It's hard to talk heist reworks without balance. How much cash you earn, how fast players earn it, etc. There was a long Twitter thread about this started by FamedChris and in the end he seemed pretty confused. I don't think there will be any rebalancing in the near future, save for what comes naturally as a result of the new heists. It's a tough subject.
- XP Rebalancing
A poll was held by one of the developers on what players thought of the current rate at which you earn XP. Most agreed that it was much too slow. I do feel like they might touch on this during Season 7, but my guess is as good as anybody's.
How can I prepare for Season 7?
Things are definitely changing! Just get some closure; say goodbye to the heists as we know them now and don't get too comfortable with the current menu. If you want, you could grind up some cash but I'm fairly certain there won't be any new vehicles beyond those coming with the XP track. It's also possible these new heists will take longer to complete, so I guess it's not a bad time to make the most of what we have now.
That's pretty much it! Be sure to let me know if I missed anything. What do you guys think of Season 7? What are you most excited about? What are you least excited about?