Only five short days ago, the Dota 2 Reborn Beta went live, much to the excitement and delight of me and millions of Dota 2 players worldwide. The game has certainly come a long way since its humble Warcraft 3 origins, but the return of many hallmark custom games is certainly a major boon. Combined with the source two engine, the user interface overhaul, and even gameplay changes, there is no denying that the Dota 2 Reborn Beta is a significant step forward for both Dota 2 and the MOBA genre as a whole. As with all projects which are released in with an open beta arrangement however, there are inevitable complications which are encountered. These can range from game breaking bugs, to simple user interface issues. Many problems have even already been fixed by the developers at Valve, with a series of updates already occurring for the Beta. This article will be my analysis on the good, and the not so good aspects of the Dota 2 Reborn Beta so far which I've encountered.
User Interface
Firstly, I have to say that the updated user interface of the Dota 2 Reborn Beta is undeniably beautiful. Not only are the changes aesthetically pleasing, they are also highly responsive and efficient. The overhaul certainly brings the Dota 2 user interface into the modern age, and really made me realise the unpleasantness of the original interface in comparison.
DotaTV
One of the areas of the game in which the interface changes has the largest impact is upon, and which I am the most excited about, is the inbuilt DotaTV client. DotaTV gives players the ability to watch Dota 2 matches, through the Dota 2 client, with the potential for new interface elements and features. Sadly many of the promised features are yet to be introduced to the Dota 2 Reborn Beta, although it can only be a matter of time, being one of the most highly criticised aspects of the game. The current DotaTV client is renown for its bugs, poor functionality and user-hostility. It has certainly approached the point where third party streaming services have surpassed the in client spectating of Dota 2 games, solely due to the sub par status of the current DotaTV. I know I'm certainly not alone in saying that I'll be very glad to see the back of the current DotaTV client.
Custom Games
As stated previously, the return of custom games is perhaps the biggest characteristic of the entire Dota 2 Reborn Beta and is another which excites me greatly. “Custom Games are new experiences that are created by the community, and playable within Dota 2. These games can be anything from a grand brawl between ten Invokers, to a story-driven dungeon adventure, to something creative that no one has seen before.” This introduction is a huge throwback to the days of Defense of the Ancients as a Warcraft 3 mod, paying homage to Dota 2’s humble beginnings. Custom games and custom map support will allow the online community to exercise their talents to create an endless amount of unique content, all through the power of the new source two engine and easily accessible through the Dota 2 client.
Personally I am very excited to see what amazing and unique content the community is sure to create. Valve has even entered the race themselves, releasing their very own custom game mode called ‘Overthrow’. “Overthrow is a quick fight to the death in a small team free-for-all as players try to earn enough kills to win the match before the timer expires.” It’s even been announced that another Valve authored custom game mode is already in the works to be released sometime in the coming weeks.
Loading Times and Overall Optimisation
The overall optimisation which the source two engine provides has also been another huge talking point for the Dota 2 Reborn Beta so far. I know that the beta definitely runs more smoothly for me personally, with shorter loading times and a more responsive feel. Overall it seems that the game is easier to run, and should perform better in comparison to its counterpart no matter the system specifications. Thanks to the redesigned system input of the source two engine, there is even a reduced latency between the issuing of a command and the performance of that command by your hero. This should enable an even wider audience of players to access the game of Dota 2, lowering the previously high connection requirements needed to play. There have even been reports of the Dota 2 Reborn Beta client lowering pings between players and the matchmaking servers.
Also improved was the speed at which the game itself loads. The old client clocks in at a whole 21 seconds slower than its replacement, which clearly demonstrates the improvements in loading times and overall optimisation between the two versions. This can be seen in the above video, comparing the loading times of both versions on Mac OS X.
Major Bugs and Issues
Despite all the positives, bugs and issues are virtually inescapable when using an open beta system. One major issue which arose for me personally was the default launch settings which opened the 32-bit version of the game without even prompting an option. Attempting to play using the 32-bit version was completely incompatible with my system and caused the game to initially be quite unplayable. It would have been thoughtful of Valve to give an option on the launch of the game, to run the 64-bit version. In order to manually launch the 64-bit version the .exe file can be found in the location below.
"Steam\steamapps\common\dota 2 beta\game\bin\win64"
Another major complaint raised by the community has been significant errors occurring in the downloading of the Dota 2 Reborn Beta. Thankfully I was able to avoid and issues, however some users have reported being required to download the update multiple times before they are able to properly launch the new client. This issue is currently being investigated and may be occurring due to pausing the download of the update.
As well as these, there have been many other issues and bugs which have arisen and will continue to arise. If you encounter a bug you should head over to the developer forums to submit them which can be found here. You can also access the developer forum from inside the client, by clicking the bug button next to the exit button.
Conclusion
Five days in and it seems that the Dota 2 Reborn Beta has certainly lived up to my personal, and the wider expectations of the community. Most of the issues and bugs present are significantly outweighed by new positive changes including a beautiful new user interface, eminent DotaTV overhauls and custom games support. It is of course inevitable to escape complications in an open beta environment, however it is encouraging to see that the developers at Valve seem to be working quickly to quell serious issues as they arrive. Overall I think it is safe to say that the Dota 2 Reborn Beta has so far been a massive success and that the future is bright for Dota 2. I'm looking forward to endless hours of custom games, and watching as the game and the community continues to grow and evolve over the months to come.
Source: Dota 2, Dota 2 Developer Forums, YouTube, Reddit
More content on GosuGamers
