Intro
Hello there!
You’re here because you’re interested in the future of R6 Analyst. What a coincidence, so am I!
R6 Analyst started as a small hobby project where I wanted to track my Win% and K/D per map, to see where I could improve. It has since ballooned into a multi-faceted app, with a large number of users.
This is awesome!
But it’s also scary...
There are a lot of people now, who all want different things from the app. They use the app in different ways. They want the further development of the app to go in different directions.
So, I thought it’d be a good idea to write this post. After reading it, you’ll have a much better understanding of everything I’m working on and, maybe more importantly, how I’m prioritising it.
This will be a long read, but don’t worry, you can just skip to the parts that you’re interested in!
Table of Contents
The Four-lane Highway
R6 Analyst has a bunch of different features, that focus on different things. You’ve got Smart Ban, which gives you an easy way to see what might be good Operator Bans for the match. Map Stats, which is nice for tracking your personal performance over time, and find areas to improve on. The Enhanced Scoreboard, which improves upon the in-game scoreboard by highlighting statistics other than simple frags you can focus on to improve. The Match Report, which automates a whole host of stats-tracking and allows you to export it for your own evil nerdy statistical analysis.
These different features, and the aspects of Siege they focus on, have attracted different types of players. From the average Quick Match player that just wants some info on the skill-level of the opponents, to the Pro-League analyst hoping to free up hours of work per week by automating their stats-tracking.
These different users use the app in different ways, for different purposes. And they want the app to continue to improve in different areas.
For weeks this stressed me out, as I saw it as different roads I could take the app on, heading towards a different future for the app.
Me contemplating the work ahead.
But what I ended up realizing is that they don’t have to be separate roads. They can be parallel lanes on the same highway. Heading towards awesomeness!
The four lanes on this highway are:
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The Back-end
- How the app works.
- Basically my sanity and how the app runs behind the scenes.
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The R6 Competitive Scene
- T3/CL/PL teams, casters, and their wishes.
- Support for Observer-mode, more in-depth stats-tracking, more customization in what is and isn’t shown/tracked.
-
The Ranked Fiends
- The analytical player, out for self-improvement.
- More options, smoother UX, long-term stats tracking and more in-depth analysis.
-
The Average Player
- Casual and chill players/users.
- Ease-of-use and simple setup.
What this means is: I’m going to give every type of user of the app equal share of my time, in terms of focus and attention, development time and spending.
Now, that’s probably not an equal division. Let’s face it, the number of app users that are active or hopefuls in the R6 Competitive scene is much smaller than the number of “normal” Siege players using the app.
But one can certainly argue that the stakes are also much higher for this small group of analysts. They have a niche and specific need, but one which is laser-focussed.
Known Issues
First things first. Before we can focus on what’s next and what’s new, we need to fix our shit.
There is some stuff that I’m aware of is broken, missing, not working, or otherwise borked. It’s not fun to focus on these things, but they exist. So let’s acknowledge them, and work on improving.
This list is a current snapshot for what is a known issue as of the 29th of September 2020. Check here for an up-to-date list of known issues.
Mouse getting stuck
If you use RAW input in-game, the following can occur:
When holding TAB to see the Enhanced Scoreboard, then pressing middle-mouse button to get your mouse-cursor to interact with the Enhanced Scoreboard, then clicking on the Enhanced Scoreboard, and then releasing TAB, there is a 10-20% chance you get stuck in a state where there is a mouse-cursor on screen, and you can’t move anymore.
The only way to get out of this is to Alt-Tab out, and back into, the game. That’s really super bad, obviously.
Unfortunately, this is an issue on Overwolf’s side of the fence, not my own. I have made them aware of this issue, and the extreme seriousness of it. They are working on a fix.
In the meantime, I have set the default hotkey to open the Enhanced Scoreboard from Tab to Tilde. This way, new users are not faced with this issue by default.
A temporary workaround is to DISABLE RAW INPUT!
Enhanced Scoreboard doesn’t show for 10 seconds
Sometimes, when you hold the hotkey to have the Enhanced Scoreboard appear, it just… doesn’t. Not unless you hold the key for like 10 seconds.
UPDATE: I recently fixed a memory-leak issue, which may have been related. Let me know if this still happens to you!
Seemingly random app crashes
Since the new Operation: Shadow Legacy update, app crashes have increased significantly. It’s still a very small number (about 15 crashes per 10,000 matches) but that still sucks. If you’ve seen a small notice pop-up in the bottom right of your screen which says something along the lines of “Overwolf app crashed: R6 Analyst”, then you’ve had this happen to you too.
UPDATE: I recently fixed a memory-leak issue, which may have been related. I'm keeping an eye on the crash metrics, to see if these diminish as people update to the improved version.
Operator Mains IQ/Ace/Melusi/Caveira
The Ubisoft Operator Use API was on the fritz a little over a month ago. It was saying everyone was playing IQ/Ace/Melusi/Caveira a lot. Basically, it took the total number of rounds you’ve ever played Caveira, and said that that’s the number of rounds you played Caveira that week.
This completely messed up the R6 Analyst calculation for everyone’s Operator Mains, as well as the Smart Ban suggestions, as they are based on the same information.
Now, the Operator Mains and Smart Bans are based on the last 320 rounds played for each player. So if at least 320 rounds have been played for an account in the past month-and-a-half (since the Ubi API was fixed) then the issue is no longer present for that account.
So this strange issue, where the app recommends banning IQ/Ace/Melusi/Caveira an inordinate amount, should fix itself over time, as people keep playing rounds.
Accounts duplicate when added in Analysis Panel
When you add a new account to the Analysis panel, and then switch screens, the account appears duplicated in the list of accounts. A simple restart of the screen fixes this issue.
It’s a low impact and low priority issue, but we’ll fix it when we get to it!
Instantly traded kills show up in event logs as suicides
So when you and another player kill eachother at the same time, the event log has a 50% chance of showing:
A killed A
B killed B
Instead of:
A killed B
B killed A
The stats are tracked accurately though.
I’ll fix this soon-ish.
Coming Soon
Now onto some fun news! Here’s some cool upcoming features I’m working on, that are close enough to be finished that I can share them publicly:
Kill Feed Enhancement OUT NOW!
The Kill-Feed Enhancement is a new feature, which released today!
It adds a trade-indicator to kills when they are counted as traded kills.
It also adds a notification for when the defuser has been planted or defused, when someone ace'd, and when someone is in a 1vX clutch situation (and whether they succeeded).
Sus-meter OUT NOW!
The sus-meter is a new (optional) stat you can add to the Account Stats in the Enhanced Scoreboard, it released today! It collates a variety of variables from the player’s account statistics to create a measure of how “sus” (suspicious) the player is. It can classify players as possible smurfs or hackers. Obviously, this is merely an indicator. It’s not infallible, and it can show false positives.
Observer-mode support
Although the app sort-of works in Observer-mode, it is not officially supported (yet). I'm getting a lot of messages asking for it, though!
I hear you, and it's pretty much top-of-the-list now to get implemented. I hope to have it released on or around October 5th, barring any massive issues found.
The Back-End
Harder, Better
The current database design was created when I thought of the app. At the time, I only intended to track Matches per Map, and thus the design is somewhat lacking. Especially in terms of individual stats tracking, (things like KOST/SRV/etc.) it is no bueno.
This is also the cause of the current 10 latest matches limit. The data is actually stored locally on your machine, not sent to the cloud. Time to fix that!
I’ll be working on a complete Database overhaul to add infinitely more possibilities for additional stats tracking. This will also allow you to track matches as far back into history as you’d like.
What’s more, you’ll be able to track your KOST / SRV / etc. stats over time and per season, to really see how you’re improving over time.
Faster, Stronger
As already mentioned under Known Issues, the servers that the app runs on are having a hard time keeping up with the demand right now.
This is my top priority to fix this week.
For the nerds under us, I’m implementing an Aurora RDS setup with a load balancer. This will allow me to be quite scalable by simply adding more read replicas when needed.
Those same nerds can probably also appreciate that this increases my server costs significantly. 😕 More on that further down.
Shareable-er
In the more distant future, the goal is to take the stats outside the app as well, and build a website-presence where you can view yours, and anyone else’s, stats and match history. This is a way’s off still though.
The R6 Competitive Scene
Observer-mode
Yeah yeah yeah, I hear you! You’ve been demanding this for months now. The app has been somewhat functional in Observer-mode, but it has not been officially supported yet.
This is absolutely in the works, though!
I’m hoping to get a stable Observer-mode version of the app out by October 5th. Don’t hold me to that though! It’s a tight deadline.
Trading Time-Window
The app currently counts any retaliatory kill within 10 seconds as a trade. This is a fine metric for Ranked/Unranked, but I’ve heard from a lot of CL/PL analysts, that this is very generous in a Comp setting.
They generally work with 2-3 seconds.
I’ll make the number of seconds a variable you can input yourself, and it will listen to that and track stats based on that for Custom Matches.
To uphold consistency in my off-site dataset, the Ranked/Unranked tracking will remain fixed at 10s.
Silent-mode
A mode for the app where it just tracks and exports your stats in the background. Nothing but a simple (and optional) notification in-game at the start of a match to verify the tracking is occurring.
No in-game overlays whatsoever.
CSV Export Improvements
I hear you! I will work on adding every single possible thing you could possibly want to track to the CSV export, and in a way that you can then easily transfer that into your own intricate web of analytical spreadsheets. 😊
I have already heard requests for additional stats like LAR and Time Alive. Feel free to DM me on Twitter or join the Discord if you have other stats you’d like tracked!
Auto-export
An option to automatically export each match as it is completed, without having to click the export button. Easy peasy.
6th-pick Tracking
Track (for your own team!) which Operator was originally picked, and which was 6th-picked into.
Tracking Operators for the enemy team is something that is in the cards further down the road.
An R6 Comp Workshop
Look, I’m not part of the Competitive R6 scene myself. I’m happy if I reach Plat 2. So I honestly could use some help in knowing what it is that the R6 Comp scene needs and wants out of the app.
I’m already talking to a fair number of CL and PL teams and analysts. I’m hoping to set up a small “workshop” of sorts where I can get some feedback and in-depth input into what the perfect R6 Analyst app would look like for Competitive R6 users.
If you are in CL or PL and would like to take part, DM me on Twitter or Discord.
The Ranked Fiends
Customize your Experience
With the app having so many different features, I want to make sure people are able to pick-and-choose which parts they are interesting in using. This means being able to, for instance, toggle Objective Tracking for Map Stats on for Ranked but off for Unranked and/or Custom Match.
More than 10 Matches Stored Locally
Currently the app automatically stores the last 10 matches (Ranked/Unranked/Custom) locally on your PC. This is a limitation resulting from the implementation I decided to use. With the upcoming rework of the back-end and database, I’m hoping to be able to improve on this significantly.
Automatic Map Tracking
Nobody likes popups. I’m no exception. So it hurts my heart a little bit every time my app needs to open a prompt and ask what is going on in-game. I’m working with Overwolf to get it so it can automatically track which map you’re playing on. No more need to click that at the start of the match.
Automatic Objective Site / Spawn Tracking
Same as above, but regarding Objective Site and Spawn point tracking.
Automatically tracking which Objective the enemy chose is likely never going to happen, as exposing this in the code could potentially be exploited. So the prompt asking “Which site did you just attack?” is likely to remain.
Second-Screen Experience
The second-screen experience is a window you can have open (automatically) on a second monitor. It currently shows a small amount of information, but there’s so many cool ideas of what can be shown/added here.
From a business standpoint it is also an interesting feature to keep working on, as having an ad running there is currently one of the main major revenue-streams that helps keep the app development going.
If you have a cool idea for what would be a good thing to show on this screen, hit me up in my Twitter DM’s or over on the Discord!The Average Players
Desktop/Analysis Panel rework
The app currently has two screen available outside the game.
- Desktop widget - a small screen with an explanation to start the game and the settings options etc.
- Analysis panel - the screen that pops up when you exit the game, with the Operator Performance, Map Stats, Match History, etc.
I want to combine these into one, and also greatly improve on the design and flexibility of this screen. Adding a “landing”-page and making the whole thing resizable and maximizable.
Automatic Aspect Ratio detection
It is quite vital that you set the in-game aspect ratio in the app Settings correctly. Not doing this results in some strange behaviour for the app, and a bad user experience.
Currently the app just assumes everyone is using 16:9 by default, and then you can manually adjust this. But people don't read or think, and just assume the app is broken instead.
I’m hoping to add automatic aspect ratio detection, or at least a smarter guestimate of what the likely aspect ratio is based on the in-game resolution used.
Automatic DPI detection
When using a very high resolution screen (higher than 1080p) Windows sometimes automatically scales your DPI setting. Similarly, some (gaming) laptops also have DPI scaling enabled by default.
This messes with Overwolf, and causes the overlay to appear much too big (or small) on screen.
I’m hoping to automatically detect when this is the case, and prompt the user to fix this in their Windows settings.
The Money Zone
Alright, it's time to talk about that sweet seductive mistress; money. So let’s travel to: The Money Zone!
Listen, I’m having a blast working on this project. But it’s taking up a lot of my time. And what’s more, it’s costing me a fair amount of money!
Running the servers and buying the domains. Software licencing fees. Advertising and graphic design costs. This shit ain’t free. I’m down several thousands of dollars. I have definitely spent more than I have earned in advertising revenue in the app. And that isn’t taking into account yet the literal months of work I’ve spent on coding the app.
Now, like I said, I don’t mind, it’s a cool project and people seem to really like it! But at some point I’m going to need to find a way to generate more revenue to keep this thing going.
What’s more, I’d love to work on this full-time and make a living off of it! I’d be able to work with 100% focus and speed up the development significantly.
In order to do that, though, I need an additional revenue stream outside of just the in-app advertisements.
I think you can guess where this is going.
This is the part where I ask you for money. 💰
Starting right now, it’s possible to “subscribe” to the app in Overwolf, for $2.99/month. In exchange, you’ll get an ad-free experience in the app, and the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re helping me keep on developing the app!
If you don't want to subscribe, but do want to donate a small amount, you can "Buy me a coffee". This is a one-time donation of any amount you think is fair.
All features of the app will remain free for now. I’m hoping enough people are able and willing to subscribe or donate to keep this ship afloat on a voluntary basis.
If that ends up not being the case, I may have to move some of the more “expensive” features (in terms of dev-time and/or server-load) over to the premium (subscription) version of the app.
Conclusion
Holy shit that was a lot of text…
If you read all that, kudos to you!
If not, well... Thanks for scrolling I guess.
Here’s the short version, or conclusion or whatever:
- Some issues are known, I’m working on it!
- Some great stuff is coming soon!
- I’m going to upgrade the back-end servers and database.
- I’m working on cool stuff for CL-/PL-level users.
- I’m planning on epic stuff for the analytical Ranked players out there.
- I’m improving the ease-of-use for the average player as well.
- I’m asking for money now.
That’s it!
Tweet at me @R6AnalystApp.
Join the Discord.
