Skate’s ‘The Board Room’ episode 4 details new tricks

The latest episode of Skate’s The Board Room has premiered, and in it developer Full Circle has provided an update on the much-anticipated reboot.

The episode, which can be viewed below, outlines some of the new tricks that are in development for the game, and also debuts footage of the game’s main location.

“We’re still building a skate game – we still have that DNA and we’re building in new mechanics for skate. to represent the freedom of self-expression and options inherent in modern skateboarding,” said Full Circle.

The new tricks announced during the episode were:

• Wallies
• Slappies
• Boned ollies
• Variable speed flip tricks
• Held flip tricks

“At this early stage, we’re prioritising the riskier systems first, things that none of the previous Skate games have had, and making sure we get those right,” said developer Full Circle.

“It’s important to us that while we invest and prioritise the onboard mechanics, we maintain a level of balance at both ends of the skill spectrum – for both our advanced players as well as new players. Once we decide on adding a new trick, we focus on the different ways you can perform that trick.

“For example, having the ability to powerslide into a slappy and lean out. You can also roll out into a bluntslide into the curb. From there, we bring skaters into our motion capture studio to capture the content we need. Once we’ve got the motion capture framework, the animation team gets to work.”

The game is currently in playtesting on PC, although EA has suggested that a console playtest may follow. In a blog reflecting on a year of playtesting on PC, the company told console players they haven’t been forgotten.

“We also want to give a shout-out to the console Skate community – yes, we are still currently only playtesting on PC but we promise console playtesting will be coming,” it said. “We don’t have a date to share just yet, but stay tuned.”

“We have added climbing (flumping), allowing players to climb a wall instead of jumping at a ledge. The city has verticality. Exploration of the city extends beyond street level. You may discover an untouched gem of a spot on the top of a building.”

While previous Skate games had the ability to get off the board and climb around the environment, this feature was often awkward and prone to glitching.

Finally, the team confirmed that it has begun work on the in-game location, rather than a generic testing environment. “We have now moved into our ‘real’ game world, the city that will become San Vansterdam. The city isn’t done yet and it is still early, but some of the clips you’re seeing in this episode are from this new build.”

Skate was revealed in June 2020 in a surprise announcement which broke EA’s Twitter engagement record.

The free-to-play game is the debut title from Full Circle, a Vancouver-based EA studio headed up by former Xbox Live general manager Daniel McCulloch, who spent 15 years with Microsoft’s gaming business before departing in 2020.

Skate will support cross-play and cross-progression on PC, PlayStation and Xbox consoles.