Welcome back to The Weekly Grind, San Vanners! Let’s roll!
What’s going on? Welcome to week 2 of the San Van Open! If you missed details on what’s coming this season, hit up the Season 4 blog here. The team is currently working on the next game update (Update 0.31.2), and we’ll share patch notes this week to prepare for the patch on June 15. We’ve got two interviews this week, so let’s get to it!
Fingerflips Q&A
After sharing some videos last week, we sat down with Lance (Sr. Software Engineer) and Johnny (Gameplay Engineer and sponsored skateboarder) to dive a little deeper into how the Full Circle team brought fingerflips to skate. for Season 4.
Why weren't fingerflips available at the launch of Early Access?\[/b]
Lance: When we were deciding what to focus on for Early Access, our priority was building a strong core skating experience. We wanted to support the features players loved from previous titles, while also innovating and improving the game in meaningful ways. Fingerflips were always on our roadmap. But it wasn’t like “copy and paste” from previous titles. We had to rebuild them from the ground up. Before that could happen, our goal was to establish a solid gameplay foundation and then expand into additional trick systems.
Johnny: A big part of it comes down to opportunity cost. Every feature takes time and iteration, animation work, engineering effort, design, testing, etc. We prioritized features that would have the greatest impact across a wide range of situations.
Lance: Yeah, we had to work our way down the list to get to Fingerflips, but now we're stoked to have them in the game, having given them the attention they deserve and delivered them as a returning feature. We hope players will have a ton of fun with them.
How did the team approach bringing fingerflips into the game?
Johnny: We wanted fingerflips to feel familiar to longtime players while also improving on what existed before. That meant preserving the legacy of Skate 3, where it made sense, while also expanding the system and making it more complete. We identified some gaps in previous implementations and worked to make the trick set more consistent and reliable.
How many finger flip variations are available?
Lance: There are 30 finger flip variations available. One of our goals was to fill in gaps. If a variation existed in one direction, we wanted players to have access to the equivalent variation in the opposite direction whenever possible. So for each Fingerflip there's a Fingerheel, and you can go Tail to Crail after a Crail to Tail, to name a few.
Do fingerflips use the same inputs as Skate 3?
Lance: Yep! The inputs are the same as skate. 3. If you've done fingerflips before, the system will feel familiar immediately. While you're holding a grab (either trigger), try doing the Flickit input for a Kickflip, Heelflip, or a FS or BS Shuv. That's how it's done.
Johnny: We also expanded the system beyond what existed before. For example, fingerflips can now be performed out of Double Grabs and Coffins, which required us to get creative with the input design and ensure the controls remained comfortable and reliable.
Were there any unique challenges while implementing fingerflips?
Lance: One of the more interesting challenges involved making fingerflips work naturally from a coffin. We wanted the input to feel intuitive without forcing players into awkward controller gymnastics. That required experimentation and refinement to make sure the mechanic felt smooth and responsive. One funny aspect was actually coming up with a name for "Fingerheel." Since it's a more obscure trick, we couldn't dig up an agreed-upon name by the skate. community. So, we landed on Fingerheel.
Are there plans to add even more fingerflip variations in the future?
Johnny: We are pretty happy with where they are at right now, but never say never! Right now, our attention is on other mechanics and systems players are requesting.
Lance: Player feedback always matters. If the community strongly supports additional fingerflip variations, we can evaluate them in the future. There are certainly more possibilities - especially involving one-footed and no-footed grabs - but every addition comes with animation and development costs. For now, we're excited about what we've delivered and are looking ahead to the next opportunities for the game.
Any final thoughts for the community?
Johnny: We're really stoked to finally get fingerflips into the game, and looking forward to seeing what players create with them and gravitate towards the most. I have my theories…but my personal favorite is a Stale flip.
Lance: We'll be on the lookout for feedback and clips, so try them out, experiment with the new variations, and let us know what you'd like to see next.
The Stadium Q&A
In Season 4, we’ve opened The Stadium (aka The Chum Bucket) for The San Van Open (with an update coming to the design for our mid-season update and the X Games San Van). From our World Design Director, Elliot:
We sat down with Brad, Full Circle’s World Art Director, to discuss the design, the challenges the team faced, and the inspiration behind the stadium.
What was the main goal when designing the stadium for Season 4?
Brad: Our goal was to craft a new atmosphere that puts the spotlight directly on the player. The lighting, the crowd energy - it all works together, making you feel like you are the center of attention in a competition-like environment.
How did audio influence the stadium experience?
Brad: The team studied real-world skateboarding events to recreate the feeling of being at a live competition. Audio was a major part of that effort. Crowd reactions, environmental sounds, and spectator noise were designed to make players feel like their actions matter. The stadium also features a visible crowd that reacts audibly to gameplay, helping create a stronger connection between the player and the world around them.
What inspired the design of the park inside the stadium?
Brad: The team borrowed the idea of integrating city-inspired elements into a competition course from past real-life skate competitions. At the same time, they embraced the clean, minimalist visual style you often find in competition parks. The final design combines large city-inspired structures with a restrained color palette of gray, black, and yellow for the street park, with wood, and blue for the skater cross. This helps improve readability, creates authenticity, and keeps you focused on the skating experience.
What were some of the biggest challenges in building the stadium?
Brad: One major challenge was scale. The stadium is fictionally based on a hockey arena, but real hockey arenas are too small to accommodate the larger skateboarding features the team wanted to include. To solve this, the team expanded the interior space beyond what the exterior suggested (yes - it’s bigger on the inside) and built the stadium using a modular design (made of smaller pieces that can be rearranged or swapped out to change the footprint). This allowed the team to create a larger, more flexible venue while supporting the gameplay experiences we’ve envisioned.
What do you want to see an interview about next? Reply in the comments, and we’ll get to work. (Music, sounds, events, etc.)
Don’t forget: Keep sharing your bug/issues so we can squash ‘em flat.
Let’s dive right into the calendar.
Weekly Calendar
The Weekly Grind returns (that’s today)
Fingerflips Interview
Stadium Interview
Update 0.31.2 Patch Notes
“Have You Seen Him?” Video Contest Winners Announcement
Coming Up
Update 0.31.2
Go Skate Event Weekend Details
4x Go Skate Weekend Sweepstakes (Discord)
Fingerflips Video Contest
More content from the skate. community!
As usual, we wanted to share a few pieces of content that caught our eye. Remember: if you want to possibly be featured in The Weekly Grind, make sure to share yours (screenshots, videos, clips) via skate.reel.
A nice realistic line. Credit: somanyozs
First person skate. is crazy - are you crazy like Iso?
A legend in the making at the San Van Open! Credit: Uny
Part of The Weekly Grind will be dedicated to sharing current Known Issues the team is tracking for bugs & issues, any active deployments/fixes, and next steps.
Known Issues Still Being Investigated:
When Joining a friend's Open Party, sometimes players were put in random parties.
Some Players are unable to export in MP4 Format.
Workaround PC ONLY: Using WebM format when exporting works.
Rarely, a black screen appears when starting a challenge or throwdown on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Workaround: Rebooting skate. may resolve this issue.
Pinned tasks do not remain pinned when the game reconnects after inactivity.
Changing the graphics preset doesn’t update the settings shown at the bottom of the Graphics screen as it should.
The first step of the Help Wanted mission, Coping Inspector, gets crossed out and doesn't progress when arriving at the target area.
Rebooting skate. results in the Mission progressing to the next step
The option to select between 16:9 centered HUD and full-width and height UI is present but non-functional while in Windowed mode.
If the player has any kind of Mission outside of Scavenger ones tracked, once they log in and track the Scavenger Hunt missions, the mission cannot be progressed.
Workaround: Rebooting skate. may resolve this issue.
Fingerflips are missing the Switch and Fakie tags in Chapter 1.
After turning the World Traffic setting off and on, some of the cars will become invisible but can still interact with other objects and Skaters.
Workaround: Only change this setting once in a session.
After finishing a Co-op Challenge, party member's names will swap with random ones during the celebration screen.
Players cannot change who they spectate after using RT/R2 or LT/L2 commands.
Workaround: Players will only see the first and last person on the list. To spectate other people, they need to select them one by one in the menu list.
Memory leak crashes related to UI.
skate. sometimes crashes when accessing the Tattoos category of the Store.
Sometimes, UI elements break after a short period of play.
Often, players can't climb the scaffolding of M-Corp Tower.
Player model glitches while in Switch/Fakie stance.