Game News Jagged Alliance 2 - Reloaded Ditches Turn-Based Combat

[HiddenX]

Sirtech were the masters of turn based combat. I still dream that there will be a true Wizardry 9 and true JA 3 some time.

 

[quasimodo]

Yeah. People around here lament the loss of Troika, but I miss Sir-Tech more.

 

[lisac2k]

Seeing how deserted that board is now, after the initial "don't make it realtime" rush, is pretty sad.

I was there tonight, although I didn't want to visit it in the first place. But someting haunted me, pursued me to that desolated place. There was a thumbleweed there, I think.

It'll be fun watching their tries to raise the hype regarding the upcoming JA titles, of course, when the time comes. See you there in several months, I guess.

 

[zeitgeist]

More questions answered:

How superior will the modern up-to-date JA2:R engine be to the now already eight-years-old Silent Storm engine - the one Jagged Alliance 3 was supposed to be built on at some point in production, between all the IP switching - in terms of destructible terrain/objects and physics? Give us a hint on a couple of new features related to that please!

JA2:R does not feature full destruction like the Silent Storm games so there is not much to compare in this regard.

When evaluating technologies for use in JA2:R we put a focus on the possibility to create large landscape maps since we felt that the game was in its core about liberating a whole island from a dictator and we wanted to transport the size of the open world.
While we did not evaluate the Silent Storm engine itself, the Silent Storm games all focus on smaller maps, maybe as a tradeoff for the complexity of the physics and the possibility for full destruction of buildings.
Since we do not have the luxury to create a new engine from scratch and had to choose existing technology based on the budget available we made the decision to favor larger sized maps over extended possibilities for destruction of buildings and other objects.

With JA2 1.13, the inventory system is very detailed and allows for great customization of the mercs. This is not a feature that has anything to do with the turnbased vs realtime switch, so will any of this be brought to JA2:R or will it have the more simplistic vanilla JA2 inventory system? Also, will any of the inventory items on a merc, except of course the weapon, be visible on the merc model, like in Silent Storm? For example: binoculars, grenades and other items/packs attached to belt, holsters and so on.

The complexity of the inventory system will be more complex than in vanilla JA2 but probably not as detailed as in 1.13. However this will be more a question the usability of the User Interface design than the complexity of the merc customization.

Most equipment (e.g. Kevlar and Helmets) will be visible on the merc. You will also see the specific clothes you put on your merc.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

The complexity of the inventory system will be more complex than in vanilla JA2 but probably not as detailed as in 1.13. However this will be more a question the usability of the User Interface design than the complexity of the merc customization.

Most equipment (e.g. Kevlar and Helmets) will be visible on the merc. You will also see the specific clothes you put on your merc.

"look there! shiny things! merc dress up!"

 

[FakeNavySeal]

JA2:R does not feature full destruction like the Silent Storm games so there is not much to compare in this regard.

When evaluating technologies for use in JA2:R we put a focus on the possibility to create large landscape maps since we felt that the game was in its core about liberating a whole island from a dictator and we wanted to transport the size of the open world.

The only good thing a modern engine can offer for project like this is physics.

And how do big maps make any fucking sense for a tactical game?

So not so much sellouts as just blithering morons.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Twenty bucks says that Val Verde Arulco is no longer divided into square maps, but that you have a map where you land from the choppah, a map where you fight soldiers on the way to Drassen, and a map for Drassen. Rinse and repeat, with the possible exception of the palace getting a separate map.

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

The only good thing a modern engine can offer for project like this is physics.

And how do big maps make any fucking sense for a tactical game?

So not so much sellouts as just blithering morons.

I'm betting they don't even actually have any big map, it's just PR bullshit.

 

[Avé]

Actually in fairness, JA2 maps were huge compared to Silent Storm and the size really added to replayability, complexity and depth.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Actually in fairness, JA2 maps were huge compared to Silent Storm and the size really added to replayability, complexity and depth.

Yes, Silent Storm didn't get maps even close to that size before just a handful of maps in Sentinels.

But for the most part, JA2 maps were not exactly huge themselves. The far more important factor for replayability and tactical depth was the presence of multiple means of offensive (the rarely seen stuff more than anything else, like wirecutters, gas and such methods) and different choices of deployment (from different sides as well).

 

[FakeNavySeal]

Actually in fairness, JA2 maps were huge compared to Silent Storm and the size really added to replayability, complexity and depth.

The factory map was pretty big and a couple others. The SS engine did not perform too well but I just played JA2 and it all has the same size maps, which are not huge but not small I guess.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Plus there are no identical maps in JA2. True, some of them resemble each other closely but there is no copy&paste.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Plus there are no identical maps in JA2. True, some of them resemble each other closely but there is no copy&paste.

And you can approach almost all of them from different starting positions (aren't the palace and the hedge maze the only maps you have only a single starting edge?).

Though the squares between towns and places of interest are really just filler quality, but thankfully JA2 had little in the way of what could be called filler combat.

 

[Tycn]

I suppose it's nice that they're being upfront about the changes that they're making. Looks like I'll be saving my money.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

ren't the palace and the hedge maze the only maps you have only a single starting edge?)

no, only the palace.

 

[Avé]

Plus there are no identical maps in JA2. True, some of them resemble each other closely but there is no copy&paste.

And you can approach almost all of them from different starting positions (aren't the palace and the hedge maze the only maps you have only a single starting edge?).

Though the squares between towns and places of interest are really just filler quality, but thankfully JA2 had little in the way of what could be called filler combat.

Even as filler quality, I had some epic battles on random maps against patrols. Couldn't say the same for a lot of SS maps!
I really enjoyed SS, but the engine was definitely limited.

 

[Severian Silk]

ren't the palace and the hedge maze the only maps you have only a single starting edge?)

no, only the palace.

And the underground sectors.

Even as filler quality, I had some epic battles on random maps against patrols. Couldn't say the same for a lot of SS maps!
I really enjoyed SS, but the engine was definitely limited.

Yeah, the lack of unique maps (JA2 had about 250 of them!) really hurt the game's replayability. And it just barely chugged along on my low-end computer at the time.

 

[The_scorpion]

Depends. If there's some gain in revailing it (or not), then it's revealed (or not). Everything else would mean disgrace of the PR/marketing-department. Since BC managed to piss off so many people in such a short timeframe (and, at the same time, to show its complete incompetence regarding PR/marketing matters), it would certainly be better for them to keep most of the upcoming development process secret.

Hell, I've seen non-profitable/indie games development teams handling tough situations better than BC.

Coreplay is apparently the Dev team according to BC. They are however too embarassed to officially state it on their own website it seems;

http://www.coreplay.de/projects/ia.html

however, they apparently released other prestigious and gameplay-heavy games like germany's next topmodel and fit for fun... for the Wii

 

[Tycn]

Oh, wow.

It's even more fucked than I had imagined.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Oh, wow.

It's even more fucked than I had imagined.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Oh wow indeed. Clusterfuck in the making.

 

[zeitgeist]

Well, it was rather safe to assume that it would be one of many no-name European casual game development studios, looking at bitComposer's track record as a publisher. It was just a matter of which exact one it would be. But honestly, I think they're all pretty much interchangeable, with regard to the projected quality of the game.

 

[SerratedBiz]

Still no questions on the romanceable characters? WTF.

 

[zeitgeist]

I somehow missed this until now, apparently they started a dev diary here, describing crucial parts of game development such as painting cracks into the asphalt textures. Also, concept art for Shadow:

 

[Epsilon]

We have again discussed the “line of sight” issue internally, and have finally decided to show all the enemies right at the start, as we were worried that a pure “line of sight” on the complex game maps could represent too great a challenge for beginners, particularly as our maps are, to some extent, larger than in the original game.
But there’s no problem with the basic logic of showing enemies when they are spotted by your own mercenaries. We already have some ideas on how to keep both players new to the game and the “old hands” among you happy.
We haven’t yet decided quite how we will do this, and have left all the options open. In any case, the veterans among you should be able to make all the enemies invisible until they enter your mercenaries’ field of vision.

We will only be able to finalize the details during development when the combat system is far advanced and we can assess how it will impact on the overall game experience. Ideally of course, we want to find a single solution that fits all!

Dumb it down, dumb it all the way down so theres only one choice, thats the only way you can really make sure retards won't have a hard time with the game!