Starship Troopers: Terran Command - survival RTS from Order of Battle devs

[Baron Dupek]

https://www.slitherine.com/game/starship-troopers-terran-command




https://af.gog.com/en/game/starship_troopers_terran_command?as=1649904300

Spoiler

more info in Monday, December 2nd on stream (yeugh)

 

[tindrli]

well that was quick.. i hope that game will be longer

 

[Beowulf]

Another announcement for announcement.
Knowing it's Slitherine it will be expensive. And quality of their games is very hit and miss lately. This one supposedly comes from the devs of the "Order of Battle".
Haven't played it, but it looks like a PG clone.

 

[gerey]

Let's hope it's actually based off the book this time around and I finally get to kill the Chinese with proper power armor.

 

[Luka-boy]

I would like to know more.

 

[Dayyālu]

This one supposedly comes from the devs of the "Order of Battle".

I'd have preferred the guys behind Battle Academy working on this.

Let's hope it's actually based off the book this time around and I finally get to kill the Chinese with proper power armor.

There's very little to work on the book. The graphic style born from the movies is distinctive and well made, for better or for worse. Can't be worse than the old RTS, that one was weird.

 

[Galdred]

Isn't order of battles a grand tactical/operational game? I am not sure the scale could do the bugs justice. Granted, they could do something totally different, but I doubt it, given that Slitherine studios working on Warhammer 40K IP or Battlestar Galactica for that matter, have made games that were really close to their previous work..

There's very little to work on the book. The graphic style born from the movies is distinctive and well made, for better or for worse. Can't be worse than the old RTS, that one was weird.

I liked the old RTS actully!
It was rather a RT tactical game, but it worked at translating the feel of leading meatbags who had to stay as far away as possible from the bugs. Also it feature late game power armor!

 

[Burning Bridges]

Shouldn't they finish Panzer Corps 2 first?

 

[Galdred]

Shouldn't they finish Panzer Corps 2 first?

I thought "the Aristocrats", the ones behind Order of Battle were former member of the Lordz studio, the ones behind Panzer Corps 2 (+ Flashback Games, the ones who made 40K: Armageddon).

This starts to sound awfully close to a family sitcom.

 

[Dayyālu]

I liked the old RTS actully!
It was rather a RT tactical game, but it worked at translating the feel of leading meatbags who had to stay as far away as possible from the bugs. Also it feature late game power armor!

You know, the old RTS was quite good from the design standpoint. It wasn't a bad game, I merely could never get into it. Also yes, at least they gave you power armour.

I'm not entirely sold on a "strategical/operational" game done by Panzer Corps/Armageddon devs. Their approach, as far as I remember, wasn't particularly "strategic" (but again, maybe it's me, I consider Panzer Generals clones not as strategy games but as puzzles, bar Fantasy General that's awesome). Starship Troopers begs for tactical level play wiith asymmetrical units.

 

[Galdred]

I liked the old RTS actully!
It was rather a RT tactical game, but it worked at translating the feel of leading meatbags who had to stay as far away as possible from the bugs. Also it feature late game power armor!

You know, the old RTS was quite good from the design standpoint. It wasn't a bad game, I merely could never get into it. Also yes, at least they gave you power armour.

I'm not entirely sold on a "strategical/operational" game done by Panzer Corps/Armageddon devs. Their approach, as far as I remember, wasn't particularly "strategic" (but again, maybe it's me, I consider Panzer Generals clones not as strategy games but as puzzles, bar Fantasy General that's awesome). Starship Troopers begs for tactical level play wiith asymmetrical units.

Actually, the Panzer General "scale" never really clicked with me either. It is supposed to be operational, but it really doesn't feel like it, and it was used at the tactical level too (in Fantasy General and Rites of War), which made the abstractions even more uncanny IMO (I still liked them, but as puzzle games indeed, neither as strategic or tactical games).

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Interesting!

On the other hand, OOB is spectacularly meh so maybe not.

 

[rezaf]

Knowing it's Slitherine it will be expensive.

Thankfully, this is no longer the absolute truth. It kinda still is for those of their games that do not get a steam release, but those that do are often frequently on sale and even bundled. They may still not be dirt-cheap, but are dramatically more affordable than they used to be, provided you have a little patience - same as with most other games.

On the other hand, OOB is spectacularly meh so maybe not.

I quite liked the original OOB, a game based off the PG formula with a supply system - intriguing.
I haven't tried all the expansions, but those I did try left me underwhelmed, for the most part. Iirc the first expansion was the one in mainland china, and without any navy being involved the game lost a lot. And then the level design didn't play to the strength of the engine, but seemed rather cookie-cutter instead. The game basically wanted you to pull of a german-style blitzkrieg, but with japanese tanks and equipment, and agains many, many, many chinese troops. Got old really fast.

Anyway, since the base game was quite solid imo, I feel that they might pull something decent off here as well. Time will tell, I guess.

 

[gerey]

What are the chances it won't be another Panzer General reskin, and instead an actually good Battletech game with power armor instead of mechs?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

What are the chances it won't be another Panzer General reskin, and instead an actually good Battletech game with power armor instead of mechs?

With Sliherine non-existent.
I can think only one action/simulation game that they've released.

 

[Galdred]

What are the chances it won't be another Panzer General reskin, and instead an actually good Battletech game with power armor instead of mechs?

With Sliherine non-existent.
I can think only one action/simulation game that they've released.

Actually Matrix Games, the second part of Slitherine, did publish: Titans of Steel: Warring Suns and Starshatter: the Gathering storm, a long time ago.
ToS was a very detailed Mech game. I think it suffered from having turns that were "too fragmented", but it was still pretty cool.
Starshatter was an excellent captial spaceship command game, with a dynamic campaign, and good tactical elements that is still unrivaled.

But I think these games were published with very little involvement from the publisher. I doubt they would take as much risks for a licensed game.
But I would still be OK with a Rites of War reskin, as long as it feels like the original!

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

What are the chances it won't be another Panzer General reskin, and instead an actually good Battletech game with power armor instead of mechs?

With Sliherine non-existent.
I can think only one action/simulation game that they've released.

Actually Matrix Games, the second part of Slitherine, did publish: Titans of Steel: Warring Suns and Starshatter: the Gathering storm, a long time ago.
ToS was a very detailed Mech game. I think it suffered from having turns that were "too fragmented", but it was still pretty cool.
Starshatter was an excellent captial spaceship command game, with a dynamic campaign, and good tactical elements that is still unrivaled.

But I think these games were published with very little involvement from the publisher. I doubt they would take as much risks for a licensed game.
But I would still be OK with a Rites of War reskin, as long as it feels like the original!

Gah.
I mixed Battletech with Mechwarrior. I was thinking of old cancelled Starship Troopers game that looked a bit like Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri.

Titans of Steel is pretty good once you get handle of its unorthodox way of handling turns.
Other one is unfamiliar for me.

 

[LESS T_T]

They Are Billions:

Starship Troopers - Terran Command is a thrilling real-time strategy game set in the Starship Troopers movies universe. Take command of the Mobile Infantry and do your part in the war against the Arachnid threat. Build, develop and control your armies to strike an effective balance between tactical superiority and strength in numbers. Ensure that human civilization, not insect, dominates the galaxy now and always!

Planetary Campaigns
Fight for control over an entire planet in the campaign mode, where the storyline and missions develop according to your choices and achievements on the battlefield. Remain obedient to the demands of Terran Command – no matter how costly or ruthless – to benefit from exclusive unit types and special abilities, or follow your own path to glory to become an irrefutable Hero of the Federation. Develop and customize your forces through a detailed technology tree and upgradeable leader characters that can be assigned to your units.

Tactics & Numbers
While the Arachnids can rely on virtually limitless numbers, the Mobile Infantry must develop effective tactics to overcome this imbalance. Deploy your units at strategic locations to cover vital choke points and gain superior firepower through tactical use of elevation levels. Be wary, however, that battle mechanics such as True Line of Sight and True Line of Fire also allow Bugs to lay ambushes around every corner, as they are well known for their use of surprise attacks and deception.

Units & Abilities
An expansive range of unique units, weapons, and special abilities are at the disposal of MI commanders. Infantry squads armed with Morita Assault Rifles and MX-90 Fragmentation Grenades form the mainstay of your forces. Rocket Troopers deliver deadly payloads with pin-point accuracy while Engineers are vital to shore up defensive positions with MG turrets, barricades, and minefields. As a campaign progresses, technological breakthroughs unlock the true potential of the Federation’s arsenal with Power Armor infantry squads, TAC Fighter airstrikes, Marauder mobile suits, and many more developments optimized for spraying Bug ichor across the battlefield.

Key features
- Dynamically generated campaigns for virtually limitless replayability.
- Dozens of unique unit types, each with their own special abilities.
- Terrain elevation, True Line of Sight & True Line of Fire provide deep tactical gameplay.
- An extensive technology tree to develop and customize your forces.
- Persistent leaders can be attached to units and upgraded throughout the campaign.
- Heroics, explosions, gore, and Bugs. Lots of Bugs.

 

[Dayyālu]

Hell, it sounds intereting. The randomly generated campaign not so much, and they need to work a lot on the animations (hell, when in your reveal trailer the tanker throwing plasma or something lacks even basic animations it means there's some work to do).

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

Shouldn't they finish Panzer Corps 2 first?

slitherine/matrix is a huge company, they have numerous studio making games for them, maybe over 20 at times, panzer corps 2 is being made by a different company/team and being published by slitherine/matrix

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

Interesting!

On the other hand, OOB is spectacularly meh so maybe not.

yeah it was okay. Its hard to know about this game though because this looks like a RTS game and order of battle was a turn based strategy game, so there is not much history of them making this type of game that I am aware of other than we can perhaps judge overall quality of work which to me was fine for OOB..it was not spectacular. I never finished the german campaign, stopped in 1942 I think.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

What are the chances it won't be another Panzer General reskin, and instead an actually good Battletech game with power armor instead of mechs?

it won't be because its not a turn based strategy game.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

Hell, it sounds intereting. The randomly generated campaign not so much, and they need to work a lot on the animations (hell, when in your reveal trailer the tanker throwing plasma or something lacks even basic animations it means there's some work to do).

where is there a tanker throwing plasma? I can't find what you are talking about.

 

[Dayyālu]

where is there a tanker throwing plasma? I can't find what you are talking about.

Left side, down, 00:23. Shooting at the troops on the walls. It lacks animations for basic movement.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

where is there a tanker throwing plasma? I can't find what you are talking about.

Left side, down, 00:23. Shooting at the troops on the walls. It lacks animations for basic movement.

oh I see it, I was looking for like a metal tank with tracks. But yeah the legs are not moving, they are idle.