New questions and answers:
"Nark" wrote:
Hey bitComposer, I have a question:
How does it feel knowing that making JA2-Reloaded and JA3 in real-time will bring about the demise of your studio?
"BitComposer" wrote:
Thanks for your question and the note. We know we are doomed and we are looking forward to our demise with a smile
More:
1. Will the system allow for combat without pausing at all or will it be like a system in most recent similiar game: Frozen Synapse?
In theory it might be possible to win encounters without pausing but to use the full depth of the system you will have to use the command mode which pauses the game.
Reloaded is not supposed to be a RTS or Action oriented game. The core of the game is centered around tactical decision making without time pressure.
2. If there is no Fog of War how will we know that our merc has spotted an enemy and vice verse?
Roughly about the same way as in the original JA2: The merc will notify you via Voice Over and we might also add other pointers when necessary, e.g. something like the numbers on the merc’s portrait in the original JA2.
But this is all very high level stuff and it’s hard to say how something like that will be handled exactly in the final game…
3. Will there be a feature that displays Field of View like in a most recent example: Helldorado?
Yes.
4. I presume the ability to hit the target will be governed by Marksmanship skill and Weapon Stats, will the system allow for accidental hits? (E.G. You shoot the enemy in front row, miss but accidentaly hit an enemy who was far behind)
Yes. And it will also be possible to accidentally hit another friendly merc. Once the bullet is on its way it will hit whatever it will hit.
5. Will you be able to blow up buildings with explosives? How much will the envoirenment be destructible?
We will come back on this later
6. Will there be day/night change? If it will, will it happen during combat if the combat lasts too long? What will be advantages and disadvantages of night combat?
Yes but it will not happen on the fly during combat but when the map is loaded it will either be day or night.
The advantages and disadvantages of night combat will be roughly the same as in the original JA2. If you pick your mercs right and equip them properly operating at night might give you an advantage in surprising your enemies.
7. Will the Weapons have real-life names?
We plan to implement the weapons from the original JA2 and use the same names.
How will Agility influence mercenary movement and actions?
Agility determines the speed, coordination and control of a mercenary when recognizing and reacting to an event (e.g. being shot at), as well as his traveling speed. So in general it determines how quickly a merc will aim and shoot, while marksmanship will be responsible for how well he hits.
8. Will there be a longer animation when reloading weapons without corresponding magazine?
This is something we will address further down in the development process.
At the moment we are not sure how effect such smaller differences in the duration of an action will turn out in a realtime based system. E.g. having a given action take 0,53 seconds longer than another might not result in any noticeable difference for the player so it will not really matter in the tactical decision making.
... and more:
1. Since Plan and Go in other games relies on more stealth kill techniques to avoid being overpowered by numerous enemies, does having Plan and Go obviate the need for having a trainable militia (a huge part of JA2 gameplay) since being able to see LOS cones or sneaking around won't matter if a militia is bum rushing tangos?
The system we have in mind does not rely more on stealth kill techniques. It just implements some of the features that other similar games introduced for stealth like sight cones and as a result may make using a stealthy approach more attractive for new players. Otherwise stealth simply is an option the player has.
Therefore stealth also doesn’t affect the militia. Militia still will serve primarily as defense for cities the player has liberated.
2. Will Plan and Go support multi-squad approaches and if so, how is the average player expected to manage this in real time especially when the use of saves during combat has been eliminated?
No. You will only be able to use a single squad at once. And you will not have to manage anything in real time. You can issue every order while the game is paused and then watch how your plan works out in real time.
3. Will players be able to retake sectors or will sector taking be linear and mission oriented in the Plan and Go system? That is to say, if the enemy retakes a sector, will the enemy placements, patrols, etc. be randomized or fixed?
The “meta-game” and world map section will work pretty much as in the original JA2. After you liberated Drassen it will be up to you how you want to progress. There are missions and completing a mission will help you in completing your final goal but besides killing Deidranna it’s completely up to the player what he feels like doing.
As for the enemy movement on the map, neither randomized nor fixed does fully describe it. How the enemy advances on the map is controlled by an AI that will try to maintain control over the map. Of course that means that you will see patterns in its approach to achieve its goal but it may not be the same result for every situation.
4. Is it possible to make LOS cones invisible and seeing all enemies on the map an option and still keep the automated squad AI options under Plan and Go?
The decisions on these details are not final at the moment. So I would say, yes it’s possible.
These are very high level questions that we will work out during the alpha and beta phases of development.
5. Other Plan and Go games (Commandos series and Desperados series) were mission oriented and had extremely specialized characters that were never all used at the same time on particular maps because of the way certain maps were balanced. How is JA2:R going to handle this when everyone can obviously shoot a gun, heal, repair, train (how well depending upon their stats)? Will there still be that pool of hirable mercs or will the player be given a selected amount of highly specialized mercs to handle the missions?
First, I wouldn’t say that Commandos and Desperados were “other Plan and Go games” since they were strictly running in real time. They both do not have a “planning mode” in which the game is paused and you can take your time analyze the situation and make decision without time pressure.
We are planning to bring back every Merc from the original JA2 with the same strengths and weaknesses. Who you hire and how you approach on every map is entirely up to you.
6. Are you aware of Jagged Alliance 1.13, and which (if any) features from 1.13 will you be implementing in JA2:R?Will the sector maps in JA2:R be 3D copies of sector maps from JA2? What about quests?
We are aware of 1.13 but since the „Plan & Go“ system works quite different since it is not a turn based system. So we will have to find our own solutions for most of the improvements that 1.13 added to the original JA2.
You should see Jagged Alliance 2 Reloaded rather as a remake in the sense of a movie remake than in the sense of an update to an existing game.
It will have all the mercs, weapons, locations and tell the same story but it will take some liberties here and there to freshen things up.
The sector maps will not be copied directly from the original. The layout of the world map is slightly different which will also result in some changes to the sector maps. At the same time we know the maps of the original very well and will do our best to include the landmarks in the maps we design for Reloaded. Especially for the cities and the NPCs.
-> I think I'll play JA 2 version 1.13 'til I die.
