System walki w Reloaded

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.

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.

Już Wildfire się to udało - idealne ono nie było, ale sektory nie wglądały jak XIX-wieczna wioska. No i dobrze, że się zadeklarowali, choć za turami i tak będę tęsknił.

zaś w Wildfire jest hotel (tak to bynajmniej wygląda)

Bynajmniej to nie przynajmniej

1. Czy podobnie jak w innych grach bazujących na strategi cichego zabijania pozwalającego uniknąć bycia rozbitym przez przeważające siły wroga, to czy system Plan & Go pozwoli na pozostanie niezauważonym ? Czy dowolne jednostki będą świadome swojego pola widzenia i czy będą próbowały okrążyć przeciwnika ?

Nie zupełnie, system P&G będzie implementował pole widzenia i w rezultacie stosowanie tej strategii będzie możliwe, ale nie będzie to dotyczyło samoobrony, która będzie służyła tylko do obrony miast już wyzwolonych.

2. Czy będzie możliwość użycia wielu ekip, a jeśli to jak w przybliżeniu bedzie wyglądać zarządzanie nimi w czasie rzeczywistym, w szczególności podczas walki ?

W danym momencie będzie można korzystać tylko z jednej ekipy, z tym że samo zarządzanie ekipami nie będzie odbywać się w czasie rzeczywistym ale tylko podczas pauzy, kiedy to będzie można wydać rozkazy a potem się tylko przyglądać ich realizacji.

3. Czy będzie można odzyskać stracony sektor, ew. czy ich zajmowanie będzie ograniczone fabułą ? Czy kiedy wróg odzyska swój sektor to czy będzie go jakoś chronić, np. poprzez patrole ? Jeśli tak, to czy będzie to działać wg. fabuły czy losowo ?

Podobnie jak w oryginale, to po zajęciu Dressen dalsze decyzję będą zależały od gracza, np. szukanie questów a ostatecznie zabicie Deidrany. W kwestii strategii ruchów wroga to będzie to raczej czynnik losowy, ale AI będzie się starało uzyskać kontrolę nad całą mapą, z całą pewnością będą jakieś wzorce zachowań AI, ale będzie się ona starała zrealizować swój cel w zależności od sytuacji.

4. Czy będzie możliwe aby przełączać tryb zasięgu widzenia jednostek (dla gracza) w ten sposób aby widzieć wszystkich widocznych przeciwników na mapie, ale równocześnie nie wpływać tym na AI (samoobronę) [chyba chodzi o to żeby jednostki sojusznicze nie miał podglądu w widoczność najmitów] ?

Możliwe że tak, choć jeszcze nie podjęliśmy decyzji co do tak szczegółowych aspektów gry. Nad takimi rzeczami popracujemy dopiero najwcześniej w fazie alfa [wewnętrznych] testów.

5. Inne gry z aktywną pauzą (jak seria Commandos czy Desperados) miały misję ze ściśle określonymi osobami bo w danym momencie nie można było nimi grać w innych rejonach mapy [fabuły], a to po to aby cała gra była bardziej zrównoważona trudnością - jak będzie w Reload ? Czy będą restrykcję co do czynności które dany najmita może gdzieś podjąć (strzelanie, leczenie, naprawa, itp.) lub czy będzie zależne to tylko od umiejętności najmity ? No i czy będzie konieczność zatrudniania/wyznaczania ściśle określonych najmitów do realizacji danego zadania ?

Po pierwsze te gierki były w zasadzie grami akcji, i nawet nie miały możliwości wydawania rozkazów podczas (aktywnej) pauzy, gdzie ta pauza służyła tylko do kontemplacji sytuacji. My zaś chcemy aby można było wykorzystać dowolnego najmitę w dowolny sposób i dowolnym miejscu jaki tylko graczowi przyjdzie do głowy.

6. Nie obawiacie się konkurencji JA 1.13 ? Czy chcecie wykorzystać jakieś rozwiązania w Reload'dzie ? Czy sektory będą wzorowane na oryginale ? Quetsy też ?

Taa, bardzo. Ale różnica między Reloadem a 1.13 to kwestia nowego systemu aktywnej pauzy, poza tym my musimy szukać kolejnych możliwości usprawnień, tak jak to robił 1.13 w stosunku do orginału. Dlatego Reloada należy postrzegać bardziej jako odświeżone JA2 niż jako kolejna odsłona serii. Fabularnie wszystko będzie po staremu, fabuła, najmcici, pukawki, sektory, za wyjątkiem tego odświeżenia gry. Sektory będą wzorowane na orginale, zresztą od jakiegoś czasu znamy je już świetnie i postaramy się je dobrze odwzorować. Tylko sam wygląd mapy [satelitarnej] nieznacznie się zmieni, co będzie miało też wpływa na same sektory. Odwzorowanie oryginału dotyczy przede wszystkim miast i NPC.

1.Will the size of the maps change?

Yes. The maps in Reloaded will generally tend to be larger.

2.Will players be able to drive vehicles?

No.

3.Will houses have more than one floor that is accessible?

No.

4.Will we have more control over the militia (indirectly)?

This is still to be decided, but what is definitely not anticipated is that the militia will advance and attack. We have not yet finalized how the militia will behave when carrying out defensive actions.

5.Will there be a physics engine where houses and buildings can be destroyed?

Only to a limited extent; players can use explosives to blast holes in walls as in JA2, but not to blow entire houses sky high as in Silent Storm.

6.Will the number of enemies in the sector change significantly?

This has not yet been fixed, but will probably be roughly the same as in the original.

7.Which areas will be subject to significant changes from the original version of JA2?

This really only applies to the underlying combat system and the changes that will accompany the conversion from 2D to 3D. Any additional modifications will be comparatively minor.

8. Will there be new movie sequences?

The amount of video sequences is currntly not clear.

9. How will the “cover system” be designed? Will there be fixed levels in the game (floor, roof, etc. or as in Starcraft 2 currently) where you can get your bearings, or will the landscape be designed freely in 3D with hills, uneven ground etc. where the sightline is always calculated at any one time (similar to Hired Guns)?

The entire landscape is in 3D and will be described physically, so pretty similar to “Hired Guns”.

10. Will we be able to “fortify” the locations?

Yes, using militia.

11. Will there be new sources of income apart from the gold and silver mines? (Oil, additional missions, etc.)

The main sources of income will be mining, additional tasks and missions and items of booty that players can sell to traders.

12. Will the strategy map either be set out in a grid and freely accessible, or will it be similar to Hired Guns, with just "hot spots" that the player must travel to?
And if the overview map is freely accessible, will it then be slightly "organic" in form or remain in a strict grid pattern again?

The strategic map will again be freely accessible.

It is still undecided whether a grid will be helpful for the player as a reference point, or whether we can lose that feature.

13. Will the locations be divided into districts, or are there larger maps for entire cities?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. We will integrate smaller towns and cities on one large map. Larger cities (e.g. Meduna) will consist of several districts.

14. Will the old dialog system be retained?

Yes.

15. Will the game still have the Bloodcats? Is there still a science fiction mode?

The only thing I can say for sure is that at present there will be NO sci-fi mode.

16. Will there be light sources that can be destroyed (e.g. floodlights, searchlights)

Probably not.


17. Will the humor of the series be retained? E.g. comments of mercs, weapon descriptions, etc.

Yes! Definitely!

Q1: If you keep the original Mercenary, what would you do with the voices? I mean a full re-voicing would change the "original" feeling, it's kind of an hard decision for you isn't it?

That’s a really good question. As we have the original English soundfiles available we think about the possibility to use them, where it’s possible. The other languages need to be rerecorded. But we don’t think that this is a problem if it’s done well. Our aim is to catch the tonality & feeling of the original.

Q2: What is you opinion at the current state of the game, will JA2R be modifiable so that the community could implement an "Turn Based Mod"?

In the release time frame there are no tools for modifications planned. Please keep in mind that it took years until the source code of JA2 has been released. We won’t wait that long, but first of all it’s important for us to finalize the game and after that we can think about possible tools for the modding scene.

Q1: 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!

bCG: 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.

Q2: 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.

bCG: 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.