Status of JA3?

[Big Fred]

Hello, I am an old time gamer and JA series is my favorite.  I have been lurking on this site but just recently joined. I have a couple questions. It's 10/21/22, and wanted to know how close JA 3 is to release?  Also, how can I sign up to beta Test?  Thanks, Please keep me posted!!

[Wigen]

As of today, we don't really know at what stage of production the game is. We can only rely on what the producers tell us.

Pre-alpha gameplay was presented at Gamescom.

[Solaris_Wave]

I am guessing that, although progress is being steadily made, there are probably things that are being added all the time, which might put back the release date every so often. The developers are possibly coming up with new ideas all the time, that will add to or alter the gameplay. It is possible that contributions from us forum posters also add to that situation.

[Big Fred]

I hope they add back into the game the personalities of the Mercs where some are more jealous of others and act out during gameplay.   I really hope they keep to the original series.  Thanks Wigen and Solar_wave for response

[LoboNocturno]

8 hours ago, Big Fred said:

I hope they add back into the game the personalities of the Mercs where some are more jealous of others and act out during gameplay.   I really hope they keep to the original series.  Thanks Wigen and Solar_wave for response

Yes the friendly & unfriendly trait between some mercs will be there, it was mentioned already in Gamescom.

[Solaris_Wave]

The personalities of the mercs was always one if the signature elements of the Jagged Alliance series. You weren't just recruiting and training rookies that weren't a lot different from one another (but who you might personally and unofficially attach a personality to as they progressed through the game (eg. original X-COM)). They had personalities right from the very beginning and it would be immediately apparent as you decided on who to hire. While I always enjoyed creating my own personalities for the original X-COM games (or just naming them after all the Colonial Marines from the movie, Aliens), I always really liked how distinct each merc was in Jagged Alliance. You would quickly develop your favourites. It has been a long time since I played JA2 (or any JA game for that matter), so I don't remember too many of the mercs except for few. I always remember Shadow for his cool professionalism (and high cost and being in high demand). I can still remember some of the speech, from Shadow's calm warning of unfriendlies being spotted, to Ivan cursing in Russian. I also remember one of the mercs saying, "Snapperheads!" Was that Gus? Plus, Deidranna constantly telling her lieutenant, Elliot how much of an idiot he was.

I also really liked how you could create your own merc, using the personality creator. They would integrate seamlessly in with the other mercs you could hire. My one became very proficient in stealth and close quarters battle. She would frequently use the Heckler & Koch MP5SD for covert missions.

 

Has JA3's development team gone into specifics about how the Unfriendly trait works? I can imagine it affecting morale of those that don't like one another, as well as refusing to be hired or being in the same squad on a mission. Does it go further than that? How unfriendly is unfriendly? Is jt just refusal to work or will one of them decide on their own to run over to the other one and punch them in the face? Will they argue and waste a turn as one tells the other that they could have shot better than that, or bicker on what plan of attack would work best? Will it get even worse? Instead of just cancelling their contract and quitting, they instead draw a knife and attack them, decide to shoot them when they think nobody else is looking, or throw a frag grenade their way?

[Hendrix]

12 hours ago, Solaris_Wave said:

(or just naming them after all the Colonial Marines from the movie, Aliens)

And not once did Hicks survive in my games... 😔 (although to be fair, I never played the original XCOM games back in the day, I have mainly played the new ones and Xenonauts). 

 

 

12 hours ago, Solaris_Wave said:

"Snapperheads!" Was that Gus?

That was Earl "Magic" Walker. 🙂

[Acid]

The developer diary would be good, to give us some more details before the release of the of the game.

[Solaris_Wave]

16 hours ago, Hendrix said:

And not once did Hicks survive in my games... 😔 (although to be fair, I never played the original XCOM games back in the day, I have mainly played the new ones and Xenonauts). 

 

 

That was Earl "Magic" Walker. 🙂

I had so many memorable experiences with the original X-COM game (a.k.a. U.F.O.: Enemy Unknown). Deploying for the first time, hunting Sectoids in some wheat field and then slowly seeing the fog of war revealing the crashed U.F.O., its silver hull standing out against everything else. Then there were the Terror Site missions where the alien forces deployed their larger units. I remember the Cyberdiscs having a nasty plasma cannon but an even nastier surprise when you destroyed them. They would blow up and take out the side of a building, leave a crater and destroy anything/anyone else in the vicinity. I remember those damn Chryssalids in their original guise. Fast moving, black chitinous, bipedal monsters that would infect your soldiers or civilians, turning them into zombies…which would then spawn another Chryssalid out of the zombie once you were forced to kill what was left of the person. I also fondly remember the Blaster Launcher, still one of the best weapons ever in a video game. It was great how you could set waypoints to steer the missile around the map. Then it would finally explode with a massive radius, covering everything in smoke and fire (which I first experienced during a night-time Terror Site mission). In fact, when I first played Enemy Unknown in the early to mid '90s, I didn't have a lot if experience with turn-based squad games, having only played Laser Squad, Sabre Team and RoboSport. Therefore, I wasn't experienced enough in knowing how to deal with Chryssalids beyond reloading a game save if things went sour. If I knew one was creeping around in the dark or a building, I would use Blaster Launchers as soon as they were researched, and level a whole building just to kill the damn thing. That was before I learnt tactics such as to not separate my soldiers, to not use up all the action points, use covering fire, ranked fire, overwatch, sniper support and so on. All simple things now, it seems.

 

Thanks for pointing out Earl 'Magic' Walker. He was always one of my first mercs to hire, due to being affordable and dependable.

 

12 hours ago, Acid said:

The developer diary would be good, to give us some more details before the release of the of the game.

I think the dev diary is due in the very near future.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Solaris_Wave

[Wigen]

12 hours ago, Acid said:

The developer diary would be good, to give us some more details before the release of the of the game.

It is worth adding that developer diaries are also one of the forms of promoting the game.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Wigen