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First Developer Stream - Q&A


Solaris_Wave

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I thought I would start a new thread for this, as opposed to adding to @Wigen's Dev Stream announcement. Hopefully, it can be a collective thread for questions that can be asked and answered by the developers, without it being a flurry of questions, like with the Twitch stream.

I personally don't have too many at this time and will certainly have more when the Combat Diary and stream starts but I have a few questions in regard to what I saw recently:

 

  1. Overwatch is mentioned in JA3. Will this be the same thing as opportunity fire when you have action points left over for the enemy turn, or do you actively choose to go into overwatch during your turn (i.e. Overwatch Mode)?
  2. The graphics that were shown on the stream look like graphics shown previously. Will that over the top blood cloud, every time someone is hit, be changed? Something less cartoony would be better.
  3. Dust from building damage or destruction looks great. Is it more of a cosmetic effect or will it last more than that current turn and affect gameplay? Smoke and dust should affect visibility and even cause breathing difficulty, temporarily affecting total available action points to anyone within that cloud.
  4. I mentioned in the latest Developer Diary (Character Progression) about body part aiming. It was talked about in the first stream. Hopefully, you can't aim at body parts at all ranges as it would be unrealistic (unless you are Robocop or a Terminator). Hopefully, as I mentioned in that Diary, body part aiming will be restricted to close ranges or, if using a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight, the merc is skilled enough and the target isn't sprinting. Standard combat and most ranged distances would be more exciting if you couldn't specify where you wanted to hit but then got lucky with a bullet(s) that hit somewhere other than the torso, affecting abilities or causing a critical.
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2 hours ago, Solaris_Wave said:

I have another question that I would like to ask the Developers when they have a moment. That is regarding the sliding animation that was shown in the Twitch stream. Is that just a cosmetic effect when approaching cover or does it provide any dodging bonuses?

This is just a cosmetic effect sometimes used automatically during a long movement action ending in cover, not a special skill.

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20 hours ago, Solaris_Wave said:

I thought I would start a new thread for this, as opposed to adding to @Wigen's Dev Stream announcement. Hopefully, it can be a collective thread for questions that can be asked and answered by the developers, without it being a flurry of questions, like with the Twitch stream.

I personally don't have too many at this time and will certainly have more when the Combat Diary and stream starts but I have a few questions in regard to what I saw recently:

 

  1. Overwatch is mentioned in JA3. Will this be the same thing as opportunity fire when you have action points left over for the enemy turn, or do you actively choose to go into overwatch during your turn (i.e. Overwatch Mode)?
  2. The graphics that were shown on the stream look like graphics shown previously. Will that over the top blood cloud, every time someone is hit, be changed? Something less cartoony would be better.
  3. Dust from building damage or destruction looks great. Is it more of a cosmetic effect or will it last more than that current turn and affect gameplay? Smoke and dust should affect visibility and even cause breathing difficulty, temporarily affecting total available action points to anyone within that cloud.
  4. I mentioned in the latest Developer Diary (Character Progression) about body part aiming. It was talked about in the first stream. Hopefully, you can't aim at body parts at all ranges as it would be unrealistic (unless you are Robocop or a Terminator). Hopefully, as I mentioned in that Diary, body part aiming will be restricted to close ranges or, if using a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight, the merc is skilled enough and the target isn't sprinting. Standard combat and most ranged distances would be more exciting if you couldn't specify where you wanted to hit but then got lucky with a bullet(s) that hit somewhere other than the torso, affecting abilities or causing a critical.

We are still not commenting combat issues in-depth, but I think it is ok to answer these few questions quickly.

1. You activate Overwatch as an action and choose an area to Overwatch. You will interrupt enemies in this area with attacks and the number of attacks depends on your remaining AP.

2. I've forwarded the feedback to our art team. Personally, I like how it looks when seen from normal gameplay camera and don't find it more over the top than the exploding head from JA2. Edit: This assumes we are talking about the same effect, there are several blood effects in the game, so it will help if you include a link or screenshot.

3. We have effects similar to what you're describing, however they are currently not tied to dust from destruction, but rather gas and smoke grenades and another class of effects that I can't talk about yet.

4. You can't aim at body parts when you are firing at someone blindly (e.g. through a thin wall), however you can try to hit a specific body part at long range, as long as the target is in sight. A weapon mod like a proper weapon sight will help in this situation and might turn a hopeless shot into a reasonable one.

Edited by Haemimont_Boian
Added clarification to question 2
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Thank you for the answers, @Haemimont_Boian. In response to your answers, I have further comments:

1) Overwatch mode sounds good. What happens to unused action points for that merc's turn? Are they wasted (aside from maybe allowing fatigue to wear off more quickly, due to less activity) or is there any kind of opportunity fire? I am only wondering about this as other similar games have usually activated opportunity fire if you have action points left over for the enemy turn. Maybe, you could have Overwatch mode using more action points to activate and greater combat bonuses (aiming, less points to shoot, etc.), while having action points left over grants you chance to move your merc or shoot back but with a slight penalty to accuracy or not being able to target a body part at any range. That way, your merc isn't helpless if they had points left over and an enemy comes into view, but actively going into Overwatch is still the superior choice.

 

2) I took two screenshots of an early trailer. The resolution and lighting isn't great because I took it off the YouTube video but you can see massive blood clouds on enemies, even if they haven't been hit with something that might cause that (i.e. explosive weapons or large calibre bullets). Maybe reduce the size of the cloud or go for a kind of fine spray. Even droplets that end up on the ground or walls. If hit with something more powerful though, it would be fair to see a more bloody effect.

 

3) Dust and smoke from building destruction having in-game effects would be very good. Unless the building caught fire, the effects only need to be there for two turns, at most. The dust would cause an impact on visibility through it, for a brief time (or if someone was actually within the dust cloud itself). Also, breathing would be hampered unless any kind of masks were worn. Again, not a great deal and certainly not in comparison to if the remains of a building was burning and creating black smoke, but enough to cause possible coughing. This could result in a brief and slight reduction in total action points for that turn, if moving through the rubble of the recently collapsed building, for instance.

I also saw in some of the game preview footage dust clouds whipping up, which looks really good! It makes me wonder if there would be occasional battles during a sandstorm, where visibility is lowered quite a lot and needing to wear goggles and a face mask will be essential so endurance isn't lowered.

 

4) I like how weapon optics will increase chances of aiming at specific body zones but I still suggest trying to see whether gameplay could be more intense if you couldn't target specific areas except for under certain circumstances. Trying to shoot at a target at medium range, through iron sights or even a medium range optic would be hard to aim at a specific area. You are just trying to hit some part of them, especially if they are moving around or changing stance. You could have a standard shot which is aimed as usual, but it is just at a general target. Where the shot actually hits is still handled by the game engine but is random, with smaller areas like hands, feet and head, the lowest chance of probability. Otherwise, it usually hits the torso. If the shot hits the head or disables a limb, it can be a nice surprise for you and a bad one for the enemy who has just been hit.

Meanwhile, if you are shooting at an enemy that is, for example, under 10 spaces away, you have full freedom to aim at any part of them because they are close enough to actually target. Likewise, a merc who is an excellent sniper and is using a high magnification telescopic sight (any long range scope) can also have the option of aiming at a specific body part, as they are able to zoom in. The only thing that will prevent this is if the enemy is actively Sprinting.

I thought an actual Sprint mode would be a good thing for both your mercs and the enemy. Sprinting gives anybody targeting the sprinting person a general penalty to hit, as they are actively running as fast as possible. This can be a good way to run from cover to cover. You (or the enemy) who is sprinting can still be shot at but, along with the penalty to hit, the shot is a general targeting shot and no specific body part can be chosen. This applies to all ranges, even when you or they are within close range (where you can normally gain the ability to choose a specific part to aim at). Snipers looking through their scope, even on Overwatch can't choose a body part either, if the target is sprinting. They too just get a standard shot. As before, the bullet still has the potential to hit any part of the target, it is just that you can't choose where to aim if they are sprinting.

The negative modifier to hit a sprinting person can be overcome by high enough Marksmanship but specific body aiming is still not allowed. Also, burst or automatic weapons would increase the chances of hitting someone moving quickly, not by giving a bonus but by simply firing more bullets at them.

For the character themselves that has actively engaged Sprint mode, there is a shooting penalty. You could have it so they are not allowed to shoot that turn, because they were too busy running, or have it so that while shooting is still allowed, there is a high penalty to accuracy.

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Edited by Solaris_Wave
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Those effects would certainly add to the immersion and atmosphere. If there are visual details from impacts, the world will feel connected and part of the battle, rather than just a backdrop of it.

If you are talking about dust clouds from collapsed buildings, I think it would be something that would disrupt line of sight but only for a turn or two, before the dust settles. Dust blowing up from wind would be more difficult and I think should just stay cosmetic. The only exception to this is if there are sandstorms in the game. If one of your battles happens to take place during such a random event then visibility for everyone on the entire battlefield should be hampered.

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On 4/3/2023 at 7:27 PM, Luthghasgo said:

@Haemimont_Boian One other thing I wanted to ask about stats and their corresponding perks.

The capture selection screen in the last dev-diary only showed perks for Health, Agility, Dexterity, Strength & Wisdom.  Are there also corresponding 9-perk sets for Leadership, Marksmanship, Mechanical, Explosive & Medical?

No, not all stats have corresponding perk lines. We experimented with this on paper but the perk design felt way too forced this way and these stats have other uses as well.

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