DevDiary 6 - Combat, Part one

[THQN Roger]

Combat, Part One

Hello there! I am Boian Spasov and it is my pleasure to welcome you to a DevDiary on a subject that I’ve been wanting to write about for a long time – combat! Yeah, it’s a big one - there is so much to talk about that a single article won’t be enough and you can expect a second combat DevDiary down the road.

As stated in our first DevDiary “Game Vision” the combat is one of the pillars of Jagged Alliance 3. It is a deep, involved and realistic experience and is the single aspect of the game that we iterated on the most during development.

Combat in Jagged Alliance 3 is turn-based with your entire team taking a turn, followed by the enemy team. During your turn you are free to activate your characters in any order and intermix action between them.



A typical character turn in many tactical games can be described as simply as “I move to this position and attack with this skill”. This level of abstraction is perfectly fine for these titles and we have seen how it can create deep and engaging gameplay, but for a simulative game like Jagged Alliance 3 we wanted more precise level of control over your character’s actions. How exactly do you move - will you hustle recklessly or carefully crawl to the target location? How exactly do you attack? Do you take your time to aim carefully? Will you attempt to cripple the target shooting a burst at their limbs or gamble for a killer headshot instead? This is achieved with several game mechanics working in concert, the most important of which are the Action Point system, the movement stances, the weapon firing modes and the body parts targeting system.

Action Points

All actions that a character takes during their team’s turn are limited by their available number of Action Points (AP). A simple action like crouching may cost only a single Action Point, while a more time-consuming action like a carefully aimed attack with a rocket launcher may consume most of the characters’ AP for the turn. Attack actions may be modified by spending additional AP to aim more carefully, increasing the chance to hit precisely with the net benefit from Aiming also depending on the weapon and the character stats.



An average rookie merc has around 10-12 AP per turn. This number is increased for veteran mercs and when conditions are favorable, like at high morale, but never too much. We intentionally kept the numbers relatively low to ease the mental calculations related to Action Points that players do each turn. However, even though the available number of AP is always displayed as an integer, it is internally stored with higher precision and certain very simple actions like moving at a short distance effectively cost only a fraction of an action point.

Stances

Characters are always in one of the three movement stances – standing, crouching or prone. Movement actions have different costs based on the chosen movement stance – crawling takes significantly more time than running the same distance but will realistically hide you from sight when you are behind an obstacle and is generally safer against firearm attacks and explosives. Conversely, if the enemy will attack you with a melee attack you will be at a disadvantage if you are crouching or prone.



When moving you can always lock your chosen movement stance, manage stances manually or let the game manage them automatically, switching to standing when this will optimize AP usage while moving but still ending the movement in your desired stance. This approach is not without risks – your characters are more exposed if they are running around standing between safer spots and if you expect to provoke an enemy attack it might be better to move crouched or prone.

Firing Modes and Body Parts

You have three important decisions to make when attacking – how many additional AP you are willing to spend aiming, what firing mode do you wish to use and a what body part to target. Firing modes are pretty straightforward - an automatic weapon, like an AK-47, is able to attack not only with single shots but also with burst an auto-fire attacks, shooting more bullets at the expense of accuracy and AP cost. Since bullets are simulated individually this also tends to create more chaos on the battlefield, but I will talk more about the bullet simulation further down.



With a double-barreled shotgun you can offload both barrels with the same attack, but you will have to reload afterwards. A dual-wielding character may alternate between firing with both weapons or just one of them by selecting the appropriate firing mode.

Body part targeting allows you to try to hit a specific body part and inflict additional effects with the attack. Headshots are often difficult to pull of but deal massive damage, while arm and leg shots are often useful for crippling enemies that you will not be able to finish off during the current turn. Melee attacks may be targeted at the enemy neck, inflicting various crippling effects that depend on your weapon of choice.

(Note that some of the following screenshots demonstrate some debug functionality available only to developers.  These shots are marked with “Dev mode enabled” in the bottom left corner and are not representative for the game visuals as seen by the players.)



Firing at a particular body part is only possible when you have a clear line of fire to it – as determined by the geometry of the level. Some body parts may be armored, presenting interesting moment-to-moment tactical choices during the battle.

Body part targeting is never possible when you don’t have clear sight to the enemy like for example when you are firing at an enemy behind a wall…




Bullet Simulation

Hitting someone behind a wall – what kind of sorcery is this? I apologize for getting a bit ahead of myself here, but I will explain immediately. Hitting enemies through walls and even through other enemies is possible in Jagged Alliance 3, thanks to our bullet simulation logic.

The bullet simulation logic involves a set of calculations for each individual bullet fired, based on the caliber and type of the bullet as well as the materials encountered along its path (armor, bodies or environmental objects). Both accurate and inaccurate attacks may have various unexpected effects because of it, like penetrating an enemy body to hit another enemy, grazing an ally by accident or destroying some of the environment on the bullet path.

 

The bullet simulation and the destruction system took considerable amount on effort to implement and support but all the effort was worth it because at its core combat in Jagged Alliance 3 aims to be a realistic experience, one that would not be possible without a realistic simulation running behind it. Which neatly brings me to the final, and perhaps the most important, point that I want to discuss in this DevDiary…

No Visible Chance-to-Hit

Each time you are setting up an attack in Jagged Alliance 3 you will see various factors that affect it both increasing and decreasing the chance for the attack to be accurate. What you will not see is an exact, precise chance-to-hit percentage number.



During the early years of development Jagged Alliance 3 displayed visible chance-to-hit, just like XCom and many other tactical games do. What we observed time and time again during our playtest sessions was that people were focusing on this number to the point where they centered their entire gameplay style around it, like never attacking when it is below a certain threshold. It also created moments of frustration and disappointment as in-your-face randomness sometimes tends to do.

We don’t feel there is anything wrong in principle with visible chance to hit. There are many immensely successful tactical games out there that play exactly like this and CTH was present even in some of the most popular JA mods. It is, however, not the kind of a core experience we had in mind for Jagged Alliance 3, a game meant to represent firefights in their entire chaotic and messy glory. We wanted an experience that allows you develop a sense for certain situations, a game that makes you focus on your surroundings and the unique combat situation instead of a number in the interface. That was our reasoning when we decided to experimentally hide the chance-to-hit number in the interface and observe if the players will approach the combat situations differently afterwards. The first confirmation that we were on the right track came from none other than Ian Curry, the creator of Jagged Alliance, and many more followed in the months after – players were more involved now, found the situations more unpredictable and the game more unique and distinctive. Encounter after encounter, they were gradually developing a sense of mastery and generally had way more fun this way!

We are fully aware that the decision to remove chance-to-hit will never sit right with some players but still feel that it is the crucial design decision that made our combat “click” and feel right. There are many tactical games with perfect and detailed CTH information out there, but too few where you play “by feel” as was the case with the classic Jagged Alliance!

Thank you for reading the first combat DevDiary. Here are some of the subjects we might explore in the next one – Weather Effects, Night and Darkness, Stealth and Overwatch/Interrupt Attacks. If you are interested in any other aspect of the combat gameplay, please suggest in in the thread below.

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[Luthghasgo]

Been wanting to ask about the starting loadouts for the Mercs I've seen in the preview footage.  Noticed that most of them have the same Browning Hi-Power for their starting pistol, but I noticed Scully actually had an AKS-74 like he did in JA2 vanilla.  Those loadouts something that's still being worked on, and will there be a bit more variety in what each Merc brings with 'em later on?

Edited May 2, 2023 by Luthghasgo
Grammar.

[Luthghasgo]

Quote

Here are some of the subjects we might explore in the next one – Weather Effects, Night and Darkness, Stealth and Overwatch/Interrupt Attacks. If you are interested in any other aspect of the combat gameplay, please suggest in in the thread below.

The subject of Interrupts are something I'd like to hear more about, same with Night and Stealth, but I'm more interested to know about how enemies get alerted to and get in on battles.

Does this game make use of a pod system like what's done XCOM?  Which is to say, do enemy soldiers become alerted as groups and get free turns when triggered or is there something more behind how enemy soldiers join combat?

[Acid]

I'd like to see an interrupt system in there, not just the overwatch.

[Kordanor]

Quote

We intentionally kept the numbers relatively low to ease the mental calculations related to Action Points that players do each turn. However, even though the available number of AP is always displayed as an integer, it is internally stored with higher precision and certain very simple actions like moving at a short distance effectively cost only a fraction of an action point.

That's great to hear!

I think I know the answer, but this might be a good point to bring it up again: I guess that AP for shooting is now the same for everyone? JA1/DG/JA2 spent about a page or two in the manual to explain how fast mercs can run further, but not shoot more often. And this is being done be calculating the AP used to shoot depending on the AP available. So that Turtle in theory can have as many shots as Skully, while Skully can run much farther.

I don't want to argue for or against that system, as this did come with significant drawbacks:
1. Not intuitive at all
2. Rounding could lead to the opposite effect (a slow merc now being able to shoot more often than a fast one)

I guess with a reduction of total available AP this would make it even more problematic.

 

I am fine with an overwatch system, as long as its not working like in XCom. From what I can see in the streams it works pretty much as Interrupt replacement (multiple shots, viewing angle). Only drawback is that you can't move. But it gets much more intuitive to use. From the feedback of german Press/Streamers I saw so far they are saying though that it's far too strong later on, wich is something which should be adjusted somehow.

[Grim]

Thanks for the nive dev diary. A few questions :
- What happens exactly when a shot misses?
- How do shotgun buckshots work?
- How does autofire/burst affect accuracy? A flat accuracy penalty for each bullet? Each bullet after the first has increased penalty?
- Why do burst/auto have a -50% damage? Balance reasons?

[Hendrix]

One very specific question I have is how do you prevent Sniper rifles and rocket launchers to be the ultimate problem solvers in the game?

From the roughly 10 hours of gameplay I have seen so far, sniper rifles looked supreme (overpowered) compared to other weapons types?

[Soul]

First of all thanks for the Dev diary and keeping us involved. Subsequent my feedback regarding combat from a JA1/2 veteran so far:

What I like:

• No CTH is great. Overall it will be a much more immersive experience during combat due to that. For me personally, games with CTH tend to feel much more repetitive than games without later on, especially if your Units/Mercs or whatever are maxed out and you know exactly that it's a guaranteed hit just from the numbers. You should be able to increase your chances by good positioning, tactics and weapon choices instead of just looking at pure numbers.
• Low action point numbers. It doesn't matter if you have 10 or 100 AP for a Merc in my opinion. At a certain point while playing the game, you'll become an overall feeling on how many AP an action will cost you. Despite that, I think it's much easier for the majority of players to manage around 60 AP for a whole squad attacking a sector rather than 600.
• Bullet simulation considering the ammunition's caliber and type as well as different environmental objects and enemy armor. I would be ashamed if my rocket launcher couldn't wreck some hay bale away or if the rocket would be stopped by objects who shouldn't stop it.
• Additional effects on hitting different body parts. I might missed it, but will there be also some endurance/stamina indicators in place so I can knock out an opponent without actually inflicting damage to him like in JA2?

What I don't like:

• All the other accuracy/modifier/crit information during combat. Some people have also criticized it already, and I must admit, I totally agree. If there is no CTH at the end, why do I need them at all? I have an enemies health indicator, I know what my Merc and his equipment are capable of from character and weapon stats, I can see that the enemy is in cover from the the body part indicators, I know that a shot in the head will inflict more critical damage than hitting other body parts or armor from pure logic, so why do I need that (window filling) information overflow? If really necessary, instead of displaying all that information, I would prefer an intuitive indicator like displaying the ring around the enemy dynamically in different colors depending on all that factors including the AP you want to invest into aiming at the target. Don't get me wrong, I don't want "the ring" to become an alternative CTH identifier, I just want to get rid of unnecessary information to make combat feel more immersive. An ordinary example: A sniper in combat is trained on how to adjust his weapon, how to react and aim in certain situations and so on, but despite all that knowledge, in reality there is always a chance his shot will miss. So even if my "ring indicator" is more into green, because I made the right adjustments, with the right Merc at the right time, it doesn't mean I will land a guaranteed hit. Combat actions should always remain an assumption of what will happen if I do this and that, but you should never 100% know the outcome of your action before it really happens. I hope it's understandable what I mean, even if all the min/max guys will disagree with my approach. 🙂

In general, if the Overwatch/Interrupt system is not overpowered like in many other turn based games, despite my critics, I'm overall fine with the combat system as it is. Lowering AP for the next turn of a Merc who had the chance to interrupt the enemy is a minimum requirement for me, so looking forward to the next combat DevDiary.

[Solaris_Wave]

It is great to see this part of the Developer Diary finally uploaded! I have been looking forward to it for a long time. However, it was always going to be the part where my interest is the keenest and my words the most critical.

There are certain aspects of combat that I have read about here and seen in the video previews that I am concerned about. While the following points will just be my opinion, I strongly feel that each one is important to get right.

 

1) There seriously needs to be restrictions in choosing body parts to aim at. I don't mean due to Line Of Sight. I mean due to distance and how hard it should be to do from a realistic point of view. Being able to choose a part to shoot at should only be reserved for being within a certain close distance. Let's say 10 spaces or less (but leave that open to testing as I don't know your map distances yet). This is because, at closer range you have the possibility to reliably target a body part and why in real life, there are such things as the Mozambique Drill.

At the other end of the distance, body part aiming can still be possible with magnified telescopic sights, such as on a sniper rifle. However, for this chance to be allowed, the target must not have been 'sprinting' during their last turn (more on that later), ideally have been in the same spot last turn and the shooter has high Marksmanship skill.

At all other ranges, you can only shoot generally at the target. The bullets are then given a random chance of hitting any body part, with the torso having the highest percentage, followed by arms and legs, then the head.

Without this restriction, players will just simply target the head each time as it is the quickest way to kill. Even if the chance to hit the head is lowered, you will want to shoot the head. I did this all the time when playing JA2, especially during mid and late game when the enemy had so much armour, it absorbed lots of damage. Yes, you can shoot their arms and legs but I rarely did it. Why prolong the combat unless you are deliberately trying to wound instead of kill?

I also saw different videos of the JA3 Beta where the video streamer was just going for the head, sometimes too easily.

The body part icon could be greyed out or have an X over it, to show that it is not possible at that current moment, rather than never possible. This will help players new to the game.

 

2) I have read from others that firing in burst or full-auto causes the bullets to become weaker in terms of damage per shot. If this is in the game, this should not happen! A bullet is a bullet and should do the same amount of damage regardless of fire mode.

Choosing burst and full-auto fire should be a viable option over semi-auto/single shot. The current game previews of JA3 (and JA2) already lean towards single, aimed shots while automatic fire is unaimed. Reducing the damage during automatic fire discourages doing so even more. If you insist on keeping it this way, I can see players just loading up on sniper rifles, clicking heads each turn and causing the gameplay to become more predictable.

 

3) It would be beneficial for JA3 to calculate whether a target was 'sprinting' in their previous turn. Sprinting will make the character cross the map faster and by doing so be harder to hit. They are doing it to run from cover to cover. Therefore, trying to hit such a target should have a penalty. This penalty also prevents body part aiming unless at close range where body part aiming is always allowed. Even having a magnified optic and a high Marksmanship skill will not allow a specific point to aim at, if the target is sprinting. Trying to shoot a running target far away, with a scope is not easy. Choosing what part of them to aim at should be even harder.

For the person sprinting themselves, there needs to be a massive accuracy penalty to shooting. They are too busy running as fast as they can, to be able to shoot accurately.

 

4) There should be a difference in tactical reloading and full reloading. Tactical reloading is where you choose to swap your almost empty magazine for a full one. The reloading process is quicker because all you are doing is changing mags. Meanwhile, a full reload is slower because you are also pulling back the pistol slide or charging handle to chamber a round, so it is ready to fire.

Tactical reloads should cost less Action Points than a full reload. In addition, a tactical reload gives you one extra cartridge/bullet to fire. This is because it includes the full magazine's cartridges, along with the already chambered round.

When the battle starts, the gun will already be fully loaded (if there was enough fully loaded mags to begin with) plus an extra cartridge in the chamber. The merc would have started the battle with a round loaded and the mag topped up.

Tactical reloads can be even faster if the merc has taped mags together, or there is a fitted clamp for two mags, or with certain rifles that have polymer mags, they have moulded mounting brackets.

For shotguns that have tube magazines, instead of detachable magazines or drums, they can be topped up quite easily. The same applies to lever-action rifles. Bolt-action rifles and revolvers will be slower and cost more Action Points. In the case of revolvers, you have to flip out the cylinder and insert each cartridge individually.

This is why such things as box magazines and speed loaders for revolvers were invented in the first place.

 

5) I still think there should be separate Marksmanship skills, as I pointed out in the last Developer Diary. It is important to note that being skilled with handguns does not automatically guarantee skill with other weapons. Sniping in particular, is a dedicated skill and it should not be easily utilised by every merc just because their universal Marksmanship skill increased, especially by late game.

 

6) Is Interrupt still a thing? Much has been talked about using Overwatch but what happens to mercs that have left over Action Points during their turn?

 

7) I saw in the preview that every time a revolver was fired, it ejected a casing. Unless it is an uncommon 19th Century revolver, they don't do that. Spent casings stay in the cylinder until you remove the lot.

 

8.) I am really glad that wall penetration and over penetration is in the game! It is however, important to regard that Hollow Points are far less likely to do so. Using those should prevent wall penetration except for very thin internal walls.

In addition, 5.56x45mm FMJ is designed to fragment to cause maximum damage potential. This means less wall and material penetration, except for metal due to its steel penetrator.

 

9) There was another error in the Beta videos. The Browning Hi-Power was shown in the videos as carrying 15 rounds. It only carries 13 rounds per magazine. That means 13+1 if the chamber already has one loaded (such as the start of the battle and from a tactical reload).

 

10) You stated that rookie mercs will have lower Action Points compared to veterans. What about rookie mercs that have a high fitness level? They should still have higher AP to start with.

 

11) Drawing a pistol or knife should cost less Action Points than switching to any other weapon. This is because pistols and knives will be in holsters and sheathes, ready to be grabbed. Anything in the backpack will be the slowest. Anything in pouches will be almost as quick as drawing a pistol.

Drawing a pistol or knife should be faster than even tactical reloading. This keeps pistols relevant throughout the game and is also the reason why well equipped soldiers carry a secondary weapon (that isn't on their back). It is faster to switch than reload or clear a jam on your primary weapon.

Switching back to your primary weapon should be quicker than getting anything from your backpack.

 

12) Is weapon familiarisation in the game? Such a thing would enable the merc to have slight bonuses to reloading, clearing a jam and firing. Slightly less Action Points for each action as the merc is used to using the weapon.

Familiarisation doesn't wear off and isn't tied to that specific weapon. If they swapped out that weapon for another identical one, they would still be used to it.

 

13) A merc's nationality should play a role in their starting gear. An eastern European is more likely to use Russian or Soviet gear, for example.

 

14) Follow-up shots should cost slightly less Action Points after the first one. The first shot would be you lining up on the target. Anything after that and you are already pointing your gun at the target. This slight reduction should remain until you switch targets.

 

15) Are there penalties for combat at night time, fog, mist, rain and sand storms? Visibility should be lowered and accuracy should be lowered. A bullet's range and damage should remain the same, even if maximum viewing distance is lowered.

 

16) If you have a light attached to your gun, it will allow you to see clearer but at the same time, it can give your position away. If you have it switched on a night, it can be a focal point for anyone to aim at, providing they are not dazzled by the light in the first place.

If someone lit up by the light is within close distance (let's say body part aiming distance), there should be a penalty to their visibility or accuracy (at night obviously). This is because they are dazzled by the bright light. If they are much farther away, they actually get a slight bonus to hit whoever is using the light (only if switched on) as they can aim at the light in the distance.

 

17) Anyone standing underneath a street lamp or inside a lit building and looking out into night time darkness should have their visibility reduced. Their eyes haven't yet adjusted to the darkness. This adjustment can happen if the person moves out of that light. The following game turn allows them normal night vision as standard. Going back into artificial light and ending that turn in that way, reduces it again.

 

18) Smoke and dust from collapsed buildings should affect Line Of Sight for as long as that dust remains (maybe 1-2 turns). Also, anyone within that dust should have their Action Points reduced as they are coughing or have sore eyes. This can be prevented with a gas mask or face scarf and goggles. Such face wear would be handy for sand storms as well.

 

19) Any explosion that doesn't kill or cause incapacitation should cause some kind of effect beyond just blood loss. The shock wave should affect them for that current turn and following turn.

 

20) Bullets hitting body armour shouldn't always cause health loss. High level body armour will stop standard pistol calibres. Maybe, endurance and Action Points of the person hit should be lowered, even if there is no blood loss. Hollow Points would be another case where body armour would stop them. Loss of Action Points would indicate blunt trauma. There should be no visible blood splatter either.

 

21) Mercs, friendlies or enemies that are Near Death shouldn't be able to move as swiftly. They shouldn't be able to run and cosmetic animations such as rolling and sliding should be omitted if they are in that state of health loss.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Solaris_Wave

[Haemimont_Boian]

14 hours ago, Luthghasgo said:

Been wanting to ask about the starting loadouts for the Mercs I've seen in the preview footage.  Noticed that most of them have the same Browning Hi-Power for their starting pistol, but I noticed Scully actually had an AKS-74 like he did in JA2 vanilla.  Those loadouts something that's still being worked on, and will there be a bit more variety in what each Merc brings with 'em later on?

Merc loadouts are intentionally somewhat basic, especially for rookies/cheap mercs. More expensive mercs have more attractive loadouts and some mercs have unique items as well. Still we didn't want any merc to start "perfectly geared" so you may improve them during the course of the game.

[Haemimont_Boian]

15 hours ago, Luthghasgo said:

The subject of Interrupts are something I'd like to hear more about, same with Night and Stealth, but I'm more interested to know about how enemies get alerted to and get in on battles.

Does this game make use of a pod system like what's done XCOM?  Which is to say, do enemy soldiers become alerted as groups and get free turns when triggered or is there something more behind how enemy soldiers join combat?

Can't wait to talk more about this in the next combat DevDiary but I can give a short explanation now!

We don't use a pod system (frankly we find it too artificial). If an enemy becomes aware (for example hears a noise or sees someone getting wounded nearby) he will get a short reposition phase that allows him to move a short distance or rarely make a single attack without movement, but if your stealth approach is successful, the weapon silenced, etc. the enemies will instead become surprised and not reposition immediately, remaining vulnerable. Basically the reposition phase is meant to allow the enemies to switch from "ambient" to "combat" positions making the encounter more interesting, reward stealth approach and make enemy behavior outside of combat more natural (they shouldn't always crouch behind cover, after all).

Edited May 3, 2023 by Haemimont_Boian
clarified surprised state

[Haemimont_Boian]

Quote

- What happens exactly when a shot misses?

The shot travels on a different trajectory than intended and may hit other objects or characters on its path (note that even accurate shots have slightly different trajectories as well). The noise from the shot may alert enemies as well.

Quote

- How do shotgun buckshots work?

Shotguns combine a close low-damage range area attack with a regular attack. An accurate shot will do a lot of damage but even an inaccurate one will slightly wound characters standing close.

Quote

- How does autofire/burst affect accuracy? A flat accuracy penalty for each bullet? Each bullet after the first has increased penalty?

- Why do burst/auto have a -50% damage? Balance reasons?

It is an accuracy penalty to the entire attack but it is not a flat penalty and depends on distance to the target and the weapon as well. Damage for burst/auto attacks was lowered for balance reasons, the alternative was to make the attack very inaccurate (or with too few shots) and this didn't feel right.

 

I will stop answering questions for now because I was told to keep a bit for the stream, however I will be back after it 🙂

[BossWeapons]

One thing creeped up in my mind while reading this, something I've been wondering about for a while actually. When you take a shot at a certain body part (head, arm, leg etc.) and miss, is there a chance for that particular shot to hit anything else or will it always just miss if the initial shot is a miss? I don't think it is entirely unlikely that you could hit somebody in the chest accidentally while aiming for the head for example.

[Image Miroir]

Will we have ammunitions management like in previous JA (with or without different kind of bullets) or will we have magical guns with endless firing capability?

[WILDFIRE]

Nice informative dev diary as always. I hope in the end that every combat feels natural. This means it should be chaotic, diversified and things could always go wrong like a jamming weapon or that a merc leaves, because he can not handle the stress. No fight should be the same. I really like that the weather and daytime also influence the combat deeply.

 

The most important aspect of the combat is for sure a realistic bullet trajectory system besides great weapon models and sounds. The impact of the bullets must feel real and the character models must react realistically to the suffered damage.(Body and voice feedback),(Bleeding and visible wounds),(Animations for a wounded status)

 

And the weapon expertise of every merc should also influence the combat noticeably. The legendary mercs should handle the most rifles very well while the rookies can not use every weapon and that could also kill the team morale when the more experienced mercs loose their trust. 

 

But also exhaustion, hunger and thirst are important factors, because the hot climate in Africa is one of the first problems I think of when a merc goes into wild territory besides wild animals of course. The weather should also influence the morale status. What if the group runs seven days through dry extremely hot areas? The mind of the mercs could take damage when they get a sun or heatstroke. So places where the mercs can sleep and rest are absolutely needed. Maybe when the travel is too long you can also build tents.(That you have to buy from a merchant)

 

All those details combined could bring JA3 to the next level and I hope in the end that the combat is the best and most hardcore in the turn based games genre.

[Haemimont_Boian]

17 minutes ago, Image Miroir said:

Will we have ammunitions management like in previous JA (with or without different kind of bullets) or will we have magical guns with endless firing capability?

Ammo management is very much present in the game. There are different kind of bullets as well (AP, HP, etc.)

[Haemimont_Boian]

1 hour ago, BossWeapons said:

One thing creeped up in my mind while reading this, something I've been wondering about for a while actually. When you take a shot at a certain body part (head, arm, leg etc.) and miss, is there a chance for that particular shot to hit anything else or will it always just miss if the initial shot is a miss? I don't think it is entirely unlikely that you could hit somebody in the chest accidentally while aiming for the head for example.

Currently inaccurate attacks may hit other objects or characters but not the targeted character in another body part - this was shielded explicitly, because it created too much confusion, e.g. "What do you mean I missed but I actually hit him? I aimed for the torso, how this became a headshot?"

[Kordanor]

13 minutes ago, Haemimont_Boian said:

Currently inaccurate attacks may hit other objects or characters but not the targeted character in another body part - this was shielded explicitly, because it created too much confusion, e.g. "What do you mean I missed but I actually hit him? I aimed for the torso, how this became a headshot?"

Is that also true for Burst attacks? Like you either any of your bullets hits the arm, or nothing at all for example?

[Grim]

1 hour ago, Haemimont_Boian said:

Currently inaccurate attacks may hit other objects or characters but not the targeted character in another body part - this was shielded explicitly, because it created too much confusion, e.g. "What do you mean I missed but I actually hit him? I aimed for the torso, how this became a headshot?"

This is not confusing to me. You missed the body part you aimed, but the bullet trajectory went through another..
It's more confusing hitting ONLY the body part you aimed.

My sentiment is, most people would prefer that and you may have to reconsider, from what I've read from the community.

[Haemimont_Boian]

18 minutes ago, Grim said:

This is not confusing to me. You missed the body part you aimed, but the bullet trajectory went through another..
It's more confusing hitting ONLY the body part you aimed.

My sentiment is, most people would prefer that and you may have to reconsider, from what I've read from the community.

Thanks for the feedback, definitely something to be taken into consideration and perhaps there is a way to improve the presentation as well!

[Image Miroir]

21 hours ago, THQN Roger said:

During the early years of development Jagged Alliance 3 displayed visible chance-to-hit, just like XCom and many other tactical games do. What we observed time and time again during our playtest sessions was that people were focusing on this number to the point where they centered their entire gameplay style around it, like never attacking when it is below a certain threshold. It also created moments of frustration and disappointment as in-your-face randomness sometimes tends to do.

 

21 hours ago, THQN Roger said:

We are fully aware that the decision to remove chance-to-hit will never sit right with some players but still feel that it is the crucial design decision that made our combat “click” and feel right. There are many tactical games with perfect and detailed CTH information out there, but too few where you play “by feel” as was the case with the classic Jagged Alliance!

I agree with that 200%, because I played JA2 and just experienced what you say for years, BUT... if I was never playing the game I'm not sure I'd be convinced.

Saying that, I only suggest someone in communication should find the "perfect" way to express it. So well, X-Com players will be thrilled not having CtH.

About your words "by feel", I'll precise from my own experience the feeling playing Jagged Alliance is full of emotions. Because you're never "sure" of anything, and the absence of CtH is deeply part of it.

[chr_isso]

3 hours ago, Haemimont_Boian said:

Ammo management is very much present in the game. There are different kind of bullets as well (AP, HP, etc.)

But to what extend? I didn't see any magazines in the footage, only "30/500" Ammo Boxes.
Managing the magazines was an essential part of the inventory and management system of the game..
JA was not only about fighting, but logistics as well. Please don't take that important part away by making it easy.

Again: I opt for an toggle option "more weapons" or anything like this, that adds complexity.
 

2 hours ago, Grim said:

This is not confusing to me. You missed the body part you aimed, but the bullet trajectory went through another..
It's more confusing hitting ONLY the body part you aimed.

My sentiment is, most people would prefer that and you may have to reconsider, from what I've read from the community.

@Haemimont_Boian:
Please, reconsider this.. It was absolutely common in JA2 to aim for the Torso and Hit Legs/Shoulders/Arms, even the Head instead of the Torso.
Not so much when you aimed for the Head, but even then I remember hitting shoulders.

It would simply give a note in the bottom: Solder hit in the Shoulder, lost ** Stat.


As for CtH: I get your idea and I guess most of us are on your side.
But again: Why not make it optional? Make it disabled by default but let X-Com Players turn it on manually...

[Demon_Cleaner]

In one of the first Jagged Alliance 3 trailer we saw thrown hand grenade, which exploded and destroyed part of the environment and the enemy. Can you talk about destruction of environment and dismembering 😈 of human enemies more in next dev diary/live event?

Edited May 3, 2023 by Demon_Cleaner

[Wigen]

The reasoning behind the devs not to show the CtH is reasonable, but I wonder if this will stop players from buying JA 3 and giving it a chance? It's no secret that many games are coming out to fill the void that XCOM 3 doesn't have, that looking like this on casual browsing will encourage more people to try it out. I will happily buy the game unless something really weird happens, but I would like them to be as successful as possible while still making a good game.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Wigen

[Xeth Nyrrow]

5 hours ago, Haemimont_Boian said:

Thanks for the feedback, definitely something to be taken into consideration and perhaps there is a way to improve the presentation as well!

I also agree that having a chance to hit other body parts with, "misses" should be in the game. Maybe you could have shots that miss their targeted location become grazing shots if they hit other body parts as a balance compromise?

Speaking of grazing shots, having fog reduce damage via grazing hits instead of accuracy is really bad design. A better way would be to dramatically increase range penalties (double or triple even) and have the penalties start at shorter ranges. This way shooting up close isn't impacted as much but shooting beyond short range in to the fog almost always misses. Depending upon how scopes work, I would make scopes have no vision bonus in fog as well to avoid having a spotter + sniper combo being so strong in fog and/or darkness.

About the 50% damage reduction on burst attacks, this is another questionable design idea. Instead a moderate initial accuracy penalty for using burst/auto plus a cumulatively larger accuracy penalty per bullet like JA2 did would be ideal. Definitely limit the bursts to 3 or 4 bullets because above that it's too inaccurate and unbalanced.