Jagged Alliance 3 in GameStar preview.

[GODSPEED]

2 hours ago, LXant said:

I can see why you like inventory management. Scarcity adds to the experience of dealing with limited resources, of improvising and a feeling of accomplishment when overcoming such a challenge.

This is where I find the addition of detail and complexity - like the addition of individual magazines & weapon condition - play an enormous role in this inventory managment.

Eventhough, I do not consider it a very good game, because it is so clunky, the camera is so frustrating and the personality is non-existant, I still think 7,62 High Calibre to be one of the BEST TACTICAL games the PC has had. Simply because you will often find weapons and gear in such a bad condition, you really take a gamble if you decide to use it... and you MUST make a choice, because you have realistic inventory space. You also need to worry about having magazines for your weapons, because if you only have 1 mag and you empty it in combat, it takes so long to fill that mag with individual rounds that you'll be in trouble.

I really enjoy that level of planning and "micromanagement".

 

2 hours ago, LXant said:

But most of the time the logistics part feels unnatural and at times arbitrary. Usually you encounter a great number of enemies, supply with basic weapons, ammo and other equipment shouldn't be an issue thanks to that. It only is because those basic things - while being used against you mere moments ago - simply don't drop as loot. It creates a shortage of something that should've been there in abundance.

The question is, how should the game handle this? 100% loot would be realistic, but it would remove the challenge. Less loot would give you a challenge, but go against realism. Which is why I willingly accept the modern abstraction of making basic items like cheap firearms or ammo free/unlimited. It allows you to focus on collecting rare and special items.

But it seems we'll have to wait on this one until we get to see the full extent of inventory management. I would like to note, however, that - like you - I want a multifaceted inventory with more than 4 or 5 slots. At least weapon customization is in, something both of us should enjoy.

I completely agree with you and understand exactly what you are talking about. It is a hard challenge to integrate. If I try to put myself in the feet of a dev team, I would rather go with the route and system you like, versus the complication I like.

I've been playing around with one of the options in Jagged Alliance 2 1.13 that let's militia arm themselves from the inventory in the sector. In the .ini you can control if they take from Weapon, armor, face items, ammo, knives, grenades, etc...

This has kind of "fixed" the problem that when you play with "Enemies Drop All", you can easily get too much money too quickly, limiting the financial difficulty. (Yes, you can also limit the amount of money from selling items from enemies, but that didn't feel "realistic".)

Does it sometimes become overly-complicated with moving ammo and weapons from location to location to arm different sector militia? Yes it does. Sometimes I feel like a battle, but I must take care of this management. So yes, I completely understand why such a feature would NOT be implemented into a mass market game.. you have to be a little crazy in the ehad to want to spend time moving ammo around. 🤪

This is where I felt like there are thigns we can do to make this better. JA3 could have some dealers/vendors that you hire and pay huge amounts of money to provide weapons and ammunition to militia you train.

You could have a few different types of weapons (weapon type, ammo type, condition: surplus, old, modern, bad condition, brand new) that all change how much it would cost you.

This way, I feel, it remains "realistic" where in my mind I have the sense that the militia are not just "born witha  gun in hand from harry potter magic", but it avoids the tedious amount of work from having to phisically move mercs that are paid a fortune to fight, but are pack mules for ammo and weapon containers... (I guess that's why I like M.E.R.C mercs more now then I used to.. 😁).

 

2 hours ago, LXant said:

It is hard to tell how many hours I spent with Skyrim/Oblivion/Morrowind over the last decades... and I could argue that hardly anybody plays those games for their story. The freedom of choice is the main selling point of those games.

Story-driven games on the other hand limit that freedom to give the player a clearer direction.

This puts JA in a bit of a hard spot, as it tries to tell a compelling story while at the same time aims to give the player a sandbox experience. Maybe that's why so many JA sequels failed, because they failed to walk that fine line?

Tell me about it... from my Steam hours in Skyrim, I have spent about 125 hours over the Covid lockdown with heavy-duty Skyrim modding... at one point I had passed the 250 active mods and the game was running stable.. (I wanted an achievement for that 😅). I enjoy playing Elder Scrolls and Fallout 4 even if inside they feel e little empty. That's where I feel different elements can come into play and compensate.

I enjoy photography and I like nature... so at one point I had something like over 600 screenshots while the game was modded. I enjoy the worlds Bethesda craft. They are good at creating immersion through interesting locations and peaking your curiosity.

 

2 hours ago, LXant said:

While I agree with you in principle, I disagree from a standpoint of game design.

Chances and uncertainties are fine, I'd even say important. However, a game still needs to tell the player crucial information, so that their choices are more than lucky guesses or the result of trial and error. If there's an element of chance, the player needs to be told about it. XCOM got that right, as you had effective weapon ranges, weapons had dmg ranges and, of course, the infamous hit chances. And if the trailer is right, it seems that JA3 will follow suit.

If something isn't 100%, it can fail. As a player I understand and accept it, because the game tells me that there's a 10% or 30% chance to fail something beforehand. Or if there's a dmg spread between 10 and 20. I accept it, because the game told me BEFORE I chose to go with it. Failure becomes a consequence of accepting the possibility of it happening.

But when the game doesn't tell me with how much movement I'm left when moving somewhere, when I won't know if I can see/attack/flank someone when I move to a certain tile, when I don't know if something counts as half or full cover... then failure becomes a consequence of lack of information. It is a frustrating experience and overall bad game design. That's where people start complaining, and rightfully so.

Some people enjoy that kind of unfair design, but most people don't.

There are a few systems that I REALLY enjoy:

Back in Action - While I think it's a pretty decent tactical game, it unfortunately feel a little flat when it came to being a Jagged Alliance game. I really enjoyed the way the interface tells you how your shot will do. It tells you in increments of how your mind would perceive chance-to-hit; I have a high chance to hit, I have a low chance to hit, I will certainly hit. (I forget the exact words used, but it is an approximation instead of percentage).

7,62 High Calibre used a similar system. These games show a line to the enemy you are aiming and at the same time, you get to see if there are objects or terrain that would hinder the shot.

In JA2 1.13, I always play with one of the .ini settings for Chance-to-hit display to be based on the mercs attributes.
So, let's compare Flo and Gus. Flow is horrible with a gun and is an absolute newbie.. her 'estimation' if she can hit the target or not is VERY flawed. You do not trust that indication too much. Gus, on the other hand, is a seasoned veteran. If he thinks he'll hit the target, he most likely will.

 

2 hours ago, LXant said:

That's a very unfavorable view on interviews. 🙂

I mentioned them because some of those went beyond simple advertising and explored the thought processes that led to certain decisions. It was interesting to learn of the challenges and problems the Devs had when trying to adapt an old game. Why did they change this? Why did they do that? It was very insightful.

We might like certain aspects in old games because we associate them with our childhood, but there are many people who never played the old games, who simply lack that feeling of nostalgia. And they don't hesitate to point out elements that are simply not fun or borderline unfair.

Hearing those hardcore X-Com fans describe the difficulties when creating the remake helped me understand that not everything was simply "watered down" to make more sales. They were as surprised as everyone else when the game became a huge financial success. Turn-based tactical games were dead back then, the whole genre is still a niche product. Turn-based strategy is generally better received, but - as you said - also remains a niche compared to other genres.

We might never agree on this one, but I see XCOM as a step in the right direction. It started the renaissance of the whole niche, which is why we even get JA3 now; development began shortly after XCOM2 released and proved that the success of XCOM1 wasn't just a fluke. It is only natural that JA3 will try to build upon and improve on some aspects of what XCOM2 had to offer.

 

I don't know if you know, but XCOM actually had a bunch of talented modders that created awesome mods for it. Long War was the biggest and most popular one. Their work was so impressive that Firaxis involved them in the development of XCOM2. A huge part of why XCOM2 is so moddable, has thousands of mods and still gets mods to this day is thanks to that group of modders. They even founded their own dev studio btw, Pavonis Interactive.

If JA3 comes even close to the success of XCOM2 and gets a mere fraction of its mod support, it would be a huge win in my books.

Well, then I was wrong in my assumptions! Thank you for correcting me, I won't repeat my innacurate comments. 😇

 

2 hours ago, LXant said:

As it is, the interrupt mechanic is out and we get overwatch instead. And I suspect the reason for that change was, as you correctly pointed out, the unpredictability of the whole concept.

I understand that this is something you like, that there's always a risk of getting killed by something that is impossible to account for. It is very similar to reaction fire in the first X-Com games.

This touches on the aforementioned subject of giving players reliable information. Elements that heavily punish players in random unpredictable acts simply need to be tamed. Not to cater to all platforms, but to make things more predictable for the player.

We might also disagree here, but too much randomness - especially when the consequences are as severe as perma-death - is what constitutes bad game design. Many people find no fun in getting punished for something that was a) outside of their control and b) not clearly communicated by the game beforehand.

Again, some players might enjoy unfair game design, but most people don't.

Well, I completely see what you mean.. I am not against it either. I mean, there are games where I do enjoy Overwatch.

To be honest with you, much of my resistance to it has to do with the Jagged Alliance IP. Not for gaming in general. As much as I enjoyed game like X-Com Apocalypse and some others that I also don't revisit very often... Jagged Alliance 2 holds a dear place in my heart. Not out of nostalgia! Simply because I play it regularly.. 1-2 times a year, since 2001 (I was late to the party unfortunately).

In my opinion, for my own likes/dislikes in gaming, Jagged Alliance 2 with some of the 1.13 features added, is one of the games that walks the line between so many sublte details that blend together so well, I've never found ANYTHING even remotely close.  7,62 High Calibre is a superior TACTICAL game. There are details I enjoy more... but it is horrible in every other department! JA2's isometric single zoom makes moving the camera as basic as possible, so it never becomes a struggle. Also, it has subtle humour, interesting mercs with personalities.. I've yet to even have the combination of every merc.. I still even think there are a few mercs I never played with!

As much as I enjoy the world of nu-Xcom/Phoenix Point, they lack the detailed realistic weaponry and inventory maangement that I enjoy.

Now, add to that the interrupt system, which, unless I am wrong again (always such a possiblity 😅) is an incredibly UNIQUE feature that is the blending of roleplaying elements. This is where I feel that any attempt at "changing" it, will elad to a COMPLETELY different feeling.

Jagged Alliance 2 is a Roleplaying Strategy game first. The roleplaying stats play such an important role in the gameplay mechanics... and not once have I ever felt (or have I ever heard) anyone complain about the system.. on the contrary, it is often praised for how well it is blended into the game and how "invisible" it feels. You never 'suddenlly' become good from a single number or unlock a feature.. it perfectly represents experience at varying degrees. When you think that the Mechanical and Medical stat can be directly impacted by the Dexterity stat (vice-versa) and Dexterity also serves to be able to fire a shot or more per turn. You have a very deep, complex and multi-layered system that helps to greatly differentiate mercs and what you might decide to use them for.

Sure a high mechanical merc might be better at fixing things, but maybe his low wisdom means you prefer giving the toolbox to a high wisdom merc with lower mechanical skills so that his mech and dex will eventually surpass and be better.


These are such basic examples of how deep you can take this system..

It's uniqueness is why I have such a strong will to fight for a simple copy/paste of it. I am usually against simply copy/pasting others works and I realize that as a dev team, you want to create your own thing, not just copy... but this is a unique case that I seriously just wish they would import that system.

 

2 hours ago, LXant said:

This is where our experiences differ. I spent countless hours customizing my soldiers, giving them biographies, using visual mods to make them even more unique. The campaigns I fought in XCOM2 are among the most memorable I ever had.

When thinking back to Apoc, I don't remember my soldiers. Also, the aliens were not memorable or important for the whole experience. What made the game great was the destructable environment, all the interactions within the city, destroyed buildings after hard battles in the sky, raids against various organizations. It was a huge sandbox that I greatly enjoyed, but it never made me truly care about my soldiers or the main mission. XCOM2 was the exact opposite, which was closer to the original games in that regard.

That puts JA2 in a special place for me, as it somehow unifies the strenghts of both worlds, giving me soldiers that I care about, a clear direction and at the same time a sandbox experience that I like.

From what little we know about JA3, we might get something very similar. At the very least I'd love to have XCOM2-like customization options.

Hey, if I can have different comouflage, backpacks, vests and gear that show up on my mercs in JA3, I would be happy. That was always THE big thing that felt a letdown in JA2. (Creating sprites with al the movements in JA2 is very complex and long work, so they had to rely on basic handgun/rifle look).

 

2 hours ago, LXant said:

What do JA2 players want? Not always the same thing, that much is clear. And given the high costs of game development (especially when compared to two decades ago) some concessions will be necessary to make it more appealing for a broader audience.

Like you, it leaves me a bit concerned, as we don't know where that line is drawn. For now, from what we heard, no major feature seems to be missing. If the gamestar magazine is right, that is. Without seeing for myself I will remain sceptical.

But tbh, while I hope for the best, I'd already call it a success if it doesn't kill the entire franchise. And we all know that this could very well happen, as JA3 is the biggest JA project in a long time. Financial failure could mean another 20 years of small pay-to-win/mobile JA games.

That makes mod support the maybe most important feature of all.

There seems to be 2 camps of players when it comes to Jagged Alliance.

Those who want something in the vein of 1.13 and those who would be happy with the same modern re-interpretation as nu-Xcoms.

I'm one who would like 1.13 features with the same system as JA2, but with revamped graphics and upgraded elements, like visual gear.


Look, often, in gaming, it's a little give-and-take; meaing, we have things we really like, but even if a game doesn't answer all those needs, it sometimes compensates with something else.

If JA3 feels a little too basic for me in it's roleplaying aspect, then maybe some of the graphical features, maybe the mercs, maybe the story.. maybe all those other things will come and compensate for something I feel is missing?

It's still hard to know at this point.


Maybe this is why I have strong opinions? I've yet to know EXACTLY what to expect, and because of the way I personaly find PC gaming has been going in the past 20 years, I'm expecting the worse, so I am trying to push for the details I want them to keep?

Cheers @LXant! 🍻

-PS- Maybe we should take this convo to a new topic... we've hijacked the gamestar interview post. Apologies!!!

[Wigen]

4 hours ago, LXant said:

To answer your question, there's absolutely no indication that you direcly buy skills with money. However, indirectly any new skill will increase the weekly costs, so skills do cost money.

 

However, in JA 3 they can approach it in a different way and try to equate the price with several mercenary parameters, not only with increasing experience but e.g. with shooting, mechanics, medicine, etc.

And if they introduce this skill-leveling method, it will have a real impact on the mercenary's weekly salary.

[LXant]

17 hours ago, GODSPEED said:

-PS- Maybe we should take this convo to a new topic... we've hijacked the gamestar interview post. Apologies!!!

Let's stay here in this thread, since part of what we discuss here concerns all the things the gamestar article is about. I know, it's a generous interpretation of the rules, but there's not much going on in this forum anyway. 😄

First things first, I admire your dedication. Even I don't play all those old games that much. Sure, every now and then, but not as regularly as you.

Overall I agree with you on everything you wrote in your post. The point you made with equipping the militia sounds interesting. Never tried it for myself, though. I'm sure that we'll get an abstracted system of it in JA3, in which training militia might cost money to cover all expenses. While effective, hiring mercs to use them exclusively as mules feels a bit wrong (as in not quite intended by the devs). I can't imagine any dev to implement it as part of the expected gameplay. 🤣 It all depends on how buying and using equipment works.

A shame the article preview ended right before they went into the strategic management. 😑

 

18 hours ago, GODSPEED said:

So, let's compare Flo and Gus. Flow is horrible with a gun and is an absolute newbie.. her 'estimation' if she can hit the target or not is VERY flawed. You do not trust that indication too much. Gus, on the other hand, is a seasoned veteran. If he thinks he'll hit the target, he most likely will.

That's actually quite clever. It reminds me of a similar system (at least similar in principle) from the newest Owlcat game WotR, although Kingmaker also had this system in place. There you're presented with many choices, some of which will shift your alignment in a certain direction. The interesting part is that the choice is entirely based on your characters knowledge.

Without spoiling too much, there's a person that is unfriendly, but not hostile towards you. You can choose to attack that person in a fit of anger, which is classified as a chaotic action. But if you spend some time doing a bit of research, you learn that the unfriendly person killed an innocent man quite a while ago. With that new piece of information the same action of attacking and killing him is now classified as lawful, as your character now has a legitimate reason to kill said person. Seeing the world through the eyes of your character is a core-principle of any good RPG.

What you described here is actually a deep system that requires you to know your mercs. Of course, the downside is that you can never be certain whether the information the game gives you is reliable or not.

I'm not sure which is better, I could live with both. But let me tell you, I can already see many people complaining about it. 😅 "It said hit chance is high, yet I missed five times in a row. wtf?!"

 

18 hours ago, GODSPEED said:

Well, then I was wrong in my assumptions! Thank you for correcting me, I won't repeat my innacurate comments.

I wouldn't say wrong, most interviews are just what you think they are: devs trying to sell their product.

The interesting interviews I'm talking about are more like podium discussions or lectures about game design. Or devs reminiscing about the history of the genre.

If you're interested, look up "The Past, Present & Future of XCOM with Julian Gollop & Jake Solomon from EGX 2017". Both talk about the original vision of the game, tell how those games were created, what influenced their decisions etc. This one is especially great as it takes place after the release of XCOM2 and its expansion WotC. Or "Classic Games Postmortem - XCOM: UFO Defense", a talk at GDC 2013 given by Julian Gollop himself.

Very very insightful for anyone that is interested in the history behind those great games.

 

18 hours ago, GODSPEED said:

It's uniqueness is why I have such a strong will to fight for a simple copy/paste of it. I am usually against simply copy/pasting others works and I realize that as a dev team, you want to create your own thing, not just copy... but this is a unique case that I seriously just wish they would import that system.

I very much agree, the interrupt mechanic is unique, only the reaction fire of the first X-Com games comes close to it.

My problem with it - and I suppose the reason why it got cut from JA3 - is the lack of predictability. While it feels great to have it work out for you, it feels terrible when you're on the short end of it.

Let's take Dark Souls as an example. The game is hard, punishing and unforgiving. Yet nobody would call it unfair or unpredictable. If you play well, you won't die. The same can't be said about the interrupt mechanic. You can play well and still randomly die to it. And this is likely the reason for its removal, as it crosses the line towards unfair game design.

It is hard to think of a way to improve that particular aspect. Yes, you could always say "then scout ahead, be more careful etc.", but that only slows down the pace. While some may enjoy a game full of slow paced engagements, most people don't. I can clearly see why they'd remove the mechanic and replace it with something that was proven to be successful in recent years.

But I wouldn't lose hope yet. I may very well be that Haemimont didn't just copy the overwatch mechanic, but refined it or gave it a bit of a twist. For now we know nothing about it, just that combat is similar to XCOM/XCOM2 and that there's a button with the same symbol as the overwatch command.

 

18 hours ago, GODSPEED said:

Hey, if I can have different comouflage, backpacks, vests and gear that show up on my mercs in JA3, I would be happy. That was always THE big thing that felt a letdown in JA2. (Creating sprites with al the movements in JA2 is very complex and long work, so they had to rely on basic handgun/rifle look).

XCOM/XCOM2 went heavy on implementing RPG/customizing elements. I fully expect Haemimont to at least copy, if not outright improve on it. A good chunk of it is customizing visuals, which is easier today than it was 20 years ago.

So, yes, I agree with you 110%. I want tons of different equipment and I want it all to be visible on the character models.

 

19 hours ago, GODSPEED said:

There seems to be 2 camps of players when it comes to Jagged Alliance.
Those who want something in the vein of 1.13 and those who would be happy with the same modern re-interpretation as nu-Xcoms.
I'm one who would like 1.13 features with the same system as JA2, but with revamped graphics and upgraded elements, like visual gear.

Look, often, in gaming, it's a little give-and-take; meaing, we have things we really like, but even if a game doesn't answer all those needs, it sometimes compensates with something else.
If JA3 feels a little too basic for me in it's roleplaying aspect, then maybe some of the graphical features, maybe the mercs, maybe the story.. maybe all those other things will come and compensate for something I feel is missing?

It's still hard to know at this point.

Maybe this is why I have strong opinions? I've yet to know EXACTLY what to expect, and because of the way I personaly find PC gaming has been going in the past 20 years, I'm expecting the worse, so I am trying to push for the details I want them to keep?

If I could agree even more with you, I would! Yes, absolutely my thoughts. In the end we both have the same problem: we don't know what to expect, as not much is known.

Until the magazine comes out, someone buys it and then shares this info with us, the upcoming FAQ is our best bet to get our hands on new info.

 

19 hours ago, GODSPEED said:

Cheers @LXant! 🍻

Cheers @GODSPEED! 🍻

[GODSPEED]

3 hours ago, LXant said:

...we don't know what to expect, as not much is known.

Until the magazine comes out, someone buys it and then shares this info with us, the upcoming FAQ is our best bet to get our hands on new info.

I would 'guesstimate' that the bigger the studio, the more the game will be streamlined for a bigger audience. Not only for profit reasons, but big studios do not usually handle niche products (unless it's that kind of studio with a publisher of niche games, like Matrix Games / Slitherine).

At the same time, higher budgets can also mean better visuals, better audio, voiceovers and overall game polish.. and as much as I don't put my faith in graphics as much as gameplay, it would be nice to have a modern isometric JA-style game with real-world firearms.

Haemimont, from the few games I've played, have a good eye for detail and intricacies. Surviving Mars is what I would call a pretty well balanced game. It's not overly complex, but it is far from being a simplistic game. As long as they can keep this level of detail, management and complexity in JA3, I think I should be happy.


Anyways, thanks for our ranting conversation @LXant, maybe I will try to look at possible changes in JA3 as not such a negative thing 😏

[LXant]

The choice of developer is a good sign, I agree that their portfolio gives me hope that we'll at the very least get something that is thought-out and not full of bugs. Good news after 20 years of mediocre attempts.

Hopefully, when the magazine releases in 2 days, someone will post something about it or provide pics of it. I'd be happy to translate the whole damn thing if need be.

 

41 minutes ago, GODSPEED said:

Anyways, thanks for our ranting conversation @LXant

I need to thank you too, it is rare to meet someone who can string more than a few coherent sentences together and makes me even re-think my own perspective on certain things. 👍

 

44 minutes ago, GODSPEED said:

maybe I will try to look at possible changes in JA3 as not such a negative thing 😏

And I will follow suit and do the same! 🙂

[Acid]

If you could translate it, that would be good and appreciated LXant. 🙂

[Wigen]

17 minutes ago, LXant said:

The choice of developer is a good sign, I agree that their portfolio gives me hope that we'll at the very least get something that is thought-out and not full of bugs. Good news after 20 years of mediocre attempts.

 

Current developers are a completely different league than previous publishers. They simply beat them up with their games, experience and human resources. So JA 3 seems to be something solid.

[LXant]

15 minutes ago, Acid said:

If you could translate it, that would be good and appreciated LXant. 🙂

Only if someone provides me with something to translate, mind you. 🙂

[Wigen]

When does this number even come out?

[LXant]

The printed version is scheduled to release tomorrow.

[Wigen]

I am very curious what they wrote on this GameStar. Maybe they wrote something else that we don't know.

[GODSPEED]

We are tomorrow!!!

 

😁

[LXant]

28 minutes ago, GODSPEED said:

We are tomorrow!!!

 

😁

That we are indeed!

Now we have to wait until someone posts a summary or a pic (which I can and will translate).

[GODSPEED]

4 minutes ago, LXant said:

(which I can and will translate).

I think we were waiting for you to say that! 😅

[GODSPEED]

https://www-gamestar-de.translate.goog/artikel/neues-gamestar-heft-ja-jagged-alliance-3-wird-wirklich-entwickelt,3374188.html?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB&_x_tr_pto=nui

Edited October 20, 2021 by GODSPEED

[GODSPEED]

Is anyone ordering the physical magazine?

I created an account on the Gamestar website, but it did not let me select my country (only 3 countries available to select).


[sorry, could not edit my last post]

[LXant]

I can't say anything regarding their registration process or country selection, but if you're willing to actually buy the magazine, I'd go for this:

https://shop.gamestar.de/hefte/gamestar/1791/gamestar-11/2021?c=5

There you need to select "Epaper", click "In den Warenkorb" (meaning "into the cart") and then you can check out.

What you want to avoid is the month-long subscription or shipping the printed magazine across the world.

If you really buy it, then I'll give you the complete translation via PM and you'll be free to do whatever you want with it. I mean, if you really bought it, it's yours, right? 🙂

Edited October 21, 2021 by LXant

[Wigen]

In the nooks and crannies of the internet I found another news item, but nothing new was written in it.

https://www.thegeekgetaway.com/2021/10/jagged-alliance-3-another-shot-at.html

 

[GODSPEED]

14 hours ago, LXant said:

I can't say anything regarding their registration process or country selection, but if you're willing to actually buy the magazine, I'd go for this:

https://shop.gamestar.de/hefte/gamestar/1791/gamestar-11/2021?c=5

There you need to select "Epaper", click "In den Warenkorb" (meaning "into the cart") and then you can check out.

What you want to avoid is the month-long subscription or shipping the printed magazine across the world.

If you really buy it, then I'll give you the complete translation via PM and you'll be free to do whatever you want with it. I mean, if you really bought it, it's yours, right? 🙂

I was kind of hoping to get the physical magazine..

It would have given me the digital also; but I haven't opened a PC-gaming related magazine in maybe (almost) 2 decades.

I'll go check it out over the weekend and PM you in the case I do just ge the digital files. Thank you!

[GODSPEED]

2 hours ago, Wigen said:

In the nooks and crannies of the internet I found another news item, but nothing new was written in it.

https://www.thegeekgetaway.com/2021/10/jagged-alliance-3-another-shot-at.html

I love discussing the game with my fellow Jagged Alliance crazies and freaks... but I'm having a hard job shaking off a feeling that the game is walking a very thin line and I just don't know "what foot to stand on" with JA3.

I look at screenshots and talk to you guys, and things look bright.. I start reading some articles, and some details about the new game just bring my spirits down a little.

😪

[LXant]

Don't lose hope, it's too early for that.

That new article just does what we do: analyze the trailer/screenshots. There's nothing new, just speculation.

[Wigen]

In my opinion more information about the game will be in November. Because in October I would't count anything more.

Edited October 22, 2021 by Wigen

[Acid]

What's a bit deflating is the lack of commentary from the developers in here.

[Wigen]

2 hours ago, Acid said:

What's a bit deflating is the lack of commentary from the developers in here.

Maybe because other games are waiting for their premieres in the publishing plans and therefore the activity of developers on the forums is limited. I think you have to be patient and wait this period.

They will just release the games they have to and slowly start visiting our forum. At least I think so.

[LXant]

2 hours ago, Acid said:

What's a bit deflating is the lack of commentary from the developers in here.

From my experience, the bigger the budget/project, the more restrictions are in place. They are usually placed by the publisher and not the developers.

It means that every bit of info, every piece of content that is released to the public has to go through the publisher and needs official approval, as marketing and PR are part of the publishers' responsibilities.

It's easier when publisher and developer are the same, like it is with Paradox, but this isn't the norm. And not the case with Haemimont and THQ Nordic; both are obviously different entities.

And don't forget that it is a frustrating experience for the devs, too. They dedicated a few years of their lives towards JA3 and can't talk about it. It would drive me crazy.