Jump to content
  • DevDiary 2 - Legacy and Writing

    Legacy and Writing
     
    Hey everyone, my name is Ian Currie and I’m happy to welcome you to another Jagged Alliance 3 DevDiary. I am one of the original creators of the Jagged Alliance series and have been working with THQ Nordic and Haemimont on Jagged Alliance 3 for a couple of years now. I’m excited to share some of my thoughts with you!

    The original Jagged Alliance games

    Jagged Alliance dates back to the latter half of the 1990s where the first game was released somewhat under the radar but was considered a critical success. It was quite ambitious—a strategy game with tactical combat, a large cast of colorful characters, role-playing elements, and a storyline with multiple outcomes. It was unique in allowing players to form a party of characters but using pre-existing individuals who had distinct personalities who had both strengths and weaknesses. It was further unique in that these individuals didn’t always get along with each other and could sometimes, to the surprise of players, act out. Like a lot of entertainment, it also sprinkled in a good dose of humor.

    229493809_6-questsandquirkyNPCs.thumb.jpg.d6c8b2cdfdf6200cb4d470bbc3dacc93.jpg

    While it was followed by a small mission-based sequel that introduced multi-player gameplay (titled ‘Deadly Games’), the original game was preferred for its more open-world feel. This, along with many other aspects, was expanded upon in what became a more appropriate sequel to Jagged Alliance.

    And that brings me to Jagged Alliance 2, which was certainly one of the most ambitious projects I’ve ever worked on and a true labor of love for myself and the team that developed it. It expanded upon the first Jagged Alliance in almost every aspect. Players could employ multiple squads and create their own merc, experience side-quests along with a variable storyline, taunt the main antagonist by sending them flowers.
    They generally experienced a game that played out differently each time, including more in-depth tactical combat and many easter eggs that we delighted in creating. Many of the characters that players grew to love from the previous games returned along with many new characters. One of the goals of the Jagged Alliance series was to create tension between the attachment to characters and the need to acquire more skilled team members.

    hiring.png.b221da032f2bd079ef02f92f9e7b3b03.png

    While Jagged Alliance 2 was very successful, the owners of the development studio decided to focus on other business opportunities and the studio closed down. The intellectual property was sold and my teammates and I all moved on to other gaming studios.

    Jagged Alliance 3

    A couple of years ago I was contacted by THQ Nordic to see if I’d be interested in helping a team of developers to create a new Jagged Alliance game. I was initially skeptical as there had been some Jagged Alliance games released over the years and none of them impressed me. Making something I could call a ‘true’ Jagged Alliance game would be a complex and daunting task. THQ Nordic assured me that they were going to take their time and ‘do it right’. I was told that they were boldly calling it Jagged Alliance 3 as it is intended to be the true spiritual successor to Jagged Alliance 2.

    To be honest, while I loved the idea of working on a ‘true’ Jagged Alliance game, I didn’t want to let myself get too excited. It wasn’t until THQ Nordic showed me an early prototype and I read the design documentation that I allowed myself to become somewhat optimistic.  Then I met with the design and production team and was impressed. OK, I was interested; what did they need me to help with?

    The answer was creative writing: the story, the quests, the characters, the mercs, the dialog etc. While I had certainly contributed to the writing, the person who really owned all that work on Jagged Alliance was my partner and good friend, Shaun Lyng, who was no longer available. Hmmm, could I do it? I decided to reach out to a former colleague, Dan McClure, who is a game industry veteran and published author. Luckily, Dan agreed to sign on and the two of us became very good partners.

    1050631165_2-hiddenperkchecks.thumb.jpg.3377bab86b9be95702abd92ba3b7b6ce.jpg

    Working with Haemimont Games

    We quickly got to know the developers at Haemimont Games and started working with them on the story and timeline for the game. It was so much fun! It wasn’t long until we were throwing around ideas for quests, discussing which mercs would be ‘back’ and of course, the new mercs – which is always exciting. Many of these personalities are like old friends that I’ve truly missed.

    1185440268_5-merconeliners.thumb.jpg.e8425768ce565347d11772bedffe2ac1.jpg

    One of my favorite features of the game is the conversation system – the part of the game that allows players to interact with various NPCs (non-player characters) in the world. In Jagged Alliance 2, this feature was very limited – you could only choose a general ‘approach’ (e.g. friendly, direct, threatening).
    Jagged Alliance 3 introduces a robust conversation system that allows for a much more engaging role-playing experience and will often include participation from some of your mercs. This can range from simple comments to more helpful observations and plays out differently depending on the situation, adding to the game’s replay-ability. We iterated on the design until we were all happy with it and seeing it all come together was immensely satisfying. I’m very proud of what we’ve done here as it allows for so much more interaction between the player, the NPCs and the mercs, and allows us to tell a much deeper story than in any previous Jagged Alliance game.

    2080646359_1-conversationstructure.thumb.jpg.2ec482f8819e13f994623061baaf29b3.jpg

    Working with Haemimont has been very rewarding. They’re not only a team that has worked together for a long time, but their expertise is evident in everything they do.  Watching the game take shape over the past couple of years has been amazing.
    Graphically there is so much detail in the game, from how all the mercs in the game have custom avatars, to the carefully crafted environments and of course the combat system is equally rich and rewarding. Jagged Alliance 3 truly is bigger and better. Sometimes it’s just so hard to believe that after all this time, I’m working on another Jagged Alliance game. I consider myself very lucky and can’t wait for you to experience the game.

    Thanks for reading!

     

    1922879131_IanCurrie.thumb.jpg.2d6580de3de33b6ed2e06cfd75ede275.jpg

    Ian Currie

    Director of Jagged Alliance 1 & 2
    Writer of Jagged Alliance 3


    PS: You might also enjoy the new trailer about my involvement: 

     


    • Like 11
    • Thanks 1
    THQN Roger



    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    The original interview has now been published in english and deedee is not mentioned there. So the Version by gamestar might have had that as off statement and assumption by gamestar itself. There it said "The mercenaries should all have their own personality, newcomers like Deedee as well as returnees à la steroid"

    So it's possible that deedee is not going to be for hire at all.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    In case someone missed it, when you look at the legacy trailer(at 1:42) in one frame you can see the travel overview of your squad. There you can see the route of your team and the different terrain(urban, savanna) they must travel through.

     

    Also the squad speed is visible(+4%), so I guess different elements like exhaustion, car repairs or the weather will influence your teams speed. The terrain will also be important for your travel, because you can see the categories easy and very easy next to the different types.

     

    I am curious if the different terrain(swamp, savanna) types will also influence the combat. Will fights be slowed down, because of the swamp or will the sun dehydrate the mercs in the savanna so that they can not aim anymore?

    • Like 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Those are excellent points. Several of us have commented on terrain and their effects on combat before but I think it goes further than that. General map travel should create more fatigue if the terrain chosen to travel through is harsh enough. The roads will obviously be the easiest and fastest route but the enemy might have those too well guarded and patrolled.

    Needing to take an alternative route will possibly slow your mercs down in general travel. Additionally, if driving a vehicle, could it possibly break down or need refuelling mid-journey? Will your mercs need to carry more water or food to keep their energy up? Due to being in a hotter climate, that should be a factor, although not taken to the extreme that a previous Jagged Alliance game did (constant exhaustion issues).

    Those alternative routes may also create a sudden random hostile encounter. If not against the army or bandits, what about deadly animals?

    Will the enemy possibly experience fatigue when you engage them? Surely they get tired too?

    What about weather? Will there be rain, thunderstorms, mist, haze or certain days with extreme heat? That will slow movement in general and in battle, plus visibility will be affected, meaning there could be shorter range combat.

    Edited by Solaris_Wave
    • Like 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    A great feature would be if the weather could always change throughout the week. So the same sector is always changing between muddy, rainy and harsh to clear, sunny and dry. When you return to that specific sector the gameplay and combat always changes too. Every walkthrough would feel different.

     

    I hope we also get the same variation in the loot system so that the equipment you can find is always random. That would push the replayability even more.

    • Like 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I can imagine how dramatic a night mission during a thunderstorm would be! That would be a great way of stealthily approaching an enemy compound, avoiding any lights and taking out guards with suppressed weapons and knives.

    When you are talking about random loot, do you mean something that is in the sector itself or randomised equipment on the enemies you kill in that sector?

    • Like 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    3 minutes ago, Solaris_Wave said:

    I can imagine how dramatic a night mission during a thunderstorm would be! That would be a great way of stealthily approaching an enemy compound, avoiding any lights and taking out guards with suppressed weapons and knives.

    When you are talking about random loot, do you mean something that is in the sector itself or randomised equipment on the enemies you kill in that sector?

    Hell yea especially with shadow......

    Shadow - Jagged Alliance 3D.jpg

    • Like 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    @Solaris_Wave: I mean the loot should be random in all sectors. All objects like chests, vases, containers and so on should contain random equipment so that the exploring gets more interesting. Sometimes you find a rare rifle or expensive stuff that you can sell for your mercs.

     

    I think if you already know where the good loot is placed a second walkthrough could be less exciting. Also the exploring in general gets more interesting. No one has the exact same experience. The enemies should drop realistically their equipment you see on them but also random stuff that is in their belts or backpacks.

    • Like 4
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Further play-throughs of the game will definitely benefit from random items, otherwise you would just make a bee-line for certain sectors to get the best stuff. There would be a limit to how random that loot is though. If the earliest shop you visit has got some top of the range gear, there needs to be some explanation how this lowly merchant got their hands on it.

    Equally, only the better enemies should have the better equipment but you could put in a 1% randomiser that means a single enemy militia is carrying something decent, simply because they looted it themselves. During the Libyan civil war, there was news footage of some random male waving round an FN P90. Another one had an FN SCAR.

    I also agree that whatever equipment was being carried by an enemy soldier when you killed them, you should be allowed to take for yourself, if it didn't get used up in battle against you. I have seen games in the past where you will get an enemy using all sorts of things but when you kill them, all you get is what has been decided you are allowed to pick up.

    • Like 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    To wait for the night and than to strike with a stealth approach only with specialized mercs and equipment while stormy weather is changing the whole scenery is what I also would love to see. 

     

    Knives and silenced pistols nothing else.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    17 hours ago, WILDFIRE said:

    @Solaris_Wave: I mean the loot should be random in all sectors. All objects like chests, vases, containers and so on should contain random equipment so that the exploring gets more interesting. Sometimes you find a rare rifle or expensive stuff that you can sell for your mercs.

     

    I think if you already know where the good loot is placed a second walkthrough could be less exciting. Also the exploring in general gets more interesting. No one has the exact same experience. The enemies should drop realistically their equipment you see on them but also random stuff that is in their belts or backpacks.

    Totally agree with it, seems like we got lots of commun needs. 😉 Items and weapons etc should be surely randomly each playthrough, am guessing may we will have a option as well where we can choice just like in Jagged Alliance 2 if there should be less guns or tons of guns.

     

    Also some RPCs should be appearing in some different locations like Hamous in Jagged Alliance 2 just as a example.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Yes I am curious what different NPCs we can hire for our team. It would be nice if we could meet special freedom fighters or lone mercenaries who already are working in Gran Chien. You can create so many interesting characters who could sell, repair or craft various weapons, items for us. 

     

    First we should get the morale high in some areas with completed quests or the people wont trust us. Then we need the right answers in the dialogues so that we can convince the person to work with our team. Maybe we could also get special equipment only from these unique characters. If you kill innocent people and the morale goes down you maybe loose these persons and their equipment forever.

    • Like 3
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Both good points. I especially am curious about what you mentioned in the first paragraph and whether that sort of thing would be available to the player full-time? Being able to hire someone who is from Grand Chien would surely be a useful addition as they would have the best knowledge about the enemy and how to get around the country. They wouldn't just be a worthy soldier, they would also be an important adviser.

    • Like 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    A resident merc or freedom fighter could not only be a good advisor but also a great recruiter for the militia. He knows the people well and he could get a bonus in militia training.

     

    That would help to get an easy entrance in defending your sectors, so that these special characters are very valuable for you team.

    • Like 3
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    2 hours ago, WILDFIRE said:

    A resident merc or freedom fighter could not only be a good advisor but also a great recruiter for the militia. He knows the people well and he could get a bonus in militia training.

     

    That would help to get an easy entrance in defending your sectors, so that these special characters are very valuable for you team.

    Definitely. The locals are far more likely to trust someone native to their country, and if they have good leadership, also be inspired by them.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Of course we are so curious, dont know if they will be posting each & every month a dev diary still the game will be released, but the question is also how many dev diaries they planned to post, am expecting at least still part 4 to 5. Assuming the next 1 should be coming sometime around this spring.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I am guessing they only want to include the fun stuff in the Developer Diaries, which is why they don't post all that often at the moment. Internally, their diaries probably have plenty of entries that say things like:

     

    Day 342:

    Still waiting on the destructible scenery assets that Billy is working on. Can't finish my bit until then. I might have to leave that section until later. I guess I could try animating those portraits.

     

    Day 347:

    Another unhandled exception error again! Just work correctly, you pompous piece of code!

     

    Day 351:

    I was so busy, I missed my cat's graduation party. I bet he's having a great time. Meanwhile, I'm stuck at this desk, eating a two day old pizza and wearing the same shirt since last Friday.

     

    Day 372:

    I thought all the guns in the game were done! Damn Solaris Wave and his weapon suggestions! Who does he think he is? The Royal Armouries Museum!?

    • Like 2
    • Haha 3
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    On 3/20/2023 at 4:11 AM, anon474 said:

    Now I do hate the last two characters, some rando kid looking chick with hipster glasses, no thanks, called "bombastic", massive cringe, and I think the guy wearing the cap and blinged out chain is cringe, but there's nothing wrong with first two characters.

    I think the new characters are disapointing, a little off, like in Mass Effect Andromeda or X-COM Chimera Squad.

    They should have sticked to the 80s vibes or some more international diversity. Hong Kong Style Chow Yun-Fat would have been a great addition.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    If anything, they seem to be doing their homework when it comes to designing Mercs that are culturally grounded in IRL regional conflicts like Fauda and potentially Omryn.  Hope they don't go that route for all of the newbs they have lined up, they ought to have one or two who are clear pastiches of action-movie stars or milfiction figures, like Steroid is to Schwarzenegger or Reaper is to Marcinko.  

     

    Van Damme, Robert Z'Dar; always thought Henning could be salvaged if he was repurposed into an expy of Dolph Lundgren.

    Edited by Luthghasgo
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    6 hours ago, anon474 said:

    I MEAN...

    do you want what's realistic, or do you want something that you think would look cool in a 90s action movie. I think the latter. If it doesn't fit in a Rambo II movie...it prob don't fit in jagged alliance lol.

    I don't want either, I want both.  JA2 had just an many if not more grounded, military vets as it did action-movie archetypes and exaggerated stereotypes.  Both both had enough character and good writing that neither eclipsed the other.  It was a balance that gave it's roster palatable character contrast and variety. 

    • Like 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    3 hours ago, anon474 said:

    I don't know about that, almost every character in JA2 was colorful and ridiculous, from maddog to bull to tarballs. There was a merc called tarballs who calls you "woody!". Lol. Cmon dude. Every character was exaggerated and wacky, and I think that's a good thing. You don't want boring characters.

    Colorful does not equate to ridiculous, and I don't consider mercs like Wolf, Len, Danny and Shadow ridiculous; rather, as elegantly understated.

    No, I'd rather Maddog and Gus stand out like they currently do.  Making every merc as exaggerated as them would take their charm away and be far too annoying.

    Edited by Luthghasgo
    • Like 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Shadow was a merc that I always saw as a total professional. His appearance, the sound of his voice and the way he spoke made him immediately come across as a reliable, dependable and efficient soldier. He was very straight to the point and business-like whenever he said something. He might not have a colourful personality or be a caricature but you knew why he was expensive to hire and what you were getting for your money.

    Edited by Solaris_Wave
    • Like 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



×
×
  • Create New...