[DevDiary 12 - Combat, Part 2]

14 hours ago, Solaris_Wave said:

Thank you for uploading this Dev Diary. They are always an enjoyable read. It is nice to see more screenshots too.

Naturally, some questions:

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Thanks you for the interesting ideas, this was an inspiring read, as usual! Some of the things work a bit like you expect, particularly regarding enemy alertness (it is not randomized, but affected by range, noise strength and weather) and all the others are fine ideas for the future and for the "ultra-realism mod" I am sure the community would come up with.

[DevDiary 12 - Combat, Part 2]

14 hours ago, WILDFIRE said:

How destructible are houses in detail?

Very destructible - walls, floors and roofs can usually be destroyed, but some solid components like concrete columns cannot 🙂

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Can we blow up cars and objects to get new cover positions?

Yes, you can smash something like a crate and go in this position. Larger objects like cars leave destroyed "husk" and will not disappear entirely and also often create secondary explosions.

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Can we change the environment and the ground of the sectors?

No. An explosion will leave soot and residue, but not dig a crater.

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Thank you again for your hard work.

Thank you for your enthusiasm for the game!

[DevDiary 12 - Combat, Part 2]

15 hours ago, Claypl said:

Thank you for another insight into combat Boian.

Couple questions arise, where the NVG go, does not seems to have specific item slot for it. And what is happening with the AP, seems every video we see it changes from 10+ to 20+.

Finally I hope that enemy sight range is way improved latter in the game, in press previews that we seen 2mo ago those were heavily limited, some clarifications on that during stream would be appreciated.

See you guys on Thu!

Nightvision goggles are equipped in the head slot and currently they are an alternative to equipping an armored helmet. There are also various weapon components (sights, flashlights...) that serve a similar purpose, so it is entirely possible to take a different approach there.

We haven't changed the AP scale/balance recently - the variation you are seeing is normal since AP depend on character stats, character level, morale, tiredness and other status effects.

Enemy sight is somewhat limited when the enemies are unaware (in exploration mode) to facilitate stealth combat. Suspicious enemies, like ones that discover a dead body will have their sight increased. In combat against aware enemies basic enemy sight is no different than mercs' sight, although, once again, it may be improved by e.g. a weapon component.

[DevDiary 10 - Art Direction]

7 hours ago, Solaris_Wave said:

Those are very nice screenshots of the environments. I was wondering just how much they would affect your mercs and importantly, also the enemy? Do mosquitoes cause negative effects if travelling through swamps? Do dust storms affect breathing, stamina and the ability to run? Can the sectors that have stifling heat cause thirst or exhaustion?

Excellent question! The short answer is that the weather does indeed affect gameplay and especially combat conditions, both for you and for the enemies.

For the long answer you will have to wait for the second combat DevDiary 🙂

[DevDiary 7 - User Interface]

Hey Lunokhod,

 

Thanks for the feedback! There is a reason behind the change that might seem a little bit strange at first - the red cross can be interpreted as the symbol of the international Red Cross and its use is forbidden in games. If you are interested in the subject, you can read further on it here:

 

https://earlygame.com/gaming/red-cross-is-forbidden-in-video-games

 

 

[DevDiary 7 - User Interface]

1 hour ago, chr_isso said:

Oh, another Typo like @Solaris_Wave mentioned:
The green sentence "This chanel .." .. it's channel. Chanel is the french luxury company 😉

@Haemimont_Boian thanks for the feedback, it's always nice to see you guys reply to our concerns!

Yeah, these are not in-game screenshots but rather old mock-ups created by artists, they have never been proofread.

[DevDiary 7 - User Interface]

15 hours ago, DougS2K said:

One thing that I noticed is the merc names Trigger, Cat, and Bullet. Wonder if these are new mercs we haven't seen yet, maybe recruitable mercs. Or they could just placeholder/dev created mercs for play testing since we have no idea how old those screenshots are. 🤔

These names are just placeholders we used at the time.

[DevDiary 6 - Combat, Part one]

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!

[DevDiary 6 - Combat, Part one]

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?"

[DevDiary 6 - Combat, Part one]

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.)

[DevDiary 6 - Combat, Part one]

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- 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.

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- 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.

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- 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 🙂

[DevDiary 6 - Combat, Part one]

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).

[DevDiary 6 - Combat, Part one]

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.

[First Developer Stream - Q&A]

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

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

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

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

[Making a Mercenary]

On 4/2/2023 at 7:24 PM, WILDFIRE said:

@Haemimont_Boian: I still hope that most mercs will have a serious background and look?! Sure some quirky characters are ok but overall you as a player must take the mercs serious.

 

Its a gritty, brutal and tough world JA takes place. The mercs are soldiers who risk their lives for money and they are on a serious mission. So I hope you find the right balance.

I agree with you 100%. It is a delicate balancing act and we want the players to take the mercs seriously. Overall, we aim for the same balance as in JA2 - some "very quirky" characters but they are the exception, rather than the rule. 

[First Developer Stream - Q&A]

20 hours ago, Solaris_Wave said:

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

[First Developer Stream - Q&A]

2 hours ago, Solaris_Wave said:

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

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

[DevDiary 4 - Character Progression]

19 hours ago, LoboNocturno said:

It sounds like we will have this time a wide selection of customization for I.M.P., so there will be many portraits that we can choice from or even able to do our own facial features,hair,skin colour,body type and outfits etc.... ?

Hope our I.M.P. character will be having a visible portrait as well, i was assuming already why there was no portrait in 1 of the trailers where the tactical Grand Chien map shows up were a merc called Time without a picture.

Regarding I.M.P. customization, please don't set your expectations too high here. We much rather have more mercs than more aesthetic options for the I.M.P. merc and ultimately these are made using the same resources. Although you can choose a portrait that has associated looks, as I said above, there is no in-depth customization.

[DevDiary 4 - Character Progression]

26 minutes ago, Reloecc said:

Double toss: Ok.. throwing two granades is trainble. Fine. Good skill. But! On the screenshot I see 2/10 as the granade "ammo". Means you can have max 10 nades? It means you restock them every map? If you can collect/buy them why to force limit on them? Because it would be op to have 20 in one map? Balance them around weight and inventory space. Do not balance them artifically (aka arcady). There is not enough info to be sure.. but again.. I am afraid I know where it's going.. no inventory management planned (as shown on other inventory screens).

Thanks for your comments! I can assure you we don't aim to have XCom-like core gameplay in JA3.

In this particular case 2/10 means that 10 grenades fit in one inventory slot. This is an approximation for their weight/bulkyness and does not imply in any way they are replenished "magically" or you can't have more of them. Inventory space depends on your Strength stat and plays a heavy role in the game.

[Making a Mercenary]

22 hours ago, anon474 said:

"My name is Boyan Ivanov, and I am the co-Creative Director of Jagged Alliance 3. Yes, another Boyan no to be confused with my dear friend and college Boian, whom you already know through the first DevDiary." You know, maybe the devs should consider making two NPCs in the game, called the "Boyan brothers". "Our mother liked a singer in our country. Boyan popovich. So she named us both Boyan. It's very confusing." lol. Could be funny. Might be too similar to DeSantos brothers from JA2, so maybe might not work. But on other hand, good way for devs to have a good time.

Love this 🙂 There are some NPCs loosely inspired by Dev team members in the game, but no Boyan brothers yet... There was a poster of a circus ringmaster named Boyan in one of our older games (just so you can imagine the true nature of our jobs).

[DevDiary 4 - Character Progression]

5 minutes ago, LoboNocturno said:

It sounds like we will have this time a wide selection of customization for I.M.P., so there will be many portraits that we can choice from or even able to do our own facial features,hair,skin colour,body type and outfits etc.... ?

Hope our I.M.P. character will be having a visible portrait as well, i was assuming already why there was no portrait in 1 of the trailers where the tactical Grand Chien map shows up were a merc called Time without a picture.

I.M.P. portraits were not ready at this time, but rest assured there will be a (selectable) portrait on release!

[DevDiary 4 - Character Progression]

10 hours ago, Marko said:

Damage of a grenade also being affected by explosive skill feels a bit weird, unless the merc had some hand in crafting the device.

I can definitely see your point of view here. We went back and forth a couple of times on the issue, but finally decided that it makes sense that a trained explosive expert can recognize the "perfect spot" to plant or throw an explosive so it inflicts maximum carnage.

 

Still, it is a balance issue as well. We want the Explosives stat to be impactful and to make a difference in this situation.

[DevDiary 4 - Character Progression]

9 hours ago, Marko said:

Exciting update, really like how this is shaping up. Agreed that giving each merc their own signature thing is a great way to make them more distinctive, which is pretty core to the JA experience.

What does a mishap mean with thrown explosives? Is this similar to accuracy, or more variable outcomes like going boom in merc's face or being dropped at their feet? In the screenshot with Fidel, it says "Mishap Chance: None". Does he just throw a perfectly accurate grenade every time? That would feel kind of off for the balance of that skill, and the general JA feel, where nothing should always be 100% guaranteed.

Damage of a grenade also being affected by explosive skill feels a bit weird, unless the merc had some hand in crafting the device.

A bit early to talk about this, however mishap represents the chance to fumble the attack and throw inaccurately, sometimes with disastrous or hilarious consequences. It depends both on merc stats, grenade type and external factors, it might be "none" in a particular situation but this will not always be the case.

[DevDiary 4 - Character Progression]

11 hours ago, Bloodcat said:

Does the I.M.P. character also has a talent point?

The I.M.P. character currently does not have an unique talent. This was a conscious decision because we wanted to keep a "blank slate" there, keep the A.I.M. merc talents unique and with the high degree of I.M.P. customization even a choice between several other Talents might not fit the way you imagine the character.

[DevDiary 4 - Character Progression]

13 hours ago, Hendrix said:

Like @Kordanor said, I am really glad to see that you are sticking to a classless system!

One question, can you "save" a perk point when a merc increases in level and allocate it later once the merc hit a threshold for a perk?

For example: Grizzly has an Agility score of 69 and is level 2 according to the picture in the post. Maybe I would like to increase his mobility and allocate his first perk point among the Agility perks. But once he reaches level 3 he still has a Agility score of 69. Does this force me to choose a perk he already has reached the threshold for or can I wait and save the perk point for later once his Agility has increased?

Yeah, you can save the points to spend them later.