WILDFIRE

It's simple, my team members are Kyle 'Shadow' Simmons, a knife, a gun, a rifle and the darkness.

Congratulation guys for the upcoming release. We all made it through the finish line! We waited over 20 years for this moment so let us celebrate the release day with all the Jagged Alliance fans out there.

That is a good compromise. I still think showing the CTH is not necessary, because it is against their design philosophy but with the mod everyone should be happy now.

@GODSPEED: You don't get what I am saying. You want 99% of the core elements of JA2. I know me too and thats fine. JA2 is a masterpiece and the mechanics were great. I wish we had interrupts and that we could directly aim with the mouse at body parts or that the inventory would be more complex. I wrote hundreds of posts about that. But in the end we sadly won't get that and I wanted to point out that we still get a good game. You can now criticize all day and run in a circle but we discussed all your point here many times and in the end you won't get what you (we) wanted. Buy the game or leave it. It is your choice.

@ShadowMagic: I also expected a different game in some areas but why can't you see the positive features? We get a lively beautiful game world with a detailed strategic map, weather effects, day and night circle and a deep combat that is true to the JA roots. Sure some important features are missing and not everything is how we expected but you can't only see the negative side. I am really disappointed with the lifeless portraits but I still appreciate the love for the detailed game world. I have to point out that JA3 is definitely not a nuXCOM copy, because the mechanics work completely different.(No CTH) Maybe there are elements from other games but in some cases they can also improve the experience.(the deeper RPG dialogue system with choices)

@GODSPEED: I also followed all the projects since Jagged Alliance 2 and was in contact with the devs. When Flashback was announced I was so excited and checked every day if the project was successful on kickstarter. I put my heart and soul in these projects as good as I could, because I wanted a good successor of JA2 so badly. So maybe many people can't understand why the game is so important to us. It is not just another game it is a part of our lives. Maybe this sounds a little bit extreme but just as Star Wars or Terminator it is a part of our past that we enjoyed when we were younger and that we enjoy to this day. There are not many products that can create this feeling. No one can expect when a dev team wants to create a successor of a legendary game that the fans are pleased with everything. In my opinion the game must feel like the old titles and in some areas (animated portraits for example) we won't get the game we wanted or imagined. But maybe in the gaming industry of today with a limited budget it is not possible to create the game we expect with all the features we think the game needs. That sounds really negative but I mean that in a positive way. We get a Jagged Alliance 3 that will be a good game with good graphics and a tactical basis true to its roots. Maybe we are lucky that we get that when we look at the market and the big competition. The publisher has faith in this old franchise although many people of today don't know the product. It is a risk and I guess it is not a small one. When I think about old legendary games I think about Diablo 2 or Age of Empires 2. Got these titles perfect successors? No! They were different and not exactly what every fan wanted. And these companies have way more money to create great games. So I wanted to say that we should be thankful that we get JA3 after all these years and maybe it will not be what we expected or wanted but for sure it will be a really good game and when could we say that in the last 20 years?

@ShadowMagic: There is a reason why I wrote 'not extremely important' when I thought about the walking feature. For me elements like lively animated portraits come first and I wrote endlessly about that topic over a year, because it is extremely important to me and many other JA fans. But in the end we won't get that and that is sad. Yes a walking feature is important and yes mercs should walk slowly when exhausted. Health, morale, weight and so on should influence the movement of the mercs but as I stated before I guess at this point we have to accept that we will not get everything we wanted. But maybe in the future the modding community will fix this.

The Coop Mode is an interesting feature for the Jagged Alliance Franchise. I am curious how it feels in the end when two players explore the world of Grand Chien together. There will be some great fun moments for sure. With Modding the game can reach endless opportunities for us to use all the potential of Jagged Alliance 3 in all elements of the game. New mercs, portraits, objects, weapons and realism features that can maybe rebuild the greatness of the legendary Mod v1.13 from Jagged Alliance 2.

I also think it is not extremely important that the mercs can walk but they should normally act more relaxed out of combat. As I stated that all mercs run like robots with the exact same animation should be fixed.

@Haemimont_Boian: Thank you for your answers. It is great to hear that you integrated so many details for the objects, explosions and all the beautiful sectors. I can see your passion for the project. I can't wait to test the equipment of the mercs to create my own 'entrances' in some buildings and to try new tactics in the fire fights.

I am already happy when at least all mercs don't have the same running animations. Variations in this area are definitely needed.

@Haemimont_Boian: Thank you for this new in depth combat dev diary. That stealth, the weather, darkness/light and the equipment have a deep influence on the combat mechanics is great. There are so many possibilities and circumstances where you have to change your tactics. You did an amazing job here! I am still curios about the destruction system in the game. How destructible are houses in detail? Can we blow up cars and objects to get new cover positions? Can we change the environment and the ground of the sectors? I mean something like explosion craters that can be used for cover? I know that's asking a lot but how does everything work in this area? I hope we find out in one of the next dev diaries. Thank you again for your hard work. I am counting the days until the release date. In just a few days we all can finally enjoy the game.

I also noticed the less colorful and vibrant maps in the last trailer. I hope the devs haven't changed the look of the sectors, because they were perfect in the beta. When I talked about 'too colorful' I always meant the art for the portraits/characters. Mostly the character design for the mercs and NPCs is too cartoony. But the look of the sectors were never a problem. So please don't change the look of the sectors how they were in the beta. The beautiful maps are one of the best parts of the game.

Great in depth dev diary. I love the detailed modification system for the weapons and that every change can influence the combat gameplay in many ways. Your weapon models are also very well done and look authentic. The sound design for the guns and environment is very detailed too and by far one of the best. I am curious if the different weapons can also have various effects on the enemy. I think it would be great if heavy weapons for example can scare weaker enemies so that they flee or that their aiming is influenced. Also is there a suppressive fire system in the game so that enemies can be restricted in their tactics? Overall I think we all can see how much work you put into the weapon and modification system. I can't wait to try out every gun and to change every aspect of it to get different fire fights every time.

I am really curious if the game has improved a lot after the Beta or if we get just small bug fixes. Knocked over animations for the mercs after explosions, improved stealth mechanics, better enemy AI, a sort function for the inventory, voice and body feedback (animations) for bullet hits and so on are definitely needed.

@Solaris_Wave: The first and most important feature when I think about Jagged Alliance are the mercs, their personalities, their jokes and the bond you have with them. The first thing I remember from back in the days are the talking lively faces. After a while the mercs are a part of your team. You cared about your soldiers and to this day no other game could replicate that. The talking faces are so unique and special to JA that I think a big selling point is missing now. But I can understand that it is maybe not possible with the budget of JA3 and I know that this feature needs realistic looking faces so that everything looks believable. Overall it is hard to create but the atmosphere would be so much better. The AI example that someone postet here in the forum showed the potential. A lifeless picture can't transport the emotions of the mercs. But that is important, because you care about your mercs. You want to keep them alive and these lively faces helped to give you that intense bond. So yes for me it is one of the most important features but that doesn't mean the game will be bad. Maybe I get used to the portraits of JA3 but I know that something important is missing that I loved in JA2.

@Lunokhod: We talked here about fair criticism of JA3 and I think the animated faces were a key element in JA1/JA2 so it is justified to criticize that they are missing in JA3. We all already know that there will be no animated portraits in the final game but as I stated that is one aspect I will definitely miss while I can get used to the other criticized elements.

The beautiful crafted design of the world for Grand Chien is just outstanding. I really love the different areas that feel totally unique, because there are so many details. Combined with the changing weather the world feels new every time you enter a new sector. Also the music and sound create the perfect atmosphere for that African vibe. I have rarely seen so beautiful map design so I am really impressed and can not wait to dive deep into that lively world of Grand Chien.

I am extremely grateful that we get Jagged Alliance 3. That is not a matter of course. But still I wish the portraits would be animated. So I am really sad that this feature is missing, because that made JA2 special to me. In the bond between you and your mercs that was a key element. I guess with the other changes and the cartoony art style I can get used to. When we all play the game I think maybe some criticism will be gone, because in the overall context the gameplay will be good. So lets wait and see how it feels in the end.

My question for Ian: What features of JA3 do you think expanded the franchise to be successful in todays gaming market? I love JA1 and especially JA2, they are masterpieces so I think a nearly perfect formula should not be changed except modern graphics, HUD and gameplay elements.

@ArulcoFan: A realistic and authentic bullet trajectory was a key element of Jagged Alliance 2. When you fired a weapon everything could happen with the enemies or the environment. So it seams like a small feature for some people but for the combat it is really important to create intense and chaotic battles.

Great dev diary! I am really curious how the mini missions for the guard posts work in the end. I guess defending sectors will expand the whole experience and will really diversify the gameplay with randomly generated battles. As I mentioned before the timeline is also a great addition to keep track of all the activities.

@Stuurminator: Sure JA2 also had its funny characters, mercs and villains but in between it was grounded and had a more realistic dark vibe. For me I took the overall conflict, mercs and world serious even if there were funny comments. Many NPCs had an authentic background and you could see how the people suffered from the war. You should also remember the enemies that cried out for pain when they got hit, how the bodies hit realistically the ground. There were also serious comments by the mercs when they saw enemies, when they got angry or when they were dying. The mix between serious and funny was just perfect.

@Jaywalker: Generic no name characters is not what I want and I don't want to fill that void with my imagination. The reason why I love JA is, because the characters have a soul and heart. XCOM has smaller maps that do not feel like parts of a real open world rather than small grid levels where you play chess. Also the bullet trajectory looks awful, because bullets fly like a straight line through enemies and don't have an impact on the environment. All this stuff feels generic, limited and unrealistic.

Overall the game is more like Wasteland 3 and not like the classic Jagged Alliance titles. This is not necessarily completely a bad thing but I guess the old JA2 vibe is completely gone. I don't know why it is so hard for the devs to create a game that captures the dark and gritty tone of JA2 but with modern graphics. Also realistic animated portraits should be a must have for a modern Jagged Alliance. But I guess budget wise that was not possible. Some cartoony character designs feel completely off when you look at the mercs or NPCs and here you can see the Wasteland 3 influence. Crazy, funny colorful characters but this not really the essence of Jagged Alliance when the mature serious dark atmosphere is missing.