GODSPEED

So? What does the year have to do with it? Watching a video doesn't make you experience it first. Watching a video doesn't tell you if and how the game will run on your PC. Demos, in 2023, should be basic across the industry. That's why Steam even has festivals filled with demos. Yeah, it's 2023... if a company can't release a game without us having a way to even try it out first.. there's an issue.

Leave Buns alone please, she is mine!

From my own perspective, I've been doing everything to AVOID learning more about the game, because when I play it. I want to be as free from bias as I possibly can. It's really hard to get my mind wrapped around the style they chose in comparison with the more "serious" tone of the oldies. Also, as you mentioned, quite a few choices that we're made still puzzle me. To me, the areas that I agree with a 5/10 would be concerning things like inventory, colour palette, "crafting".. those - to me - already feel like a little bit of a downer. On the other hand, if they can make questing, maps and gameworld interesting and feel lived-in, the score can easily be elevated to a 7. While the plan to add modding down the line is cool.. I mean, that can go ANY way. Will the game be good enough that we will get more in-depth inventory/gear like backpacks, pouches, modular equipment? Only time will tell, so I cannot really count modding as something that I can help to rate the game. Back in Action had a few "mods", but they lacked depth, so didn't really help that game all that much.

Cillin' in their corners. All they do is wait to eat. 😂

Absolutely! A few days after I receive Kingpins final warning, I'm always keeping an eye out. As soon as I see a civilian walking towards me, I initiate combat. If they get the jump on you, they can easily take out a merc on the first turn. I usually try to use Dr. Q/Blood/Grizzly (I usually have one of those for the UFC match in Kingpins bar). Anyways, it's an interesting challenge early on, but it offers decent rewards. Usually you might still only have a Mini-14 and some MP5's... an AK-74 is welcome!

Yes. I agree 120%. But we're not talking about some yearly refresh like a sports games, or like a new CoD title. Those have a faithful following because they are sports fan and don't seem to care that much that the game is trash year after year and they pay for a roster update. I'm talking about Skyrim. A game that came out in 2011. TODAY (2023-04-01), it has 29 000 players playing it. The last 30 day average is 20 000 players (per day). https://steamcharts.com/search/?q=skyrim Ever see the size of the modding community for it? Very few games could even compare in sheer variety and scope of modding. From total makeovers that actually complete new games, to projects that have been worked on for more than 8 years. That is NOT something to brush off. Why? Simply because the game isn't so much an rpg, it's more of a first-person adventure. It's a sandbox where you can simply decide to explore, fool around in or quest in. Bethesda wouldn't have poured money and effort in refreshing the engine for 64 bit systems years and years ago. They wouldn't work on a major update to actually unlock framerate caps from the Creation Engine if they didn't think people were still playing it. The game has gone through 2 FULL console generations and is still among greatly played games. My brother was the same as "you" in terms of resisting it because he felt it looked too "streamlined". A couple years ago, during Covid, he gave in. He never looked back, doesn't miss Morrowind, nor Oblivion. Why? The curiosity of exploring. Skyrim is an interesting virtual "place". Lots of beautiful virtual landscape for those time you just want to feel like you're in another world.

Feedback? Look, I'll explain what I understood transpired with Flashback as an example. Back on the Bears Pit forums, I believe one of the founding members is Shanga. He worked closely as and "advisor" with the team working on Flashback. But they promised too much, didn't listen to feedback, decided to do it their own way... we all know what transpired next. The Jagged Alliance community is a pretty vocal one when it comes to sequels.

Yes, exactly, 1.13. The Drassen Counter-Attack - for my skill/style of play - would be impossible unless I try and twist the game as much as possible. I want to make sure I get it activated early enough so that I am attacked mostly by pistols/smgs at most. That way my couple meercs with Rifles can actually do something.

🤣🤣🤣 Ok, I get it; more like forested valleys in your region, less like the rocky mountains. I live on the island of Montreal, but also in what is considered a suburban section. People like 15 minutes away consider sometimes say things like: "Wow! you live far!!!" Makes me wanna cry... I'm so used to visiting my grand-parents who live 2 hours away in the actual countryside.. I don't even find it far. Some people either only know Downtown city, or countryside living. For weather.. ..every year seems to be a new surprise in the recent years. 😅 This year, it's been a very warm year. For the past month it's seems to vary between +4 / -4 every day with odd warm/cold day. The occasional snowfall. I expect snow to have completely vanished by the end of next week (apart from where there are huge piles of snow). Below is what it looked like around my area for the past few weeks. Robins (the bird in the photo) have been coming back, so that announces the coming of warmer currents. Have you had a decent hunting season? Good catch?

can't delete post

Yet, numbers speak for themselves. Skyrim getting an anniversary pack. People buy it! Fallout 4 getting a next-gen upgrade this year. Numbers speak. Our wallets do the talking. Do I think they are the most clever titles. Nope! Do I think the games are deep and "strategic"? Nope! Do I have fun roaming the world, discovering small stories? Yes Have I ever spent as many hours in Skyrim or Fallout 4 as any other games over the past decade? No! You end up liking small things in the Bethesda worlds. You are able to put aside the shallow mechanics, because the games aren't about mechanics. They are simply about discovery, exploration, finding.. small hidden "easter eggs", funny little stories unrelated to anything else. You can almost play a 1000 hours of Skyrim/Fallout 4.. come back a year later for a new game, and find new things. THOSE are the things that make me love Bethesda games. These are similar but also very different from Fallout 1 & 2... remember how many little hidden gems you could find out of nowhere while roaming the wasteland. Fallout and Skyrim are like that. I also have a deep respect for them as a games dev. They stick to their games. Fallout 76 was a pure utter disaster at release. I couldn't even play it. A few years down the line, they are still working on it, still putting effort in it. I am able to play it and enjoy it. They stick to it while most devs see a slight hurdle and shut it down because $$$.

Always day 1 or two. I don't know, it's become my "habit"!! 🤣 I run towards San Mona from the start to have a good financial cushion, be able to capture a town and train it up before ever needing to capture the mine. I feel like this is the only way to beat the "Massive Counter-Attack at Drassen". You kind of have to find ways to 'cheese' the game. Yes, they are hard to deal with, but they provide some decent assault rifles early on as well. 😁

I believe the high level of "hate" you see within the Jagged Alliance community, is simply from the lack of understanding, listening and complete disregard from devs on the previous attempts at "reviving" the name... all the way since Jagged Alliance 2. Most of us - who don't live with rose-tinted glasses and/or a blindfold - have become wary of modern game development! We've experienced promises, nice words, nice marketing but have ultimately been completely let down by any attempt thus far. So let down, that sometimes we study the games that came afterwards and we even start appreciating titles like Back in Action (that apart from the fact you hire mercenaries, had little in common with JA). I agree, "abusive" speech, insult and personal words towards a dev team is not a valid way to take discourse or provide feedback. But, on the flipside, part of that stems from that exact feeling of "oh no!! here we go again!! Can't they understand what the f*** we simply want?" Most die-hard fans don't want a modern "twist", we don't want game mechanics that are taken by some other popular modern titles, we don't want funky new designs. Most of us don't care about modern social/political drama. Most of us are at an age where we simply want a fresh JA2, not a whole rework and modern re-interpretation of something that became an icon and niche category and unique game... to become some streamlined modern "corner-cut" game with the JA name slapped on the "box". The anger simply stems from that. We would RATHER have the same old JA2 with an HD coating, scaled UI for modern systems and spruced-up graphics, because we don't trust anyone to be able to handle a new game. I consider myself very easy when I talk about the game, I try to provide my opinion without going into insult... but even then, there is so much one can say. The devs have THEIR vision. It is THEIR work, not mine. At the end of the day, what will speak louder than words is our wallets. Either they will have our money, or they won't. Many of us have grown tired of sharing our passion, because - ultimately - it feels like our words (the ones who are the most passionate, the most devoted, the long time fans) mean absolutely nothing!

I think there is unecessary comments about everything everywhere. I doubt the dev team would waste time reading stupid comments. I do want to make clear though, criticism (when shared for positive reasons) should be an important part of feedback! Just jumping on a hype train and letting our hopes make us see the project as something that CAN'T fail is a disservice to everyone.

Every fiber in me wants to agree. ...but, I've recently watched some super-long reviews of Morrowind & Oblivion. To be honest, as much as those games have left a solid imoression on me, they were full of clunky and broken mechanics as well. At the time, those were amazing games, and at that age, you are so amazed that your brain filters out the super crap parts. Vivec is a perfect example of HORRIBLE design. Not to mention, the amount stupid quests you undertake as a "messiah" and keep having to run back in forth to Vivec and other locations. Don't forget that everytime you clicked your mouse, you we're rolling dice to know if you hit or not. Skyrim may not have the highest level of fancy writing. Quests and story might be a little basic. But, the is way less clunkyness to it as well. The world is beautiful and FUN to explore. The mechanics are maybe a little lacking though, I agree. Oh, and I DO NOT miss the whole trying to charm or intimidate npcs with money in Morrowind. 🤣

Hey man! Thought I'd pass by say hi 🍻 How has the weather been in your area? You are closer to the mountains and countryside, right? Until when does the snow last for you?

In my latest game, after stealing from Kingpin, I raced down to Estoni or whatever, to be able get Maddog eraly in my game. I think the problem is that if you take him halfway through the game, so many mercs can do wtv he does, and money isn't such a big concern. [I realize that may just be my playstyle though.]

Read over your conversations. Interesting stuff! I do have to admit, for myself, the camo was maybe slightly more "looks" than really a necessity. I don't hunt, so it's pretty debatable if camo for me was necessary. Being kind of a big fan of camouflage, but trying to also look at other options that don't look too military, I've always wanted a nice winter camo for a winter jacket. These were my initial choices: Finnish M05 (Winterized version?) More white shell.. But, I really wanted to test out your advice. So I decided to look away from military stuff, and focus more on the comfort and practicality for MY situation. Glad I did! 😉 I've recently also spotted this jacket from a local hunting clothes company that I am really having to keep myself from checking out with, cause it's my favourite looking pattern so far: Sportchief - "Voltage" Winter Coat Yes, @Hendrix, about neck, that is something I do have to get. Even if jackets zip up high enough, it's never really "tight" enough to keep the cold out. I'll try getting a photo of the jacket I got in some wooded area near me. I hate selfies with my phone, cause my arms aren't long enough 😂. About the winter camo; I do think it is the more "complicated" one, because there is a huge variety of weather conditions that can make the textile appear a completely different tone than the surrounding landscape. For example, today I went to hike in the woods and it's been a very grey period the last weeks. Around 15:00-16:00, the tone of the surrounding landscape was much warmer than if the sun was out; making the snow appear warm white. So when looking at the sleeve of my jacket versus the ground, I could tell my jacket felt like a cooler tone of white than the snow around me. I think on a sunny day, my jacket would have looked way close to the snow though. Anyways, I managed to spot a small herd of White-tail Deer and not spook them... although, I don't think that is that hard. Maybe common, but nonetheless, I find these beautiful creatures.

@Hendrix I finally followed your advice about hunting clothes 😁 I've wanted a good comfy and warm jacket to do photography in winter; which means not moving that much in snowy, damp, windy and cold temperatures. Got a "cheap" (not a high-cost brand) winter jacket with the RealTree Winter camo.. because I've wanted some snow-themed camo for a VERY long time. I like it more than my military jackets. Useful large cargo pockets with magnetic closure. Waterproof material, very large zippers under the arms for keeping cool when I hike. Nice amount of outer pockets and hand-warmer area behind the cargo pockets. Inner breast pockets for things I want to keep warm (camera batteries for example, cellphone). Also, a very quiet soft material. Removable hood and slits to help your back breathe but keep the water out. I seriously appreciate you giving me your opinion about military clothing vs hunting clothes. I understand what you meant about comfort and more useful features. 🍻 It may not have the extreme ruggedness military clothing has, but I'm not that hard on my stuff anyways and have kept cheaper jackets in great shape for years. So, I've been looking at many different hunting clothes (I find it fitting for photography in nature).. and was wondering if you have an opinion about camouflage, I've been seeing realtree, mossy oak, and a few others. Do you think it really makes a difference? (I've been starting to try my hand at bird photography, wonder how "effective" hunting camouflage really is). You have a favourite?

Video games have turned our ability to snipe with a pistol into an unbelievable reality, when it's actually quite easy to miss a shot 10 feet away. Just because this is a turn-based game doesn't mean it should be as though there is no movement, there is a modifier to simulate the effect of shooting a moving target. Hopefully. Meaning, two combatants firing at one another 10 feet away can easily miss or misjudge where they should aim. It's common. Having played airsoft for years, as much in CQB as in large woodland areas, you can literally be surprised and miss a reaction shot 6 feet away (I'm not military).

Yeah, I can only agree. Unfortunately. (Although I couldn't care less what another person thinks is intelligence or not, everyone thinks their idea is the brightest anyways). I can appreciate the effort being put forth by employees, but I am not impressed by the direction taken thus far for almost everything I've seen. It's sad, it's unfortunate, but I also have to face it and be brutally honest. I'm not the type to want to "stomp" on other peoples creativity. But what frustrates me is the same thing that frustrates you; why use the name unless you will be 100% faithful to it? I've actually stopped even thinking about it. This is just looking like an xcom-alike game, patched with names related to Jagged Alliance. But, in the end, it's just a game. I've gotten used to the entertainment industry ruining things. So, I've invested more energy into my other hobbies.

Also need to add.. 7,62 High Calibre, among the very few games to actually have a very good inventory management systems. When you start, you have pockets and a shoulder for your firearms and gear. So barely able to carry more than a pistol and a rifle. Want to carry extra weapons and extra gear, you need vests, backpacks, pouches and eventually a vehicule. You can't just pick up hundreds of weapons and lug them around as if nothing was. Weight and having the means to carry stuff also became important. That game is like JA2 on steroids (with all the downsides of also being addicted to drugs) 😂

Some pretty retro games there. Many I never even played! Because I know you've also played Brigade E5 and 7,62 High Calibre, I also thought I make a mention here for others: Marauder (aka Man of Prey) https://store.steampowered.com/app/289600/Marauder/ That is an RPG based on a book, but using the same game engine as the games above. You control 1 character, like in ATOM RPG, the Real-Time with Pause is actually manageable.

Hired Guns: Yeah, actually Hired Guns makes me think of a less polished turn-based version of JA: Back in Action. Cover was similar to JA:BIA as well; 3D terrain with a camera that is above, sometimes making it hard to know if you were in cover or not. Brigade E5/7,62 High Calibre: It is kind of a funny thing to talk about that game... 😂 Can be a REAL piece of crap that makes you furious at it... But, I couldn't imagine not having played that game. The amount baried weapons and level of DETAIL is a gun nuts wet dream. Being able to load a magazine from loose rounds, while actually being able to load different types of rounds in the same mag. I remember having fun loading buckshot/slugs/buckshot/slugs in my shotguns 😅 The game would crash, I would have corrupted saves, files that would get erased... But, the tactical aspect just kept me coming back. All weapons were nearly perfectly replicated, down to folding and collapsing stocks, to bipods that actually worked, to bayonets, to taping assault rifle mags together with red tape, to so many optics and lasers, might vision gear (that actually affected what YOU see on your monitor) to actual working flashlight, and grenades of all types; defensive, offensive, being able to set tripwire with them, mines, those front-facing explosives.. Battles in large outdoors, to enclosed multi-level buildings. Holy crap, that game really was a tactical-lovers wet dream. Forget girls! [Just kidding on that one]. Can't imagine never having played it. Yes, it was an unpolished bugs galore, and I never could finish the game, battles just became so hectic... And omg, just loke you said.. Real-Time with pause in a game,with firearms that can litterally fire across HUGE maps, and pausing and slowing time so slow you SLOOOOOWLY see bullets coming towards you is and can be a real headache. Now. That said, while I think I would recommend any true lover of tactics to at least try it, I understand not having the patience for it.. so I have a recommendation. Look for a game called MARAUDER (aka MAN OF PREY) on Steam. It is an RPG using the exact same engine, also made by the same team. So yeah, it is hard, but WAY more manageable due to only controlling 1 guy. Managed to finish that game a couple years ago. Worth it if you have the patience for a clunky game. By Steam records, I played it for 20.4 Hours, and that is a complete game.

Have it. You can buy it on the Matrix Games or Slitherine store webpage. Yeah, it is a little clunky, but I did play through most of it, like back when it released. I did try getting back into it a few years ago, but just time and all, didn't. Hard? Yeah, VERY hard. Sometimes, you enter maps and the situation is just.. suicidal. Like getting ambushed while traveling and when you enter the map, surrounded by so many enemies that throw grenades at your squad on the first turn. You see where this is going, yes, you are right, a game that you always keep your finger on the quicksave button and the quickload button is broken because you used it too much. It was okay. It's probably the closest game there is to a 3D version of Jagged Alliance 2. Down to the weapons, descriptions, Action points (25), stats, etc... but it feels maybe a little bit too clunky, and the resolution versus the U.I. and camera are what really made the game not the best. Often being able to zoom out far enough, shots easily going far offscreen, the camera not always following the action, etc... causes alot of confusion in battles at times. It's less buggy than let's say the Russian games like Brigade E5 or 7,62 High Calibre, but still, not easy to get into.