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Interview Tacticular Cancer Interview: Jagged Alliance: Flashback

Whisky

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Tags: Full Control; Jagged Alliance: Flashback; Kickstarter; Tacticular Cancer Interview



Thomas Hentschel Lund, the CEO and founder of Full Control has been kind enough to answer a few questions about their Kickstarter for Jagged Alliance: Flashback.

Will Jagged Alliance: Flashback's difficulty progress steadily as the game continues? What difficulty options will there be in the game? Will Ironman mode make a return?

Ironman is a must.

The classic game theory is to use the magic number 3 in terms of number of difficulty. Easy, default, Ironman.

Difficulty HAS to ramp up as you move forward. The exact method to use will be part of detailed game design to look at. We have tried to use different options earlier in our previous games - from hardcoded spawn (a bitch to balance, but it gave an ultra tight experience) to a point based system similar to Warhammer 40k, where each unit and weapon has a value that the AI balances the enemy team upon.

Which to use for JA:F is to be playtested and decided later. Since we want to add multiple factions to the game, here is a place we cannot (only) use the JA2 system and need to tweak it to be enjoyable to play and still pose a challenge.


Read the full article: Tacticular Cancer Interview: Jagged Alliance: Flashback
 

Diablo169

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The guy gives a decent and seemingly candid interview. It would be nice to see this funded, but i'm not entirely convinced it will be.
 

Crooked Bee

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You know, I have almost zero faith in anyone other than Ian Currie being able to make a proper Jagged Alliance game. (Especially given that Currie had long been wanting to make JA3 but couldn't find anyone willing to fund it, which makes the situation entirely unfair!) But I like this interview and I appreciate them answering our questions (which were really good btw, great job Whisky!) so I'm in for $25. It's just a $25, after all.
 

Gakkone

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Good stuff Whisky. I finally pledged to the campaign. Not so much because I expect this to rival JA2 in quality but because the guy seems genuine about his intentions. And it's not like there are too many turn-based tactics games out there.

E: Although I hate how he continuously goes "the fans will shit on you no matter what" as if he's afraid of not pleasing everyone.
 

zeitgeist

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Also, some new tactical mechanics could be added. Why not see where you can find cover? Being able to destroy cover with explosives? Why not have cross fire and suppression pin down enemies? Having stealth options to sneak up on enemies could be made accessible.

I'm pretty sure the 1.13 I've been playing had all of those, have they been playing JA:BiA 1.13 instead?
 
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You gotta love how he claims that This Is The Last Chance For A New Jagged Alliance EVER!(tm). It's not like they've been trying to make a TB JA for years and years but the license owner said no. And they are not even the original developers. They literally said "bitComposer was looking to make a TB JA and we also were".

Plus, if you've been following the updates, there is a staggering amount of stupid in there. Just say no to this crap.
 
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Also, some new tactical mechanics could be added. Why not see where you can find cover? Being able to destroy cover with explosives? Why not have cross fire and suppression pin down enemies? Having stealth options to sneak up on enemies could be made accessible.

I'm pretty sure the 1.13 I've been playing had all of those, have they been playing JA:BiA 1.13 instead?

You can see cover in JA2 Gold but I don't remember if they tweaked that in 1.13.
 
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This is definitely something I'd love to see succeed, but my skepticism is high. I think it will be funded, but wonder if it will be enough monies, if they've given themselves enough time, etc. I can't say I'm a fan of kickstarters just based on concept art (Wasteland 2 being a notable exception).
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

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Nice interview, but in the end, the word 'honest' kicked me in the balls.
Inb4 it succeeds, but the game will be shit.
 

Kz3r0

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They already said that 350K$ is the bare minimum to make a very basic game, and they need 13K$ per day to get funded, higly unlikely.
 

spectre

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Dunno about you guys, but to me this Thomas Hentschel Lund fellow sounds pretty goddamn clueless at times.

Take this section about the RPGies for instance:
On the Kickstarter page, it refers to RPG elements being introduced to the game. Can you give us any details on what this might entail?
RPG in terms of “mercenaries have a personality”. RPG in terms of your choices in dialogs matter as per example previously mentioned by deciding not to rescue the smithy. RPG in terms of having to play a role in a political faction balance. Who do you side with? Who then automatically turns into your enemy? RPG in terms of your mercs getting better over time.
So it's emphasis on storytelling and giving you as the player some decisions to make that actually have an influence on the world around you.
It's not just what modern MMOs have - a thread wheel of grinding xp to level to gain stats without much story in it. I dont ’call that roleplaying, but I know that gaining experience is important, yet it can’t be the only thing anyone should care about.
At first glance, it looks passable, but the more I read into it, the more derp I uncover.

Honest Injun, WW cou'd have done an interview with me, and I might have given a better impression.
We've been through this, right, Laptop guy has no stats, hence, not an RPG.
Please FFS show me you want to make a strategy game in the first place, and dare I say I'm really displeased when you forget to mention THE core of Jagged Alliance experience:
lots of tactical flexibility available to the player, testing his tactical wit in a variety of scenarios - urban warfare, dense forests, lush jungles, scorched deserts, night combat, capturing, defending

You say this:
- deep and complex, yet still enjoyable combat mechanics
But this just makes it sound like your typical mmo, which you claim not to be making.
And what the fuck is going on in that sentence anyway?
Depth and complexity in a strategy game is now a bad thing?
FFS. I know your target audience is supposed to be soccer dads, but please let's see some balls and less flip flopping.

And it gets slightly embarrasing when he plays the poor ole indie card near the end:
Reception wise we have been rather baffled at the hostility from parts of the community. We didn’t expect to be welcomed as saviours of the world. But we definitely thought that people had faith in us doing the right thing by being independent, having a TBS track record, having the faith of Games Workshop to work on their iconic IP and lastly trying to approach the community for input before things are set in stone.
Yo, like totally, guys, I met this Games Workshop guy at a convention and we're totally bros now, making a space hulk game an all. You should totally trust us with Jagged Alliance.

I confess I never seen any of their earlier games in action, and seeing how he pulls the "track record" argument, I assumed it would be worthwhile to look at.
Well, tell you what, Thomas, you've got some chutzpah, I give you that. I admit, Space Hulk trailers looks quite decent, but the rest of your resume...not so much.

So, to sum up, we have a company name that's hard to google properly, we have a CEO who instead of doing the executive thing and inspire confidence gives off an impression that their plan is pretty much to figure this shit out as they go
(or is this the executive thing, I am confused). Yep, totally, everyone's dying to trust you with their money.

I like that he shows some determination near the end, planning to see this Jagged Alliance remake thing to the end.
Though I'd like him to realize that if it fails, it's not really about the gamers and it's not about the IP, it's about them.
 
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I hope they won't make it. They will make a shit game. Would you like the first TB JA game to come out after so many years to be a shit game? It's okay that BIA is shit because it's RTwP to begin with.

New update and prepare yourselves for...

The inventory and the overall user interface has to be a joy to play as well. While we believe in inventory management being part of the game (who can carry 10 MG’s including ammo?), there is still value in having things like weight that you carry around being an influence on your movement speed, stealth and how fast you become fatigued. But it simply has to be fun to use as well, so for example being able to pick up items on the screen directly without having to move over to them - totally makes sense to do.

The Attack of The CONSOLITIS!

This might rub the wrong way for some and be the right direction for others. We simply wanted to make this clear up front, and with the modding possibilities there are other people than us that can work the game into that direction - or stick with some of the JA2 mods.

Sure will.

Then in the comments, trying to explain their position:

Not saying its something that should be used in combat from one end of the map to another. But its a chore to outside of combat even to pick up things with one character and getting that ammo clip to another character. Inventory should be enjoyable to use - not something you curse and spit at.

And then they wonder why the hostility.

They also put what they call a "diorama", supposedly to "work out the artstyle"

AK47.jpg


That right there, the perfect demonstration of amateur modder mindset. Stay the fuck away from these guys, people.
 

zeitgeist

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Then in the comments, trying to explain their position:

Not saying its something that should be used in combat from one end of the map to another. But its a chore to outside of combat even to pick up things with one character and getting that ammo clip to another character.
So again something that already exists in JA2? This is getting very silly.
 

spectre

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Ok, I read this bit about the inventory management... twice.
And I'm still not sure what the bloody, bloody, bloody hell is he on about.
Are they planning to have good ole sector inventory like we have in JA2? If so, just say so and let's be done with it.
And if it's going to be different than JA2 sector inventory, what are you planning, spit it out man, FFS.

All this dicking about may be a jab at Ja:BiA - IIRC the poor shite did not even have proper sector inventory until they hacked it together in a patch, so he used it as a point of reference.
That, or the poor sod has never played JA2 in his life, dang me, whichever is more likely?

Can't these people take a hint? The hardcore players you put your trust in would like a clear message: Jagged Alliance 2 had features X, Y and Z. We're keeping X and Y intact, while Z will now be more like Ą and Ć because: Justification.

Also, mad props for the awsum ak model. Did it take half a month to make?
 

spectre

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Well, the way he emphasized how controversial this feature is going to be, I'd vote for any sector, while not in combat.
But with the communication skills on this guy, you can never know.
 

zeitgeist

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Interview from two weeks ago, but I only stumbled upon it on Bear's Pit just now. Guess this answers the "did they ever actually play JA2" question. It would also appear as if though they've never played any of the games from that era either. Or have owned a computer at that point in time.

Andreas: We’ve also been talking about the cover system. Showing much more clearly where you are when you take cover.

RPS: A lot of it seems to be about communication. Allowing the player to make choices more easily and the game to communicate the meaning and consequences of those choices.

Lund: Also, computers are more powerful. You can put status icons on tiles that show there is cover and which sides the bonus works on and how much. You can calculate all of these things on the fly, which wasn’t necessarily possible in the past. That’s what we mean by modernising.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/04/17/squad-chat-jagged-alliance-flashback-interview/

Glorious progress, you can calculate a specific tile's cover bonus in a turn-based game on the fly now. Only a few years until realtime combat is possible. Or even first person perspective!
 

Cassidy

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It's simply based on $$$

Only definitively honest part of this interview.

But blind optimists gonna be blind optimists I suppose...

Or did bitcomposer "donate" a generous sum to Codex?

:hmmm:
 
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Interview from two weeks ago, but I only stumbled upon it on Bear's Pit just now. Guess this answers the "did they ever actually play JA2" question. It would also appear as if though they've never played any of the games from that era either. Or have owned a computer at that point in time.

Andreas: We’ve also been talking about the cover system. Showing much more clearly where you are when you take cover.

RPS: A lot of it seems to be about communication. Allowing the player to make choices more easily and the game to communicate the meaning and consequences of those choices.

Lund: Also, computers are more powerful. You can put status icons on tiles that show there is cover and which sides the bonus works on and how much. You can calculate all of these things on the fly, which wasn’t necessarily possible in the past. That’s what we mean by modernising.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/04/17/squad-chat-jagged-alliance-flashback-interview/

Glorious progress, you can calculate a specific tile's cover bonus in a turn-based game on the fly now. Only a few years until realtime combat is possible. Or even first person perspective!

Amazing. The more they talk, the more they sink.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Fact: A year ago the Codex would have jizzed all over this.
 

Kz3r0

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Kz3r0

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Fact: A year ago the Codex would have jizzed all over this.
No, Kickstarter tamed them quite a bit, they would have shit on it harder actually, with the usual apologists bawing that was the last hope to have a TB game
 

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