Hello everyone! Version 0.8 is almost here and we would like to give you a few insights into the new gameplay with machine guns. If you haven't seen the last dev diary with the graphics yet, you can watch the showcase again here: [previewyoutube=F4IPKXhAE3I;full]All Quiet in the Trenches - MG08 Showcase for Update 0.8[/previewyoutube] For the Machine Gun Update, we have focused on the MG08, which was already in use on the German side at the beginning of the First World War. So when we talk about MG in the following, we are referring to the gameplay with the MG08. If other types of machine guns are integrated in future updates, it is of course possible that they will have different modes of operation. The MG has a longer range and a limited firing radius. When you click on a firing machine gun troop, the range is indicated by a cone of light. This does not necessarily mean that every area is affected by MG fire. As with rifle fire, all areas are tested beforehand with raycasts to see whether they can be hit at all from the respective position and it is calculated how good the cover is. If an area is completely behind a hill, for example, it is not visible to the machine gun. Each area that is under machine gun fire is therefore also marked accordingly.
MG suppresses all troops in the cone simultaneously. The logic is similar to the existing suppression system, except that all troops in range are suppressed simultaneously. This means that these troops cannot shoot or throw grenades. Furthermore, it is not possible to shoot back against MG suppression. So theres only one choice: persevere or flee? Movement under machine gun fire is dangerous. Here we were able to fall back on our existing Overwatch system. Depending on the terrain, movement distance, etc., the system simulates how dangerous the corresponding movement is.
Persevering under machine gun fire increases soldiers' stress. Continuous machine-gun fire demoralises the affected soldiers. The stress increase under machine gun fire is therefore very high. Poor cover can also be fatal.
Machine guns must be reloaded. Machine guns can fire for several turns. They then take a complete turn to be reloaded. This can be the moment to flee the danger zone. Machine guns can be repositioned. When balancing, we realised that all these brutal effects are useless if you simply stay out of range of the machine gun. The possible angle of rotation of the gun on the mount is limited by the mount, so we built in the ability to slightly move a machine gun in the same area. This is not possible at every position and the possible positions are predefined. Such an action also takes an entire game turn.
Machine guns can also be used by your own troop. In the First World War, there were specially trained machine gun troops. However, in situations where your own troops occupy a machine gun position, we thought it would be useful to at least allow interaction with it. We therefore decided that firing with a machine gun is allowed for non-specialised troops, but is associated with greater obstacles. This makes firing much less effective and can lead to jamming, for example, which has to be fixed.
New levels have been designed. New levels have been designed for battles with the MG, which can occur randomly after the introduction is completed and are primarily centred around MG positions. We have slightly increased the chance of these new levels for update 0.8 and will lower it again with update 0.9. This means that although it is unlikely, you may not run into a battle centred around machine guns in a playthrough until home leave.