Link Hi, friends. In feedback diaries we usually talk about some results and changes of recent months. About settings, features, models, funny bugs, interface pieces, units, and the rules by which Soldiers: Arena lives. But today we need to talk about the balance also. Talk seriously and sincerely. Under the last diary there was much controversy about whether the stormtroopers are balanced or not, and how the absence of an armored car or flamethrower can destroy everything. Before we proceed to a soothing-explanatory text, pay attention that the Tiger. Pz. VI was already on the cover of the diary about heavy tanks. How do you like this change?

Talking about balance in Soldiers: Arena you don’t need to...

• ... compare units with similar ones from other games / books / wikipedia. Limiting the range of fire or its absence, the range of the HE action, the disguise, the possibility of retreat, of capturing the vehicle or any other of the hundreds of game features can significantly affect the result. If in another game you can shoot a tank with the machine-gun, this does not mean that you can do it in Soldiers: Arena.
• ... think that duplicating units is good. It’s a mortal sin to produce the same units, differing only in skins! And it's not just about stormtroopers. StuG III Ausf. G and SU-85 are conditional analogs of each other, but are they the same? The SU-85 shell deals more damage, but StuG III Ausf. G is better at piercing armor at long ranges, has a machine gun and faster reload rate. Which of these characteristics are the most important, will depend on the chosen tactics.
• ... perceive the unit in isolation from the game. Combat in Soldiers: Arena is not limited to a set of duels. You can even destroy your anti-class if you use the conditions correctly. Do you think that the flamethrower is stronger than a fighter with a submachine gun? But what if the submachine-gun-guy lies in the grass so damn invisible? What if he successfully throws a grenade? What if he has an older tankman brother? This game is about choosing, creating and correctly using favorable situations. Among other things

Link (Let's have some rest and help Dora the Explorer to find the elite sniper)

• ... forget that every unit has its own tasks! The PM-41 mortar has a bigger caliber than the BS-3, but that does not makes tanks easy targets for mortars. There is no point in comparing the stormtroopers in battle against stormtroopers, because you do not compare how well one air defense weapon destroys another air defense weapon, right? Units are balanced not in comparison with their counterparts, but in relation to whether it is good enough (and whether it isn’t too good) in performing their tasks. And there are always more than one way to accomplish this task. If you like to storm the building on an armored car more than to suppress it with a machine gun and annihilate the defenders with your shotguns, it's your choice. But this does not create an imbalance.
• ... simplify to the point of absurd. The presence of a flamethrower or an armored car is not the only important characteristic. There are dozens of them and we take into account everything! To give a PTRS-41 or a grenade launcher to every infantryman is not the only way to strengthen it in battle against tanks. We reduced the speed of tank turret rotation and it worked no worse. Added one AT and two AP mines to miners, so it makes artillery and infantry stronger in defense. Is ZIS-2 too strong for its class? You can change its level from the third to the fourth and its natural opponents will change from Pz III and Marder, to Pz IV and StuG. And this did not change its in-game characteristics. So "Let's give everyone a hammer" is not the only option, there are also more elegant ones. The only question is whether you want to look for them. We want.

Friends, we do like disputes about usefulness of units. What can not be said about reproaches that we are deliberately creating an imbalance. When a playable nation loses in one thing, but wins in the other, that's good. This is a balance of strengths and weaknesses. Also this adds some diversity. Do not look at the question so one-sidedly. You do not play one unit for the whole session. You do not have to figure out how to destroy a tank with a sapper shovel. This stuff is for digging trenches! The screenshots below show the composition of two infantry battalions: reconnaissance and sabotage for USSR and assault one for Germany. As you can see, you have a little more than one infantryman for the game.
Link First row: Pak 35/36, Riflemen (Recruits), SMG infantry (recruits), Rocket-launcher infantry Second row: LeIG 18, SMG infantry (Regular army), MG squad MG-34, Flamethrower infantry Third row and fourth row: Separate infantry squad, Riflemen (Veterans), Sd. Kfz. 4/1, Stormtroopers, Medics Sorry guys, but we have no English localization of this piece yet. Both battalions are infantry, but they are used for different tasks. The first should go to rush and attack, and the second should hide in the shadows. By the way, this is still not the final version of the icons and only one of the many options of managing the battalion. Which of them seems more interesting to you and why?
Link First row: Riflemen (Recruits), Sentinels, SMG infantry (recruits), Scouts Second row: Riflemen (Regular Army), Snipers, Scouts, BA-11 Third row and fourth row: Paratroopers, Aerial reconnaissance, Elite Snipers, Saboteurs, Medics

Some settings

In recent months, we are working hard to make the game intuitive, enjoyable and remove as many bugs, lags and drafts as possible. Incredible gameplay, like the inner world - no one will notice, if not to reveal. Of course, you will not go into the game for the sake of the interface or super-beautiful icons, but definitely notice their absence. So we created more than two hundred icons and modified interfaces. All these windows, development trees, backgrounds, scenes and so on. And also redesigned the interface windows to support 4K resolution. In addition to the hints on the loading screens and training missions, you will be introduced to the game with the system of interactive tips. By hovering the cursor over a part of the interface / battlefield / unit, you will see a small brief description about the management, tactics and tricks of the game. It's not easy to make a complex game intuitive. This is a long, painstaking work consisting of thousands of boring things that you will never notice. But unfortunately, this is a damn important part of the development.
Link We tested the first mission of the Soviet campaign, which can be held as a solo, or in a co-op of up to five players. Also, we added a prototype of the new multiplayer map "Kursk fields" with a large number of open spaces. By the way, the landscape also affects the overall balance. On this map, guns with direct fire are stronger, and the life of an infantryman is sadder than usual.

You are not prepared!

Fought off bugs of varying complexity and amusement. In some cases, the level of amusement is so low that it goes into negative. You often rush us with the release, but why? Just imagine such a session. You are retreating on your beloved ISU-152, miraculously leaving the shelling, having repaired the track with the last crew member. You think that you already got the Lord by the beard and ready to laugh at the enemy-loser, when suddenly an armor-piercing-karmic shell shot you. How? Why? Who killed Kenny? It turns out that the retreat icon burned over your unit even in the fog of war, turning your way home into a corridor of shame marked with neon "Hit Me" signboards. And if the players could have no time to react, the AI simply ignored the camouflage mechanics in those days. "There are no eyes - there is no fog." - he thought and fired without unnecessary self-reflections. The fact that AI refuses to comply with the gentleman code is demoralizing, but you are an optimist. You console yourself that you actually love hardcore. When battlefield gives you lemons, you make limonkas but not useless lemonade. You attack in the hope of fulfilling the task of capturing the flag and bring your team victory points. You squeeze out of yourself all the life that is left after the loss of your sweet ISU-152. You attack like the last time in your life and reach the goal! But … for some reason the points are not credited. You feel downfallen, deceived, devastated ... But your team still winning a little and at least the victory will be yours, which will compensate a bit for the suffering. It will be possible to say that you fought against the whole world and won and did not give victory to the dishonest bug-abusing opponent ... And while you think so, the skyey Charybdis opens its mouth deep in the rear and overthrows parachute rain. Because of the bug with victory points, the enemy gets such an advantage, as if he captured the entire map, Moscow, Berlin and Atlantis. Over time, you knock him out of course, because you're good! Unfortunately, the time he won with his dastardly blow is enough to win. You would like to throttle the air in anger and "Fus ro dah" on the whole throat, but the last forces are already given to this fight. You want to go away from the computer, but your legs fail. You fall to your knees in the middle of the room, your mouth is open in a silent cry, and the rain pours directly from the ceiling, hiding your tears. Why? - quietly howling you, curling up on the floor, while the camera moves away, leaving you alone and confused.
Link Do you really need this, my friend? Do you really need a game like right now? Or can we fix at least the most critical bugs? The ones described above, by the way, no longer exist, don’t worry, but their colleagues are still doing their job. And if we get rid of them, then you do not have to go through the seven circles of bugs, and we won’t wander through the icy wastelands of negative reviews obsessively repeating "We warned them". A little more support to finish what was started, and everyone will become a winner. You can do this, guys, cause you are the best!

[ 2018-09-28 22:07:42 CET ] [ Original post ]