Link Hi, friends. Today we will talk about the metagame and changes in its interface, new units in the USSR tree and post-match statistics. Because most of the updates of recent months are associated with the metagame, and because diaries are here to inform you about the development process. And if the word statistics, for example, doesnt touch your soul or excite you, but rather evokes a rattling boring nothing ... That does not mean that we shouldnt talk about it. And maybe you just dont know how important and interesting statistics are!

What is meta?

We have already written that work on the metagame is the final straight before the release of the Early Access. And no one can underestimate the importance of this work. Here we talked a little about the Soldiers: Arena metagame, its interface and the principles underlying them. Meta is the first and last thing a player sees, and most strategic decisions are made there. In the battalion constructor, he will decide how to play and with what, and only after that he will implement the chosen strategy in session. In the technology tree - a player will think how to spend the accumulated experience, which commander to open and which branch of units to focus on in the first place. Collect allies, communicate with them, go into battle against AI, players or go through a cooperative campaign - also will take place in a metagame. All this and much more should work like a clock so that the player can enjoy the gameplay of Soldiers: Arena. It's hard to enjoy, when matchmaking cant find opponents, or the Play button does not work for example. But performance isnt the only thing. For insrance, matchmaking, the convenience of the battalion constructor and the presence of graphics for the needs of the test were desirable, but not necessary. The number of alpha testers is not so large, and we had the opportunity to bring in everyone. And explain to everyone where to click to create a battalion, to join the session and play. But in the Early Access we would like to avoid complicated tutorials on how to play and use placeholders where artworks should be. By the way, it is precisely because of the fact that not all artworks have been drawn yet and added to the game, that today we are showing interface sketches, not screenshots. We are pleased to inform you that the largest and most important part of the metagame's functionality works as it should and the much smaller part left to be done.
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Why does the player need statistics?

The sketch above shows the window with the results of the battle. There you can see the basic data about the session: its duration, earned silver, experience and free experience. In the lower right corner of the battalion's icon the damage done in battle is also indicated. For many, the damage and the number of enemy units destroyed is a universal indicator of the contribution to the victory (or loss). But the attentive reader knows that Soldiers: Arena is not so simple and the fight does not boil down to these two indicators. This means that this data will not be enough for the player.
Link By clicking on the icon of the battalion, you will go to personal statistics and be able to find out all the most important about each unit of each Franz Stammer: how many units were caused, lost, how much they caused damage and gained experience. And here we close the cycle, which began with the creation of the battalion and continued through the session itself. According to statistics and the results of the battle, you can understand whether your strategy good or bad, find weak points in it and fix them in the battalion constructor. In the lower left corner, you can see statistics on earned and spent silver. It is worth saying that in Soldiers: Arena you will not lose silver in any case, but the amount earned will directly depend on your actions. And here we take into account some other things besides the damage caused:

• Ground control - silver earned for territory control. If you play as an infantryman, and in this column, you have a lower value than the allied tankman - this is a serious reason to think about your deck and actions in the session.
• Fine and Compensation are the statistics of spent and received silver for a friendly fire. In Soldiers: Arena you need to try hard to harm the allies. But those who are trying this hard must pay for allies repairs from their own pockets.
• Capture - silver for the capture of enemy vehicles.
• Repair is an item of expenditure for the repair and replacement of your units. Consequently, the more cautious you play and the less you wear your units in the face of the enemy, the more profitable the session results will turn out.

In a game where there are support units, it is illogical to boil it all down to the damage dealt. Will engineers be able to compete with tanks in this category? It is doubtful. And that means they have to earn experience differently. The game should encourage with experience and silver the correct performance of combat missions. And in the future, we are going to further deepen this system. Removing the wounded from the battlefield; shooting tracks to immobilize the retreating enemy; storming a group of buildings; creating or destroying engineering structures; grabbing the flags, etc. These listed things are no less important than the damage dealt. When a game encourages you to fulfill your role and gives feedback in the form of statistics, it is much easier to understand what to do and how. Even for a newbie. Especially for a newbie. In Soldiers: Arena you do not control only one unit for the whole battle and a lot of things happen usually at the same time on the map. So it is easy to get lost in your feelings and analytics of the battle. Detailed statistics can help shape your battalion based on cold and ruthless numbers, not on preferences and expectations. If the scouts do not justify themselves for the tenth battle in a row, but you continue to order them to storm the machine guns ... Maybe you should think about using them correctly or replacing them with an armored car for instance.

Why does the developer need statistics?

For a developer, statistics are even more important than for the player. Especially in such a difficult game with a huge amount of mechanics. In the past diary we wrote that the system is more important than particulars and the situation with statistics is another confirmation of this. We started collecting data from the very beginning of testing, and partly because of this we can now enjoy a good balance already in the early beta. The statistics that the player sees are only a small part of what we collect and use to set up the game. We collect such statistics for each commander and each unit: frequency of use, number of battles conducted, win rate, average values of experience and silver earned in battle, the average duration of the battle, damage done and much more. Based on this data, we group the units according to their complexity, the potential payback in the battle and the average contribution to the victory and immediately fix the imbalance. However, in some moments you can notice an obvious imbalance even without statistics. In the USSR technology tree, there were significantly fewer premium units than in the German ones. And that means less opportunities for development in the branch not starting from the beginning and less unique gameplay. Therefore, we decided once again to shoot two birds with one stone: to correct the imbalance and to fulfill your request. You asked to add Lend-Lease units to the USSR tree, and we did it. So you will be able to drive your Churchill, Sherman and Valentine without waiting for the release of a new playable nation.
Link By the way, we are still discussing what data should be shown in post-match statistics, so we are happy to read your ideas in the comments. Wish you all the best!

[ 2019-04-14 10:58:49 CET ] [ Original post ]