Dear friends! As you remember, last Friday the lead developer of Cossacks 3, Evgeniy Grygorovych, streamed our first ever Q&A session with the community. Due to certain reasons, it was conducted in Russian, so some of you may had some troubles understanding it. Nevertheless, we collected all of your questions and Evgeniy gladly answered them during the steam. Below is the full translation of the Q & A session that answers on such questions as what awaits Cossacks 3, what are our future plans and what can you expect from our upcoming mini-expansion, Guardians of the Highland, and much more! Q: Do you plan on updating the interface? A: No, from the very beginning we wanted to recreate the atmosphere of the original Cossacks, which many remember from their childhood. We wanted to create a very similar, recognizable UI… More “modern” look you can most likely get from the (user created) modifications. Q: Is the game going to get on sale during some holiday? A: Well, each release of the new DLC / update is a reason to celebrate, so we’re trying to put our game on sale during such periods. It’s quite possible that Cossacks 3 will go on sale when Guardian of the Highlands will hit the Steam store. Q: Why you didn’t release the Mac and Linux versions today? A: We had some technical difficulties, but soon enough everyone will get access to the open beta, you need to wait a bit. We really underestimated the task. Q: Will there be any official tournaments any time soon? A: Yes, we are working on it. We also support community made competitions. Q: How long o you plan on supporting Cossacks 3? A: We have a First year plan, it’s set in stone. So until September we shall regularly update the game and we plan on releasing 2 more DLC for deluxe edition owners. Q: Do you have any ideas for absolutely new games? A: We have some ideas, for both completely new games, and continuations of our older titles. Q: Will you enable the price progression for mercenary dragoons when you hire them with a “Shift” button? A: Well, after the latest dragoon nerf they are not the force they used to be anymore. There’s no need for this anymore. Q: Do you plan on implementing clan system into the game? A: We want to introduce some kind of clan system into the game. It’s a necessary thing, but we can only implement it when the ranked game will stable, when the main game bugs will be squashed… Only then we can add a clan system to the game, as the future of the game is with it. Q: Will there be any manuals for mod creators? Yes, we plan to create some manuals. Right now they are made mostly by other modders, but we shall civilize the, add intricate nuances only known to us… But again, this is a question of a few months… We shall also polish the game editor, make it more user-friendly, like in the original Cossacks. Q: Do you want to make the game more e-sports friendly? A: I think that the community makes the game e-sport ready, no the developers. Most of the modern e-sport hits were made by the players, they were modifications (Eugene is referring to DotA and CS). The developer can never guarantee that he’s making a hit, while the players can, they are not afraid to take risks. Q: Do you plan on adding a coop mode for two players, so that they would be able to play as the same nation/color? A: Yes, I want to implement this possibility. Playing as the same color is great. I hope to add this within 2-3 patches, from a technical point of view it’s shouldn’t cause much trouble. Q: Will you fix the re-host? A: Yes. Q: Will you bring the patrol order back? A: Actually, the modders already brought this function back. So, there’s a high chance it may make a comeback, if the modders will be generous enough to share it with us. They usually do. Q: What will happen to the English Highlanders after the release of Scotland? A: England will still have its own Highlander, while Scotland will have its own unique units. Q: Do you plan to change the reload speed of the musketeers? A: I thought I would be able to release the new balance with the today’s patch. We have a build with a completely overhauled balance, where almost every unit has new stats. The main idea behind the changes: increasing the production time of 17c musketeers, increasing their reload time and per shot damage. 17th century cavalry also got rebalance, now it builds faster, but has… less HP, so they won’t be “tanks” anymore. Q: Will there be any additional eastern nations? A: We have some eastern nations in development… the tatars, for example, we are evaluating right now if they are suitable for the game. We also have some ideas for more… eastern nations, but we are not ready to announce them yet. Yes, we want to get away from the concept of Europe… For example, Scotland won’t be a standard European nation, it will pay as a non-european nation in terms of economy and development. It won’t have the 17th century upgrade, but will have 2 barracks: for highlanders and lowlanders. The castle of highlanders will be quite expensive, but available from the very start. It’s a counterpart of the 18th century barracks, but it will give players a completely new experience, as they will be able to make a choice on which way to develop the nation. I’m sure the player will love Scotland. We plan on adding numerous interesting mechanics. Q: What unique units the Scottish roster will have? A: its own unique highlander archer, highlander with a sword, 2 types of cavalry units (fast and slow), unique officer and peasant (uncapturable, just like the Ukrainian one), and its own multibarrel cannon. Q: Will we be able to rotate the camera in-game? A: You do it right now with help of mods, but we plan on adding this as a n option. The rotation won’t be completely free, there will be a certain degree to which the player will be able to turn the camera, so that he won’t get lost on the battlefield. This is common in the e-sport games, this is considered (as a) good (move). Q: Do you plan on adding different bonuses to different formations? A: Right now no, as you can switch the formation on a go, it takes no time. Q: Can we expect additional game modes? A: We promised, and we will deliver on it, that there will be historical multiplayer / singleplayer battles. They are basically maps with pre-defined balanced compositions of armies. Q: Will we eventually be able to trade with our allies? A: Yes. But again, stability of the game is our priority, all things come after it. Q: When will the next DLC come? A: 3rd one – in the middle of May; 4th one – In August. We have a roadmap for the Deluxe edition content, you can check it on the Cossacks 3 Steam store page. Q: You plan to change the economy of the game, or stone + market is the only way? A: We’ll change the economy, along with efficiency of mines and food gathering. There’s a chance we might change the way wood is gathered, but, in the end, stone as the only solution will go. It will become one of the possible ways to develop your economy, not THE way. It’s what we strive towards, it will be the next iteration of the balance, after the unit changes. Q: Will you improve the ranked system? Yes, we will improve it all the time. In the near future – we want to add a possibility choose various game options: 5000/10 PT, 5000/20 PT or 1000/0 PT. I think that 1000/0 is the most interesting way to play. Yes, we will improve the quality of the game so that you’ll be able to play against an equal foe. Right now we use 1 v 1 mode, but in the future we might bring the 2 v 2 and 3 v 3 options back, it may even change with seasons. But right now it’s essential for mode to gather enough player hours, so that people will be distributed among the ranks. Q: How often do you plan to steam? A: Either each week, or from patch to patch. If lucky, it will be each with, with a patch. Q: Which nations do you love the most? A: Love playing as Ukraine, and not because of the balance, but because… The last nerf was a very strong blow to the Ukraine, but it didn’t solve the problem after all, we plan on balancing the hetmans a bit more. Ukraine requires a scrupulous approach to the game from the play, to value each unit. This ‘greed’ needs a very high level of concentration, it suits me. Q: Are the any plans for mines updates? A: Yes, but they will come after the unit and economy rebalances. Q: Is it possible to bring resources with your peasants to your ally’s storehouse? A: That’s a nice idea, never thought about it. Q: by any chance, do you plan on implementing some sound alarms related to resource management in the game? A: I think it’s a good idea, we’ll make it. Q: You plan to implement a global rebalance? A: Yes, we are preparing a global rebalance, after which almost every unit will have a new set of stats. This balance is planned beforehand, with future units in mind (Scotland included). This (new) balance takes in account up to 60 new unit concepts we have in development.