Jagged Alliance Galaxy: JA2: Reloaded saga continues: devs "shocked" by the outrage

JA2: Reloaded saga continues: devs "shocked" by the outrage
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Shanga on 07/11/2010 02:18:00
 
JA2: Reloaded is basically a port of the well known trip to Arulco on a modern
graphic engine. Right from the start the developers threw themselves into the
most heated debate, asking fans to describe what they like and what they want
changed about the combat system in "old" JA2. Overwhelming response on their
forum, as well as on our Bear's Pit was "don't touch it" or "if you do, do what
v1.13 crew did". This apparently did not sit well with bitComposer since they
ignored the tidal wave that was building and made a surprise announcement that
JA2:R will abandon Turn Based mode and go for Real Time with Pause (RTwP).
Response from the community was far from positive and the argumentation that
came from devs seemed only to pour more gas on the fire. We'll reproduce that
here, to let you form an oppinion:
Dear Community,
Many thanks for your many proposals and suggestions. This has obviously sparked
off heated discussions that have provoked a wide range of opinions about how we
could change the combat system, if we should change it and, if so, what changes
would be best suited to the game.
To ensure that Jagged Alliance 2 makes a successful transition into 2011 and
that the remake is as attractive as possible to players who know the Jagged
Alliance series and to those who have yet to play it, we will simply make a few
changes to the existing JA2 combat system. We are calling the new combat system
the “Plan & Go” system. It is based more on real time, and represents a
departure from the original combat system in Jagged Alliance 2. We would like to
outline the significant changes below, and hope that you, the official JA2
community, will be as excited as we are about them.
Basically, the overall strategy in the combat system remains the same! The
player has to identify strategically advantageous positions on the map to
minimize losses to his own side as far as possible.
In the “Plan & Go” system we have omitted the “Fog of War”, which
covered most of the map in JA2. Enemies positioned outside buildings are
permanently visible, which enables the player to establish a strategy from the
outset without having to constantly save and load. In addition, the world looks
much more animated and lively as the hostile forces patrol in the meticulously
detailed 3D backdrops.
The “Plan & Go” system removes the turn-based structure. If the player wants
to react to an incident, he can pause the game at any time or allow the game to
pause automatically by carrying out a particular activity (e.g. if a mercenary
has run out of ammunition).
The real-time elements in the “Plan & Go” system also add new and exciting
features such as “Timing” for example. As the enemies are patrolling all
over the map, the player must time his movements very precisely to defend
himself against his enemies. Here, the need to quicksave/quick load is greatly
reduced, as the risks and challenges are more easily identified and the effect
of the risk is reduced to a much shorter time (e.g. a character is sighted
before he has reached his target, so the shooting starts earlier than
anticipated).
The “Plan & Go” system also enables players to specify the conditions under
which his units can attack independently; they can therefore open fire when
enemies enter their range of vision. This offers players the same tactical depth
in terms of decision-making, and also intensifies the combat experience, because
more experienced players have to pause much less frequently and, for the most
part, can let the game progress in real time. In particular, this speeds up
battles with large numbers of fighters and which seemed like they would never
end in the original game!
The advantages of the “Plan & Go” system opposed to the turn-based original
are:
* It is dynamic, as it allows combat in real time.
* It introduces timing as a new element: it enables the player to spot and
assess enemy movements, so he can either cleverly sneak past, or lie in wait and
choose the right moment to attack.
* It avoids the situation where you get mixed up in a battle while your
mercenaries are some distance from the front. JA2 was very time-consuming in
this respect, because players had to lag behind for several turns while they
moved all their mercenaries to the front.
* Combat with large numbers of enemies happen more quickly; in JA2 it took ages
for the round to finish when numerous mercenaries and enemies were involved in
the battle.
* The new system also allows us to incorporate new AI functions such as cutting
off and flanking enemies, that only work when actions are carried out
simultaneously and not one after the other.
Your bitComposer Team
In response to the outrage that has filled so far about 20+ pages on their
forum, bitComposer posted a rather stern response we reproduce below. Suffice to
say, this hasn't done any good to stop the riot.
Dear Community,
We knew when we announced our intention to modernize the combat system in JA2:R
that we would spark off a heated discussion. However, we are shocked at the way
this discussion is being conducted in the forums. It is extremely useful for us
to hear the honest opinions of all the members of the forum, but personal
insults, slander and abuse have no place in this forum and are totally
unacceptable. Our aim was and is to engage in an objective and mutually
respectful discussion. We are ready to listen to all proposals, wishes and
complaints, but we would ask you for objective comments, even though the subject
has clearly aroused some strong emotions in certain forum participants.
We have of course been thinking long and hard of how to optimize the combat
system. With a new edition of such a closely monitored and universally loved
title as this, we would not satisfy the players’ demands were we to merely
change the graphics while ignoring the other aspects of the game.
Our objective was and is to modernize both the both the look and feel of the
game to live up to the expectations of a contemporary title. With this in mind,
we have of course also scrutinized the combat system to assess how here too we
can produce an up-to-date adaptation and version. This has not happened without
first having an intense exchange of opinion with fans and enthusiasts of the
genre. In this respect, we have also looked closely at the later developments in
classic games such as the Fallout series for example. As opinions differ wildly,
we regret we won’t be able to please everyone. However, we believe the changes
to the combat system will make the gameplay much more accessible, intuitive and
up-to-date, while retaining the elements that have marked out JA2 as special.
We assume you would like your input to have some influence on the development of
JA2:R and are still keen to receive your support in the form of constructive and
objective contributions and comments. Once the new combat system has been
reworked, we will give forum members the opportunity to test the game flow. More
info to follow shortly.
Best wishes until then
PS: Here's their forum, just in case you want watch the debate more closely:
http://www.jaggedalliance.com/index.php?id=35&tx_mmforum_pi1[action]=list_post&tx_mmforum_pi1[tid]=101
PS1: About the same reactions we got amidst Bear's Pit members, when we invited
them to discuss bitComposer's ideas:
http://www.ja-galaxy-forum.com/board/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=266573#Post266573