Dear Backers,

We have survived the craziness that is Gamescom and are now ready to release the next big update for JAF, which comes with an all new user interface and additional features to the tactical layer of the game:

Quick Overview of Features:

• 16 New Sectors 
• 13 New Mercenaries 
•  Melee Combat 
•  Stealth System
•  Updated Inventory System with Quickslots 
•  Interrupts 
•  Viewcones 
•  In-game UI Overhaul

You can find the full changelog here: Changelog Tactical Overload Update

It’s been very busy this last month so we haven’t manage to squeeze in a trailer for the next update. However, we still wanted to show off a few of the new features in this update and share a bit of information about their design, so we created a new dev diary:

Dev Diary 4: Tactical Overload

Release Date and Launch Price:

For those who don’t know, we told journalists at Gamescom that we would be launching the final version of JAF in Mid/End October and that the launch price would be €29.99.

We’ve now settled on a release date, which is the 21st of October for both the digital version and the retail version.

We originally said we would launch in November 2014, but as we would be competing with a lot of big titles at that time, we have decided for this slot instead.

Info Regarding Boxed Copies for Backers

The boxed copies and collectors edition won’t be ready for when the final game is released digitally and physically. It’s mainly because of the more exotic items that need to be created and all of the individual shipments we need to make, making it a huge task on its own.

However, as all backers $25+ will have received a digital key at that point we hope it’s an acceptable way of handling this as everyone will then be able to play the game. 

Strategic Layer UI Sneak Peek

During Gamescom we also shared a bit of information with journalists about what we have planned for the future and a new and improved Strategic UI is definitely part of that. We gave the journalists a sneak peek, so we only found it fair that you get it as well, so:

We took out some of the elements from the Strategic Layer for Gamescom as we didn’t want it to have too much information. This is still a work-in-progress image, so just an indication of where we’re heading.

Steam Trading Cards

With this update we’re also adding Steam Trading Cards to the game, so start collecting to unlock some nice profile backgrounds and icons :)

Background:

Cards:

Icons:

We’ve used the same badges that we currently use on the JAF Forum.

Next Batch of Keys

We’ll be sending the next batch of keys for $35-42 next week (week 37). So please get back to us if you haven’t received one in that week and you are in one of those tiers.

Until Next Time! 

 The Fullcontrol JAF Team 

Can we take a closer look at the Strategic Layer UI? Some screenshots which can be enlarged?

Is Elodie a merc? The portraits are so good, will they be in game or only trading cards.

Elodie 'Fléchette' Neuville is a merc indeed, she (and I by the way) won the merc contest. Well done portrait FC!

I already spotted her png file. She was referenced in the units.json file in the last update, other new mercs as well, Steam being downloading the new one at the moment.

The new video on KS is really promising and gives a bit more confidence about the release date, which I must say still sounds to me very ambitious. 

stopped the video and post this when the interruption button was mentioned. Is there anyone who likes the on/off and prefers it over the always on interrupt system?



EDIT: after looking through the video I would suggest you rename the button as overwatch or concentrate button. Keep interruptions always active and have the button spend some AP in order to increase the chance of interruption.

I guess this is the interruption system you are going to go with. Can't say I am thrilled about it, but I'll give it a couple of more chances. 

 

There is a huge difference in interrupts comparing JA:F and JA:2. 

In JA2 you got the interrupt immedialety after you see (first contact) the enemy.

In JA:F you have to spend enough points in the view cone of the enemy or vice versa, to get the interrupt. That means experience is not to trust anymore. The approach from FC is more real and allows for more tactical decisions. Yet, we have to play with it (can't at the moment due too bugs) longer, to see how it effects urban warfare e.g. we you had to use the view fucntion to cover your flank.

I think the system can work. Perhaps we have to adjust our gameplay here to gain new levels of tactical combat. Will give it a chance and see in 1 month how it compares.

I disagree, the JAF interruption system is not real-like, it's game-like.  I'm not saying it is bad or anything like that, it's just completely different from what I hoped or wished for in a JA game. As I have said in other threads - in real-life interruption system the one who sees you first and acts fastest wins. With this interruption system no matter how hard you stare down a corridor with a ak-47 when an enemy pops out with his low AP cost pistol he can get shot at you and/or pop back behind the corner.

This game looks very promising. So promising that I believe that if the developers would spend an additional 6 months of development time together with the community, that we can have a worthy sequel of the name Jagged Alliance.

However, at this moment there are just too many core issues missing, and the whole development seems to be too rushed. Some game elements are broken. My advice would be if a feature worked in JA2 than don't reinvent the wheel in JA: Flashback. A great example of this would be the interrupt system, which worked perfectly fine in JA2.

I feel although this game brings back tactical combat, it misses the soul that Jagged Alliance had. My biggest gripe with JA: BIA was the lack of dialogues and the interaction between MERCS and other characters. It appears that JA: Flashback has hardly any oral dialogue (it rather reverts back to 90's style of reading boring text). To me this feels like a tremendous step back.

What made JA2 a great game was it's great tactical combat in combination with a great immerging story, and real-to-life characters. You would actually care and like or dislike certain MERCS because of their traits. Also, all the small details in JA2 just seem to be missing in JA: Flashback. Think of the sound effect when aiming at your enemy, MERCS commenting each other, MERC giving a comment when they find new item, MERCS who touch each other and make a funny/foul comment, MERCS who just become crazy for no reason etc etc. If you like I can present you a whole list of small missing details, which add up to the immersion and flavor of the game.

If the game will be released in it's current form I believe it is a true waste of what could have been. It looks very promising, but it's way too rushed. And in a way the final product seems to be different as was initially advertised in the Kickstarter promotion. 

I hope the team decides to give the game an additional 6 months of development time in order to add the last touches and core elements in the game. The additional development time would also ensure that the game is more properly tested. At this moment, there are many bugs, and with just 1,5 months to go, this is a very big concern.

Thanks Hyrax. I share the exact same opinion.

Sure I guess they would give the game 6 month of development from now on if they had 350.000 $ more from the kickstarter campaign. And yes at the moment the development feels pretty much rushed in some ways. But what shall they do without the money. I guess they work hard and so on but without the money the only thing they can do is to release the game unfinished and with big compromises.

The games release is in 47 days and maybe there are 30 days of developing left. With the tons of features, bugs, gameplay issues and so on I also can hardly believe that it will run well. The actual build is still far away from playable and the progress is way too slow for that project. But I still hope they get it done. The game has the potential to be a great successor of JA2.

You make a very valid point about budget. The short development time is most probably correlated with a lack of budget. However, given that you have a budget constraint, I believe that certain development decisions should have been made differently in hindsight. In particular, don't reinvent game features which were working perfectly fine in the original. This takes an awful lot of time and energy. Instead, outsource more of the small detail work to the community and copy in the great core features from JA2 and JA 2: 1.13. Add a new story and setting with a few new touches, and we would have a worthy successor. Obviously it is not as easy as I make it sound now, but I hope that it's clear what I am trying to express.

Now I feel that we will be presented a game which has the potential to be a legandary game, but will probably turn out to be a poor/mediocre one due to many game breaking bugs and missing final touch ups. It misses 'soul'.

In JA2 if you were advanced enough, you got every interrupt. Yes, I liked the surprising effect of this and used high experience mercs at the front. Still I only say, give it a chance. JA:F wanted to reinvent many aspects of the game. Maybe they went to far and didn't look at budget/time. But how complicated would it be to go back to the old interrupt code and implement it? still nore sure which one is better and I also said, if an enemy pops up in front of your interrupted mercs, he can act before you can. That is new and has to be tested. But we have no time for that as the game itself is not ready to be tested completely.

I stated before in other threads that a lot of soul is missing. In the new build we see development here as mercs now responds to certain actions in combat. These commentaries feel more like JA2. But a ton of triggers and commentaries are missing. You also need the old system, that "mouth-symbol" we you can force mercs to talk to each other, to themselves and to NPCs with odd responses =) Also we see, there is some new dialoge which I really like, has the spirit of JA2: Just see how the mercs respond when you "call" them for hiring. Animations are much better now, but need more time.

What we don't know how the real progress of the game is. E.g. the strategic map is nearly ready with milita and so on but they can't release it at the moment. So we are always like 2-3 weeks behind. I would love to see an silent investor rush in, give the team the time to spend 6 month (which is not much in gaming) to deliver everything they promised, even more. We see they could deliver the sucessor, but not by rushing out and not using time for iterations due to interaction and suggestions by the community.

Also, what does the modder front tell us about the progess in the modding areas? As things need to get finished now, I believe this will not be on the prio list anymore (but has been promised).

In the tactical screen we never saw how to repair, heel, train mercs use helicopter/cars. That is also tactical level and work in progress. 30 days to give feedback? No sector inventory!?

So where is our silent investor =) 

I can add a click thorug link,  but a lot was removed from this picture so it was easier to read for journalists, so a lot missing. 

Nice thanks :-)

I feel the same and agree !! Let's hope they give us enough code to play with so that we can take over once it's released !! Anyways, I always felt like FC gave a sh%! about the license so I'm not out of hope yet... 

Yeah I also think they are passioned for this franchise so I hope they will push even harder to make this a great successor. ;-)

I agree.  Potential is there but I don't see how they can iron it all out in 1.5 months.  Especially when we haven't seen the strategic layer yet, and how that will be balanced (e.g. game economy, trading, training militia, strategic sectors, etc).  1.5 months might just be enough to get it in a playable state (and even here I have my worries), but the balancing will still take a while to do properly.  Immersion is also very poor at the moment and first impressions to people new to the franchise are going to really matter.

I'd have hoped the Early Access version bought them some more time but it seems like it didn't.

I am also worried with the hurried release. Good AI isn't there yet. If the difficulty is tried to be increased with increasing health/defense and requirement to shoot a guy over-multiple times, I don't feel that being the right way. The game is pretty easy compared to JA2 at the moment. There are also still many small little issues that I have reported (some even multiple times during the development cycle) and feel those definitely need a polish so that Jagged Alliance: Flashback would play smoother. Shouldn't be too difficult, but must be done. The interrupt mode is theoretically functioning model for me, but I feel it should be always on/off for a merc because setting it each time on is an additional/unneccessary task to do and remember.

There is a lot of potential sure but, as can directly be seen from the Youtube comments, money is short for now. If it sells well, then more money can go into development. The paradigm is that if the game isn't polished, fun and functional, it won't get great initial reviews. Those are most important sale points. I also feel that October release might compete with Wasteland 2 which is supposed to be released this month. I can't say if that's a good or bad thing because when time elapses Wasteland 2 will get discounted - and I feel a turn based game with bigger production values might be the one customer chooses.

EDIT: For the next public version, I hope Full Control can go through this short checklist and check if the issues are fixed or is there a reason those cannot be fixed?

Yeah my problem is that there was never a huge step forward in terms of gameplay, AI or even UI.

The level design is getting forward and the sectors look really good in the dev diary but the other features just take small steps forward and there was never a time where I was surprised how well the gameplay works now.

Also the AI is a big problem, because there is no AI. The reactions of the enemies never make sense, they even shoot at each other. Sometimes the enemy is killing more of their own men than my mercs. Thats funny but not in a positive way in terms of how a great gameplay should work.

At the moment the game don't work and there are nearly no indications who tell us that we will get a big step forward.  

Thanks for the checklist nakano, although I'm not sure all of it is bugs...could be a design choice. 

Strategic AI is being looked at right now and I guess the Tactical AI is after that.

Well the 1st could be a designer choice (still I don't like it), but the 2nd in the list definitely isn't. If the first is changed, the second will probably be fixed as a result. The third breaks the game flow in my opinion. 4th may be an intentional limitation if calculation the path with multiple mercs is an issue. However, I would say it's a bug as single merc works differently and much better for gameplay wise. 5th shouldn't happen and it can easily be fixed by adding one IF-clause (if enemies.Count > 0). 6th isn't that important.

I agree that those in the list should be fixed. Bugs or bad design choices - call whatever you want them.

That checklist seems sensible enough and will probably get done, I'm pretty sure I saw those points (or some of them) listed as WIP on Steam or elsewhere.