Jagged Alliance 3 - Patch Roadmap

[HiddenX]

Bjohn045 spotted devdiary 16 for Jagged Alliance 3 - the patch roadmap:

DevDiary 16 - Patch Roadmap

Patch Roadmap
Hello, everyone! I am Boian Spasov, creative director of Jagged Alliance 3, and today I want to share with you a roadmap of our current plans for future free updates.

Release day came and went and it was awesome, but our work on Jagged Alliance continues and our team remains committed to supporting the game post-release. We've received so much feedback that it took us quite a while to go through everything and solidify our plans, but now we are finally ready to share them with you. This roadmap includes improvements suggested by the community and some of our own previously unrealized ideas as well.

We aim to release one patch per month, but with the usual disclaimers that plans may change down the road and we are also keeping a few surprises in our sleeves. So let's get into specifics...

Update 1.2 - Codename: Buns (Combat Quality of Life)
The first upcoming patch will encompass various changes related to the combat aspect of the game - offering additional information in the UI, improving and deepening the bullet simulation and even providing the option to play through massive combats at a faster pace. Since this patch is close on the horizon, I can provide some of the highlights as well:

• Inaccurate attacks may hit other body parts of the targets incidentally
• Number of remaining Overwatch attacks is clearly indicated in-view
• Ability to salvage knives and other items that were previously unsalvageable
• Toggle button for faster enemy and ally turns
• Ricochet bullets able to hit and cause collateral damage
• Various improvements to melee animations

Update 1.3 - Codename: Vicki (Bobby Ray's Guns and Things)
As Jagged Alliance veterans know very well, "Bobby Ray's Guns and Things" is the finest, and quite possibly, the only online store for merc gear.

No other feature from Jagged Alliance 2 was requested as much from our community as this one! We miss Bobby Ray as well and we are glad to oblige and expand his services with delivery to Grand Chien! will allow you to purchase new and used armor, weapons and ammo and ultimately to gear up your mercs just the way you want to, as long as you can afford it!

Update 1.4 - Codename: Wolf (Sat View Quality of Life)

The next update focuses on improvements in the Sat View. It will enhance the Sector stash and the Conflict Screen interfaces. Both of these screens are currently somewhat confusing and we are looking into ways of organizing the information there in a more convenient way.

As part of this update we will enhance and rebalance some of the Sat View operations, such as Scouting. Finally, we are going to offer a way for solitary mercs to improve their stats by practicing without a trainer.

Update 1.5 - Codename: Larry (Modding Maps and Campaigns)

As we've talked before, our second modding update will offer powerful tools such as map and quest editors. The map editor will allow modifying existing maps by adding new objects and quests or creating entirely new maps from scratch. These maps can be added seamlessly into the existing game campaign or used to create an entirely new custom campaign, complete with new quests, NPCs, dialogues and interactions.

This will open the door for modding projects of massive scope such as recreating the old Jagged Alliance games in Jagged Alliance 3!

And there is more to come!
Stay tuned for more updates to be announced at a later date.

Thank you!

In conclusion, I want to take the community for their passion for the game - this roadmap is based in large part on community suggestions and we will keep incorporating such suggestions in our plans for the future, as well as marking them clearly in our patch notes. If you have your own suggestion for improving the game, don't hesitate to share it with us either here, or in Discord - it may even see the light of day in one of the upcoming updates described above!

More information.

 

[Pladio]

Looks like it'll be a fun game when I get to it

 

[HiddenX]

It already is - but nice changelist!

 

[Lakorus]

I'm looking forward to playing it eventually and it's enjoyable to read the kind of improvements they are planning! It definitely increases my anticipation!

 

[ChaosTheory]

Ordering ammo and a few other of these changes will make it a much easier experience.

 

[Couchpotato]

I was hoping for as they say meaty expansion DLC but based on that roadmap it's not happening. Some of the future content will make the game game better at least.

 

[Kordanor]

Ordering ammo and a few other of these changes will make it a much easier experience.

Thats what I am most afraid of.
The strategic layer and the money balancing has been the worst part of the game so far. Major flaws had been fixed in the last patch, but I doubt that it's great even on new campaigns.

Adding a new shop on top of that system might lead to breaking even more stuff.

It seems like many players have the impression they can just buy everything at Bobby Rays...pretty much like cheating if you pay anough ingame money. That's not how it worked in JA2. In JA2 you only bought very few outdated weapons there and mostly mechanics kits or bipods or some ammo.
If the developers implement it as in "just buy everything you want" as many players seem to want it, this will completely ruin the already somewhat bad weapon distribution. It basically means that once you are outside the newbie area you just order all the weapons you need and you are done with the itemization of the game.

On top of that opening a shop also channels any money issues even more back into other parts of the game. Why should you repair, if you just have enough money to buy new weapons instead.
Why would you craft ammo if you can just buy that. The money balancing (compare quest rewards to daily costs of your mercs) is already wonky. You can buy weapons for just 2500$ in the game. So unless this is well tested and the other system really polished, I would expect it to break the balance even more.

 

[Couchpotato]

Well that's sounds realistic to me. Mercenaries usually buy equipment on the black market or arms dealers. Sounds like another case of you can't please everyone.

 

[ChaosTheory]

Thats what I am most afraid of.
The strategic layer and the money balancing has been the worst part of the game so far. Major flaws had been fixed in the last patch, but I doubt that it's great even on new campaigns.

Adding a new shop on top of that system might lead to breaking even more stuff.

It seems like many players have the impression they can just buy everything at Bobby Rays...pretty much like cheating if you pay anough ingame money. That's not how it worked in JA2. In JA2 you only bought very few outdated weapons there and mostly mechanics kits or bipods or some ammo.
If the developers implement it as in "just buy everything you want" as many players seem to want it, this will completely ruin the already somewhat bad weapon distribution. It basically means that once you are outside the newbie area you just order all the weapons you need and you are done with the itemization of the game.

On top of that opening a shop also channels any money issues even more back into other parts of the game. Why should you repair, if you just have enough money to buy new weapons instead.
Why would you craft ammo if you can just buy that. The money balancing (compare quest rewards to daily costs of your mercs) is already wonky. You can buy weapons for just 2500$ in the game. So unless this is well tested and the other system really polished, I would expect it to break the balance even more.

I agree. That said, most 'hardcore' JA fans have already purchased and played the game as it was intended. Adding easy buttons like a shop will probably appeal to a wider audience who just want the tactical RPG experience without the logistical micromanagement. Those who want an even more challenging experience will use mods.

Basically it's to appeal to a larger audience for more sales. Can't blame them, really.

 

[Kordanor]

Well..maybe. But its a bit like saying Diablo would have a bigger appeal if you could just buy the weapon you want at the start of the game.
Personally I don't think thats helpful to the gameplay, even for new players, to take the item progression out of the game (in the worst case)

 

[ChaosTheory]

Well..maybe. But its a bit like saying Diablo would have a bigger appeal if you could just buy the weapon you want at the start of the game.
Personally I don't think thats helpful to the gameplay, even for new players, to take the item progression out of the game (in the worst case)

Even in the original JA2 you couldn't buy the best weapons right away-- nor did you have money to do so. There were also limits on how much was available for purchase (especially ammo), AND you had to wait for delivery.

I think most will just use it for ammunition. The first 1/3rd of JA3, ammo is a little too scarce, so it would be nice to have another option. Once you start finding gunpowder everywhere toward mid-game and realize auto weapons fire is broken and stop using it, ammo becomes nearly irrelevant anyway since you can make more than enough yourself.

 

[ikbenrichard]

only thing i am missing is a better AI, the game is way to easy.

 

[Kordanor]

Even in the original JA2 you couldn't buy the best weapons right away-- nor did you have money to do so. There were also limits on how much was available for purchase (especially ammo), AND you had to wait for delivery.

I think most will just use it for ammunition. The first 1/3rd of JA3, ammo is a little too scarce, so it would be nice to have another option. Once you start finding gunpowder everywhere toward mid-game and realize auto weapons fire is broken and stop using it, ammo becomes nearly irrelevant anyway since you can make more than enough yourself.

Absolutely!
But if you look into what community members are wishing for it usually sounds like you could just buy everything there. Maybe you can with some 1.13 change. Thats why I am afraid not. Not a PROPERLY implemented shop like in JA2. But a shop catering toward some community "expectations".