JA:Flashback - Post-funding Update #37

In the latest post-funding update for Jagged Alliance: Flashback Full Control talks about game mechanics, and a new christmas competition.

Cover, Line of Sight and Christmas Competition

Christmas is right around the corner but it has not really hit the office yet. We are pushing hard to give a first view of the first sector with final assets before we close down the office for a short Christmas break. The first view will be either some screenshots, a small 360 video or a small test scene like the Diorama.  

As mentioned in the last update we have been discussing elements such as Cover and Line of Sight (LoS) lately and therefore we would like to show you what we have planned for these points so far.

Core Game Mechanics - Cover & Line of Sight

To start off we would like to outline the considerations and thoughts behind Jagged Alliance: Flashback’s cover and line of sight system. First, we will talk about previous titles in the JA franchise and what other games did, talk about our design philosophy in regards to JAF, and what those things mean for the direction we are headed with Flashback.

First thing we do is of course ask ourselves “What did JA2 do in regards to cover?”. The simplified answer would be: It’s unclear and not communicated well to the player. While there are mechanics in place, just from playing the game, the player will hardly understand to what extent an obstacle between an attacker and a defender provides cover.

As Flashback’s game mechanics are underlying a grid based shape, we can look at what other games of the genre did before us. Silent Storm falls into a similar category as JA2 in that respect - probably even more elaborated in regards to cover, LoS and destructibility mechanics, it fails for the same reasons - player communication & feedback. As an example, when moving a soldier to the edge of a truck, the game does not provide the player with a clear indication whether his unit will be in cover, or be able to see the enemy. For JAF, one of our design pillars is to make the game mechanics visible to the player, and let him take informed decisions.