This, so much this.. it just takes all the character out of them. They look so generic now.
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Jagged Alliance: Back in Action - Demo released
- Thread starter Freki
- Start date
This, so much this.. it just takes all the character out of them. They look so generic now.
Claustrophy
Neo Member
a) because we wanted to show any changes on the equipment through the portrait view, e.g. glasses, helmets, night vision
b) we wanted to use facial animations to express the mood of the merc
And we spent much effort into the 3D portraits, but in retrospect I think we should have taken the static 2D portraits instead
a) because we wanted to show any changes on the equipment through the portrait view, e.g. glasses, helmets, night vision
b) we wanted to use facial animations to express the mood of the merc
And we spent much effort into the 3D portraits, but in retrospect I think we should have taken the static 2D portraits instead
a) actually makes a lot of sense to me, I don't know why I didn't think of that.
This is not an attack against your modelers btw, I think the 3D heads look absolutely fine quality wise, it's just that I personally do not like their artistic style.
One thing I have to give you guys definitive praise for, no matter what people say about your engine, is that you guys put a TON of detail into the world. I checked out the entire demo map, zooming in and out and the amount of tiny items you can barely see even fully zoomed in is astounding. Every room has stuff (MEANINGFUL stuff that actually belongs in a room) lying or standing around. It makes the maps feel a lot more real.
I would have really liked some more destructibility, even just being able to cut fences would have been great, but still it's one of the few nitpicks I have.
JasonUresti
Member
I don't mind them trying a new system.
However, it does irritate me when people, including many in this thread, think that all turn based games and mechanics are identical.
There are many ways to make it "fresh" and still be turn based. Just as all real time games don't play the same, neither do turn based ones.
However, it does irritate me when people, including many in this thread, think that all turn based games and mechanics are identical.
There are many ways to make it "fresh" and still be turn based. Just as all real time games don't play the same, neither do turn based ones.
MrCompletely
Member
I got a retail copy of this, registered it with Steam, and Steam won't let me install it. WHAT GIVES.
Alex Connolly
Member
Try going to the Store page for JA, and if it says you already own it, click the 'play now' button. It should start downloading.
MrCompletely
Member
No dice, the store page wants me to add it to the cart and doesn't recognize that I own it, yet it shows up in my games list.
Alex Connolly
Member
Ah dear. Well, hopefully Steam works itself out. It took a Steam restart for my trick to work with the digital preorder.
If it's in your game list, doesn't right click on the game and Install game work?
Did you maybe get the retail copy from a region other than the one that you are playing the game from?
MrCompletely
Member
One of the devs got back to me in the official forum... apparently the US Retail copies do not unlock until 2/14, I guess it's a different SKU in Steam.
Got the game and have enjoyed it so far, though there are some issues that weren't apparent in the demo. Chief among them is that armor durability drops pretty fast and cannot be repaired. It adds a bit of difficulty to the game as durability lessens, making bullet hits do more, but I'm not sure it's a decision that is entirely warranted. The original STALKER had something similar and later games allowed you to repair armor, albeit expensively. Makes me long for a expensive kevlar patch kit in BiA.
MrCompletely
Member
i think the lack of fog of war kills this game... you have all the intel you'll ever need as soon as you enter the tactical mode. There's no surprises, no need for recon. It just takes away so much.
I've only played a little bit so far but I'm really disappointed by the new voice overs. They don't sound nearly as charming as the original speech and well, it just plain sounds bad most of the time. They even got some of the lines wrong.
For instance, if you ask Grunty to do an impossible shot, he's supposed to say "Who do I look like, Siegfried and Roy!?", but in this version he says "Who do I look like? Siegfried, or Roy?". It sounds like he's honestly asking who he looks like, instead of making a sarcastic comment about doing something impossible.
I'm curious if it's possible to mod the game and get the old speech back in. I don't care if the sound quality is low, I really want the original voice acting back.
Edit: Gameplay-wise it doesn't seem that bad although there's many minor things I get a bit frustrated by. When giving orders when not paused, it'll always override existing orders. For instance, if Grunty is walking to X and you tell him to run, he'll go into run mode and stop. You have to give the movement order again if you want him to keep moving. The game is really really close to being able to be fully controlled by the mouse, if they added a few more buttons to the GUI you wouldn't have to rely on having a hand on the keyboard at all times. It especially feels a bit weird they didn't even add a pause/resume button.
And my biggest complaint: is there really no way of making mercs fire at will? When doing easy obvious encounters, I just want them to keep firing and kill the enemy. It feels redundant and frustrating to have to click once for every attack.
The more I play this, the more tempted I'm to replay Jagged Alliance 2 instead. There's definitely some improvements here (graphics looks much nicer, the game is faster paced), but it feels like they also took a few huge steps backwards. Compared to other real-time or quasi real-time tactical games (X-Com: Apocalypse, Frozen Synapse, Valkyria Chronicles), this definitely seems much weaker so far.
For instance, if you ask Grunty to do an impossible shot, he's supposed to say "Who do I look like, Siegfried and Roy!?", but in this version he says "Who do I look like? Siegfried, or Roy?". It sounds like he's honestly asking who he looks like, instead of making a sarcastic comment about doing something impossible.
I'm curious if it's possible to mod the game and get the old speech back in. I don't care if the sound quality is low, I really want the original voice acting back.
Edit: Gameplay-wise it doesn't seem that bad although there's many minor things I get a bit frustrated by. When giving orders when not paused, it'll always override existing orders. For instance, if Grunty is walking to X and you tell him to run, he'll go into run mode and stop. You have to give the movement order again if you want him to keep moving. The game is really really close to being able to be fully controlled by the mouse, if they added a few more buttons to the GUI you wouldn't have to rely on having a hand on the keyboard at all times. It especially feels a bit weird they didn't even add a pause/resume button.
And my biggest complaint: is there really no way of making mercs fire at will? When doing easy obvious encounters, I just want them to keep firing and kill the enemy. It feels redundant and frustrating to have to click once for every attack.
The more I play this, the more tempted I'm to replay Jagged Alliance 2 instead. There's definitely some improvements here (graphics looks much nicer, the game is faster paced), but it feels like they also took a few huge steps backwards. Compared to other real-time or quasi real-time tactical games (X-Com: Apocalypse, Frozen Synapse, Valkyria Chronicles), this definitely seems much weaker so far.
Stitch
Member
Click the guard button (looks like a shield).
My biggest complaint is that these stupid mercs react waaayyy to slow. If an enemy manages to get close to your merc you're pretty much dead or at least half-dead because your damn merc won't shoot the enemy in the face.
mh I also miss the gore and vultures eating the corpses lol
Thanks, and yeah, I noticed after using the guard option that it's just not that reliable. Giving a manual order for shooting is faster and more reliable.
I've played a few more battles and I think I'll just stop playing the game. I'm noticing more cases of the dialogue being messed up, and if it was replaced, there would still be the problem of people saying things at wrong times (for instance saying "We should keep our guard up, there's still enemies hiding." while being shot at).
And gameplay wise I think it's really weak compared to other realtime tactical games. I think the advantage of going with realtime is to make the combat faster paced, but they didn't pull that off well here. I'm not even sure if combat scenarios are faster at all when compared to JA2. It's definitely no where as fast as Frozen Synapse, Laser Squad Nemesis (oh how I wish it was still possible to play that) or real time mode in X-Com: Apocalypse.
Inventory management is really frustrating. You don't have a sector inventory like in JA2 anymore. You can't easily switch between characters when trading with an NPC. Trading items between your own mercs is a huge hassle, so much I didn't even bother giving ammo between mercs because I wouldn't wanna go through UI hell. I like the element of giving weapons to militia, but I certainly don't enjoy running through a sector until I find militia which can be armed. There's so many elements in this game which should have been streamlined. It's especially baffling considering these are problems the original game did not have.
Anyway, if anyone is interested in this game: buy something else, or at least make sure to play demo first. If you've never played JA2 before, just buy that and download the v1.13 patch. You'll have a much more enjoyable time than playing this.
Alex Connolly
Member
I honestly like both the old JA2 and BiA for different reasons. This scratches an itch that JA2 doesn't, though I recognise where JA2 floors this reimagining. Few patches and we'll see how many egregious things are bevelled.
Well this is the closest thing to an OT for this so...
Patch notes for todays update:
V1.11
General Bugfixes
- Fixed some enemy using wrong combination of pants and shoe meshes
- Fixed Sightcones not being cleared properly when leaving a level
- Fixed Sightcones displayed in wrong direction when moving in command mode
- Shader bug fixed that caused incorrectly colored objects
- Fixed bug where tank had impact on performance
- Fixed smoke grenade (blocking sight and its visual effect duration were slightly different)
- Fixed bug where recruitable PCs like Ira became not recruitable after leaving the map
- Fixed bug where AI coud become unalterted again after saving & loading
Modding
- Added additional Weapon and Ammo IDs
- Sight distances made more easy to modify
- Noise made more easy to modify
Achievements
- Fixed bug where "She's dead, Enrico" achievement would not unlock correctly
- Collect achievements are not anymore received when game has been modified
Visuals and Graphics Options added
- Launcher does not anymore check for vertex shader texture fetch, prohibiting older cards to start the game although they feature SM 3.0
- Added Distance based culling for small objects
- Added "Very High" terrain quality option in ingame menu
- Added View Distance as option in ingame menu (determines distance fog position)
Gameplay Fixes and Changes
- Civilians and potential militia recruits do not trigger mines anymore
- Children will try to maintain a minimum distance from player characters to ensure they do not clog doors or passages when following the player around the map
- Noise perception influenced by objects that cover the origin of the sound
- Enemy perception tweaked, enemies can now see and hear slightly better which will make it more likely that they use their weapon range to full extend (e.g. enemies with rifles will open fire from a greater distance)
- Enemy sight cones in 2D displays in addition to 3D Cone to make more clear what an enemy can see and to make lag of 3d cone calculation on slower machines more bearable
- Durability of clothing or items worn is only reduced when they actually prevented damage
- Armor is reduced only by 10% for each time it can fully prevent its protection value (e.g. if armor can potentially prevent 30 damage and only prevents 15 damage since it is hit in an already existing weak spot its durability is only reduced by 5%)
- Stamina is not reduced anymore when the whole map belongs to the player (all enemies are killed)
- Bobby Ray‘s Inventory only restocks after 3 days
- Bobby RayÂ’s express delivery now takes 24 hours, standard delivery takes 48 hours
- Laserpointer attachments reduce time to aim
- When a merc is hit while aiming the time to aim is reduced in relation to the damage received
- Targeting has several points of origin to become more flexible, further reduced chance of a small objects preventing a shot
- Picking improved, should be easier to select body zones when targeting
- Militia is always on the map even if the map still belongs to the enemy and can be recruited directly after liberating a map
- Reloading always reduces the smallest stack of ammo in the inventory to ensure that inventory space is cleared more quickly
- World Map: Travel speed is reduced when stamina is low
- World Map: Squads are forced to rest when stamina is close to 0 stamina to prevent squads reaching their target location with 0 stamina
- Explosives Skill also influences time for grenades to detonate after being thrown (e.g. a merc with higher explosive skill will “cook” grenades longer before throwing them so they explode more closely to their impact on the ground)
UI
- SHIFT+ RIGHT CLICK on target orders merc to repeat the attack until the target is dead
- Merc names are displayed on mouse over
- Time to shoot is displayed as a countdown on each merc when attacking to make it more transparent that a merc is actually trying to shoot and how long it will take the merc to fire his shot
- Closing the inventory when a merc has been selected who is currently selectable in game will not reset selection to previous merc
- Added „Loot All“ Button in loot UI
- Added “Select Whole Squad” Button to Squad name
- Minimap: Left Click jumps camera to cursor position
- Minimap: Right Click orders selected merc(s) to move to cursor position
- Worldmap: Added „Enter Map“ Button to Squad UI to allow “fast travel” via the world map to be more flexible (e.g. player can also enter a map outside a combat zone)
- Worldmap: Clicking enemy squad displays level of squad members to allow the player to make a more educated guess on wheter or not he should intercept the squad or leave the defense to militia
- Worldmap: Squad UI displays slowdown or resting via status icon
Sound
- Sound played after last enemy on map has been killed
Additional
- Added translations for new features
- Further improvements to targeting enemy body zones with the cursor
- Fixed bug where wounds would result in mercs not being able to recover stamina anymore
- Fixed some recruitable characters not displaying legs when their pants were removed
- Grenade launcher now launches grenades instead of shooting them in a direct path
- 40mm grenades added to be used by Grenade Launcher
- Color of line drawn to target now indicates ideal distance for shooting target (green = ideal)
- Changed melee base damage to prevent some melee focused mercs from one hitting enemies of level 3 and above
- Fixed bug where tanks could not be hit with rockets fired from rocket launcher
- Fixed unreachable enemy spawn position on map Overland11
- Open or closed state for all doors in Drassen Airport are saved now
- Fixed explosive spot in Alma prison on which wall was not correctly removed on both sided
Patch notes for todays update:
V1.11
General Bugfixes
- Fixed some enemy using wrong combination of pants and shoe meshes
- Fixed Sightcones not being cleared properly when leaving a level
- Fixed Sightcones displayed in wrong direction when moving in command mode
- Shader bug fixed that caused incorrectly colored objects
- Fixed bug where tank had impact on performance
- Fixed smoke grenade (blocking sight and its visual effect duration were slightly different)
- Fixed bug where recruitable PCs like Ira became not recruitable after leaving the map
- Fixed bug where AI coud become unalterted again after saving & loading
Modding
- Added additional Weapon and Ammo IDs
- Sight distances made more easy to modify
- Noise made more easy to modify
Achievements
- Fixed bug where "She's dead, Enrico" achievement would not unlock correctly
- Collect achievements are not anymore received when game has been modified
Visuals and Graphics Options added
- Launcher does not anymore check for vertex shader texture fetch, prohibiting older cards to start the game although they feature SM 3.0
- Added Distance based culling for small objects
- Added "Very High" terrain quality option in ingame menu
- Added View Distance as option in ingame menu (determines distance fog position)
Gameplay Fixes and Changes
- Civilians and potential militia recruits do not trigger mines anymore
- Children will try to maintain a minimum distance from player characters to ensure they do not clog doors or passages when following the player around the map
- Noise perception influenced by objects that cover the origin of the sound
- Enemy perception tweaked, enemies can now see and hear slightly better which will make it more likely that they use their weapon range to full extend (e.g. enemies with rifles will open fire from a greater distance)
- Enemy sight cones in 2D displays in addition to 3D Cone to make more clear what an enemy can see and to make lag of 3d cone calculation on slower machines more bearable
- Durability of clothing or items worn is only reduced when they actually prevented damage
- Armor is reduced only by 10% for each time it can fully prevent its protection value (e.g. if armor can potentially prevent 30 damage and only prevents 15 damage since it is hit in an already existing weak spot its durability is only reduced by 5%)
- Stamina is not reduced anymore when the whole map belongs to the player (all enemies are killed)
- Bobby Ray‘s Inventory only restocks after 3 days
- Bobby RayÂ’s express delivery now takes 24 hours, standard delivery takes 48 hours
- Laserpointer attachments reduce time to aim
- When a merc is hit while aiming the time to aim is reduced in relation to the damage received
- Targeting has several points of origin to become more flexible, further reduced chance of a small objects preventing a shot
- Picking improved, should be easier to select body zones when targeting
- Militia is always on the map even if the map still belongs to the enemy and can be recruited directly after liberating a map
- Reloading always reduces the smallest stack of ammo in the inventory to ensure that inventory space is cleared more quickly
- World Map: Travel speed is reduced when stamina is low
- World Map: Squads are forced to rest when stamina is close to 0 stamina to prevent squads reaching their target location with 0 stamina
- Explosives Skill also influences time for grenades to detonate after being thrown (e.g. a merc with higher explosive skill will “cook” grenades longer before throwing them so they explode more closely to their impact on the ground)
UI
- SHIFT+ RIGHT CLICK on target orders merc to repeat the attack until the target is dead
- Merc names are displayed on mouse over
- Time to shoot is displayed as a countdown on each merc when attacking to make it more transparent that a merc is actually trying to shoot and how long it will take the merc to fire his shot
- Closing the inventory when a merc has been selected who is currently selectable in game will not reset selection to previous merc
- Added „Loot All“ Button in loot UI
- Added “Select Whole Squad” Button to Squad name
- Minimap: Left Click jumps camera to cursor position
- Minimap: Right Click orders selected merc(s) to move to cursor position
- Worldmap: Added „Enter Map“ Button to Squad UI to allow “fast travel” via the world map to be more flexible (e.g. player can also enter a map outside a combat zone)
- Worldmap: Clicking enemy squad displays level of squad members to allow the player to make a more educated guess on wheter or not he should intercept the squad or leave the defense to militia
- Worldmap: Squad UI displays slowdown or resting via status icon
Sound
- Sound played after last enemy on map has been killed
Additional
- Added translations for new features
- Further improvements to targeting enemy body zones with the cursor
- Fixed bug where wounds would result in mercs not being able to recover stamina anymore
- Fixed some recruitable characters not displaying legs when their pants were removed
- Grenade launcher now launches grenades instead of shooting them in a direct path
- 40mm grenades added to be used by Grenade Launcher
- Color of line drawn to target now indicates ideal distance for shooting target (green = ideal)
- Changed melee base damage to prevent some melee focused mercs from one hitting enemies of level 3 and above
- Fixed bug where tanks could not be hit with rockets fired from rocket launcher
- Fixed unreachable enemy spawn position on map Overland11
- Open or closed state for all doors in Drassen Airport are saved now
- Fixed explosive spot in Alma prison on which wall was not correctly removed on both sided
Alex Connolly
Member
One of my favourite games of the year. With patches like the aforementioned, plus mods like Blue Dawn, Back in Action is a true underdog.
IblisGinjo
Member
Just played the demo, didn't really get anywhere just messed around but it seems like the patches are improving some complaints people have for example I was wondering about the scrolling in the demo.
How is the game overall based on it's own merits & not it's name? I've always liked the whole open-ended concept of trying to take back the whole country. At the time Jagged Alliance 2 was out I was into Close Combat so I never played it.
I admit I was interested in the game back when it was Jagged Alliance:Reloaded but the negative impressions put me off.
How is the game overall based on it's own merits & not it's name? I've always liked the whole open-ended concept of trying to take back the whole country. At the time Jagged Alliance 2 was out I was into Close Combat so I never played it.
I admit I was interested in the game back when it was Jagged Alliance:Reloaded but the negative impressions put me off.
Woo-Fu
Banned
Video highlighting some of the new features:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9UDczRBekVI
Alex Connolly
Member
That's a damn fine patch. Great word bitComposer!
Danne-Danger
Member
Why am I not playing this game right now?
bonesmccoy
Banned
Anyone else grab this during the sale?
Surprisingly acceptable! The real time pause mode works extremely well, and the maps and mercs are nicely detailed.
My gripes are with the changes to the strategic section of the map, your dumbed down laptop and some weird game-play decisions, e.g. I don't have to train mercs, instead I have to manually hand them a weapon?
Worth the $10!
Surprisingly acceptable! The real time pause mode works extremely well, and the maps and mercs are nicely detailed.
My gripes are with the changes to the strategic section of the map, your dumbed down laptop and some weird game-play decisions, e.g. I don't have to train mercs, instead I have to manually hand them a weapon?
Worth the $10!
Passive Assassin
Member
la bumpa. Anyone buy this game from today's Humble Bundle? About to install right now and play. Hopefully you can customize your characters as much as you could in 1.13.
Alex Connolly
Member
I really dig the game, but it has a lot of flaws - particularly in direct comparison to JA2.
That said, there are some great mods out there, so snag something like Blue Dawn or Combined Arms (I think those were the names) and go to town making the game tougher and more dynamic.
I just like the plan and go pauseable real-time and planning. Feels like a cross-country Frozen Synapse.
That said, there are some great mods out there, so snag something like Blue Dawn or Combined Arms (I think those were the names) and go to town making the game tougher and more dynamic.
I just like the plan and go pauseable real-time and planning. Feels like a cross-country Frozen Synapse.
Passive Assassin
Member
Gotcha. I'll check out Moddb. I hope someone modded JA2 portraits into the new JA.
Alex Connolly
Member
With your copy of JA2, you can also repack BiA with the old voices.
There's a lot folks have done with a game doesn't have any official or easy mod support.
Passive Assassin
Member
Any mods you'd recommend? I just got Combat Evolved to start out with.
wait... you can't create your own merc? NOPE >:l
wait... you can't create your own merc? NOPE >:l