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[Alex Connolly]

From the official R.U.S.E. site, some news and information concerning what happened after the first beta and an unveiling of the new five day open multiplayer beta kicking off this weekend:

Unit Pathfinding and Behaviour Update

Unit pathfinding in the beta was sometimes inconsistent when moving a group of units comprised of towed units and Tanks. In some cases, a move order could lead to Tanks moving in a straight line while the towed units used the roads to go faster. Now the whole group will use the same path and move at the same speed in order to preserve its cohesion. We have also improved the formations. They were too loose and looking like column formations rather lines. Now they look much more aggressive!

Additionally, a lot of you asked for the ability to set up waypoints. The SHIFT + click command to queue up orders was present in the beta, but it was buggy and impractical. This has been fully fixed.

Finally, we've been asked to improve the overall pathfinding, particularly to avoid bottlenecks when crossing bridges or inside cities. We've been dedicated to fixing all the problems the players reported and we believe the system is now completely reliable.

A list of the fine-tweaks and balancing following the open beta earlier in the year

• Flamethrower tanks can't fire anymore while moving.
• Excessive paratroopers' stress resistance has been fixed.
• Siegfried & Maginot field defences' minimal flamethrower range has been fixed.
• British paratroopers' armament changed from "Elite" to "Heavy".
• All heavy bombers' (P108, Lancaster, B17, Arado Blitz) production time has been increased by 5 seconds.
• B17 bomber's speed has been decreased.
• Lancaster bomber's speed has been decreased.
• Heavy bombers' bombs' damages have been slightly decreased.
• All bombers' ground speed has been decreased.
• All planes' repair time on ground has been increased by 25%.
• British Coventry recon vehicle's armor has been decreased by 1 point, speed decreased too.
• HQ's resistance has been slightly increased.
• US Chaffee tank's speed has been slightly increased.
• All ground units now have better reactivity (rotation, acceleration, …).
• AA guns' damages on falling paratroopers have been increased.
• USSR Ishak fighter's production time has been decreased by 5 seconds.
• AA guns are now in " shoot to kill " mode (they keep the same target until his death).
• Light AA (20mm & 40mm) guns' damages have been slightly increased.
• USSR Yak-3 fighter's research price has been decreased by 25$.
• German Tiger tank's price has been decreased by 5$.
• French SAU-40 tank's speed has been slightly decreased.
• British Firefly tank destroyer's speed has been slightly decreased.
• British Firefly tank destroyer's turret rotation has been slightly decreased.
• All air recon's price have been increased by 5$.
• USSR IS-2 tank's price has been decreased by 5$.
• USSR ZSU-37 AA tank's research price has been decreased to 25$.
• US M40 armored artillery's price has been increased to 50$.
• US M40 armored artillery's armor has been decreased.
• Italian 20mm AA is now available without research.
• Italian 20mm AA gun's price has been increased by 5$.
• All advanced tank destroyers' maximum range has been decreased.
• All heavy/jumbo/super-heavy tanks' HE damages have been increased.
• Italian Semovente tank destroyer's research price has been decreased to 25$.
• Italian Semovente tank destroyer's production time has been decreased by 5s.
• German Siegfried field defence's price has been decreased by 5$.
• US Stuart tank's price has been increased by 5$.
• German SdKfz 222 now has a level one armor
• German SdKfz 222's speed has been slightly decreased.
• USSR BA-11 armored recon's speed has been increased.
• US Greyhnoud armoured recon's price has been decreased by 5$.
• Italian Autoblinda 40 armoured recon's speed has been increased.
• All 20mm AT guns (SdKfZ 222, M11 tanks, …)' AP damages have been decreased.
• US T95 super-heavy tank's price has been decreased by 5$.
• German Marder tank destroyer's damages have been increased.
• German Marder tank destroyer's price has been increased by 5$.
• British Archer tank destroyer's price has been decreased by 5$.
• German Ju-87 fighter-bomber's dive attack move has been adjusted.
• All fighters/fighter-bombers auto-engage range has been decreased.
• All planes' climbing/landing rate has been decreased.
• British Sexton armored artillery's price has been decreased by 5$.
• German Wirbelwind AA tank's research price has been decreased by 25$.
• German PaK 40 AT gun's price has been increased by 5$.
• German PaK 40 AT gun's research price has been decreased by 25$.

Announcement of Free Weekend Multiplayer Event

Following the Public Beta, a few months ago, we received tons of feedback from beta-testers. It’s a great feeling for us to know that so many of you enjoyed the game basics and balance as well as the introduction of innovative features such as the zoom ability and the deception cards. At the same time we inherited a big challenge because of the amount of requests and suggestions the team received.
Thus, back in April, we made the hard but necessary decision to postpone the game to September in order to utilize this worthy feedback and ultimately, ensure that this game would meet the highest expectations of the R.U.S.E. supportive fan base.

Well… it’s been a while since then, and we’re now pleased to present to you many of the final changes brought to the game in this video broadcast, featuring Mathieu Girard and Alexis Le Dressay, Senior Producer and Creative Director of the game. (The video is long – it explains what we’ve been working on during the past months – but you can directly jump to the part that interests you the most by using the buttons at the end of the introduction.)

VIDEO

If that wasn’t enough, we’re absolutely thrilled to let you guys know that you’ll be able to try these improvements during a 5 days Free Multiplayer Weekend starting July, 15th on Steam! You will be able to pre-download the game as soon as today, and more information will come regarding the content and game modes available, so keep an eye on R.U.S.E.’s Community Developer twitter (www.twitter.com/UbiLeak) to get the info as soon as it appears. Thanks for your support and enjoy the game!

The R.U.S.E. team

Sounds like they're really done a fantastic job listening to the feedback and I for one simply cannot wait until I get my mitts on it. Getting the Move supported PS3 version, as I think it'd be a great fit on a large screen. This just might be a hallmark or milestone in console strategy gaming. Love the tabletop look of it all.

Try and keep the irrelevant Starcraft 2 jabs to a minimum.

Do watch the video, it's worth checking out the team's hard work.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Darn it doesnt seem to be for consoles. Maybe Ill try it out on Steam

 

[Alex Connolly]

Darn it doesnt seem to be for consoles. Maybe Ill try it out on Steam

Yeah, only for Steam. Still, high hopes for all versions, especially for PS3. An RTS that doesn't rely on a gazillion APM is a good fit.

 

[markot]

Ubiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii soft!

 

[TTP]

Darn it doesnt seem to be for consoles. Maybe Ill try it out on Steam

It's actually coming on PS3 during the PlayStation Move launch period. Yes, it supports PlayStation Move.

People have already played it.

http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/07/07/playstation-move-uk-preview-photos/

Much more impressive was seeing real time strategy game RUSE working with a PlayStation Move wand – here the integration was much more subtle. RTS games have been a tough sell on consoles without a keyboard and mouse set up, but from the demo we were shown, it looks like Ubisoft has struck a decent balance. This isn’t a game to be played with arms akimbo, rather than subtle gestures from the sofa.

And they work: panning and rotating the map by twisting the PlayStation Move wand was seamless, with no visible delay, and the problem of exactly pointing to small icons from several metres away is solved by an auto lock, which brings the cursor over to the settlement you’re aiming for pretty smoothly.

This, we could get used to: where as so many Wii developers have made the terrible mistake of adding “waggle” controls in just because they can, PlayStation Move controls on RUSE were enjoyable, and importantly, not really noticeable. We could easily see it making the PS3 the go to platform for RTS games, along with the PC, whereas Kinect couldn’t possibly do the same for the Xbox 360, as impressive as it is. Is that enough though? We’re not sure, but it’s early days.

 

[Poimandres]

^^^

I'm pretty excited about the prospect of this (and strategy games in general) using Move. Seems like a perfect fit to me.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I wish it had the voice support though that End War had. I was pretty proficient at it

 

[trinest]

I just want to play the dam thing. First beta I could never get into a game. Second beta I think they allowed "instant action" sort of stuff- which I did check out a little bit, but I installed it on my laptop which didn't really have the power to play the game- but I did play a little bit to get a little feel for the game.

 

[eznark]

I was super unimpressed with the previous beta but I think adding waypoints might make a huge strategic difference so I will give it another look. Too bad it's Ubisoft though.

 

[Alex Connolly]

I was super unimpressed with the previous beta but I think adding waypoints might make a huge strategic difference so I will give it another look. Too bad it's Ubisoft though.

I'd actually really like to hear your thoughts on it if you're keen to give it another shot.

 

[PistolGrip]

It's actually coming on PS3 during the PlayStation Move launch period. Yes, it supports PlayStation Move.

People have already played it.

http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/07/07/playstation-move-uk-preview-photos/

Nice. I hope it works out. I would love me some RTS goodness on my PS3

 

[Alex Connolly]

Nice. I hope it works out. I would love me some RTS goodness on my PS3

Well, if all goes according to plan, this just might kick off a new age for the genre. The Master Race might have something to say, but there's no reason why one cannot compliment the other.

 

[Blizzard]

I thought the beta was cool, and I think I actually wrote up some thoughts on it, but I don't really remember them at this point. I like that they seem to have really listened to people's feedback though, hopefully in a good way. It seemed like a bit of a unique RTS game.

 

[SapientWolf]

Well, if all goes according to plan, this just might kick off a new age for the genre. The Master Race might have something to say, but there's no reason why one cannot compliment the other.

I say bring it on. Playing RTS games with a gamepad has always been awkward. Hell, if Move worked on a PC I would probably use it there too to game from my comfy couch.

 

[backbreaker65]

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/strateg...ss&tag=gs_previews&subj=6268880&mode=previews

What's New: Though Move support was added to R.U.S.E. long after development was under way, it has been tightly integrated into the game's mechanics. The Move controller acts as a pointer, allowing you to highlight a group of troops, issue commands to them, or navigate menus in much the same way a mouse is used in PC real-time strategy games. Gestures have also been implemented; a swift swipe to right of the screen brings up the menu where you can select your troops with the pointer or via the analogue stick on the navigation controller. Zooming also gets the gesture treatment, where pushing toward the screen zooms into the map, while pulling backward zooms out. The light-up ball doesn't get left out of the action either; it turns red when you're hovering over enemy troops and green when selecting your own. Most commands can be performed using just the main controller, though Girard informed us that the navigation controller makes some commands easier to access, giving you quick shortcuts to the most frequently used ones.

 

[Alex Connolly]

What's New: Though Move support was added to R.U.S.E. long after development was under way, it has been tightly integrated into the game's mechanics. The Move controller acts as a pointer, allowing you to highlight a group of troops, issue commands to them, or navigate menus in much the same way a mouse is used in PC real-time strategy games. Gestures have also been implemented; a swift swipe to right of the screen brings up the menu where you can select your troops with the pointer or via the analogue stick on the navigation controller. Zooming also gets the gesture treatment, where pushing toward the screen zooms into the map, while pulling backward zooms out. The light-up ball doesn't get left out of the action either; it turns red when you're hovering over enemy troops and green when selecting your own. Most commands can be performed using just the main controller, though Girard informed us that the navigation controller makes some commands easier to access, giving you quick shortcuts to the most frequently used ones.

Holy hell, that sounds fantastic!

I say bring it on. Playing RTS games with a gamepad has always been awkward. Hell, if Move worked on a PC I would probably use it there too to game from my comfy couch.

Hear, hear. And you're no Johnny-come-lately when it comes to strategy titles, Sapient!

 

[backbreaker65]

Hours to complete a game.

Will this game have in game saves, that saves your progress until you can play again?

 

[Alex Connolly]

Hours to complete a game.

Will this game have in game saves, that saves your progress until you can play again?

I hope so, and would like to think Eugen - being primarily PC devs - would implement such a necessity.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Have they stated how its setup, if its robust single player campaign or is more of the focus on multiplayer?

 

[Alex Connolly]

Have they stated how its setup, if its robust single player campaign or is more of the focus on multiplayer?

I think it'd pretty much equal. They did a lot of motion capture for a story centered around two opposing generals...but in saying that, everything points to a solid multiplayer setup as well. Can't wait!

 

[Liberty4all]

Will Ruse support Kinect too? If not I'll get the PS3 version.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Will Ruse support Kinect too? If not I'll get the PS3 version.

Sadly, they said it wasn't going to support Kinect, saying Move has the fidelity needed for RUSE.

 

[Fersis]

Hope they add lots of Single Player content... sadly theres no map editor
The move thing sounds sweet.

 

[Lagspike_exe]

I'm pretty hyped for this. Watched a trailer earlier this year and thought it was great.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Hope they add lots of Single Player content... sadly theres no map editor
The move thing sounds sweet.

Fersis, weren't we the most excited folks back in the early days for this?

Hope a nice community grows out of it.