The completion of the Gazala to Husky release cycle lends us a perfect opportunity to tackle game system and interface additions or improvements, as well as making the scenario editor ready for public release. This Combat Overhaul release cycle will bridge the gap between Husky and our first, as yet unannounced paid expansion, intended for release later this year.
The objectives outlined in this roadmap are naturally subject to change, and they are not exhaustive. For instance, there are plenty of in-development AI improvements that don't appear on the roadmap. This roadmap serves as a general guide to the direction of development leading up to the first expansion later this year.
Combat Overhaul 1
Focus: Combat Overhaul 1 focuses on making Attack orders more useful, making concentrated anti-tank even more effective, and eliminating the tedium of replacement management through an automated replacement system
Game System Update:
Automated replacement system: replacements will be automatically pulled from pool and dispersed to units in the field. Units outside of enemy zone of control, and units in Rest and Refit will be able to absorb more replacements per turn.
Gameplay changes:
- Slow down combat by increasing move cost to initiate March combat.
- Make Attack orders impact a 3-hex arc, instead of the current 6-hex circle.
- Make armor suppression over 75% reduce armor combined arms bonus.
- Air order automation options.
Combat Overhaul 2
Update Focus: Combat overhaul 2 focuses on better communicating how turns unfold to players.
Game System Updates:
Immersive Turn Resolution: Immersive turn resolution will function like an evolved version of turn replays. At the start of each turn players will watch the turn unfold, impulse by impulse, as units move, and fight, joined by visual aids such as translucent pop-up messages above each combat showing casualties as the turn unfolds. The objective of immersive turn resolution is to show the player exactly how the battle unfolded to eliminate the need to open every combat report to understand what went down and how at the start of a new turn.
Initiative system: The current initiative system is based on training level, cohesion, movement speed, and a bit of randomization, and is unexplained to players within the game. The new initiative system will assign an initiative stat to each weapon type, based on the availability of radios to that weapon type (per vehicle, per platoon, per company, etc.) modified by training, cohesion, slight randomization, and weapon type. For instance, recon units will inherently possess higher initiative than line infantry. This new system will not only allow players to accurately predict which units will move first during resolution impulses, but also create custom battlegroups designed to move before larger, more ponderous enemies can catch them.
Gameplay changes:
- Revisit artillery/air attack pinning. Pinning units is currently too easy and effective.
- Reduce the effectiveness of bombers by giving bombing mission a circular error probability, meaning they may hit adjacent hexes instead of the target.
CAOS editor
Update Focus: Prepare the scenario editor for community use.
Making the scenario editor ready for player use requires three key efforts:
- Producing the graphical user interface to make the editor usable to non-developers.
- Automating or changing a number of the more tedious aspects of the scenario creation process, such as scenario creation and scenario configuration files that currently take place out of game, and need to be incorporated inside the in-game editor for player convenience.
- Linking scenario creation to steam workshop so players can easily upload their creations for the rest of the community to play.
Future Expansion
It is too early to reveal the subject of our first paid expansion, but at this point we will say it is located in the European Theater and it involves one of the greatest operations of World War 2…that was cancelled.