Dear Tankers,
Welcome to our 31st Development Status. You can see on what we were working the last three weeks.
Tank Crew
We’ve added a tank crew into a tank. That means that we are programming different states for the tank, for example, if the gunner is dead, the tank is unable to shoot, if the reloader is injured, it takes more time to reload, etc.
The tank crews will have dedicated animations and players will be able to see their reactions to specific events such as the Tank being hit, reload, shot from the main gun, etc.
We have added basic animations for now, and we will be adding more animations for each crew member during production
Player’s decisions
In the demo version of the game that we plan to release (and then in the final version), players will be able to take a series of decisions that are going to impact the course of the game. At the beginning of the game, at the repair station, players will receive information about the next mission. The information will consist of what kind of enemy units they can expect in what proportions if the area is for close distance or long distance combat if they can expect mines, obstacles, bridges, etc. Also, each mission is going to have different scenarios. You will be able to choose if you want to attack from the left/right flank or center. Each scenario is going to have different characteristics. Players can call for recon to receive additional information, but calling a recon will cost some resources.
Using those information players will have to take a decision on which tanks are they going to use (light, medium, heavy), what kind of infantry are they going to take with themselves, and if they are going to need artillery support or maybe airplane support, etc.
We have to balance each player’s decision in such a way, that if they take wrong decisions, the game will teach them how to make better decisions to win a mission without making it too difficult to learn or without taking too much time. On another side, when players take optimal decisions, we want to reward them for it, but at the same time, we do not want to make the game as a result of their decisions too easy, as it can become boring after some time. We all expect a challenge that is not too easy nor too difficult. The challenging part for us, developers, is that different players are going to play our game.
Soviet anti-tank mine TM-35
TM-35 - A small, rectangular Soviet anti-tank mine, widely utilized during WW2. Comprised of a metal case, carrying handle, and a raised pressure plate in the center. The mine's load was 200g blocks of TNT and could be packed up to 2.8kg of those. Despite being called effective, it did not have the punch required to cripple German armored vehicles sufficiently.
Levels junction
To make the work of our graphic designers and level designers easier, we needed to abandon one large battle scene approach. So to keep battles scale big, we developed a system that allows to easily save a collection of sublevels. Such a collection, in part or in whole, can be loaded in the editor or during the game. It will also make it easier for us to optimize the game. So right now we have game logic, terrain with props, lighting separated in sublevels, which we join together when game is loading.
Panzerfaust animations
Animation set for soldiers with the Mauser Kar98k rifle and panzerfaust as an additional weapon, as we said in the previous stage of development, units with anti-tank weapons will be visible to players.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0mHMzHxkBM&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=DeGenerals
New team members
Recently two new junior 3D artists have joined our team to help us with creating 3D assets. Their tasks will consist mostly of creating content for the environment of the game but also in creating some weapons and vehicles. TM-35 mine and power set models that you have seen above were made by those junior artists.
Thank you and have a good one!
DeGenerals
