Hello!
In our recent Road Map 2020 blog post we talked about an exciting new feature coming to Steel Division 2: Rules of Engagement.
Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at what this new mechanic actually entails.
Rules of Engagement will be made available to all Steel Division 2 players in the form of a free Reinforcement Pack. When? We don’t have an exact date yet but in the not too distant future!
What is it?
Rules of Engagement will make your commanding life much easier by giving your units more initiative on the battlefield, reducing the amount of micromanagement needed to control them.
Like the Smart Orders mechanic (detailed in this blog post), Rules of Engagement will have its own options panel which becomes active during a tactical battle. In this screen, you’ll be able to set the various behaviors all your units should follow on the battlefield.
Rules of Engagement will allow your units to do more on their own and adapt to changing conditions much more intelligently.
A bit of background
As you might know, we have been in creating RTS games for a long time, not only with our popular Wargame titles but also with R.U.S.E. (among other games). In the latter example, we set out to provide the units with more adaptive behavior beyond the default orders commonly found in the genre (move, fight, etc.). For example, in R.U.S.E., the standard travel order was a road travel order and the unit would automatically stop when spotting an enemy and then engage them.
In Steel Division and Wargame, the default orders are just that - very straight forward. If you click Move, and a unit spots an enemy while moving either off-road or on a paved track, it will not stop to engage. This gives players more control but is also more challenging because the level of micromanagement increases significantly.
When you think of it, these basic orders and commands don’t fit the high degree of realism we are trying to accomplish with Steel Division 2 - an authentic World War 2 game. We have also come to the conclusion that it didn’t make much sense to have a default move order that most of the experienced players ignored, as the far more efficient option would be to use Hunt instead.
Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that we want to allow for very high levels of micromanagement for our veteran Steel Division 2 players, but at the same time open up to first-comers and new players so that they can enjoy the game in a more relaxed manner.
How does it work?
In designing Rules of Engagement, we wanted to make sure it would work well in concert with the Smart Orders. You can see both mechanics as being partner-in-crime features, giving the player the flexibility to set their unit’s automatic behavior on the battlefield while decreasing the burden of complex micromanagement.
Please note that the feature is still in development, so some of the naming and orders might change.
Rules of Engagement orders
Advance: Hunt or normal Move. Makes sense, right?
Motorised Pathfind: Fast or Short. In this case, the road is to be used if it is calculated to be faster. Watch out, though. Fast can be dangerous because the algorithm that calculates the optimal route can sometimes make the units pass through contested places. Short makes the unit follow the shortest, straightest way: we don’t allow units to travel on any road.
On Foot Pathfind: Also known as walking. Cover or Short. Set the unit to either take cover whenever possible (while taking into account not to deviate too far from the original route). Or simply move straight ahead.
Idle: Sets the behavior when a unit is doing nothing. Either Nothing, Cover or Hold Position. The first speaks for itself. The second option allows a unit to find cover in a small radius of its current position. The third position will switch a unit’s stance to Smart Orders.
Shot on Target: In Steel Division 2, units automatically shoot at the maximum range (2 kilometers). This creates two “issues”: the unit is revealed, and the maximum range is a far cry from effective range, the point where you can actually do damage. This order toggles between Efficient (only shoot when a gun can penetrate an enemy unit’s armor) or Max Range, which is the default stance.
If you are a veteran Steel Division 2 player, the Rules of Engagement will be initially configured as a blank slate - you should not notice any difference. You can set your own unit’s behavior as you see fit.
If you are new to Steel Division 2 after the Rules of Engagement feature rolls out, it will be configured in a way that we feel is most appropriate to new players.
To make clear each unit’s action, we have added the option - as a small button in the new panel - to display all the current orders of each unit. Each order is represented by an arrow of a different color.
Conclusion
We want to know what you think about the Rules of Engagement. If there are any other orders or behaviors that would be of interest, we are more than happy to take it into consideration!
We actively listen to your feedback, be it in the Steam and Eugen forums and social channels (Facebook and Twitter). Don’t hesitate to leave us your thoughts.
See you on the battlefield, commander!