Hello commander!
As always, greetings from the Eugen team. Hot on the heels of our latest History Expansion launch - Steel Division 2: Burning Baltics - we turn our attention back to other exciting Steel Division 2 projects.
However, before we do that, we want to address some of the recent developments surrounding the game.
We hear you, and we are working on it
All right, first things first - in good game development fashion: you break something, you fix something, rinse and repeat. What makes a difference? We read all forum posts, messages, monitor all chat channels, and we are closely following your feedback.
We kindly ask you to have patience and to understand that we, as an independent studio, have limited manpower and resources. We are working as hard as we can to get our game in tip-top shape and update or adjust any mechanics if needed, fix bugs, update units - but Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was Steel Division 2.
So, not to worry, we are addressing all the points related to the range rework, including balancing Allied and Axis units and guns, and other game mechanics. Keep calm, and expect some updates soon!
Army General Coop Mode
We can also share new details about the upcoming Army General Coop Mode. We are getting ready to roll out this new cooperative mode, allowing you to play each Steel Division 2 strategic campaign with up to two additional players against the AI. Three players is a maximum, but you can try with less! It is not possible to play a co-op campaign versus a co-op campaign.
As we previously mentioned, within the new Army General Coop Mode, the host will be in charge of calling reinforcements. All participating players can perform other actions, such as moving formations, initiating battles, or ending turns. You have to decide when playing as a team who moves, attacks, or defends which sector of the map.
It used to be impossible to give simultaneous orders to different battalions at the same time. In the new mode, this is now possible, but the actual movement of each unit is done in sequence. Battalions already acting an order will display an “Order in Progress” label. If a unit’s move is intercepted by a previously unseen enemy, all further moves in the queue are canceled.
If you go into a Tactical Battle, the first thing players need to do is distribute the available battalions. Each player chooses a battalion to command. If there are fewer battalions than players, additional one(s) will be created (but consider them an empty shell). Players will then be offered the option to reshuffle companies from battalion to battalion (with companies retaining their phase-locked units), giving all players a chance to command.
For example, suppose a tank battalion is available in Combat Phase A and an Infantry battalion in B. In that case, players can create two combined arms battalions by mixing the companies of these formations. However, in-game, regardless of the player in command, the tanks will still deploy in Phase A, and infantry in Phase B. Battalions can also be given to the AI; especially useful if one on your team decides to become a spectator, call for a pizza, and turn into a true armchair general in the team’s direst of moments!
The income is divided equally between all available battlegroups. A player that has more available battlegroups assigned will therefore have more income. Likewise, income evolves between phases. Another feature we’ve added to the Army General Coop mode is the possibility to place flares on the map. This will allow you to indicate a point of interest to your fellow commanders quickly.
Lastly, an additional feature which will be added to all versions of Army General, not just coop, is dynamic stats for battalions depending on the terrain they are fighting. A formation’s stats are now shown in its current position, but they might change, such as a tank battalion attacking an enemy located in a forest. That’s why you’ll now get updated stats when you plan a battle before you hit “Click to prepare battle.”
Coming up next
We recently announced the new Steel Division 2: Tribute to the Liberation of Italy. In the same vein as Tribute to D-Day, this expansion pack will feature several new divisions, including four new nationalities. We hope to start showing each new battlegroup in typical Versus format soon!
That’s it for this week. We’ll be back in two weeks’ time!
Let us know what you think through our Steam forums and Eugen forums, or check our (Facebook and Twitter). Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page.
Keep it cool and clean, commander. See you on the battlefield.