Crossfire: Legion News

Greetings Commanders,

Last week we talked about our single play campaign, now we reveal our plans for Multiplayer and our Ranked ladder that we know you’re eager to climb.

Ranked Leaderboards for 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 games can be viewed and sorted by region as well as faction. Although the details may change, it’ll look similar to this:


Firstly, only games completed via our auto-match function will affect your rank.
Upon Launch of Early Access, and also subject to change based on your feedback, the ranked matchmaker will work as follows.

1. Players click “auto-match”.
   
2. Players set up a game choosing their faction, loadout and 1v1, 2v2 or 3v3.
   
3. Player’s MMR is added to the pool of available players.
   
4. Stage 1 looks for players within a range of 150 of each other and pairs them up.
   
5. If no match is found within 30 seconds, Stage 2 increases the range to 500.
   
6. If no match is found within 30 seconds, Stage 3 increases the range to 700.
   
7. If no match is found within 30 seconds, Stage 3 repeats.
   
8. On completing a match the amount of MMR a player gains or loses depends on the relative difference in ELO (skill level) between them.
   

In Crossfire Legion, your RTS skills will be put to the test and as your MMR increases you’ll climb through 10 different rank stages.



To view your competitive stats in game you only need to click on your player profile in the top left of the menu screen and your MMR and rank will be displayed bottom right. Also bear in mind that while your player profile will rise in level as you gain experience points from other game modes, this is no reflection on the ranked skill of a player.



We know that you competitive types will be thinking about your ladder placement and the current status of the multiplayer game while in “Real Life”. Therefore, on our website we’ve put together the most important stats that you can check at any time. Here’s a draft of how it might look.


Moving forward, we plan to listen closely to the players and work with our community council to ensure a fair ranked system and respond to imbalances.


We also have a Fan Kit available with artwork, unit cards, logos and all you content creators need here: https://static.kochmedia.com/yac_sites/crossfire/cfl_fankit.zip

Maintain your communication and surveillance networks by joining us here on:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Discord
• Instagram
• Twitch
• Reddit

Still lots to look forward to, and so we'll be seeing you on the battlfield and ladder.
- Your Crossfire: Legion Team

Greetings Commanders,

In addition to enjoying a good old fashioned comp stomp vs. A.I. in skirmish mode or the madness of a multiplayer match, we also know many of you also love immersing yourself in a narrative driven single-player RTS campaign. While a largely multiplayer focused game, we at Blackbird Interactive are proud of our history with campaigns and wanted to ensure that Crossfire: Legion also includes an engaging single-player campaign.



While also telling an immersive story, we hope this will be the best way to familiarize yourself with the game and units before diving into the other game modes.
The story of Crossfire: Legion will be told over four Acts, the first three being dedicated to each of the Crossfire: Legion factions; Black List, Global Risk & New Horizon.



Act I will be available on early access, consisting of four missions (2.5hours) that focus on Black List’s ongoing struggle against Global Risk.

These missions will train newer players in the RTS to experience, teaching them how to navigate levels, fight units, and use commander abilities. Players will also learn how to interact with scripted events within the game. Overall, the hope is that once players complete the first act they will understand how to use commander abilities, units in formation and have a solid understanding of the factions taking part in the narrative as well as the motivations of the commanders leading their factions.



If you want an exclusive first look at these campaign missions, join GameStars Stream with Monsters and Explosions (In German only) here: https://www.twitch.tv/monstersandexplosions


We also have a Fan Kit available with artwork, unit cards, logos and all you content creators need here: https://static.kochmedia.com/yac_sites/crossfire/cfl_fankit.zip

Maintain your communication and surveillance networks by joining us here on:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Discord
• Instagram
• Twitch
• Reddit

We’re excited to be edging closer to Early Access and to hear your feedback on April 26th, starting with our Free Play Test on April 21th.

Greetings Commanders,

It’s only a month away! We’re pleased to announce that Crossfire: Legion will hit Early Access on April 26th!

Check out our roadmap of how we’re getting from here to there.



Lots to look forward to, and here are some key details about what you can expect.


DevBlog 08, April 7th.

We know many of you, as well as enjoying a good comp stomp vs. A.I. in skirmish mode, also enjoy immersing yourself in a narrative driven single player campaign. While Crossfire: Legion is mainly a multiplayer focused game, we at Blackbird Interactive have a good history with campaigns. We hope this will be the best way to familiarize yourself with the game and units before diving into the other game modes.
The story of Crossfire: Legion will be told over four Acts, with the first being released with early access and will focus on Black list’s struggle against Global Risk.


DevBlog 09, April 14th.

We’ll highlight our vision for the game and detail how our Ranked Mode will work for your competitive players. We’ll also detail our plans for tournaments.


DevBlog 10, April 19th.

Here we’ll discuss in detail what new is coming to the game and we’ll start you thinking about your battle plans.


DevBlog 11, April 21st.

We’ll be beginning with a free play test so you can familiarise yourself with all the new content before paying to join the Early Access. We’ll be gathering players' data once more and using your feedback to further polish the game. FYI: The play-test will only be in English, but more lanaguages will be supported with Early Access.


DevBlog 12, We’ll have arrived! April 26th, Early Access will begin.

Many more units, maps and game modes will be at your disposal and it’ll cost:

• In Europe: 29.99 €
  
• In the UK: £ 23.99
  
• In the USA: ＄29.99
  
• In Korea: 31000 ₩
  

We also have a Fan Kit available with artwork, unit cards, logos and all you content creators need here: https://static.kochmedia.com/yac_sites/crossfire/cfl_fankit.zip

Maintain your communication and surveillance networks by joining us here on:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Discord
• Instagram
• Twitch
• Reddit

So that’s the plan for the month to come. We’re very excited to see you all in Early Access and to hear your feedback.

Greetings Commanders,

We will be releasing many more units for each faction. So many, in fact, you will need to make choices before entering the battlefield.

[h3]Introducing Our Card System[/h3]



Bring to battle the right tools for the right challenge.
Before entering a game, players will have a roster with eight slots. Each slot represents a different type and category of unit. Before entering battle, players can switch up units and commanders in this roster by selecting different cards. Different army compositions will work better for the different game modes we will introduce.

Only one card can be selected per slot and these cards are unlocked by ingame currency earned from completing daily operations (varying game related missions) and winning games in ranked matches.

With this card system we want to add a deck-building experience to Crossfire: Legion. By constraining what units a player can bring to each round, players will hopefully also spend time away from the game devising what their optimal loadout will be for their play-style. Experimenting with your army will be key to victory.




Crossfire: Legion needs you!
We’re happy to announce application to join that our Discord community council are now open:

• Apply by completing the form here: https://bit.ly/commcouncil
  

Deadline is Monday the 28th of March

Community Council Commanders will get:

• Direct access to the developers and private test builds
  
• A chance to play with us on streams
  
• A unique Discord role
  
• 1000 internet points with our eternal gratitude
  

You will commit to:

• Providing detailed feedback, e.g. helping with balance
  
• Signing an NDA
  
• Moderation responsibilities
  
• Being a pillar of the Crossfire: Legion community
  

We also have a Fan Kit available with artwork, unit cards, logos and all you content creators need here: https://static.kochmedia.com/yac_sites/crossfire/cfl_fankit.zip

Maintain your communication and surveillance networks by joining us here on:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Discord
• Instagram
• Twitch
• VK
• Reddit

And here is a reminder of our development progress.


As you can see, we're ploughing on ahead and taking your feedback into consideration and we polish the game before release. Stay tuned for next week when we reveal our plans towards Early Access.

Greetings Commanders,
The number one request submitted via our feedback forms during the technical test and Demo is, more! More please. . . So let’s dive into your feedback.

At this early stage of development we see this as great encouragement. Players want to see more from us and we have lots planned. From new units to game modes, we want to feed this hunger for RTS gaming goodness.

[h2]Our feedback on your feedback[/h2]

Again, a massive thank you to all those who completed the feedback form after playing our recent technical test and Demo. Among all the positivity and excitement for a new RTS game. In order of popularity, here is our response to the top 14 improvements suggested by you:

[h3]1. More game content[/h3]
What has been playable so far has been a test or proof of concept. We will release more units, game modes, army customisation and even a mapmaking tool in due time. Stay tuned!

[h3]2. More players[/h3]
At this early stage, you helped us discover flaws in our matchmaker which prevented it from working as intended and so gave the impression of low player numbers. We’re very grateful to all the RTS fans who have joined us at this stage. Of course we plan for even more players once we have resolved such issues, polished the game further and begun promotional activities as we approach full release.

[h3]3. Remove population cap[/h3]
Many requested that we adjust the population cap in our game, feeling that it is too limiting. We’ve come up with two solutions to address this. Firstly, we’ll be hosting internal tests with higher population caps that will allow us to evaluate how the game plays at a bigger scale. Secondly, we will provide players with the ability to decide on a population cap in the lobbies of non-ranked games. However, players should be aware that setting this number higher will result in poorer performance.

[h3]4. More complex base building[/h3]
Some players believe our game's base building is too simplistic. This was intentionally designed to allow players to focus more on other macro elements of the game such as combat. Although we intended to focus on making the game quick, with a sense of tension, we will find ways to expand our base building inorder to provide more depth to the experience.

[h3]5. Better unit balancing[/h3]
Balancing unit power is the most complex aspect of any RTS game. It can be highly subjective and often leads to an endless buff/nerf cycle. With the limited amount of units available during the tests, balancing is not a priority until the faction rosters are more fleshed out and we have compiled more of your feedback. We will soon be establishing a Discord community council to help guide us on this.

[h3]6. Greater camera controls[/h3]
Many have requested greater control over the camera's functions . We’ll be working on bringing settings that will allow the player to have greater control over how the camera moves around the map.

[h3]7. Game is to derivative of others[/h3]
While we clearly wear our old school RTS influences on our sleeves, we also feel there is no point reinventing the wheel. Successful game development naturally builds on what came before. However, the current state of the game does not contain all that we have planned and especially those game elements that differentiate Crossfire: Legion are yet to be publicly released.

[h3]8. Adjust games pacing[/h3]
We've received reports that the pacing in our game can be tightened up in several phases of the game. We’re working on improving our telemetry so we can get objective measurements on how quickly players are reaching the mid and late stages of the game. We’ll be using this information to make changes to various systems within our game.

[h3]9. Add more tutorialization[/h3]
We will certainly look at ways to make gameplay more intuitive and appealing to a newer generation of RTS players. Firstly, upon full release the game will include a single player narrative driven campaign which will guide players progressively through using different factions and units. We also plan a “Mentorship Program” so that more veteran players can help new players get to grips with the game. This, we hope, will raise the general skill level of the player base for the benefit of all.

[h3]10. Better unit pathfinding[/h3]
We’ve received a lot of reports that the pathing behaviour of units needs to be improved. Even during internal playtest sessions we’ve had several instances where our tactical plans failed to execute due to the shortcomings of our pathfinding system. We’ll be working on ways to improve this functionality by hosting internal playtest sessions where we critically analyse the pathing of units in games such as Starcraft and Command and Conquer. We’ll then compare unit behaviour in those games to ours and see how we can better meet player expectations.

[h3]11. Loading Issues[/h3]
Currently our game suffers from a long load time when the player runs the game for the first time on their machine. This is due to several back-end checks that the game is making for user generated features that are not yet in the system. These will be removed for launch and resolved when we make our User Generated Content tools, like the map maker, available to the players

[h3]12. A.I issues[/h3]
Currently, the A.I. in the game will break when encountering certain edge cases. We plan on collecting these edge cases and fixing them throughout the early access period. Moreover, many players requested that the A.I. be given additional layers of difficulty. This is on the way.

[h3]13. Didn’t know how to add A.I[/h3]
We discovered that the user experience of creating a game against bot was unintuitive and requires revision. We have submitted a fix for our open beta that we hope will resolve these issues.

[h3]14. Resource gathering[/h3]
Players wanted additional automation options for the resource gathering portions of our game. Some players also reported wishing to be able to set limitations on resources themselves in the lobby. We’ll be providing these options later on in our early access campaign.


[h2]Community[/h2]

Crossfire: Legion needs you!
We’re happy to announce application to join that our Discord community council are now open:

• Apply by completing the form here: https://dyno.gg/form/8ad9491f
  

Deadline is Monday the 28th of March

Community Council Commanders will get:

• Direct access to the developers and private test builds
  
• A chance to play with us on streams
  
• A unique Discord role
  
• 1000 internet points with our eternal gratitude
  

You will commit to:

• Providing detailed feedback, e.g. helping with balance
  
• Signing an NDA
  
• Moderation responsibilities
  
• Being a pillar of the Crossfire: Legion community
  

We also have a Fan Kit available with artwork, unit cards, logos and all you content creators need here: https://static.kochmedia.com/yac_sites/crossfire/cfl_fankit.zip

Maintain your communication and surveillance networks by joining us here on:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Discord
• Instagram
• Twitch
• VK
• Reddit

And here is a reminder of our development progress.

As you can see, we're ploughing on ahead and taking your feedback into consideration and we polish the game before release. Stay tuned for next weeks DevBlog about our Card system and army customisation.