Line War News

Hi everybody,

A public Line War poll for both owners and potential buyers of the game was opened on May 18. The poll let you vote on what single-player features should be prioritized in the coming month. The poll has now closed.

Here are the results:




There was also a poll about advanced AI behaviours that targeted experienced players.

I will let the results from these polls guide my efforts short-term. Development in June will focus on the following features

• Multiple AIs in the same match
  
• Observable AI vs AI matches
  
• AI playing as a teammate
  
• AI using the full game play toolset (Rocket, Bomber, Aircraft Carrier, Transport Jet)
  
• AI planning coordinated, full-scale amphibious invasions
  
• AI employing various strategies to counter infantry spam/general spam on big island maps
  

Also judging in part from the performance of Tutorials or mini-campaigns in the poll, in part from general experience and data since the game's release, it is evident that many players still struggle to learn how to play Line War. One feature planned ages ago is called NEXT GEN COMMAND SYSTEM (see the Line War roadmap). It's about making command issuance smarter, more efficient and lean. This feature, together with a proper onboarding experience having tutorials and in-game assistance, is likely to be prioritized mid-term.


Regards
Basantos

What single-player features should be prioritized in the following month?

This poll and the subsequent development effort will make an exception from regular development, as the roadmap for the game as a whole is pretty well figured out already. The idea is to make the single-player offer (that was released on May 5) feel more complete, before moving on to the very serious, long-term endevours.

A public Discord survey was made to figure out which items should be votable in the poll.

VOTE NOW

Anyone can participate!

Looking forward to your input.


Best
Basantos

Looking for games endlessly replayable!?

You've come to the right place. Line War is a very different type of multi-genre RTS. It uses a command-oriented system to control units, that puts higher emphasis on strategic intent and reduces the need for micro-management. The game is a natural choice for Steam's Endless Replayability Fest as it includes many elements that enables endless replay:

• Infinite Exploration: Explore an endless array of procedurally generated maps, each waiting to be conquered. Change to another randomized seed with the click of a button: A new map with an entirely different composition and distribution of water, land and special sites is created! Save & recall your favourite seed using just this magic number.
  
• Dynamic Starting Locations: Strategize and stake your land claims in the innovative Picking Phase. It's an interesting game-within-a-game where 'Zones of Interest' are claimed on the map for each player. Then pick your actual starting location (not revealed to your opponent) from among these zones.
  
• Continued Development: The game just got a major addition on May 5 when single-player AI & Co-Op was added. And there's more to come!
  

You can read more about the game here on Steam or the planned features in it's roadmap at the Line War homepage.

Get it now at a 25% discount!

GL HF


Best regards
Basantos

This is the first significant patch since the silent release of Skirmish AI that was made last Saturday, May 4.

• Fixing end of match problems for players having non-Western characters in their names, causing servers to not recycle
  
• Broken sandbox functionality when
• Include picking* was unchecked (such as Rocket blast indicator not being displayed)
  
• Sandbox main menu button clarified and moved out of the single-player panel, back to it’s old location bottom-right
  
• Sandbox auto-toggling now also working for the special “first pick” in the final phase
  
• Credits to our translation heroes now in both english and native
  
• Temporary hotfix for single-player erroneously requiring an internet connection
  

Best
Basantos

After a challenging journey of 8 months filled with ups and downs, we are thrilled to announce the release of the single-player and co-op modes for Line War. This update marks a significant milestone in our commitment to enhancing your gaming experience. Now you can enjoy Line War at any time, whether or not there are other players online, if you want to practice before heading into multiplayer matches, or if you simply prefer playing against an AI opponent.

New features in this release:

• Single-player Skirmish AI: Face off against the AI in thrilling solo matches.
  
• Co-op vs AI: Team up with up to 3 friends and take on the AI together.
  
• New Handicap System: Even out the odds against skilled human players, play a 2v1 on equal terms, or just boost the AI to 4.0x in Co-op - it's all up to you!
  
• Localization: Beginning the support for multiple languages, with an initial release of German, Spanish and Russian.
  

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

If you are hungry for some more details, read on...

After listening to the overwhelming feedback that single-player was essential for Line War, serious single-player development began last summer. Initially, we were hoping that a simpler basic AI to practice against would be sufficient but it quickly became apparent that the AI should instead be built in a robust way. This took nearly a year to complete. The first 6 months consisted of architecting the foundation of clustering algorithms, building statistical information, and gradually introducing capabilities for the AI to understand the battlefield and then draw visual commands like a human would play.

This new AI will continue to improve in coming updates and begin to vary its play style. The way the AI has been built creates a solid foundation for future single-player content such as campaigns, user-created scenarios, and better advisory information for players based on the extensive analytic services that the AI runs to evaluate the match so it can form and adapt its strategies and tactics.

In addition to the new single-player and co-op modes, we have added a new handicap system. You can set handicaps for players and the AI. This means you can gradually start with a weaker AI opponent and gradually increase its strength as your skill increases. This handicap system also works in multiplayer and co-op modes, so people of different skill levels can play in the same match. You can even play asymmetric matches like 2v1 where you boost the single-player to level out the playing field.

We are also keen to reach more players through localization. In this release, we have added support for Spanish, German, and Russian, and more languages will follow.

We celebrate the 2nd anniversary since the initial release of Line War today with this single-player and co-op update. This is our first major game release and we are learning through this process. If we build another game in the future, there is no question about it having single-player support from the start. We hear you, and we learned from your feedback.

[h3]THANK YOU[/h3]
Thank you for your patience while waiting for this update. We know there has been plenty of speculation that the game has been abandoned, but this is far from the case. Development has continued and will continue. The Line War Discord server is an active place to follow the progress if it is quiet in Steam discussions.

You can read the release notes if you are curious about some balance changes that are also included in this release.

[h3]PATREON SUPPORT[/h3]
If you enjoy Line War and if you want to contribute to its development, consider becoming a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/LineWar It has been challenging to develop an innovative RTS, and hard lessons were learned when releasing it without single-player support. The number of sales since the release does not justify the work that has been put into this date, nor would it justify continued development, but it is the belief in the game and the joy expressed by the dedicated group of players with over a thousand hours in the game that drives development forward. Support through Patreon is greatly appreciated to help development.

Now, let's enjoy some single-player action and hopefully, the multiplayer pool will also grow as a result!