Line War News

Version 34.8

This is released as a minor version but behind the scenes we have done a major upgrade to replace the entire netcode and Unity version. This should hopefully provide a more stable connection for those who have experienced occasional timeouts.

Changes:

• New network transport library (total replacement)
  
• New cloud-based replays (no need to wait for replay download after a match, replays are automatically available after a match)
  
• New connections indicator showing if a connection is unstable
  
• New "Create/Join Lobby" feature, you can create a lobby and copy/paste the name for someone else to join
  
• Improved chat, you can chat cross-scenes in Select World, Game, and End Screen with chat history and timestamps.
  
• Performance improvements for modern GPUs
  

We're happy to announce the first official Line War Tournament to be held 18-19 June 2022.

Details can be found here: https://wiki.linewar.com/wiki/Tournaments

In short, it's a 32 player tournament with invitations sent from the top of the leaderboard to players that have played 30 or more matches. On 18 June there is a group stage, and on 19 June there will be a double-elimination final stage.

We're excited to also stream matches and publish post-tournament videos with commentary from many of the matches. It should be a lot of fun for participators and spectators alike =)

Four weeks have nearly passed since Line War was released and we’re happy to release an announcement to let everyone know what’s going on and how we are moving forward.

We are absolutely thrilled to hear that the concept of Line War is received very positively and many players have become hooked on what Line War has to offer in terms of replayability and strategic game-play.

[h3]2022 Q2 Line War Tournament 18-19 June[/h3]
The first official Line War online tournament will take place during 18 - 19 June 2022. A total of 32 players will be invited starting from the top of the official leaderboard (https://linewar.com/leaderboard). Important: Only players who have played 30 or more matches will qualify! More information about the tournament will be announced shortly. Meanwhile, save the dates and play as much as possible to climb the leaderboard and ensure you have a total of at least 30 matches played.
UPDATE 22-06-01 - The dates for the tournaments have been updated, the correct dates are 18-19 June!

[h3]Version 34.8 is approaching[/h3]

• Beta testing of version 34.8 containing the new network code will begin soon. When it is stable, we should see a public release of this version in the near future. This should resolve issues for those who have experienced network connectivity timeouts.
  
• New “Cloud Replays” will be released with version 34.8. You will no longer need to wait at the end-screen to slowly download replays, they will automatically be archived in the cloud where you can download them to your computer.
  
• Optional balance patch that will address the issues surrounding “Arty/SAM blobs”.
  

The top concerns that we see in the feedback, reviews, and discussions relate primarily to two things: 1) Lack of single-player AI, and 2) Downward trending (but normal) player count and increased time spent in the matchmaking queue.

We are still set on our goal to make Line War primarily a PvP experience, however, the overwhelming feedback on this front has led us to make some adjustments.

[h3]Reprioritization for coming version 35 [/h3]

• A basic AI is being prototyped that may offer reasonable practicing grounds, especially for new players. Our initial tests are promising, the AI should be able to pick good starting territories, conquer and expand, build up an army and try to force you into submission. It will not, however, be a skilled AI capable of making clever and beautiful strategic decisions - for this experience we will always recommend tackling another human player in PvP, or waiting until we can reinvest time and resources to develop an intelligent AI opponent.
  
• The Aircraft Carrier unit, a floating airbase, is scheduled for implementation in version 35 too. This should be a fun unit for those of you who have already become familiar with Line War and are looking for some extra in your strategic toolbox to play with.
  

Want to know more about why and how we are doing? Please feel free to carry on reading:

The reason why we prioritize the above before FFA and Teams, is that the FFA and Teams implementation would not be possible to deliver before the summer. During the summer, we have to take a development break due to family commitments and a potential intercontinental move by one of the developers. We would like to focus on items that we believe have a higher chance of delivery before we head into a summer break.

[h3]Why a Tournament?[/h3]
Line War is a PvP game where matches can be very exciting to watch. We hosted a smaller community-driven tournament during the demo period and it led to a lot of excitement and activity around the game. Since the start, we have aimed for Line War to be a game where people compete and this will be the start of what we hope is to become a quarterly recurring event to bring attention and new players to the game through broadcasting and commentating matches.

[h3]Why the Unity and Netcode Upgrade?[/h3]
During the past couple of weeks, we have been working on an essential game engine upgrade where we move away from an unsupported Unity 2018 version to a long-term supported Unity 2021 version. You may wonder why we are prioritizing this, and we would love it if we could exclusively focus on adding game features, but we aim for Line War to have a long and stable life. The Unity upgrade brings us back to a supported version and we want to increase the network reliability with the new network library. There is a confirmed AI navigation bug that will only be fixed in the newer versions of Unity.

[h3]Why the cloud-based replays?[/h3]
While the netcode was being worked on, one of the developers had a couple of days of available time and there had been quite a few reports where replays timed out and could not be downloaded during which time chatting to the opponent was not possible. By letting the server automatically send the replays to the cloud, no waiting is necessary and the risks of losing or forgetting to download a replay are removed.

[h3]Why a Basic AI?[/h3]
The lack of single-player AI is by far the most common criticism we have received following the launch. In combination with the natural reduction of concurrent players that most games experience after a hyped-up launch period, we may have the opportunity to implement a very basic AI to practice against. It will not be a full single-player experience by any means, but it can be one step in the direction to meet some of the concerns and wishes that we see in the discussions and in the reviews. The AI will not be cheating. It can only see what a player would see. It will not have any discounted unit prices, speed buffs, or any other advantage. It will observe the battlefield like a player and use the command painter to draw and manage commands.

[h3]Why the Aircraft Carrier unit?[/h3]
Since we won’t have time to implement FFA and Teams before the summer, there is a slight chance that we may be able to deliver the Aircraft Carrier unit instead. It could be a fun addition to those who have already played many Line War matches and look forward to another unit being implemented.

Increase Striker AS damage reliance on cannon. This will take away the edge of the lethal first-strike Maverick attack against AA and more energy will be required to release the full payload (which stays the same). Non-AA surface units will be given more opportunities to return fire.

• Striker AS missile 20 ⇒ 17 (- 12 payload)
  
• Striker AS cannon 10 ⇒ 12 (+ 12 payload)
  

Interceptor AA role more clear. Interceptor is slightly more versatile.

• Interceptor AA missile 15 ⇒ 18 (+ 12 payload)
  
• Interceptor AS cannon 8 ⇒ 9 (+ 6 payload)
  

Reduces the Artillery blob reaction time to counter attacks.

• Artillery deployment duration nerf 3.0 ⇒ 3.3
  

The completed entrenchment becomes almost an "investment" in defense. More flexible defense now that you can afford to abandon entrenchments, do battle in some other place and then return, without them getting lost in the meantime.

• Entrench cooldown 60 ⇒ 120
  

Submarines get a lethal first strike but can not (under normal circumstances) stay and do regular battle afterwards. When and why you should reveal the very presence of your Submarines becomes a hard strategic choice.

• Torpedo damage 15 ⇒ 25
  
• Torpedo cooldown 3 ⇒ 6
  
• Speed 0.70 ⇒ 0.65
  

The Destroyer should be a fast and capable attack ship. In combination with 5) - will no longer have much to fear from Submarines in head-to-head combat.

• Grenade damage 3.0 ⇒ 3.5
  
• Depth charge damage 10 ⇒ 11
  

Army backbone Infantry gets a very minor speed increase. Especially important vs Artillery.

• Speed 0.36 ⇒ 0.37
  

Here is a reminder to everyone that the 25% launch discount ends 12 May 09:00 AM PDT, 18:00 CEST, 16:00 GMT so you may want to consider grabbing it while it's still on offer.

The release week has been very exciting! Thanks to everyone who has purchased and played the game so far, and we are very pleased with the overall "Very Positive" reviews it has received from players that recognize what our goals and ambitions are with Line War. We welcome the feedback and we look forward to continuing development and updating the game.

As a small 2-person indie-development team, and especially as we have set out to create a multiplayer game, we are very thrilled about the launch and reception of Line War.

At the time of writing this post, in less than a week since Line War was released, nearly 14000 matches have already been played.

Please take this into account if you are undecided on whether or not to buy Line War yet:

Looking for a Single Player Game?
Line War is, at the moment, a multiplayer-only game! If you are looking for a single-player game, there are other alternatives out there. Consider wish-listing Line War for now and hold off with any purchase to when it is added. We hear the feedback loud and clear, and when we have the capability, we plan to add single-player content.

Worried about potentially shrinking number of players?
Matchmaking is the main concern for any multiplayer game, and diminishing player number is a concern for many who have decided not to buy. Line War benefits from only needing 1 more player in the matchmaking queue anywhere in the world for a match to be made. We have players in New Zealand playing against Europeans without any noticeable lag. We try to tune the matchmaking so that players of equal skills match for more enjoyable games. If the player count was to reduce, we can speed up the player search for quicker matchups. Currently, players queue for on average less than 45 seconds to get a very close skilled matchup, and matches generally last for around 30 minutes on average.

We are still prioritizing implementing our remaining features for multiplayer (such as team modes, technologies, infrastructure, etc.) and those updates will be free for existing players. If the player count was to significantly drop, we would prioritize implementing single-player content sooner rather than later so those that have already bought the game can still play Line War - and the already existing core community will likely look for matches.

We have a public roadmap, but as we learn more post-launch we may need to change priorities and update the order of things.