Line War News

The matchmaking search process is not as aggressive as before so it should find better matches. You can also tick the checkbox if you prefer to find opponents close to your skill and if you are willing to wait a bit longer.

We have accelerated the speed at which the matchmaking search looks for opponents. Ideally, we want this to only match equally skilled players, but we will prioritize faster matchmaking at this point for new players. We will aim to find a good balance for this matchmaking mechanic.

Fixed an obsolete message in the dialog when no opponent was found.

There was an issue preventing keyboard shortcuts to function in the sandbox. This issue has now been resolved.

We are extremely excited to announce that LINE WAR is now released here on Steam!



It has been a 3 year-long journey that started back in 2019 as the two of us set out to create a new type of multiplayer strategy game.

Today is a proud (and dare we say somewhat nerve-wracking) time in our lives when we release the game to the public on Steam. We set out to create a new type of game. Something that we believed would be fun to play and that did not conform to other games on the market. There were many design decisions to be made and over 11000 hours of development. Throughout the development process, we have played more than 600 matches ourselves and we feel that Line War has a lot to offer in terms of strategic game-play and replayability.

We understand that many players would like to have single-player campaigns or AI skirmishes, but as a small 2-person development team we must work in manageable iterations and gradually build the game. We have decided to launch Line War now with the 1v1 mode (and the sandbox) to maximize the chances that people of equal skills are matched against each other. If we were to include many different multiplayer team modes at launch we would risk fragmenting the player pool. Playing against someone with roughly equal skill is so important for the enjoyment factor.

Our development journey continues long after this initial release milestone. If you are interested to see our roadmap, it has been published and will be maintained on the official Line War website.

We hope that you join us and enjoy playing Line War for a long time to come!

Welcome to this first FAQ post that will focus on questions about the release of the game.

[h3]When will Line War be released?[/h3]
5 May 2022 at 09:00 AM PDT / 18:00 CEST / 16:00 GMT

[h3]How much will Line War cost?[/h3]
The initial release price is $19.99 with a 25% discount during the first week. Regional pricing may result in slight price differences around the world. As we continue to develop Line War and add more features and content, the price will likely increase for new customers.

[h3]Is there a roadmap for Line War?[/h3]
Yes, the roadmap is published on the official Line War website.

[h3]Does Line War have single-player modes?[/h3]
There is an offline sandbox where you can toggle between two players and do a lot of testing and playing around to see how the command system works, how the units behave, and improve their skills. There are, however, no other forms of campaigns or AI skirmishes at this point. This may be the most common question we get and we understand the desire for single-player modes. Here is why any form of single-player modes have not yet been implemented:

• Line War is primarily designed to be a competitive multiplayer game - we jokingly often refer to the experience as being similar to a board game or a tennis match which is best enjoyed with someone to play against :)
  
• We are still adding features, such as technologies, to the game and we want to ensure that the game requires a minimal amount of changes before we add AI logic that can mimic the playing style of humans or story-driven campaigns.
  
• We do not want to implement a mediocre single-player mode that would disappoint players - we plan to implement it when the time is right and we can invest the necessary time and resources to do it properly.
  
• The current price point reflects that Line War has no other forms of single-player modes except the sandbox. When we implement the campaigns or other forms of single-player experiences, the price for new players will likely be raised as a consequence.
  

[h3]Can you play more than two players or team games?[/h3]
Not yet. Due to popular demand in our feedback requests the single most requested feature to add next is team and FFA modes. Check out the Line War roadmap to find out more as we are working to add 2v2, 3v3, and FFA modes.

[h3]Do you have plans to add different factions with different buildings, units, or mechanics?[/h3]
No, we currently have no such plans or ideas. Line War will instead focus on "in-game" customization of your army, primarily through the research of technologies. Technologies would add abilities to your existing units and/or structures so you can leverage different technologies depending on your playing style or circumstances in a match. We do have some thoughts for the future about unit customization both visually in terms of skins, and mechanically through in-game research in addition to the technologies. Nothing has been decided on this front and it would be carefully evaluated and described in the roadmap before implementation.

[h3]Why did you release Line War before it was fully finished, and why not Early Access?[/h3]
We decided to release Line War as a "normal" release (instead of Early Access) because the multiplayer experience has been tested and more than 35000 matches have been played with strong indications that balancing, reliability, and match duration are according to our initial goals. We want to maximize Line War's chances of success by opening the doors to everyone who is looking for a multiplayer RTS and we hope that players can enjoy playing the game against each other as we continue to add features. The current price of Line War reflects that not all intended features have been implemented yet. The price will likely rise in the future as the level of content and features increases.

[h3]Can you save and view replays?[/h3]
Yes, after a match you have the option to download a replay that you can load in an off-line mode at any point. When watching the replay you can toggle between player views, accelerate and decelerate time, and toggle fog-of-war.



[h3]Why are there no interactive tutorials in the game?[/h3]
For the time being, we have decided to implement in-game video tutorials where we can add educational content from beginner to advanced levels. We understand that interactive tutorials are desirable, but being a multiplayer game - the current state of the game does not implement logic to draw up and replay scenarios, validate tutorial criteria, and the necessary UI capabilities to guide a player through an interactive experience. Many of the features that we need for interactive tutorials are shared with that of single-player modes so when most of the technologies and other game-mechanic changes have been implemented we should be able to build up interactive tutorials.

[h3]Will the game be available on mobile?[/h3]
No. The input system and UI would not work on small displays, but iPad or other tablet-sized devices could be considered.

[h3]Will the game be released for Mac or Linux[/h3]
We have the capability to compile the game for both Mac and Linux and we plan to officially add that support at a later stage. No date has been set for this yet.

[h3]How do the asymmetrical maps affect game balance?[/h3]
Each match is started with what's called a "picking phase" where you get to pick the location where you would like to start. Your opponent has the same capability and if you both pick the same territory or a territory nearby, that region is banned and the picking phase continues until there is no conflict. It's an important part of the game to learn and understand good starting locations.

[h3]Where is the Line War Leaderboard?[/h3]
The leaderboard is published on the official Line War website.



[h3]Why do I keep disconnecting from the server?[/h3]
If you are experiencing a lot of "irrecoverable disconnects" that eventually time out, you might be able to recover by resetting your connection whilst leaving the game running.

You do this in Windows by:

• Disconnecting and reconnecting to the WiFi
  
• Disconnecting and reconnecting the network cable
  
• Disable/enable the network card in Windows settings
  

We are working hard to resolve this problem that seems to affect some players with non-fiber connections. Line War is able to recover from the most violent of disturbances on the network, such as shutting down the connection itself and when using network disturbance tools such as "Clumsy" to drop/corrupt/delay packets, and more.

We are taking action and migrating to Unity's new net code stack called "Unity Transport", which will hopefully resolve this issue. Our apologies for any inconvenience in the meantime!