A more realistic combat system
Hello!
As we are nearing the end of the year (and the start of a wonderful new one), we have some exciting WARNO news to share with you.
As you know, we are busy working on the next milestone for our game - OUDINOT. Now, it is not the only thing that’s been cooking in Eugen’s kitchen.
Recently, our attention has been steered toward a major overhaul of how combat works within WARNO. In today’s DevBlog, we can go into more detail!
[h2]Working hard behind the scenes[/h2]
Every day the Eugen team works hard to make WARNO the best possible game. This takes time, effort, and resources. We listen carefully to what our community has to say and hear your pleas for new content loud and clear. Creating new features or mechanics for WARNO needs time, and as a living project, developing new systems, or updating old ones, might suck up even more. Be patient, please. Lots of exciting things are coming WARNO’s way.
The more realistic combat system is a major overhaul, as it affects not only the current state of the game but also the upcoming OUDINOT milestone. We need to ensure everything is aligned, tested, bug fixed, and working properly. That is one reason OUDINOT is taking longer, as we want to make sure it meshes well with the new system.
So, what can you expect?
[h2]A more realistic combat system[/h2]
Looking at combat in WARNO in its current form, we weren’t satisfied with the binary aspect of what happens when two units engage each other. The outcome is always the same: either one or the other gets destroyed. Suppression, resistance to it, and the management of units in combat feel too trivial and fleeting.
We want to anchor suppresion at the heart the combat, to emphasize the role it plays on the battlefield. We want to offer more variety when two units meet and be more realistic in the process. Combat should also offer the opportunity to break a unit’s morale instead of just beating the unit to death, rinse, and repeat. Routing a unit should be as much a valid outcome as its complete destruction.
A fresh approach, a more realistic combat system, would offer several benefits over the old format:
[h2]The combat system overhaul in detail[/h2]
So, we went designing. We are still working on the new system, so we can’t give you an exact release date yet. But we can show you how future combat in WARNO will play out. Let’s go through each new element.
Updating suppression and its effects
In the current (old) format, suppression occurs with hits and near misses, but only with HE weapons and munitions, and at a minimal level with AP and HEAT ammunition. We decided to add more heft to the suppression mechanic across the board, especially the latter types of weapons.
This means that after the overhaul, each weapon in-game will still deal suppression, even if the shot is a hit or miss. The level of suppression depends on the munition’s type and caliber, but will be more than in the original form. For instance, one consequence will be that near-misses of AP munitions will directly affect tightly grouped tanks, suppressing several of them if they are packed too close. Better not rely too much on these armored blobs, commander!
Of course, depending on the community's feedback, we will refine and tweak the amount of suppression.
Combat experience: a unit’s ability to endure
Resistance to suppression will be one pillar of a unit’s experience level. The new system will increase this importance. Veterancy level will influence a unit’s resilience to suppression in various ways:
The more experienced a unit, the slower it will suffer from suppression, the less affected it will be when receiving damage, and the quicker it will return to a neutral state.
[h2]New unit traits[/h2]
We haven’t finished yet. The new combat system will also include a new feature. We will add traits to units. Steel Division 2 fans might recognize how a similar variant of this system exists in the World War II cousin of WARNO.
When the next patch comes, it will introduce units traits, which should look something like this:
[h2]The list continues[/h2]
We are not done yet! You can expect a couple more changes.
Improving suppression display
We are adding a hit points gauge on the unit label to better display the difference between suppression and physical damage. This will help players see the state of their units at a glance without having to open up the unit’s information panel. The suppression gauge will come with a coloring system, letting you know when the time has come to really move your unit out of harm’s way.
Command unit change
We will also introduce a major change to how to command units work. After the patch, command units don’t have to remain in a capture zone once they have captured it. This change stems from our feeling that the old Wargame: Red Dragon mechanic led to too many cheesy tactics, including the infamous “CV sniping.” In our experience, this is detrimental to the game.
By not having a command unit remain in a command zone, we aim to improve the game by:
[h2]Before we bid goodbye[/h2]
So, all the above changes are in the works, with most of them completed. They still require additional testing before we are ready to release them into the wild, though. The changes also directly affect the OUDINOT milestone. All need to be in the best state possible before we can share them with you. So, we don’t have a launch date yet - we ask you to remain patient for a bit longer.
Now, the above changes might result in some lively discussions, but keep it civil and play it calm, cool, and collected. We sincerely believe these will make for a better WARNO and a more fun experience for all players, whether new or veteran.
Talk in peace, and leave the actual fighting for the WARNO battlefields, commander!
[h2]See you on the battlefield[/h2]
Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram.
See you on the battlefield, commander!
As we are nearing the end of the year (and the start of a wonderful new one), we have some exciting WARNO news to share with you.
As you know, we are busy working on the next milestone for our game - OUDINOT. Now, it is not the only thing that’s been cooking in Eugen’s kitchen.
Recently, our attention has been steered toward a major overhaul of how combat works within WARNO. In today’s DevBlog, we can go into more detail!
[h2]Working hard behind the scenes[/h2]
Every day the Eugen team works hard to make WARNO the best possible game. This takes time, effort, and resources. We listen carefully to what our community has to say and hear your pleas for new content loud and clear. Creating new features or mechanics for WARNO needs time, and as a living project, developing new systems, or updating old ones, might suck up even more. Be patient, please. Lots of exciting things are coming WARNO’s way.
The more realistic combat system is a major overhaul, as it affects not only the current state of the game but also the upcoming OUDINOT milestone. We need to ensure everything is aligned, tested, bug fixed, and working properly. That is one reason OUDINOT is taking longer, as we want to make sure it meshes well with the new system.
So, what can you expect?
[h2]A more realistic combat system[/h2]
Looking at combat in WARNO in its current form, we weren’t satisfied with the binary aspect of what happens when two units engage each other. The outcome is always the same: either one or the other gets destroyed. Suppression, resistance to it, and the management of units in combat feel too trivial and fleeting.
We want to anchor suppresion at the heart the combat, to emphasize the role it plays on the battlefield. We want to offer more variety when two units meet and be more realistic in the process. Combat should also offer the opportunity to break a unit’s morale instead of just beating the unit to death, rinse, and repeat. Routing a unit should be as much a valid outcome as its complete destruction.
A fresh approach, a more realistic combat system, would offer several benefits over the old format:
- It would make combat more realistic and WARNO as a whole more authentic.
- Gives the player a larger margin of error during combat. This allows them to recover units, not simply lose them.
- Increase a unit’s Time to Kill (TTK) ratio, thus lowering micro-management and the game's overall pace.
[h2]The combat system overhaul in detail[/h2]
So, we went designing. We are still working on the new system, so we can’t give you an exact release date yet. But we can show you how future combat in WARNO will play out. Let’s go through each new element.
Updating suppression and its effects
In the current (old) format, suppression occurs with hits and near misses, but only with HE weapons and munitions, and at a minimal level with AP and HEAT ammunition. We decided to add more heft to the suppression mechanic across the board, especially the latter types of weapons.
This means that after the overhaul, each weapon in-game will still deal suppression, even if the shot is a hit or miss. The level of suppression depends on the munition’s type and caliber, but will be more than in the original form. For instance, one consequence will be that near-misses of AP munitions will directly affect tightly grouped tanks, suppressing several of them if they are packed too close. Better not rely too much on these armored blobs, commander!
Of course, depending on the community's feedback, we will refine and tweak the amount of suppression.
Combat experience: a unit’s ability to endure
Resistance to suppression will be one pillar of a unit’s experience level. The new system will increase this importance. Veterancy level will influence a unit’s resilience to suppression in various ways:
- Better resistance to suppression received (think of it as the “shield” variable).
- Faster regeneration to normal state after suppression received.
- Better resilience to casualties. For instance, the survivors receive extra suppression if a soldier gets killed in a squad. Veteran and elite soldiers, combat-hardened as they are, will be less affected.
The more experienced a unit, the slower it will suffer from suppression, the less affected it will be when receiving damage, and the quicker it will return to a neutral state.
[h2]New unit traits[/h2]
We haven’t finished yet. The new combat system will also include a new feature. We will add traits to units. Steel Division 2 fans might recognize how a similar variant of this system exists in the World War II cousin of WARNO.
When the next patch comes, it will introduce units traits, which should look something like this:
- Special Forces - these are the most experienced of units and receive a bonus to combat situations up and above the Elite veterancy experience level. This means infantry units with this trait will enjoy even more resilience to suppression, increased movement, and faster rates of fire.
- Shock - these troops will have the ability to inflict additional suppression on their targets in close-quarter combats (such as urban terrain or woods). This represents the greater emphasis on close combat, including hand-to-hand fighting. Paratroopers and assault engineers will be priority candidates to feature such a trait.
- IFV Infantry - soldiers riding into battle with infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) will also get an extra suppression resilience bonus but only as long as they are fighting next to an IFV. These half-squads are pretty small (i.e., the American Bradley’s Fire Teams), and doctrine dictates they fight dismounted and in close coordination with the vehicle that brought them on the battlefield. They receive the bonus if they stick close to an IFV (it doesn’t have to be their own).
- Other Traits - We have several other traits in the pipeline, which we hope to talk about in detail in the near future. These include Leader, Military Police, GSR, Indoctrinated, and more.
[h2]The list continues[/h2]
We are not done yet! You can expect a couple more changes.
Improving suppression display
We are adding a hit points gauge on the unit label to better display the difference between suppression and physical damage. This will help players see the state of their units at a glance without having to open up the unit’s information panel. The suppression gauge will come with a coloring system, letting you know when the time has come to really move your unit out of harm’s way.
Command unit change
We will also introduce a major change to how to command units work. After the patch, command units don’t have to remain in a capture zone once they have captured it. This change stems from our feeling that the old Wargame: Red Dragon mechanic led to too many cheesy tactics, including the infamous “CV sniping.” In our experience, this is detrimental to the game.
By not having a command unit remain in a command zone, we aim to improve the game by:
- Simplifying the in-game rules.
- Removing all micro-management related to watching over, or moving units from, command zones far behind the front line.
- Allow more aggressive plays with command units, with players using them as true leader units, boosting the experience level of friendly units in battle.
- Giving Command Helicopters, those often overlooked units, a second life. They can be used to quickly capture a zone and move away again.
[h2]Before we bid goodbye[/h2]
So, all the above changes are in the works, with most of them completed. They still require additional testing before we are ready to release them into the wild, though. The changes also directly affect the OUDINOT milestone. All need to be in the best state possible before we can share them with you. So, we don’t have a launch date yet - we ask you to remain patient for a bit longer.
Now, the above changes might result in some lively discussions, but keep it civil and play it calm, cool, and collected. We sincerely believe these will make for a better WARNO and a more fun experience for all players, whether new or veteran.
Talk in peace, and leave the actual fighting for the WARNO battlefields, commander!
[h2]See you on the battlefield[/h2]
Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram.
See you on the battlefield, commander!