Sinews of War - 5th of June - Developer's Diary V5
Greetings Captain,
Our work on changes under the hood has been progressing steadily, so we figure it's a good time to be talking about a couple of very important upcoming changes. Let's get to it.
We have previously talked about our crew rework and how the entire system was replaced with new infrastructure to assign crew to tasks more quickly and effectively. Though the effects of these changes may be subtle on the player-facing side, the advantage to us was that we could better facilitate the automated management of a larger number of crewmen, which helped us add larger crew sizes to the game.
Recently, we have been working on using the same system to have better AI behavior on the strategic view, namely in the deployment and movement of supply groups. Currently, our supply groups move along the map in pre-determined supply routes, generated through what was our simplification of the travelling salesman problem.
The initial goal with this was to make predictable supply routes that the player can notice and exploit, back when Boat Crew was envisioned to be less action oriented than it is now. We realized that the work done for the crew system can be utilized to make for a more modular system for AI behavior based on tasks, and decided to take this opportunity.
Our goal with these changes is to curtail AI's more unnatural behaviours. While we can't guarantee perfectly sensible AI behavior at all times, some of the most noticeable misplays by the AI should be solved by this rework.
We are also attaching a supply cost to the ammo and torpedoes you use. This will work on a credit system, where supply consumed while underway will be tallied and offloaded at the next allied base you visit as a burden.
As mentioned in an earlier diary, it will be possible to have negative supplies, and bases will be able to resupply you as long as they have more supplies than zero. Draining friendly bases of their supplies will stunt their development, making them more vulnerable to enemy attack. Because of this, you should try to split the burden between different bases.
On the flip side, the impact of supply on individual bases is amplified, meaning the benefits of aggressively hunting enemy shipping should be a lot more noticeable as bases are starved out, which won't go unnoticed by your own allies. We are also considering some further refinement to this system, but how to proceed next isn't decided yet, so that will have to be the topic of a future diary.
All in all, these changes shouldn't really prevent you from playing the game as you already do, but they will give you a more concrete relationship between the supplies that your bases are getting and your opportunities for rearming, adding another connection between what's happening in the tactical view and what's happening on the strategic view.
We are also expecting supply raids to be a viable alternative to direct base raids, giving you more RP and being easier at the expense of being a slower way of advancing the frontline than direct assault as you'll be relying more on the AI to start assaults. It's up to you to weigh the advantages of each approach and mix and match depending on your priorities and taste.
Last, but not least, we are adding limits to the Squadron Ships on Page 4. Instead of giving them a massive cost like before, we chose to make them cheaper but to limit ships them 3, so they don't completely outshine PT boats while giving you their powerful support at more reasonable prices.
We'll be having a patch on the Experimental Branch tomorrow with many, if not all, of these changes included.
That's all for now,
Captain,
T.T.
Our work on changes under the hood has been progressing steadily, so we figure it's a good time to be talking about a couple of very important upcoming changes. Let's get to it.
We have previously talked about our crew rework and how the entire system was replaced with new infrastructure to assign crew to tasks more quickly and effectively. Though the effects of these changes may be subtle on the player-facing side, the advantage to us was that we could better facilitate the automated management of a larger number of crewmen, which helped us add larger crew sizes to the game.
Recently, we have been working on using the same system to have better AI behavior on the strategic view, namely in the deployment and movement of supply groups. Currently, our supply groups move along the map in pre-determined supply routes, generated through what was our simplification of the travelling salesman problem.
The initial goal with this was to make predictable supply routes that the player can notice and exploit, back when Boat Crew was envisioned to be less action oriented than it is now. We realized that the work done for the crew system can be utilized to make for a more modular system for AI behavior based on tasks, and decided to take this opportunity.
Our goal with these changes is to curtail AI's more unnatural behaviours. While we can't guarantee perfectly sensible AI behavior at all times, some of the most noticeable misplays by the AI should be solved by this rework.
We are also attaching a supply cost to the ammo and torpedoes you use. This will work on a credit system, where supply consumed while underway will be tallied and offloaded at the next allied base you visit as a burden.
As mentioned in an earlier diary, it will be possible to have negative supplies, and bases will be able to resupply you as long as they have more supplies than zero. Draining friendly bases of their supplies will stunt their development, making them more vulnerable to enemy attack. Because of this, you should try to split the burden between different bases.
On the flip side, the impact of supply on individual bases is amplified, meaning the benefits of aggressively hunting enemy shipping should be a lot more noticeable as bases are starved out, which won't go unnoticed by your own allies. We are also considering some further refinement to this system, but how to proceed next isn't decided yet, so that will have to be the topic of a future diary.
All in all, these changes shouldn't really prevent you from playing the game as you already do, but they will give you a more concrete relationship between the supplies that your bases are getting and your opportunities for rearming, adding another connection between what's happening in the tactical view and what's happening on the strategic view.
We are also expecting supply raids to be a viable alternative to direct base raids, giving you more RP and being easier at the expense of being a slower way of advancing the frontline than direct assault as you'll be relying more on the AI to start assaults. It's up to you to weigh the advantages of each approach and mix and match depending on your priorities and taste.
Last, but not least, we are adding limits to the Squadron Ships on Page 4. Instead of giving them a massive cost like before, we chose to make them cheaper but to limit ships them 3, so they don't completely outshine PT boats while giving you their powerful support at more reasonable prices.
We'll be having a patch on the Experimental Branch tomorrow with many, if not all, of these changes included.
That's all for now,
Captain,
T.T.