Rule the Waves 3 News

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[/p][h3]Dev diary 3 - The Scenario Editor [/h3][p]RTW3: Expanded Battles includes a powerful scenario editor that will let users create scenarios depicting any naval battle in the world between 1890 and 1970. You can specify the forces and ships taking part, their missions, formations, and their objectives. It can also handle virtually any size of battle, from a two ship duel up to Jutland-sized great battles.[/p][p]The starting positions of the respective fleets can be specified, but also parameters for randomization of starting positions so that there will be a level of uncertainty. It is also possible to set the probability of some ships and forces, so that it is uncertain if they will appear in the battle or not.[/p][p]
[/p][p]In the editor you can also specify up to 6 different courses of action for the AI to follow. The AI will follow these until it makes contact with the enemy, after which it will use its own judgement. This enables the scenario designer to make the AI enact different approaches or courses of action to enhance replayability and keep the human player guessing. [/p][p]For example, in the Rheinübung scenario that comes with the DLC, this capability has been used to define courses of action for the Bismarck force that will make her go either West or East of Iceland, and at different times, to make things interesting and unpredictable for the British player.[/p][p]The editor also has the tools for the scenario designer to define minefields, friendly or enemy, known or unknown. There is even a possibility to mark areas as no go areas so that you can make sure the AI will not go too near enemy airbases or drive carriers into constricted waters or other similar situations.[/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]In the scenario editor you can specify the year the scenario takes place, as well as the exact technologies in the tech tree that the opposing navies will have at the time of the battle. [/p][p]Of course, you also have access to the doctrine screen used in the main campaign mode, so that you can set the doctrinal choices for the opposing navies. This includes ammo loadouts and choice of ammunition for specific targets and ranges, and even what type of armor-piercing shells they will use (priority of oblique penetration, burster charge or underwater performance). And you can set the type of training prioritized by that navy, which will have a direct influence on their behaviour and capabilities in battle. A Japanese force for example, can be expected to have torpedo and night fighting training, while the US Navy prioritized daytime gunnery and damage control.[/p][p][/p][p]Air forces are included too of course. Land airbases can be included in scenarios just like ships. And the numbers of aircraft and roles of aircraft squadrons can be specified, both as to type and model of aircraft, as well as the proficiency of the pilots.[/p][p][/p][p]All in all, there is probably no other naval wargame with a scenario editor that lets you design any battle you might want, a fleet battle like Jutland or a single ship duel, anywhere on the globe, anytime between 1890 and 1970.[/p][p][/p][p]The full power of the scenario editor of course depends on having the ships available, and that is where the ship designer comes in. More on that in the next instalment of the dev diary.[/p][p] [/p][p]By Fredrik Wallin[/p][p]Lead Designer[/p][p]Naval Warfare Simulations[/p][p]
[/p][p]WISHLIST THE NEW DLC NOW:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[h3]The Historical Scenarios[/h3][p][/p][p]Myself, I love campaign style games, where I can build up and nurture a force over a long stretch of[/p][p]battles and encounters. Not everyone has the time and inclination to do that however, and some players[/p][p]prefer historical battles instead of sanbox games. That is why we have developed the historical scenarios[/p][p]feature of Expanded Battles.[/p][p][/p][p]The expansion will ship with a number of scenarios spread in time and scope to give variation and[/p][p]show the whole breadth of what the RTW system is capable of. Scenarios will include Yellow Sea,[/p][p]Dogger Bank, River Plate, Rheinübung (the Chase for the Bismarck), Second Guadalcanal, Eastern[/p][p]Solomons and a fictional cold war scenario in the Mediterranean. This is an impressive collection of[/p][p]scenarios spread over 70 years. No other game can even come close to simulating such a long[/p][p]timespan of naval warfare.[/p][p][/p][p]Personally, I like Yellow Sea and Dogger Bank the best. They are manageable in size and time, have[/p][p]a high suspense level, and they have concrete goals to attain. Eastern Solomons and Rheinübung are[/p][p]larger and take longer time. They are also more varaible in outcome, with a risk that no substantial[/p][p]battle will happen at all, which is in fact how most potential naval battles ended in real history. This[/p][p]is something the designer has to balance all the time, realism, player agency, and maneuvering vs[/p][p]a scenario where the forces will inevitably come into contact.[/p][p][/p][p]As players, we want action and combat, which at times goes against outcomes sought by admirals.[/p][p]Just take the Rheinübung scenario for example. If the Bismarck and consort manages to sneak out[/p][p]into the Atlantic and reach the objective without combat, this would certainly be a champagne[/p][p]popping occasion at the admiral’s bridge on Bismarck, but as a player it will probably feel as an[/p][p]anticlimax. ”At least let me blow up the Hood on the way...”.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]To give the player the option both for battle action and for the more long term sneaking through the[/p][p]British patrols, we have made two scenarios, one long breakout scenario and a smaller one that[/p][p]concentrates on the battle of Denmark Strait. The problem of course with Denmark Strait is that the[/p][p]historical outcome was probably very unlikely, but players will still somehow expect the Hood to[/p][p]blow up. And Bismarck can blow her up in the game at the correct distance, but not every time, and[/p][p]not usually after the first few salvoes. Playtesting so far has shown that the most common outcome is[/p][p]damaged ships on both sides and Bismarck heading back home with some wounds and a substantial part[/p][p]of her ammo used up, which seems reasonable enough.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We will also include a hypothetical nightmare scenario for the Royal Navy, with the carrier Graf[/p][p]Zeppelin accompanying Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, and Scharnhorst and Gneisenau making a sortie[/p][p]from Brest at the same time. We decided to have that as a separate scenario, as there are more[/p][p]potential hypothetical ships that have various levels of probability. In this case we’re taking some[/p][p]historical liberties for the benefit of player agency and what we think is an interesting scenario that adds[/p][p]additional challenge to both the Royal Navy and Kriegsmarine sides.[/p][p]All in all, it will be a nice collection of scenarios that will have something from every period of[/p][p]naval warfare in the twentieth century for the naval enthusiast. And if that isn’t enough, there will[/p][p]be a scenario editor, where players can create any scenario they might dream about. But more on[/p][p]that in the next dev diary[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]By Fredrik Wallin[/p][p]Lead Designer[/p][p]Naval Warfare Simulations[/p][p][/p][p]WISHLIST THE GAME NOW:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]Expanded Battles Overview [/h3][p]We are currently into beta testing of “Expanded Battles”, the much anticipated expansion to our successful naval combat and ship design game “Rule the Waves III”. The expansion will include historical scenarios, a quick battle generator, and a scenario editor. The scenarios that will ship with the game are Yellow Sea, Dogger Bank, River plate, Rheinübung (the chase for the Bismarck), Second Guadalcanal, Eastern Solomons, and a fictional cold war scenario set in the Mediterranean.[/p][p][/p][p]At present we are testing the main functions of the expansion, the scenarios and the quick battle generator. The scenarios being tested right now include Rheinübung, Yellow Sea and Eastern Solomons. Personally, I think Yellow Sea is a very interesting scenario. It has reasonably balanced forces, clear goals and is easily played in an hour or less. Predreadnoughts are cool and look really great! The predreadnought era also offers a wholly different experience to the typical dreadnought and carrier engagements of WWI and WWII naval combat that many other games focus on.[/p][p][/p][p]Talking about scenarios, there will be a scenario editor included so that players can create any scenarios they want. Apart from an order of battle editor, the editor will have substantial support for AI waypoints and stances so that scenario designers can “program” the AI to behave in a way that makes the scenario realistic. These can involve setting multiple paths for formations to create built-in unpredictability and variance for each scenario.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The expansion will ship with a limited number of ship classes needed for the scenarios, but there is also a ship designer included. This is a version of the same ship designer used in RTW campaign, but it is more “free” in that it will let you set the tech year of the ship class to any year and nation, and it will also not have any hard limits on what ships are legal. This is because ship design is a very complex subject, too complex to simulate everything perfectly in the ship designer, and not all historical ships can be designed in RTW without some being overweight. [/p][p]As mentioned there will also be a quick battle function that will create random battles between whichever nations you want at any time covered by the game. The ships will be randomly designed so that they are realistic for the chosen nations and time. The design goal here is to create a quick battle system that benefits from the templates and autobuild functions already in RTW III, without having to design hundreds of classes of historical ships. This lets the player try any combination of nations at virtually any time. [/p][p]Some people might, understandably, prefer a quick battle function with historical ships. However, this would require many more historically accurate ship designs, and would frankly be beyond the resources of the design team at this time. We do give the player the option to design their own ships in the quick battle generator, so you can do a mix of your own designs with ones created by the auto-designer.[/p][p]At the same time that we release the DLC, we will also release a free update of the base game that will include many improvements and adjustments that have been added during the work with the DLC. Just to mention some examples: inclined belts have been made 5% heavier to account for their height being larger than a corresponding vertical belt, costs have been adjusted to make cruisers cheaper in comparison to battleships, as they are presently a little too expensive in the RTW campaign. There has also been some minor adjustments to the damage model.[/p][p][/p][p]WISHLIST THE UPCOMING DLC NOW:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]The wait is almost over: Home of Wargamers 2025, the yearly live showcase that we stream on Twitch and YouTube, is coming on September 25th.[/p][p]It will bring you the biggest announcements, updates, Spoilers and behind-the-scenes insights from the world of Matrix Games.[/p][p]This year’s edition will showcase some of the most beloved franchises in our catalog, as well as exciting new projects. Developers and producers will take the stage to share exclusive previews, reveal upcoming expansions, and discuss the future of their series. Be ready to know more about Shadow Empire, Combat Mission, Armored Brigade, Strategic Command, WEGO, Rule the Waves 3 and more.[/p][p][/p][h2]Save the date: September 25th, 2025.[/h2][p]Stay tuned and don’t miss a single announcement: join us as we celebrate strategy and wargaming together.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p] WISHLIST RULE THE WAVES 3: EXPANDED BATTLES[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Hello Admirals,[/p][p]While we are working on the new DLC "Expanded Battles" we continue to improve the base game, and we're happy to announce that the Maintenance Update is now available. [/p][p]It's a bug-fixing update, mostly focusing on the UI, though we have included a small new feature where players can now rename their officers.[/p][p]You can find the full changelog below:[/p][p][/p][h3]User Interface[/h3][p]• Restored the selected ships count label.[/p][p]• Added filter on division type to fleet organization tab.[/p][p]• Fixed unreadable oil locations in dark mode.[/p][p]• Fixed sorting in submarine list.[/p][p]• Fixed some problems with special characters. (We appreciate feedback on this, especially if you are running an asian language OS).[/p][p]• Fleet organization tab: Edited division will be made visible in the list after most operations.[/p][p]• Improved restoring the main screen to maximized on starting the game.[/p][p]• The game will now remember the width of the left panel in the battle screen and the width of the left panel in the map tab of the main screen.[/p][p]• Fixed problem with restoring left panel in main screen if it is made too thin.[/p][p][/p][h3]Officers[/h3][p]• Added the possibility to rename officers.[/p][p][/p][h3]Ship Design[/h3][p]• Fixed a bug with secondary gun placement.[/p][p]• Fixed a bug with gun graphics not updating from turrets to shielded guns and vice versa when turret armor was changed.[/p][p]• Added an option to add an odd centerline secondary turret.[/p][p][/p][h3]Bug Fixes[/h3][p]• Fixed a bug in the Fleet Exercise setup screen that caused an error message when editing an independent division.[/p][p]• Fixed problem with repeated rebellion victory.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]BUY RULE THE WAVES 3 NOW:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]AND WISHLIST THE NEW DLC:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]