Jagged Alliance 3 details

[Pirate Neilsouth]

Jagged Alliance-fansite The Bear's Pit has noticed that the Russian paper magazine Game World Navigator scored a scoop on Jagged Alliance 3, the upcoming turn-based squadbased strategy game which has been in production for quite some time. The interview is print only and in Russian, but Snap at The Bear's Pit was nice enough to gather the important points, such as the fact that JA3 uses a modified Silent Storm engine.

Key points, with some additional info from other sources:

Game is published by Akella and developed by F3 - a fairly new team, but composed of veterans from other developers (several from Nival).

The game is built on a modified Silent Storm engine with updated graphics, improved physics, FX, and damage model.

There will be no more militia training and sector defense, because players supposedly don't like micro-management. The focus will be shifted towards combat and away from economics. As for strategy, the focus will be on missions, rather than on conquering territory.

The player can command only one squad of up to 6 (maybe 8) mercs.

Inventory handling will be simplified, particularly with respect to ammo. [In SS they used a backpack model with no item stacking.]

The player's avatar will be generated without the personality quiz.

Combat mechanics, RPG system, merc hiring, weapon repair, healing, etc. are all transplanted from JA2 with little or no change...

...except for the turn system: instead of having alternating turns for different teams, the order will be determined by character initiative. This system is said to be more conductive for multiplayer [although, AFAIK, multiplayer is not planned for this game].

There will be night and day, plus weather effects, which can be seen on the strategic map.

The team can move around the global world on foot or on wheels. However, on the tactical map vehicles are stationary. They can be used to store stuff, and some can shoot as well.

Key locations are designed, but "random encounters" will be randomized. [I am not sure just how much freedom of movement the player will have on the global map.]

There will be 40 mercs (12 of them new), plus 40 NPCs.

Plot: the president-for-life in a banana republic is fighting local insurgency, while a neighboring country opened a second front in a bid to annex some territory. Meanwhile, an international corporation is conducting some sinister experiments in the country.

You can play for one of 4 factions, each with its unique bonuses. In addition, there will be a 5th, non-playable faction - something having to do with a sci-fi subplot (which, as in JA2, can be turned on or off in the options).

Income will come mainly from your employer (whoever it may be). You can also sell stuff to merchants... if you can find them.

Merc relations will be modeled after JA2. Opposing factions will routinely hire mercs from AIM (remember Mike?...)

There will be 20 key objectives given by your employer, plus, as in JA2, optional side quests obtained from NPCs. Missions are non-linear: more like JA2 missions (e.g. taking control of SAMs or liberating Tixa) than like in Silent Storm.

Weapons will be reworked, with many JA2 weapons dropped and some new ones added - both well-known and experimental. Weapon specs will be adjusted to emphasize differences between different models. More different ammo types will be added. There will be more different armour, with heavier armour impeding movement. No more mortars. There will be anti-materiel rifles (12.7mm) and stationary heavy MGs.

Initial load-out will be more generous than in JA2.

No more cats. No bugs either.

No information on release date.

[Dark_Swordmaster]

I can't +rep you anymore. But if I could I'd give you infinite +rep. You, sir, are now a God.

[Pirate Neilsouth]

Originally Posted by Dark_Swordmaster

I can't +rep you anymore. But if I could I'd give you infinite +rep. You, sir, are now a God.

Was JA anygood? , i do remember something of the original game but i never played it... Not really my thing

[sMashPiranha]

I've been playing JA2, it's nice, but combat is incredibly slow and frustrating. You start with only pistols and melee weapons and I'll often empty an entire magazine without hitting anyone.

[Dark_Swordmaster]

I LOVED it. Well, JA2. UB was ****. It wasn't a challenge, it was an exorcise in frustration.

But I love the squad-based-turn-based-strategy genre anyway, so JA2 was my God for a while.


Sadly I can't install it. I insert the CD and click "Setup" and it just hangs. However on my laptop, which has Win98, it installs just fine.

Anyone have any ideas?

[sMashPiranha]

Originally Posted by Dark_Swordmaster

Anyone have any ideas?

Steam?
http://steampowered.com/v/index.php?...pId=1620&cc=--

[Dark_Swordmaster]

Yes, but I'd prefer not to have to buy it again.

[dawdler]

Originally Posted by sMashPiranha

I've been playing JA2, it's nice, but combat is incredibly slow and frustrating. You start with only pistols and melee weapons and I'll often empty an entire magazine without hitting anyone.

Indeed. JA2 was a nice game, but I thought the beginning was crap. There was no room for mistakes. Since you had to get income you had to attack, but you didnt have the weapons to attack... By the time I had nice automatic pistols (*gasp*) for my entire merc group the enemy had shotguns, rifles and various other items. I hope JA3 brings in a little more logical loadout for mercs.

[MadMartigan]

sounds nice

[Dark_Swordmaster]

You guys are nuts. Yes, it's not EASY to just full on assault Drassan's mine, but with strategery it's VERY possible, even with pistols. Then you just get some income, a few new mercs and weapons, and pick your way through the country side.

[Dark_Swordmaster]

I'm going to cry. It's not the setup.exe. I'm copying (not making an image, but directly copying) the contents of the install disc onto my hard drive in hopes that using the demo setup.exe will work. It's stuck on copying data1.cab, meaning my data is corrupted...

Looks like I'm going to ask Uncle Torrent to replace my disc(s), and hope he can.

[TNTIcemanTNT]

Originally Posted by neilsouth

The game is built on a modified Silent Storm engine with updated graphics, improved physics, FX, and damage model.

That alone merits that JA3 will rock. Silent Storm, was simply genius, a lovely turn based game with a mass of weapons and objects and with fully destructible enviroments, and i mean bloody everything can be destroyed. If its a modified version, hopefully it will be new and improved, so I will be eagerly looking forward to this game.

[Dark_Swordmaster]

I LOVED SILENT STORM SO INCREDIBLY HARD! Save the ****in' Panzerkleins. What were they thin- Oh, wait, Nival. And JoWood. It's pure luck Silent Storm turned out playable.


It just dinged at me. I took a screenie of the error message, but it's such a bad one that trying to save the IMAGE crashed Irfanview...

"Cannot copy data1: Data error (cyclic redundancy check)."

What the ****? Weird. Anyway, Uncle Torrent will give me a new copy in a little while. Good considering I paid $40 for the vanilla copy and don't really want to shell out $20 more for a replacement.

That just sent a lightbulb on over my head. If Sirtech were still around, I could send them my borked CD and get a replacement, right? You think Strategy First will let me do that?

[Tzar Sectus]

Originally Posted by sMashPiranha

Steam?
http://steampowered.com/v/index.php?...pId=1620&cc=--

Steam lacks the addon (despite being advertised it being bundled), it uses an old version of the game (which you can't patch), and Steam's cache system isn't compatible with the game which is the cause of some very nasty bugs.

It's a great game, but anyone thinking of buying it from Steam should find the game elsewhere.

[Dark_Swordmaster]

Really? That suck hard. I've e-mailed support, but I doubt that'll EVER yield ANYTHING. And replacements are $15. Sadly, though it's the same price, the Steam version seems to suck.

[TNTIcemanTNT]

Back to the topic, yeh apart from Silent Storms actual ubaness, Jagged Alliance 2 was a really good tactical strategy game back in the day, played that for long time, and like the conversational rpg element to it. I hope JA3 will be just as good if not better.

I think i may reinstall Silent Storm aswell, nothing better than lobbing a grenade in a country house and literally watching half of the house cave in, and said occupants in house fall into basement and die.....muahahahahah

[Dark_Swordmaster]

I've recently installed it. I love it. I just need to find the mods. No Sci-Fi for instance... ****in' Panzerkleins.

[TNTIcemanTNT]

Originally Posted by Dark_Swordmaster

I've recently installed it. I love it. I just need to find the mods. No Sci-Fi for instance... ****in' Panzerkleins.

Yeh the sort of Panzer heavy suits were a bit of a odd twist in the game

[Dark_Swordmaster]

You know what? Sitting down and reading all those bullet points in-depth (instead of skimming them)... JA3 is going to be a dumbed down piece of ****. Great.


Anyway: JA2 installed with the Gold version ISO, and it plays with my play disc so, YAY!

Can someone tell me or link me to the differences between the Gold version and the normal version? For one it seems like they got rid of the decaying bodies and ravens, which royally pisses me off as I loved the little touches like that.

[MadMartigan]

Originally Posted by TNTIcemanTNT

Yeh the sort of Panzer heavy suits were a bit of a odd twist in the game

Panzers were able to tear the enviorement like nothing else could and I think that's why they were introduced. Still..Nival should have either left them out, or start to introduce Sf elements from the beggining. Still a godly game though

[Dark_Swordmaster]

At least JA2 did the sci-fi elements right. They weren't pivital to the game. Granted, they were hard to avoid, but you could even turn them off if it suited your fancy!

And they weren't stupid. The bugs and cats weren't brilliant, but they didn't upset or ruin gameplay. And the biometric rocket launcher? That was actually pretty good.

And again I request an answer: Are the ravens gone or what?

[MadMartigan]

first screenshots

http://games.tiscali.cz/clanek/screen.asp?id=7569

looks nice, plus the SS engine seems to have been improved a lot(especialy the character models)

[poohbear]

JA2 was one of my best games ever. bloody classic. hope they bring thefun gameplay back, nice graphics would be nice, but its all about the gameplay.

[Dark_Swordmaster]

*cries* It's gonna be pooooop!

[TNTIcemanTNT]

Originally Posted by Dark_Swordmaster

*cries* It's gonna be pooooop!

Negative

[Pirate Neilsouth]

Game Factory Interactive sent out a press release announcing JAZZ: Hired Guns, an upcoming military turn based strategy game. The title began development as Jagged Alliance 3 but was then turned into an all new game following the decision from Jagged Alliance owner Strategy First to pull Game Factory's development rights to the third game in the series. Word is: "Some restrictions that prevented the game from revealing its great potential have been removed. A six month period of intensive work without annoying unnecessary attention of western publisher has passed. "

Features:
- Free movements of a detachment across the global map.
- Several active groups who can choose friends, as every detachment owns specific bonuses!
- More than 150 types of weapon with a extended system of upgrades. An opportunity to upgrade sectors both on the economic and military plane.
- An advanced system of dialogues.
- A totally non-linear plot with several options to end the game.
- An opportunity to conquer sectors with the help of diplomacy and special offers!
- An opportunity to destroy everything and everybody!
- You can pull down any house, uproot any bush, fell all the trees!

http://www.ggmania.com/?smsid=23112
http://www.gfi.su/index1.php?langid=...d=39&men_id=11

[Pirate Neilsouth]

http://www.gamershell.com/pc/jazz_hi...reenshots.html

[Dark_Swordmaster]

I can't read Russian.

[Pirate Neilsouth]

AZZ: Hired Guns Trailer

[GoldenNugget]

the new hud is ugly looking... and I don't know, from what you posted there seems to be too many changes that I don't like which I thought made the game more unique.

Oh well...