Hi,
die Sache mit dem "weniger an Micromanagement" bedeudet - so habe ich es zumindest verstanden - nur den Wegfall der Milizausbildung, da es in JA3 nicht darum geht, Gebiete zu "erobern":
Inteview bei strategycore.co.uk
strategycore: "Tell me why JA3 will be the best game in the Jagged Alliance series?"
Andrew Kazakov:
"First of all, its now in full 3D. It's an evolutionary step from the previous series. Since we are working with Strategy First and the original designer of the series, Richard Therrien, this helps us a lot to make steady improvements. Also, the Silent Storm engine allows good destructibility of everything so we can demolish buildings and blow up cars which were not possible previously. This also helps in tactical situations where you can destroy a wall to get into a building from different points. Also, its more dynamic, more battle and combat oriented. There is less emphasis on micromanagement than the previous series. The player doesn't have to train troops or hold mines. What the player mostly does with the mercenaries is fight. The player commands a special squad, a special team, not a small army.
Ein Zurück bei Dingen wie "Ausrüstungsmanagement", Söldnerunterhalt/ -pflege, Fertigkeitsausbau oder "Waffenbasteleien" wurden in keinem der Interviews angesprochen.
Im Gegenteil:
"Combat mechanics, RPG system, merc hiring, weapon repair, healing, etc. are all transplanted from JA2 with little or no change..."
Und, mit JA3 bekommen wir offensichtlich nicht nur ein "aufgebohrtes" Silent Storm"
Das wird z.B. im
Interview bei RPGCodex bekräftigt:
Jonric/RPGCodex: "What approach have you taken with respect to making or licensing a game engine, and also to selecting other technologies?"
Andrew Kazakov:
"For the game itself, we decided to use the Silent Storm engine, which we believe is the most suitable for this genre. It is flexible and gives us many options, it was used for a number of other turn-based strategy titles, and as developers, we are all familiar with its workings.
Jagged Alliance 3 is based on a modified version of this engine. We have increased map sizes as well as the quality of textures, but definitely not at the expense of frame rates. We've also added the new multiplayer mode, four lighting models for different times of day, water, and a strategic mode with its own fully featured AI."
Also, für den Kampfmodus die weiterentwickelte Silent-Storm-Engine als Grundlage, der Strategiemodus (war ja bei Silent Sorm eher rudimentär) Multiplayer und KI sind ganz neu.
Irgendwo wurde auch erwähnt, dass der ganze Soundpart (Musik, Söldner, Kämpfe) vorneweg komplett in Canada bei Strategy First gemacht wird.
Neben den technischen/optischen Verbesserungen finde ich vor allem das Konzept eines noch dynamischeren Gameplays interessant. Die Freiheit macht ja neben dem Mix aus Taktik/RPG/Wirtschaftselementen die Besonderheit von JA aus

:
strategycore: "How non-linear is the game? Are there some missions that the player has to complete? "
Andrew Kazakov:
"Yes. There are four playable factions in the game, and once you choose one you will have to stick with that faction for some time. You can change factions at certain points in the game when you acquire critical information; however a lot of these points are randomized. The factions fight between themselves and this is represented on the real-time, dynamic strategic map. The factions themselves hold the territories, not the mercenaries. What the mercenaries do is attack at weak points, kill or assassinate key targets, like presidents, heads of corporations, or officers for example, things like that, so that they are acting like a reconnaissance group and also like an assassination squad. They do special missions and that changes the ownership of the map sectors."
strategycore: "Does the player know when two factions are fighting?"
Andrew Kazakov:
"Yes, a battle between two factions is shown on the strategic map. The player can actually get in there and help. There are random encounters as well. And there are scripted missions where certain conditions must be fulfilled to finish that mission."
strategycore: "Let's say two factions are fighting. Could the mercenary squad stand at the side and wait until one has beaten the other one and then attack the victor?
Andrew Kazakov:
"Yes, the player can do that. However, it may affect your status negatively. So, the faction will know that you have kind of betrayed them and that may reduce your status with that faction."
strategycore: "So if the player is aligned with one faction, do you only know when that faction is fighting, or do you know when any faction is fighting?"
Andrew Kazakov:
"The player sees battles between all factions at any time. The mercenaries can travel freely through the map to the battle, well, where there are roads and bridges, they can't cross open water without a device or a boat. "
Richard Therrien, Strategy First:
"There is also a (FOW) Fog of War that can be applied. The player will know about actions and situation where the information is available.
For instance, if a town belongs to the player's faction, information about activities in and around it will be available and shown on the strategic map. If there are informants that belong to the player's faction in a region, activities in the area will be updated on the map. Same thing if some of the faction's troops are in the area.
There will be some dark spots, meaning that if you go 'behind the lines' you will be taking more chances because you won't have as much information about activity in the area. This will happen anyway where the player needs to infiltrate areas that belong to the enemy, without necessarily engaging when possible."
Wenn das so Wirklichkeit wird, findet das ewig lange Warten (jetzt doch schon 8 Jahre?

) doch noch ein gutes Ende bzw. einen guten "Neuanfang".
