[New Military Module] Skills, specializations, maps and screenshot

Day 855, 08:48 • Published in • by Plato

Dear citizens,

In this Insider we'll dive into some details which you need to know in order to understand the future Insiders explaining how the fights will actually take place.

We said that the new military module will feature battlefield maps, new weapon skill specializations and different unit/terrain advantages.

We decided to let battles take place on maps because we are committed to offering you a truly remarkable experience. Great strategies and tactical warfare can only really emerge on a map that features different terrain types like plains, hills, forests, rivers, lakes, bridges, mountains, and cities, because some terrains are only accessible for certain unit types. Tanks cannot cross mountains for example.

You already know that some units have advantages over others: infantry over anti-aircraft artillery, tanks over infantry, helicopters over tanks and finally anti-aircraft artillery over helicopters. On the other hand each unit advantage (or disadvantage, depending on how you look at them) can be compensated by moving your unit on a tile with certain type of terrain. Infantry unit (rifles) are harder to hit when located in a forest. The unit and terrain bonuses can make a different in the heat of battle but they will not give you a guaranteed win against an unit you have an advantage over. Terrain and unit advantages increase the chance to hit your opponent or decrease the chance for you getting hit a little bit.

A much stronger role plays the customization of a weapon. As we explained in the economic module Insiders, weapons have four variable values: Attack, Defense, Damage, and Durability. Out of those, the comparison of the Attack and Defense values between you and your opponent during a PvP fight determines the “hit chance”. A weapon customized to deal very high damage might have a lower hit chance because fewer customization points were left to spend on the Attack or Defense values. Conclusion: there is no “one ring to rule them all” story with weapons and advantages.

Battles take place on maps with a size of 20x20 tiles, no matter how big or small the actual region of a specific country is, because a map reflects only a limited area around the capital city of the region. Each tile can host one building, be that a hospital or a defense system. We might see very long-lasting buildings covering just a small area around strategic points, like bridges. Or we can have buildings that cover the whole map with their Area of Effect, for the price of, for example, having a shorter life time. Again, it depends all on customization. Since your enemies will capture your region tile by tile, they can also capture your buildings! So make sure you protect or re-capture them.

In the beginning all regions of all countries will fight their battles on a small number of generic maps. Providing each single region a unique map is a huge project in itself given the hundreds of regions that make the New World.

By now you know that the current generic strength is going to turn into four types of weapon skills: Tanks, Rifles, Anti-Aircraft Artillery, and Helicopters. Like in the other professions your weapon skill levels will have their own names. The higher your weapon skill level, the higher the damage your weapon will deal to an opponent during a PvP fight. Do you remember the Time Management feature? There you can train whatever weapon skill you like!

The military ranks remain the same, but we are re-balancing them a bit and adding stars to Field Marshall. This means that your military career doesn't end with the rank of a Field Marshall. The higher your military rank, the higher your chance to deal critical damage to your opponent. You'll get promoted to the next military rank when by gaining a certain number of rank points. You'll get rank points for defeating opponents in PvP fights. If the rank of your opponent is higher than your own and you defeat him, you will receive more rank points as you would when defeating a lower-ranked opponent. A General will not become a Field Marshall too quickly by only hunting down Privates!

More about how the actual battles and PvP fights will work in the next Insiders. Until then, admire some actual in-game artwork.


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Regards,
The eRepublik team