In this devblog series we will share with you the upcoming major changes in our game. We’ll be talking about the new progression system, updated mechanics for creating sessions and other improvements that address issues discovered during the open beta stage of Enlisted. We’re moving toward release — and making sure Enlisted is at its best when we get there.
RESEARCH TREE
In the updated Enlisted, we’ll move away from linear progression to a research tree format. You’ll be able to choose which weapon or vehicle you want to unlock first — or skip entire branches if you simply don’t need any of them!
It’s also a much clearer development format that will make it easier for us to add more intermediary gear into the game.
A NEW LOOK AT CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES
In the updated Enlisted, you upgrade one country once and for all. The need to start the progress of an already familiar nation anew in each new campaign will be over.
Many commanders will discover new theaters of war which they may have previously avoided, due to the prospect of long development from scratch.
A further improvement follows on from this one, which is no less significant.
In the updated Enlisted, all campaigns and their hundreds of missions will be combined into one huge pool. At the touch of the “To Battle” button, the matchmaking engine with advanced rules will create a battle for you, with a location fitting with the selected country.
Meanwhile, new campaigns will keep appearing in Enlisted. With their release we will launch in-game events, where you’ll have the opportunity to try these new items, units and weapons in detail, receive unique rewards for participation and unlock special achievements. After a while, these new missions and content will enter the general pool of battles as well as the research trees of the related countries.
HISTORICAL ACCURACY
But do these changes mean that for most Enlisted locations, the timeline of weapons and equipment available to them will expand?
Indeed. In some cases, there may be more deviations from historical accuracy than what we currently have in the game. We believe the advantages of the updated Enlisted outweigh the abandonment of complete accuracy, but we want to hear your opinion as well. In addition, to balance out this aspect - which may be a disadvantage for some players, we are implementing a few more features.
In the updated Enlisted, missions will still be linked to specific countries. If you queue up as the Soviet Union, you will only see Moscow, Berlin or Stalingrad. Even the soldiers’ uniforms will automatically change to match the historical location and period of the battle, customization mechanics will be improved too, so that you can customize the soldiers’ appearance for each historical period separately.
RATING BASED MATCHMAKING
In the new environment of combining campaigns and armies, matchmaking will learn to divide World War II weapons into several stages of development. Depending on the equipment of your soldiers, they will be assigned a conditional rating, and in the first stages of matchmaking where the engine is selecting participants for battle, it will try to assemble a session of participants close to each other in terms of rating.
If there are enough players in the queue willing to enter a battle with weapons/machines close in level of development, the battle will be initiated by taking into account the rating of its participants. If the waiting time is too long, the matchmaker will assemble a classic session without taking ratings into account.
Enlisted newcomers will be able to get used to the game in much more comfortable conditions, while experienced commanders will be able to measure their strength against worthy opponents.
CUSTOM MATCHES
Fans of purely historical battles will not be neglected — we will keep the Custom Matches mode with the ability to create battles with unique settings and even expand its functionality by selecting specific campaigns and the list of allowed weapons (as you requested).
KEEPING YOUR PROGRESS
To begin with, there will be no wipe. You will keep everything you’ve earned during your glorious exploits in the old version of Enlisted.
All the weapons, squads, soldiers and vehicles you’ve earned and unlocked, complete with all your upgrades will carry over into the new campaign and be combined within your country.
At the same time, the importance of campaign progression in the current system remains very high, because each campaign has unique content, which will then merge into one unified army. We suggest you continue leveling campaigns in the current version of Enlisted, so that after the changes you will have access to all of the unique weapons and vehicles.
THAT’S NOT ALL
These are just the main directions Enlisted will soon be heading in, and we’ve only covered them briefly. There will be another devblog in which we’ll tell you about squad progression in-depth, the replacement of the complicated order system with a simple currency, as well as often requested features like rewarding players for joining a random side in battle, and much, much more.
Until then, take another look at these plans, then at the recently published roadmap, and share them with your friends. We’d appreciate you sharing this major news with old, current and future Enlisted players, let’s make Enlisted the best it can be.
Lastly, ask us whatever you like in the comments — the third new devblog about the new meta will focus on answering your questions.
Enlisted is moving forward!