Ok so this is an evaluation based on the first day of testing for about 5-6 hours primarily using infantry squads.
So far progress made in game is completion (or semi completion; two of the squads I have not unlocked the secondary and or sidearm upgrades) of personnel upgrades for Rifleman, SMG, Sniper Squads.
So far I have unlocked up to tier 4 in terms of the campaign unlock system.
First and foremost the primary issue is that most if not all of the systems and mechanics in the game in terms of unlocks, upgrades, aren’t covered or explained to players new coming to the game on how they work, and synergize with other parts of the UI.
Take for example under the Personnel upgrades and you would like to unlock a new gun. Presumably when you go under this upgrade tab and see this option you could be led to believe that by using an upgrade point to this section you can therefore have the chance to get this gun. However this isn’t the case, new guns are unlocked per the tiers of the Campaign system and the personnel upgrades is only to be able to equip said gun presuming you were able to roll for it.
Another example is weapons and the new engineering system, how does it exactly work, what weapons can be used for which class, etc.
That or the requisition system, how does it work, do I use it for a single squad or is it just a full random roll for every squad in terms of soldiers and weaponry? How do I earn cards, and what can I get in terms of minimum and maximum?
Not to say that none of this information is here, some of it is, but it’s hidden or thrown out to be essentially figured out by yourself. Having no guide past controls that show at the beginning of each game in terms of the mechanic, even in playtest is somewhat of an issue in terms of wasting early upgrade points to unlock X but you are required to do Y in order to do Z. Understandably this may not be high on the priority list of concerns for the game, which is understandable since it’s Alpha, however this feature being lacked will lead to confusion in both this wave of players, and those to come.
Secondly, I find the logistics system while unique for sure, it has some definite downsides, primarily in the fact that requisition is for the entire roster of both used and unused squads in terms of soldiers and weaponry.
For example player X doesn’t play (engineer, Radio , tanker, or insert any other squad here) and he only gets per hour say 2 requisition cards (again its unclear how you earn them). He uses 1 card for Weaponry and 1 for Troops.
Troops: Presuming he’s unlucky he gets 1-2 soldiers per role. Presuming again that he has unlocked up to say rank 4 he now has the ability to get Trooper : Assaulter : Engineer : Radio Operator : Sniper : Tanker. Now he doesn’t use Engineer, Radio, or Tanker if he can help it in match, but since the troop requisition is for the entire list of squads both used and unused there is a moderate to high chance that he will get a soldier that is in these classes, which is further limited by the amount you can have in a squad. So now player x has more tankers, radiomen and engineers which he doesn’t want to use, in lieu of soldiers he needed to upgrade what he actually plays in the academy.
Weapons: Same principle, player x doesn’t play three aforementioned classes, he rolls weapons for said classes which are locked to their specific classes, resulting in weapons he can’t use for what he actually plays.
In this regard the system needs to be single consumables for specific squads rather than a blanket unlock of 1-X items/troops for everything you have that you may or may not use.
Another change I would recommend is a revamp of the inventory system, this may be contriversial to some but I find the idea of two primary weapons per soldier to be somewhat un-ideal in regards to class and gameplay flow.
Furthermore you only get one slot for a permanent explosive device, the backpack (again tying into no tutorial or guide for mechanics) does nothing, Armor slot which has nothing available as of yet and Inventory slots which aside from the medkit, if a item is placed in there it is permanently consumed? Not ideal and more frustrating and very cluttered
Here is what I think might work better - Backpacks are as they say Equipment - Having certain types and sizes weigh you down more and less but add more inventory slots for equipment and the like. For this system you would need 3 tiers of backpacks I would say for this to work. Each tier adds 1 more than the last, and having no backpack means you only have enough inventory space for 1 slot.
Furthermore, the equipment slot is where you would place items such as the flamethrower tanks or Radio pack for certain classes, but for all other general fighting classes it would be an extension of the inventory system, rather than it being a upgrade unlockable. Remove the Armor slotand place any future items regarding armor under this new equipment slot, this has benefit of trade off between armor to reduce damage, and ability to carry more items.
Remove the secondary weapon, soldiers should carry 1 primary and 1 secondary being a sidearm, this has the added benefit of diversifying weapon types and or platforms amongst the members of your squad, as well as force players to pick and choose what they can find on the battlefield rather than min-maxing their capabilities by having a SMG and a rifle at the same time along with a sidearm.
Remove the grenade tab and place this under inventory, all items under inventory are re-usable consumables from match to match, in game they work as a normal consumable, but unlike the current version items in the inventory tab doesn’t get deleted if used. This is balanced as described earlier by the Backpack/Equipment system revamp, heavier backpack = more space = more items = more weight = slower person.
The Melee tab, its useful and also inconvenient since your primary weapon is also a melee weapon albeit slower and with less damage. Having to switch to a different item slot by scroll wheel or number tab can lose you engagements since your pre-occupied. I would say keep the melee tab open by default, having nothing means that you use whatever weapon you have when you click the key that is assigned to melee, so buttstock of the rifle in most cases. But by equipping an unlockable weapon like say a knife or an axe, you use that item instead which has benefits and cons to each. For example knife is a shorter range than a buttstock but quicker and more damaging. Axe slower, but heavy hitting and about the range of a buttstock, etc.
While undoubtedly these changes are somewhat different I find these would be better suited to the style of the game as a whole, but as it is my own personal opinion feel free to comment alternatives.
Moving on to minor things I would suggest
- Remove the weapons & soldiers not available for certain squads. Having every weapon and possible soldier listed in each squad is distracting and cluttering regarding the UI.
- Regarding the Grenade category of consumables, (this ties into said tutorial or guide about mechanics above) lock them into the appropriate slot. Having the ability to place them into the Inventory slot, is misleading, and when it is consumed and disappears from inventory because it was an additional weapon, the fact that you cannot replace these items easily either because it won’t be unlocked until quite a few hours have been played or because of the roll change to get them in requisition is extremely frustrating. Furthermore considering the gameplay mechanic, having each soldier only having 1 explosive type weapon incentives usage of different soldiers for different situations in match rather than them being extra lives.
- Remove limit on infantry to vehicle roles, some want to tank, some want to play infantry roles, don’t limit players by installing arbitrary requirement of having 1 vehicle squad when that isn’t their preference.
- Only have the personnel upgrade section regarding weapons be unlocked once they are added to the drop pool for requisition.
- Add into the map requisition points either back at spawn or around the map, having no ability to resupply ammunition and relying on pickups from enemies which give minimal ammo is somewhat annoying to encounter after surviving for extended periods of time.
- This may be a bug, but standardizing uniforms for each squad regardless of class would be nice. Having the 930’s replacement troopers not having that nice blue cap is kinda sad. As such each squad should have their own unique theme that if you switch troopers, said trooper adopts said theme of uniform.
That’s about the max of what I have in terms of suggestions and concerns at least for day 1, apologies for the poor grammar.