itch.io

-> Anyway you could offer several options for the respective value. Or maybe even give an option to take the reward in cash? I happened to win many silencers which turned out to be useless, because not fitting to the weapons I was using.

There is an algorithm for giving rewards, and it tries to choose the thing that the player needs. When you completed the quest, the enemy must have  been relatively weak and your squad must have had very few silencers - hence that was the reward. If you did another quest then the reward would no longer be silencers, because then you would already have enough of them.

-> I never was awarded money, only weapons etc. Usually  I use the money for hospital treatments and weapon repairs etc. And I do the quests to get stuff that I can't buy, like grenades etc. So I don't think that there really has to be a conflict between money supply and quests.

The algorithm for giving rewards can give money if the player is low in cash, but it's down to luck. 

-> I agree that the mission is a failure and I lose reputation when the Ben Dabi raiding party dies. But then I lose reputation over and over again for every new raiding party that Ben Dabi sends to that village. That seems to be a little over the top, when a player only accepts to help one specific raiding party.

That looks like a bug. I'll fix it so it only happens once

-> Or maybe cancel the retreat feature completely? It seems to cause some problems because it can be used for exploits. When facing a strong enemy, you can kill some of them, then retreat, send your soldiers to hospital and then attack again. Game design would be more straight forward without the retreat option.

Its' not so easy, because if you retreat and attack from the same direction, the enemy will be waiting for you the second time you attack

Hi Petf,

Nice to see you back!

> I played the campaign on the hard level until all 5 soldiers joined my squad. Then I switched to very hard. Just to let you know, so maybe some of my comments are caused by this switch. 

Yeah, allowing change of difficulty in the middle of a campaign might be a bad idea. The problem is the militia that the player has already encountered will stay on the current level. For this reason, I am considering getting rid of the feature.

> Strategic game:

> 1. The campaign mode works great, introducing new enemy classes and weapon during the campaign progress is in a very good pace now. 

good to hear 

> 2. Hostage rescue missions and supporting Ben Dabi missions are great and a very good alternative to the usual "kill everyone" missions. I usually try to find cover and camp there until all enemy soldiers are killed. Having to move to the prison quickly is a new challenge. Very good. You could implement more of those different mission types (for example escort missions or assassination missions).

In the next version there will be a new type of enemy, which should add some variety to some of the missions 

> 3. I also like the new award system when completing quests. One suggestion: How about letting the player chose the award? I have plenty of silencers now but had to wait a long time to get scopes. And I was also in urgent need of nades.

The value of the award, is based on the strength of the enemy that you defeated. For instance, if you complete a defend village quest by defeating a weak enemy, then you only get a reward of lesser value (that could be a silencer, because scopes are more valuable). 

> 4. In my opinion the campaign is over too fast. It took me a long time to get my soldiers in good shape and win the really cool weapons. And then only 4 or 5 maps are left to make use of all that. I think you could extend the campaign easily by some 10 maps or so.

ok, seems like a good idea

>5. Also in my campaign only the last 2 maps were really difficult. The enemy strength was about 7000 in each of these maps. In all the other maps enemy strength was about 2000 or 3000 which is not really a problem. I think that enemy strength should be slightly increasing towards the end of the game until reaching 7000 or 8000 at final map.

yeah, I can do that, but only for the "very hard" level

> 6. Scrap merchants funds could be increased. Nearing the end of the campaign I had loads of scrap weapons but all the merchants' funds were exhausted.  

I'm not sure about that, because the player can also earn money by doing quests. If the player has a limitless money supply there is no need to do quests.

> 7. I would also suggest to make different campaign modes available: the current one in which you start with only one player and only sidearms and maybe a more advanced campaign mode, in which you start with a full squad and better weapons. The current campaign feels like a tutorial until You make it to Ben Dabi. That can get boring when you have played the game several times.

I'll think about it. Maybe only allow such a campaign after the player has already completed one full campaign.

> Tactical game:

> 1. Enemy behavior is great. Tactical retreats (into buildings etc)  work good. Overall, at level "hard" and "very hard" AI is challenging but not too strong. I haven't found any random or silly enemy movement. That is a great improvement compared to earlier versions. Anyway I haven't encountered enemies who retreat to their fort. Maybe you could trigger that action more frequently.

this behaviour only happens if there is a fortified place to retreat to. It could be that by bad luck the situation never happened to occur during your game.

> 2. In most matches the AI splits up enemy forces. So some enemies attack and when they are dead new enemies start approaching. I think that is ok when playing easy or normal. On hard or very hard I would prefer that enemies stick together. That makes it really hard to win. Also in most cases the AI attacks, which makes it easy to camp, wait for interrupts and kill approaching enemies. Why not let the enemies camp, wait for interrupts and make the player attack?

I have improved the AI in the next version. Firstly, they no longer do zerg attacks if it means they will be caught in the open. That means they either wait, or try flanking.  

> 3. The time the AI needs for its turn can be very long, especially on the last maps. And the time needed for AI movement can tell you if the enemy is moving a lot or is preparing for interrupts. Especially when only few enemies are left, this can be important information for you where to move, especially if you decide to open a door or not. 

that seems to be as it should be

> 4. Random map design works great. The only issue I encountered are some doors that are blocked by furniture, so you can't really enter a room. 

the furniture can block off passage through a room, but it doesn't really cause a problem, because you can get through the building from a different route

> 5. I would appreciate more map variety, e.g. sometimes higher or lower building density. And maybe different vegetation. All the places look pretty much the same. How about more vegetation to build forests, jungle etc.?

I already do that. Villages can be with just one building, or completely packed. I want to add new types of building in future versions (ruins and shanty buildings)

> 6. The retreat option doesn't seem to work well with the new features of the game: When you retreat after having accepted a Ben Dabi support quest you lose reputation every time a new Ben Dabi group is sent to the city and ultimately killed - until you finally conquer the city. When you are on a hostage rescue mission, retreating seems to reset the hostage status. When I hear that the enemy is starting to kill hostages, I can simply retreat, then reenter the battle and all the hostages seem to be fine again.

Good catch. Yeah, there is a loophole for the case of the hostage quest. I will fix that. However, in the case of a support quest,  if the Ben Dabi militia are killed  then the mission is a failure (you are actually told this when you accept the quest)

> 7. Bodies of killed enemies can fall trough walls, when killed next to a building. 

This happens because there was a wall on each side of the soldier and he did not have any place to fall

8. When blowing up a door, parts can fly through walls or the roof (here you can see a part of the door inside the room).

> That can happen because of the nature of the physics library, but it should only happen very rarely though

So good to see this project grow!

Yes, this year I hope to get it to a level where it can be released on Steam. 

Thanks very much for your feedback!

Hi Jamfanli,

The next version will have new story line art work, more types of enemy characters, elite troops, enemy boss character, end game art work, possibly redesigned sniper and auto skill improvements. Also, possibly new vocals for all characters. 

I have the shotgun on my todo list, but it won't be in the next version. I have to limit the amount of new features in each release for stability.

That's great to hear!

Send me an email to edwelch@astronautz.com and say which OS your using and I will send a link

BTW, thanks for your suggestions - some of them have been implemented in this  release ;)

send me an e-mail to edwelch@astronautz.com and I will give you a link to download

Hi Crazylife,

There's no full version yet. I am going to release it on Steam once it's finished - but it still two versions away from release quality.

We can give access to the full beta version, if you do beta testing and provide feedback

> First of all thanks a lot because this demo is great and already looks like a released game. The graphics, animations and sounds are almost too good for a game that has an old school spirit (I’m 50 and this game reminds me of older things like tactical board games without computers). 

Thanks very much!

>I really appreciate that the roadsigns are written on both sides.

>It seems something has changed in comparison with much older versions concerning the fullscreen mode. I often press my task bar by mistake. I use an old 2017 MacBook Pro running Mac OS Big Sur 11.7.7. With older versions I had to press escape to leave fullscreen as far as I remember.

I found a lot of bugs for full screen and multi-monitor support, which will be fixed in next version. Hopefully, it's fixed for the Mac version too. (Unfortunately, I have only an old Mac to test on)

>I have one question about the hidden ammunitions. I end up a fight with all ennemies dead (victory) and there are no allies. Do I have to « explore » all the buildings to find it? If I leave the place without walking in the buildings, do the hidden ammo appear in the « loot »?

Yes, it is picked up automatically, but only if you blow open the barred up door with a grenade. That was meant to be an Easter egg. I didn't know if anyone would find it ;). In next verison the player will be told where the loot is on completion of a quest

>Another question. One of my merc is in interrupt mode aiming a closed door. An enemy opens the door and shoots at him. Is it a bug or is there a « random factor » related to the interrupt level of my merc? Is it some way to reduce « door camping »? It happens sometimes and is often frustrating obviously, but I need to know…

It's a bug. I'm still trying to track that one down.

> Weird funny bug (happened only once for many hours played): Wartsky goes from 1 or 2 to 9 experience points gained after battle. Happened when I switch applications without closing them using Command + Tab shortcut but not sure this causes that. He had +1 or +2 xp, I had to quickly check something on the internet, I go back to the game and he has + 9!

That's weird alright. I will look into it

> I have played early versions and must admit the AI improvements are impressive, which is important for me. The ennemies went from stupid / heroic to clever / vicious. 

Yeah, the AI was completely rewritten in version 1.4. Before that it was not good.

> Much less often than with previous versions the game quits by itself. It seems it happens right after choosing a destination on the map.

I will look into it

> I’ve had hostages already running (no building could be identified as jail also) when arriving. Bugs with hostages seem only to happen when quest is canceled or when allies are already on site. Most of the time it works fine. 

I discovered a lot of bugs in the hostage quest. They are fixed in the next version.

> I’ve reported a few bugs but they happened very few times in comparison with many hours played.

> I’ve red in the comments some people complained about funding but it really isn’t an issue for me.

That's good to hear. It could be that some people play in "iron man" mode. They would be paying more money for hospital care if they were doing that.

> I really like how partially random is the game, like shuffle cards. It can lead to surprises that are challenging, and it’s much better than fully scripted game, way less boring if played again from beginning.

Yes, that is the idea

> You’re doing great with this game.

Thanks for the compliment and thanks for providing great feedback!

I hope to have the next version finished soon 

In theory, you could change the number of soldiers in each militia gang by modifying the file "initMilitiaList.xml", but it hasn't really been set up for modification by users ( it is in Program Files (x86)\MercTactics, which is a protected directory)

Maps are all generated randomly, so can't be changed

Hi sicave, 

There are certain options for the quick battles, such as hostages, extra enemy, etc. Is that what you mean?

Yes, we are still looking for beta testers. I can send you a link to the full version if you send me a email to edwelch@astronautz.com

Thanks very much :-)

The latest version is on the main page: https://ed-welch.itch.io/merc-tactics

I'm working on a Steam release, but it's going to take some time before it's finished. Also, there is a "full" demo version for beta testers. If you want to beta test you can send me an email at edwelch@astronautz.com and I can send you a link

Shouldn't happen even with a faulty trackpad, but I'm not able to reproduce the bug.

Are you using a Mac or Windows?

Sorry, that that happened to you. 

I've never seen a bug like that before. Can you explain the circumstances - was he overwatching a door entrance? was he crouched? was there only one enemy or several? was he standing or kneeling?

Hi Petr,

> Enemy behavior is great, a huge improvement compared to the earlier releases.

nice to hear that :)

> In the savegame that you provided the prison is on one side of the map and the enemy troops are in a building on the other side. So I can just walk to the prison, blow the door, let the hostage escape and then retreat. Without any enemy contact I get the reward. Possible solution: enemy troops should be located near the prison and patrol there, making it hard even to approach the area.

It could just be the save game that I gave you. Normally the scene generator is meant to put the prison fairly far from where your soldiers deploy to make the quest harder. 

> If I get a hostage rescue mission I can wait (on the strategic map) for allies to weaken the enemy troops. When the enemies are almost eliminated I join the battle. The battle is won easily and I get the reward. Maybe it would be better to get the award only if a player is really taking part of that mission.

I never considered that some one would do that. good catch.

> When the alarm sounds, enemies don't really seem to head for the prison in order to kill the hostages. Actually in all the hostage rescue missions that I have played (normal and hard) never any enemy tried to get close to the prison. I think they could be more determined to do so.

> After finishing a hostage quest successfully, sometimes the popup which tells you where to go for the reward does not appear. However it appears when you drive to another city and then drive back to the city where the hostage was rescued. Same bug occurs sometimes, when you drive to collect the reward. Sometimes you have to enter the city several times until the reward pops up.

Yeah, I already found many problems with the hostage quest and already fixed them. Fortunately they're not show stoppers.

> Weapon balance: I think grenades and especially the grenade launcher have a very high range, damage an accuracy. Considering the explosion radius the grenade launcher has a range comparable to the FAL sniper rifle. Other weapons fall short. Maybe assault rifles and snipers should have higher firing range to compensate the advantage of nades.

Yeah, I could make sniper rifles a bit longer range - but if I make it too long the game gets hard to play. The grenade launcher is the most powerful weapon in the game, but 40mm grenades ammo for the grenade launcher are very scarce, which makes it more balanced. 

> As you already have included hostage rescue missions: what about turning it the other way around? In assassination missions the player does not have to rescue a hostage but he has to enter a building and kill the enemy leader. Mission is over when this goal is achieved, remaining enemies surrender. That would be an interesting change to the normal kill-everybody missions.

That's a good idea. I am also toying with other quest ideas, such as defending a village against enemy onslaught.

Anyways thanks for the great feed back 

Ed

Hi Petf, 

There's not really any specific things to be tested. 

You could try this game save - it's just at the point that you can do the hostage quest: www.astronautz.com/gamesaves/s9_0165.bin

Also, this is one from the same campaign, but more advanced:

www.astronautz.com/gamesaves/s13_0337.bin

Also, there is a now "hostage" selection in the quick battles.

Send me an email if you need a link to the full version of the game

It should run on most PC's, except if it's very old. Which model CPU and GPU does your PC have?

What do you mean by "RNG"?

Anyway, it could be a problem if you are playing the demo version you do not have access to the weapons buyer, which is a big revenue source. Maybe in the next version I should add more quests to generate cash.

There's several ways to generate cash. You can sell damaged weapons at the scrap merchant. Also, there is a weapons buyer (only available in full version). Also, if you help Ben Dabi militia in a battle, they may offer to trade weapons for cash.  You should also manage spending frugally. For instance, it's not too wise to send soldiers to hospital when they are only down to 80% health - wait til they get down to 60% (you are charged the same rate either way). Also, avoid spending money on repairing weapons that are only marginally better than the ones you already have.

I guess I could allow clicking and holding mouse to rotate camera, but to be honest I never have a problem with viewing angles when I play the game

Hi Shitar, I'm glad you like the game.

> I've had a bug with the same popup dialogue with Zanata telling me we split and see in Ben Dabi. This popup is supposed to happen once but it was showing again allways at the same location, followed by the game quitting. Things were ok as long as I was voiding this location.

That bug was fixed in 1.8

>I am sometimes a bit annoyed by the visualization of the soldiers on the map. In some very few cases (mostly small buildings  and / or small rooms / small corridors) For these cases I would like to switch the visualization to another  axis that is not available. Besides, I got used to this little inconvenience and it's not something that would stop me from playing.

Actually, you can flip the camera angle from the HUD (also by pressing 'F' and 'V' keys)

>Also not a big deal but I guess it would be better with roadsigns readable from both sides (I send pictures for showing).

You're right, I need to improve the signs.

I'm glad you like the game. We'll see about the shotgun.

thanks ;)

That's great ;)

Hi Shitar,

I tested the MacOS zip file and found that it had somehow got corrupted. I uploaded a new file for the Mac version. Try downloading it again, it should work now. Thanks for reporting the issue.

Anyways, I'm glad you like the game.  I spent a lot of effort on the AI algorithm and that seems to have paid off ;)

This is how the new inventory system now looks:

There are 4 pouches that can hold small items, such as silencer, or grenades and two spare gun slots. For simplicity they can hold any type of gun.  The soldier will be restricted to only being able to carry two guns. Changing weapon now costs only 1AP.  Launching 40mm grenade costs 11AP, while throwing a normal grenade costs 12 AP, as before.

Some more developments. There are three types of 40mm grenade fuse:

• Contact. This is the simplest type. It just explodes as soon as it hits the ground (or wall etc.). Very accurate
• Air burst. The grenade jumps up after hitting the ground, this can (in theory) do more damage, by hitting enemy hiding behind cover. 
• Timed. The grenade explodes after a set time, allowing it to bounce and travel further. The disadvantage is that it unpredictable where it will detonate.

The next version of Merc Tactics will have under-barrel grenade launchers, here is a quick look:

Unfortunately not.

In the next version the inventory system will be expanded. I am trying to keep it simple as possible. This will allow for more grenades to be carried and also make it slightly more realistic

The new system, there are the following slots:

1 hand slot for current weapon

1 holster slot. Can only hold hand guns

1 armour slot, as before

1 long weapon slot (on shoulder sling), can only hold long weapons (rifles, machine guns, submachine guns)

4 -6 pouches, which can store small items, such as grenades, silencers, etc.

Hi Jamfanli,

I will eventually add shotguns, but bear it in mind other weapons such as grenade launchers have higher priority

Not at all, the project is going strong. It just takes time to implement new features properly.

Thanks. Hopefully, the next version will not take so long ;)

Hostages are AI controlled. Next version should land this month sometime ;) 

In the next version of Merc Tactics will have a free hostage quest. 

Ben Dabi soldiers will surrender if they are badly out-numbered in a battle and then will be taken hostage. Then, one of their comrades will offer a reward if you help to free them. The hostages will be kept in a locked prison building and you can either try to break them out by blowing one of the doors off, or you can just kill all the enemy and they will be freed at the end of the battle. However, once the enemy soldiers detect a break out attempt, they will try to kill the hostages, so you have to protect them.

Hi Petf,

Nice to hear from you again ;)

> I have been playing on a Windows 10 Convertible / Tablet. Performance is good, but the volume buttons toggle the main menu when in combat mode. And when the enemy is moving the volume buttons make the screen rotate.

Yep, I see that that bug. Quite wierd. I will try and fix it.

> One minor issue/bug: When picking up a soldier from hospital after healing, his ability scores still are reduced (due to injuries suffered). When entering the next battle the ability scores return to the normal values though.

I could not reproduce that. Maybe you are taking about temporary AP loss?

> Concerning the gameplay: The  AI is throwing far less nades now, maybe because of the changes to the algorithm you made? 

Yes, the AI algorithm is rewritten, including the code for throwing grenades, but I don't see them throwing less grenades than before. It could be just random luck that you didn't come across situation where AI had chance to throw. 

> And it drops less usable weapons. Before good weapons could be found all over the place after a battle. Now I have to take the broken weapons to repair. 

I did not change the code that decides to drop good weapons. There is a certain amount of luck involved, so it could be just down to bad luck.

> Even Leonidas didn't bring his G36 when he joined my team, only a handgun :-/

Yes, that can happen. Militia have their weapons reassigned after a battle, with strongest soldiers getting best weapons. If Leonidas gets injured then he falls down the pecking list and can get a worse weapon.

> Concerning the AI skills: Great improvement! AI movement is less predictable and they move to very good places to take cover, flank etc. I also found the AI to literally learn from my tactics. When I managed to kill some enemies from a good spot, they just rounded up some snipers and waited for interrupt. This is great because it keeps players moving and stop camping in one place all the match.

That's good to hear :-D

> I am playing on very hard and it is insane! Like a match of chess: when you make one mistake you lose :-) I know you don't want the AI to be unbeatable, but I think it is ok, it is beatable, it is just really hard.

Yep, on hard level even I struggle to beat the enemy ;). 

> You wrote that you will have to  either reduce the amount of enemies, or make them weaker. I don't think you should make them weaker. I think the solution will be the campaign layout: if you make a player encounter enemy teams with about the same strength, the game is playable. But it is impossible if you make a team with a strength of about 1000 fight an AI team of 12000. So I think in the campaign layout the enemy strength could be reduced in some cities and that will do the job. You could also make better weapons available in the earlier stages of the campaign. In my opinion the most difficult matches happen when the AI has better weapons (AK47 against handguns/submachine guns for example, or snipers against AK47). 

The player needs to be careful not to attack an enemy that's too strong. Usually there is a choice of attacking a weaker enemy first. (I even have a help tip that pops up to advise about this).  I think the weapon assignment is ok. Because of the randomised campaigns it's not very predicable what weapons each militia group will have, or if they drop good weapons. The player might get better guns earlier in  one game and not in another.

Don't worry, that's not going to happen