Jagged Alliance Jagged Alliance: Flashback

Strategic Level, Destructible Environment and more

Update #1 · Apr 24, 2013 · 11 comments



Dear backers,
What a first 24 hours!! Super fantastic.
Thanks for all of your support. We are well on the way to go beyond the Kickstarter goal, so if we can keep up the momentum this game will actually see the day of light!
So please spread the word! Tell your Jagged Alliance friends! And keep interest alive in the comments section as well as the forums on the mini-site. http://www.jaggedallianceflashback.com/
Our plan from now and moving forward is to give you more deep insights into our ideas and thoughts for Flashback.
We will send out updates to start discussions with you, so please discuss these things with us if you like, dislike or have alternative ideas. We deliberately have run this Kickstarter in the early stages of pre-production, where a lot of the decisions are still up in the air. So your voice will indeed have an influence! Your voice will be heard!

With that said, we haven’t decided and settled on small details yet. So if you ask us if you will be able to blow up the black cow in map grid 4F with C4 that has been modified with a delay timer - we don’t know yet! Thats what pre-production is meant to give us - a game design from top and down to medium detail level. And that is where we want your input!

Strategic Level Design - Base Building, Squads, Map Mechanics

The strategic level in Flashback will in its core work similarly to Jagged Alliance 2 with added base building.
You have a chessboard like grid on top of the world map, you direct squads of mercenaries freely around on the map and each grid corresponds to an individual level on the tactical side of the game.

The size of the chessboard is going to be determined by budget of the game. This is where we scale up with stretch goals. More pledges means more environment art means more levels in the grid.

You have to move troops around the map on foot, and if we reach stretch goals we also add the good old transportation options of jeeps, trucks, helicopters, boats and planes to make movement faster as well as unlock new parts of the map. We really want to do this part! As an example it would matter to liberate the port city, so that you can grab a boat to a neighbouring small island.
So if you liked the system used in Jagged Alliance 2, then you will love this one as it’s basically the same

A new feature we want to add to the strategic layer is base management. You will start out with a small landing zone and expand your base of operations as you gain access to funds. New additions to your base will add various levels of support options to your squads. From fortifying your base that help against enemy attacks to helicopter pads and recruiting a gunsmith will allow you to repair weapons and research new attachments that increase weapon effectiveness.

But this is not where it ends. In captured villages we would like to rework the militia system from earlier games. Parts of the buildings used in your central base can also be built in villages - e.g. fortify specific buildings, repair shops and medical facilities. But you can’t build an air strip or a hospital, these are things you have to control to reap the benefits. The enemy will actively try to retake lost sectors, so the more you control, the more you have to lose.

So it’s important to defend your central base while spending some resources on expanding your presence on the map. Leaving your base open will allow the enemy to take it, removing the support it gives to your mercenary squads.

This adds much more value to the strategic part of the game and more depth in gameplay.

The exact economy of the game is not finalized at this point in time. But we do want to have an economy where mercenaries have upkeep costs, where you have to have an income source and building buildings cost something. The time to decide the exact mechanics on this will be a bit later. Suggestions and Ideas are more than welcome in the comments and forums!

Destructible Environment

We will definitely have a level of a destructible environment in the core game. This is an essential feature and makes carrying explosives important. It also has an effect on stealth, but that is a feature we will talk about in a later update when we go into combat mechanics.

Does this mean we will have full destructible everything? No - almost no games have this and we will not either. It simply makes no sense. Read on!

Here are some examples of destructible things:

• being able to blow up a thin wall with a frag grenade to remove the cover that the enemy unit is hiding behind
• use C4 to make a hole in a wall to create an alternative entrance to a building
• cut holes in fences with a wire cutter
• destroy equipment like radio transmitters, power generators, cars to stop the enemy from using them

Examples of non-destructible environment:

• you will not be able to blow tunnels into the ground to move underneath things
• you wont be able to have buildings collapse by blowing holes into all walls
• terrain pieces can not be destroyed, things like boulders, rocks etc.
• there is no wand of divinity that splits water to walk between islands

New Pledges


We have been asked by many if we could add more pledges in the lower end. So we have added the following pledges to the Kickstarter site.

We plan to add more later as we go along. If you have great ideas for pledges you want, then don’t hesitate to send us a message.
$35 Gunnam style Tier: All previous rewards + Digital high quality map of the game world + Digital copy of the Official Soundtrack
* Limited 100* $85 Umpa Bazooka Tier: All previous rewards + Get to write an enemy response (ONLY THIS TIER)

Licensing, Money, bitComposer and what it all means

There is some confusion about what it means that we have licensed Jagged Alliance from bitComposer.

A license is a right to use a brand. Its a legal agreement where we (Full Control) get the right to use a brand name (Jagged Alliance) from the license owner (bitComposer).

Licenses could be given to e.g. make a t-shirt, a movie or like in this case - a computer game.

Getting a license costs us (Full Control) money. It is not free, and there is typically also royalties to be paid. Totally similar to someone making Star Wars themed lunch boxes having to pay a royalty fee for every lunch box sold.

This is also true for this deal. On the sales of the game past the Kickstarter we have to pay bitComposer for the Jagged Alliance license. This does not apply to your donated Kickstarter money. This will all go into development directly. The deal goes on royalty payments for non-backers who buy the game later.

If we had to make a classic publisher work-for-hire deal, bitComposer would have paid the development, owned it all and they would control the development and which features go in.

Since we are licensing instead, we do not get a single $ from them or others. We have to finance the development ourselves, define the game features and story (together with you), produce it and get it into your hands by the way we think is best.
bitComposer still has a say in terms of us not destroying their brand by turning Ivan into a ballerina in a pink shirt and make the game into an endless runner in iOS. But as long as we stay within the defined boundaries of the license agreement, we are free to make the game to our ideas. We are pretty much free to do whatever we want, as long as it stays in the tactical genre however.
This also means, that we can use bitComposer and other 3rd party companies as resources if it helps us. For example if we want to reach out to existing Back in Action fans on the bitComposer Facebook page, we can ask bitComposer to do that. If we want to send out press releases, we can use our own press agents instead of bitComposers PR guys - so that's what we've done - used our own. If we want to do physical boxes we can ask bitComposer to broker a deal for us (since they already have contacts) or go with our own if we want. Or find another partner. And so on.

Being independent simply means that WE have a choice of who to ask for help. And sometimes the most wise choice is to seek partnership and help rather than doing things yourself.

You might then wonder who pays for the development. Where is the money coming from to pay rent, purchase pizza and energy drinks to keep developers running?

We are throwing in money of our own on top of the Kickstarter pledges. So it’s you and us. But we simply don't have the money to fully fund the development ourselves - far from it. We are a small company with 12 employees, running independently. We don't have the backing of deep pocketed publishers and we want to stay independent if possible for our game productions. So that we can make games that we feel need to be made in a way that might not be the latest and hottest one-click mechanic that makes gazillions.

So if we don't get this Kickstarter backup from you, this game will not happen. We don't have the muscle to fund it ourselves, and the worst case would be that if it fails it may, for some people, also prove that a turn-based Jagged Alliance game is a dead end.
Lets prove them wrong!!

We hope this clears up any questions or confusion you might have on what a licensed deal means. Otherwise ask and we will answer

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Tactical Layer - Core Combat

Update #2 · Apr 25, 2013 · 15 comments


Dear backers and friends,
Day 3 in the campaign and we are super happy about your support and questions! Keep them coming, and we will work hard on keeping you up to date.
In our last update we talked a bit about our ideas for the strategic layer, and this time we want to get to the core and heart of the game.
We just want to briefly note that we have a lot more updates planned, covering detailed information on the ideas we have for the game. From story to world economy and customization options. Soon we'll also be making an update on add-ons and changes to pledges.
We are completely and utterly dependent on your support! So please, pledge share, tweet so that we can make this Jagged Alliance: Flashback a reality!
Currently we're closing in on 20% of our minimum goal, in just 3 days, which we think is a fantastic start being a relatively unknown developer and it means we're on-track.
A big thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and now lets get to the meat of this update. COMBAT!
Core Philosophy of Jagged Alliance: Flashback

There is a great deal of speculation and doubts surrounding what we mean by staying true to the core and what we mean when saying words like “accessibility” or “modern”.
So lets just hammer this one into the ground right away.
“If it ain’t broken - don’t fix it”.
This is where some of the newer games got it wrong we think.
Flashback will be using the same mechanics for the tactical layer as Jagged Alliance 2. We are NOT dumbing anything down or replacing complexity with simplicity.
We will try to take a look at some mechanics and see if it’s possible to tweak and improve them. A prime example of this is stealth and fog of war. So read on.
But you say you are not making JA2

Yes - We are not making a new Jagged Alliance 2, we are making an all new game, but this does not mean that we’re moving away from the gameplay it pioneered.
We are making a new story - using the JA2 core tactical mechanics, selected pieces of 1.13 community patch as well as additions of our own.
A new story means we can include a new setting, dream up new missions and introduce all new enemies - but at the same time the current budget means we're restricted in the scope of the game in terms of assets and the total amount of mercenaries, which are a scalable factor of the final budget. However, all of these elements do NOT change the core gameplay.
Simply put, more money = more game content.
We don't just want Flashback to be a rehash of JA2, we want to ensure that the improvements made by the community are taken into consideration. We want to show you how AIM came about and we want to expand the backstories of your favourite mercenaries. We think these are ample reasons to make a new game for both new and old fans to enjoy!
Movement, Line of Sight and Fog of War

This wouldn't be a true Jagged Alliance game without the hybrid system, therefore we are bringing back the hybrid system, enabling real time positioning your troops while roaming in a given sector outside of combat.
When the enemy comes into line of sight of any squad member, the game turns into the classic turn-based combat system from JA2. Read more about that part further down.
During all phases, enemies are only visible while inside line of sight and a few turns after leaving it again.
To make things a little more interesting while roaming, we are adding fog of war to the game. This adds exploration as part of the game. When entering an undiscovered sector most of it will be black, and is only revealed as you explore it.
This opens up a whole new dimension to the game, and we think it’s something that could really add to the tactical depth of the game.
Turn-Based Combat System

Going into turn-based combat will be very much like JA2.
You will have the standard action point system to perform movement, shooting, reloads, detonating C4 etc. The amount of action points for each turn is still depending on the state of the unit in terms of health, fatigue, stress, current stance and even possibly a more complex suppression system like in the 1.13 mod.
We will not touch a lot of this and change it. It’s more about using modern computer power to visually aid the player with movement path display, information about cover, effective ranges of weapons and more. Making it more accessible for players to play the game without having to have the manual open.
Enemy Factions

If there’s one thing we want to do with Flashback, then it is to introduce a varied amount of enemies.
The game is not black and white, east vs. west, there are shades of grey - the Russian presence introduces a massive amount of turmoil on San Christobal, and various factions will compete against each other, some more active than others.
Trust will play a central role in the game, because it’s not everyone you can trust, not even the CIA.
It’s entirely up to you how you proceed and portray yourself throughout the game, are you ruthless enough to torture your enemies or will you be merciful enough to gain the trust of the resistance?
The amount of factions, the political aspect of this and the influence into the game is partly part of stretch goals - as this adds an entire new layer of art assets and balancing into the game.
We will go more into this and the story behind Flashback in a later update.
All the Nitty Gritty Details

It is important for us to give you this quick overview.
It’s become apparent to us that there are a gazillion questions about the details and also a lot of personal wish lists for what should and should not be in the a new Jagged Alliance game. We’re currently in pre-production of the game so we do not have all the little details in place yet, which is also why we’re taking all your feedback in to see which direction to take the game.
We will add more updates through the next weeks that will go into more depth on different aspects. For example we are looking hard at making a more deep stealth mechanism, taking weapon modification into the game and so on.
But end of the day a lot of these details are impossible to answer before we know more about the final budget. Every little feature and art asset costs money to produce. And we want to make sure that we keep what we promise!
Until next time.
The Full Control JA Team

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Map Editor Stretch Goal
We've had some talks back and forth, here at the office, about the map editor and we've decided that it’s such an important feature for the community that we will add it no matter what budget we end up with. That's right - we throw in the remaining $10k to give you this awesome tool as thanks for your backing.

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Hesha schrieb:

Wie habe ich das "immernoch" zu verstehen? Hat sich die Entwicklung verzögert oder haben sie Versprechen nicht gehalten?

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