Matrix Games

Hello and welcome to the final dev blog before the launch of the open multiplayer beta on November 12th.

This week we would like to present to you the new game mode called “War Goals”, the improvements of the automatic matchmaker, the custom and scenario matches and the evolution of the army builder rules.

WAR GOALS GAME MODE

During the previous beta we proposed a very simple game mode where you had to capture all the zones or hold more zones than the opposing team at the end of a 45min timer.

This game mode had several advantages:

• Extremely simple to understand
• Rushing the points early is not mandatory, it’s a strategy with risks and rewards.
• You had time to come back if you lost the initial engagement.

But it also had one main downside: everything was determined at the last second of the match. So the optimal strategy was generally to play very defensively, hoard money until the end of the match and make a big assault at the end, sacrificing all your units like lemmings to capture one more point than the enemy team just before the timer ran out.

To remedy that problem, without losing the advantages, we’ve come up with a new game mode called War Goals.

War Goals game mode is played in 3 phases of equal duration (3x15min by default).

• During each phase there are 6 war goals: 3 conquest goals consisting in capturing more objectives than the enemy and 3 destruction goals consisting in destroying more units than the opposing team.
• At the end of each phase we count how many war goals each team has achieved and we grant victory points.
• The war goals are worth 1 point during phase 1, 2 points during phase 2 and 3 during phase 3. Which means that even if you had a bad start you still have the opportunity to come back during the next phase.

We have good hopes that this new game mode will please everyone as it has many advantages:

• Rewards both conquest and destruction
• Still allows a comeback at any stage of the match
• More dynamic than the previous mode as you cannot stay on the defensive for 45 minutes
• Still gives you time to prepare your counter attacks instead of being forced to send your units immediately to the meat grinder as there is no loss of points every second.
• End match rush is not a viable option any more.

MATCHMAKING IMPROVEMENTS

In the previous beta you had to create teams of 5 players using a lobby system and then the matchmaker was putting you against another team of 5.

This system still exists but has been improved in several ways:

Quick search

You can now use the quick search function to find a match rapidly without having to create/join a lobby.

This is ideal if you are alone and just want to rapidly play a balanced multiplayer match with random allies and opponents.

Incomplete teams merging

You are no longer forced to wait for all the slots of your lobby to be filled. Just close the slots you don’t need and start the search.
The matchmaker will complete your team with another incomplete team or people using quick search.

Rating

Players now have a Elo rating value which is used by the automatic matchmaker to propose balanced matches.

The rating works as follow:

• The rating of your team is compared with the rating of the opposing team to form a prediction: The team with the higher rating is supposed to win.
• If you win against a team with a better rating or you lose against a team with a lower rating it means the prediction was wrong so the ratings are modified to better predict the next matches.
• If you win against a weaker team or lose against a stronger team it means the prediction was correct so the ratings will not change much - or even not at all.
• You don’t have any rating during the first 3 matches, this is the calibration phase.

Invitations

It is now possible to invite your friends to your lobby. You can do so from your friend list in your profile or by using Steam overlay.

This is a simple method to play together without having to browse a long list of lobbies.

CUSTOM MATCHES

It is now possible to create custom matches without an automatic matchmaker. It means that both teams will gather in a single lobby and the player creating the lobby called “the host” takes all the decisions.

This will allow you to train with friends, organize tournaments and test unusual game rules.

Custom lobbies can be played by any number of players from 1v1 to 5v5 including unbalanced numbers like 1v5.
The host decides which map will be played, which faction each team will play including the possibility to let people choose a mix of USA and Russia within the same team.

For the moment the game rules are the same as a standard match but later we will add more options to change the economy, the duration of the match etc…

Custom matches don’t affect your rating as they don’t use the automatic matchmaker and the rules of the match can be modified by the host.
This also means that we cannot guarantee the fairness of custom matches as the host is responsible for that.

MULTIPLAYER/COOP SCENARIOS

A scenario is the layer containing anything that is not the map itself. So a multiplayer game mode is a scenario, a campaign mission with cutscenes and dialogues is a scenario, 3 units placed on the map to make a test is a scenario.

The game will contain an integrated scenario editor, accessible from the main menu, which will allow you to create all that.
Any scenario created with the editor can be configured to be multiplayer PvP or PvE, uploaded on Steam workshop and played in versus or coop mode.

You don’t have access to the editor yet but to test this functionality we will add some cooperative scenarios to the beta.

One of them is a kind of tower defense where you gain money by killing enemy waves.

The other resembles Battlefield’s assault mode where you need to capture sectors in a zone to progress to the next zone.

EXPERIENCE, MEDALS AND PROFILE CUSTOMIZATION

When you play a standard or custom match you will be granted experience points at the end of the match.

The amount of XP you gain depends on the type of match (x2 for standard), the level of victory or defeat (+/-10% for minor, +/-25% for major, +/-50% for total), and your individual performance during the match.

Destroying enemy units, capturing zones, resupplying your allies and keeping your units alive all increase your score.

Additionally you can gain special medals if you achieve certain conditions like having the best kill/death ratio or winning against a team with a higher rating than your team.

To access your profile and see which medals you have earned click your portrait on the top right corner of the screen.

You will find statistics about yourself, the possibility to customize your avatar, your friend list to invite people to your lobby and the leaderboard to see how you fare compared to other players.

Gaining experience allows you to increase your rank globally or per specialization which unlocks customization options for your profile.

ARMY BUILDER RULES IMPROVEMENTS

As mentioned in a previous dev blog, infantry will now be able to ride any vehicle or helicopter present in your battlegroup, provided there are enough seats.

But vehicles are still associated with infantry during battlegroup creation, so you won’t be able to use the Marines new ACV-30 for instance if you don’t add some USMC infantry to your battlegroup first.

The second improvement is that we have added a 10% tolerance margin to the number of points you can assign to each category.

Which means that if you have a limit of 1000pts for planes as an example you will be able to fill the category up to 1100pts.
If you are above the base value but within the 10% tolerance margin the number of points in this category will be displayed in orange.
If you go beyond the 10% margin the value will be displayed in red and the battlegroup will be invalid.

The total limit of 10,000 points for the whole deck remains, meaning that any extra points you put in one category will be missing from another.

This makes battlegroup creation more flexible as you can transfer points from one category to another. And it also removes the frustration of being stuck because one of your units is 5pts too expensive to fit in a category.
 

SEE YOU ON THE BATTLEFIELD COMMANDERS!

This was our final dev blog before the start of the open beta on November 12th. We hope to see a maximum of players taking part in it, so don’t forget to tell your friends to join you on the battlefield and team up against thousands of other players from around the world.

Cheers,
Steel Balalaika
Slitherine