To say that the year since the 16th of August '22 release flew by in the blink of an eye would be an understatement. Can it really have been twelve months already?
On the other hand, game development stopped being just an amuzing hobby, filled with 16-hour crunch sessions, and started to be an actual business, with banks, taxes, and compliance hurdles in a heavily-sanctioned region. Times flies fast with such a wide variety of new tasks and issues to solve.
So, where do we stand now?
Current developments
A recap of key points:
- A significant portion of the planned "Northern Group of Forces" DLC has been released in the form of free updates. It is only logical that the Netherlands will follow suit sometime during autumn to round out the planned content.
- One of the items on the 'optional features' list, the Static Defense skirmish mode, complements the Mobile Defense version.
- Regiments is now available on GOG, and the Steam version is finally playable through GeForce NOW.
An M113 C&V and a Leopard 2A4NL of the Royal Netherlands Army crawl along a forest path
Demo
The popular "2-hour refund as a demo" system on Steam has been working okay, but I believe it would be far better for everyone to have an actual demo. For a relatively slow-burn title like Regiments, 2 hours isn't much time to make an informed decision and it is simply far more convenient.
Concurrently, the main branch will be updated with the Czech localization and several community-driven improvements.
New Nations
As mentioned earlier, the Netherlands is likely to be released this autumn.
Meanwhile, both Czechoslovakia and France are nearing completion with the tremendous assistance of the community. Only Canada remains to complete the army lists for the 'Central Group of Forces' DLC.
A CSLA OT-62B mechanized squad follows the lead of a reconnaissance OT-65A scout car. Both vehicles are armed with the ubiquitous T21 Tarasnice recoilless rifle
On the subject of DLC, this expansion will be a paid one. Not only does it add numerous new units, but also introduces a significant feature:
Generated Operations
The original concept for DLCs was straightforward: introduce 1-2 operations corresponding to each nation, weaving them into the overarching plot. Sounds easy on the surface, but upon reflection, this rivals the entirety of the release content. We're looking at a minimum of 6, but ideally 8-9, new Operations to adequately represent all nations' forces and integrate the new mechanics.
The inescapable informational background of a real war isn't very conductive for writing the narrative parts of the operations as well.
So, how can we circumvent this and still deliver operations for the new armies?
By the power of procedural generation.
Select a regiment. Set up the starting conditions, length, difficulty, optional rules.
Fight through multiple Stages: each with a randomly-selected mission template, map, opposing force, and event cards.
Incrementally upgrade the regiment to meet arising challenges.
Although this system might not offer the same narrative depth as the 'fixed' Operations, its vastly expanded replayability and extensive customization options should position it as a solid alternative.
It's a big item, though. Given the magnitude of additions, the DLC release date might be pushed back, potentially even to 2024.
Gazelle helicopters soar above a patrol of several AMX-10RCs
New Mechanics
As outlined before, battlefield will expand across the aerial dimension.
The Combat Air Patrol TacAid feature will deploy fighter jets to overwatch a designated area for a specified duration, swooping down to engage any enemy aerial targets.
Integrated transport helicopters provide unparalleled mobility to air assault infantry and other air-transportable units. Both come as a single platoon stack: usually, the platoon will deploy with units riding inside the helicopters. When they arrive at the landing zone, an Unload command dismounts the transported unit. After that, the helicopters automatically retreat from the map along the safest route possible, taking into account known anti-air sites. The dismounted platoon operates as any standard unit would. If it is destroyed or retreats, the entire stack becomes deployable again.
When on the defensive, deploying air assault infantry right away can be advantageous to make use of pre-battle entrenchment.
Although both features are functional, they still need further refinement and balancing, particularly with regards to infantry-only platoons. As noted in the earlier road map, these mechanics won't necessarily be tied to the DLC and may appear separately for existing armies.
UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters deliver troops for an assault
This sums up the key changes to the earlier roadmap and the current state of our progress. By and large, the general course remains the same, adjusted for the extra effort on the business side of the development.
See you again pretty soon, with demo announcement and more.