Dev Diary #5: Territory Mode Battle Groups

Troopers! It’s about time for a big intel drop on the upcoming Territory Mode.

A lot of work is going into the new game mode behind the screens. In today’s Dev Diary we will delve deeper into the concept of Battle Groups, and how these form the core of the Territory Mode experience.

New modes, new menus

The introduction of the new game mode has necessitated a redesign of the main menu. We’ve already highlighted this in a previous Dev Diary, but further changes have been made based on player feedback and new design requirements.

When clicking the “GO TO WAR!” button, a new screen will require you to select a game mode: Story campaigns, challenge missions or Territory Mode.

Battle Group selection

After entering Territory Mode, next you’ll be presented with the Battle Group selection screen. The base game and each DLC will come with its own Battle Group - each featuring a unique theme and set of exclusive units, mechanics and technologies. In this screen, you can also access a summarized information overview for each of the available Battle Groups.

Battle Group missions & progression

Choose your Battle Group and you’ll enter the “Mission Selection Screen”. In this screen, missions will be available for you to accept on Kwalasha - the base game’s planet - or any of the planets from the DLCs that you own. This means that, regardless of which Battle Group you have selected, you can fight in any environment and against all Arachnid unit types that the game and DLCs offer. As we continue to release new DLC, this variety will only expand.

Missions not only vary by planet, but also by starting tier, map type, objectives and Arachnid threats you’re expected to encounter.

The first time you start playing with a Battle Group, only a limited set of basic units and technologies will be available during the early missions. As you complete missions, however, you will unlock new unit types, new technologies and more complex, higher tier missions will become available. But beware, new Arachnid types and threats will also activate as you progress with the selected Battle Group.

Once you launch the selected mission, you’ll be taken into battle.

Playing a Mission

A quick summary about Territory Mode gameplay: you capture territory points to acquire resources over time. These can be used to deploy units, call for reinforcements and to acquire new technologies. Technologies provide access to new unit types or apply upgrades that expand the performance or abilities of your units. For more information, see our previously released Dev Diaries.

Each Battle Group has its own set of technologies and unit types. Some of these may be shared with other Battle Groups, but many are exclusive and thus offer unique challenges and gameplay experiences.

The following screenshots show the different content available to the “Ground Pounders” - available as part of the base game - and the “Hellraisers” - available with the Raising Hell DLC. Note that this content is still in development and may differ once the Territory Mode is officially released.

The Technologies available during your mission depend on the mission's maximum Battle Tier, and is restricted to the content you have unlocked in the “Mission Selection Screen”.

If you manage to achieve all primary objectives - or fail a critical objective - the mission will end and you'll be taken back to the Mission Selection Screen. If a victory was achieved, new content may unlock. But regardless of the outcome, new generated missions will become available to choose - so you’ll always have new challenges ready to accept.

That’s all for now on Territory Mode, Trooper. For a final bit of news: Next month we’ll be announcing a new roadmap update - including still unannounced DLC content!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1202130/Starship_Troopers_Terran_Command/