Hostile Sector Design Doc Excerpts: #1 - The Basics

Hi all.

This is a first test to give future players a bit of insight into the mechanics of Hostile Sector, and the reasoning behind them. Hopefully this will spawn some discussions around the subject in which case there will be more.

If you feel like discussing it, head over to our newly established forums.

Each section contains "How it works now", which is either how it's currently implemented, or will be implemented, and a "How it might be in the future" paragraph, which is a list of things that will be considered once the basics are thoroughly tested.

Please note that this may not be a definite, or complete list, and that things might change after this has been posted.

Cheers,

Rickard

Basic concept:

How it works now:

Each player controls a number of soldiers, organized in squads(fire teams).

Each squad can contain up to four soldiers.

Each soldier is individually customizable with equipment, clothes and weapons.

Squads are deployed onto tactical battlefields, called Missions.

Each Mission consists of a number of Sectors, arranged in a grid.

A player can deploy their squads either along a line of one of the Sectors (depending on access), or at a Victory Zone the players' team controls.

Each Sector contains one or more Victory Zones.

Each Sector consists of 30x30, 4m Tiles.

When a team controls all Victory Zones in a Sector, they control the Sector.

When a team controls all Sectors on a Mission, they control the Mission.

Actions on Missions are turn-based. The turn will change either when a certain (real) time has passed, or when all active players on a team are finished moving.

Time may vary between Missions, from 5 minutes, to several hours.

How it might work in the future:

More instanced ”game modes”. Capture-the-flag, Combat Patrol etc.

Multiplayer missions can be instantiated by players, who can invite others to play with them in a non-persistent manner.

Better leadership might allow more soldiers in a squad.

Campaign:

How it works now (in development):

The campaign is multiplayer only, and consists of a number of connected areas (Missions) on a campaign map.

Controlling an Mission in the campaign controls access routes to other nearby Missions. If a team doesn't have an access route, they can't deploy troops in that area.

Depending on the area the Mission is located in, a controller might get additional bonuses, such as increased recruitment rate from an urban area. Or med-evacs if the area contains an air field.

How it might work in the future:

Access routes also define supply (such as ammo). If units are cut off, they will not be able to get any new supplies (such as ammo).

Single Player:

How it works now:

Players can instantiate SP missions. These range from simple search-and-destroy missions, to more scripted missions.

SP Missions are a good way to give the new soldiers some experience, and find new gear.

How it might work in the future:

Players can cooperate on SP missions.

Movement and Action Points:

How it works now:

All movement and actions in the game require Action Points.

Each turn, a unit receives a number of Action Points based on their Dexterity and Constitution.

Movement Cost is dependent on what kind of terrain the unit is moving through. Example: Dirt and Grass is fairly easy to move through, and their cost is less. Rocky and Forest environments are more difficult, with uneven terrain, or vegetation hindering movement, and thus cost more to move through.

Sloping terrain costs 50% extra AP to move through (both up and down, and side-ways).

How much a weapon costs to fire and reload is an abstracted value of how cumbersome the weapon is to operate, the amount of preparation required and some game balancing value. Example: Small arms, like Assault Rifles and SMG's are easy to fire, as they're usually held in a ready position during movement. They cost less to fire. It's also easy to change clips, and thus reloading is fairly cheap too.

Machine Guns and RPG's are more cumbersome to use than regular rifles and assault rifles due to weight and size.They also require more steps when reloading, so they become more expensive to operate in general.

How it might work in the future:

Heavier weapons (such as heavy mg's, mortars, and heavy sniper rifles) need to be ”set up” before being fired. Once ”set up”, these weapons can only fire in that direction until ordered to move again.

Sight and Concealment:

How it works now:

Each unit(soldier) has their own field of view covering a 160 degree forward arc.

Units use their Perception value when deciding what and how far, they can see.

Each tile has a ”Sight Decay” value, which is estimated based on how easy it is to see through it. Example: Water tiles have nothing blocking view, so their decay value is very low, as are roads. Forests have a high decay value due to the trees and undergrowth that you find there.

Walls, building and large objects block view completely.

The chance of spotting a unit is based on the Perception value of the viewer, the Concealment skill of the target, distance and concealment value of the target tile.

Night or or day time affects how far a unit can see.

How it might work in the future:

There is equipment to improve sight range, both during night, and day.

There is equipment to improve concealment. Possibly terrain specific.