A public Line War poll for both owners and potential buyers of the game was opened on May 18. The poll let you vote on what single-player features should be prioritized in the coming month. The poll has now closed.
Here are the results:
There was also a poll about advanced AI behaviours that targeted experienced players.
I will let the results from these polls guide my efforts short-term. Development in June will focus on the following features
Multiple AIs in the same match
Observable AI vs AI matches
AI playing as a teammate
AI using the full game play toolset (Rocket, Bomber, Aircraft Carrier, Transport Jet)
AI planning coordinated, full-scale amphibious invasions
AI employing various strategies to counter infantry spam/general spam on big island maps
Also judging in part from the performance of Tutorials or mini-campaigns in the poll, in part from general experience and data since the game's release, it is evident that many players still struggle to learn how to play Line War. One feature planned ages ago is called NEXT GEN COMMAND SYSTEM (see the Line War roadmap). It's about making command issuance smarter, more efficient and lean. This feature, tgether with a proper onboarding experience with tutorials and in-game assistance, is likely to be prioritized mid-term.
Regards Basantos
Vote on more single-player features!
What single-player features should be prioritized in the following month?
This poll and the subsequent development effort will make an exception from regular development, as the roadmap for the game as a whole is pretty well figured out already. The idea is to make the single-player offer (that was released on May 5) feel more complete, before moving on to the very serious, long-term endevours.
A public Discord survey was made to figure out which items should be votable in the poll.
Participation in Steam Endless Replayability Fest - now with AI!
Looking for games endlessly replayable!?
You've come to the right place. Line War is a very different type of multi-genre RTS. It uses a command-oriented system to control units, that puts higher emphasis on strategic intent and reduces the need for micro-management. The game is a natural choice for Steam's Endless Replayability Fest as it includes many elements that enables endless replay:
Infinite Exploration: Explore an endless array of procedurally generated maps, each waiting to be conquered. Change to another randomized seed with the click of a button: A new map with an entirely different composition and distribution of water, land and special sites is created! Save & recall your favourite seed using just this magic number.
Dynamic Starting Locations: Strategize and stake your land claims in the innovative Picking Phase. It's an interesting game-within-a-game where 'Zones of Interest' are claimed on the map for each player. Then pick your actual starting location (not revealed to your opponent) from among these zones.
Continued Development: The game just got a major addition on May 5 when single-player AI & Co-Op was added. And there's more to come!
You can read more about the game here on Steam or the planned features in it's roadmap at the Line War homepage.
Get it now at a 25% discount!
GL HF
Best regards Basantos
Release 37 - Patch 2
This is the first significant patch since the silent release of Skirmish AI that was made last Saturday, May 4.
Fixing end of match problems for players having non-Western characters in their names, causing servers to not recycle
Broken sandbox functionality when *Include picking* was unchecked (such as Rocket blast indicator not being displayed)
Sandbox main menu button clarified and moved out of the single-player panel, back to it’s old location bottom-right
Sandbox auto-toggling now also working for the special “first pick” in the final phase
Credits to our translation heroes now in both english and native
Temporary hotfix for single-player erroneously requiring an internet connection
Best Basantos
Single-Player and Co-Op Modes Now Live!
After a challenging journey of 8 months filled with ups and downs, we are thrilled to announce the release of the single-player and co-op modes for Line War. This update marks a significant milestone in our commitment to enhancing your gaming experience. Now you can enjoy Line War at any time, whether or not there are other players online, if you want to practice before heading into multiplayer matches, or if you simply prefer playing against an AI opponent.
New features in this release:
Single-player Skirmish AI: Face off against the AI in thrilling solo matches.
Co-op vs AI: Team up with up to 3 friends and take on the AI together.
New Handicap System: Even out the odds against skilled human players, play a 2v1 on equal terms, or just boost the AI to 4.0x in Co-op - it's all up to you!
Localization: Beginning the support for multiple languages, with an initial release of German, Spanish and Russian.
If you are hungry for some more details, read on...
After listening to the overwhelming feedback that single-player was essential for Line War, serious single-player development began last summer. Initially, we were hoping that a simpler basic AI to practice against would be sufficient but it quickly became apparent that the AI should instead be built in a robust way. This took nearly a year to complete. The first 6 months consisted of architecting the foundation of clustering algorithms, building statistical information, and gradually introducing capabilities for the AI to understand the battlefield and then draw visual commands like a human would play.
This new AI will continue to improve in coming updates and begin to vary its play style. The way the AI has been built creates a solid foundation for future single-player content such as campaigns, user-created scenarios, and better advisory information for players based on the extensive analytic services that the AI runs to evaluate the match so it can form and adapt its strategies and tactics.
In addition to the new single-player and co-op modes, we have added a new handicap system. You can set handicaps for players and the AI. This means you can gradually start with a weaker AI opponent and gradually increase its strength as your skill increases. This handicap system also works in multiplayer and co-op modes, so people of different skill levels can play in the same match. You can even play asymmetric matches like 2v1 where you boost the single-player to level out the playing field.
We are also keen to reach more players through localization. In this release, we have added support for Spanish, German, and Russian, and more languages will follow.
We celebrate the 2nd anniversary since the initial release of Line War today with this single-player and co-op update. This is our first major game release and we are learning through this process. If we build another game in the future, there is no question about it having single-player support from the start. We hear you, and we learned from your feedback.
THANK YOU
Thank you for your patience while waiting for this update. We know there has been plenty of speculation that the game has been abandoned, but this is far from the case. Development has continued and will continue. The Line War Discord server is an active place to follow the progress if it is quiet in Steam discussions.
You can read the release notes if you are curious about some balance changes that are also included in this release.
PATREON SUPPORT
If you enjoy Line War and if you want to contribute to its development, consider becoming a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/LineWar It has been challenging to develop an innovative RTS, and hard lessons were learned when releasing it without single-player support. The number of sales since the release does not justify the work that has been put into this date, nor would it justify continued development, but it is the belief in the game and the joy expressed by the dedicated group of players with over a thousand hours in the game that drives development forward. Support through Patreon is greatly appreciated to help development.
Now, let's enjoy some single-player action and hopefully, the multiplayer pool will also grow as a result!
Single-player and Co-op Release Date Announcement
I am extremely excited to announce that on May 5, 2024, SINGLE-PLAYER and CO-OP skirmish modes are coming to Line War!
The single-player release celebrates the 2-year anniversary of the initial release of Line War. It has been a long journey and more than 8 months of dedicated single-player development has now passed while building a robust AI.
The AI has been designed so it paves the way for future AI improvements. The statistical and analytical capability of the AI provides a solid foundation that can be used not only to further level up the AI but it can also be used for potential player advisory features, player AI scripting, and single-player campaigns.
AI development has been the most complex part of the Line War journey with periods of hope and periods of despair. But the goal has now been reached to create an AI that plays fairly well, and maybe more importantly, it is designed so that its analytical, strategical, and tactical capabilities can be improved with the existing building blocks.
The features that will be released on May 5 include:
Single-player Skirmish AI: Face off against the AI in thrilling solo matches.
Co-op vs AI: Team up with up to 3 friends and take on the AI together.
New Handicap System: Even out the odds against skilled human players, play a 2v1 on equal terms, or just boost the AI to 4.0x in Co-op - it's all up to you!
Localization: Beginning the support for multiple languages, for a better user experience. Russian, German, Polish, and Chinese have come a long way already.
BETA TESTING
Existing owners of Line War can already play the single-player release through a Steam open Beta. Go to the Line War Discord Server and head to the beta-testing channels if you want to play right away. Make sure to read the information and instructions for the beta before you join.
PATREON SUPPORT
If you enjoy Line War and if you want to contribute to its development, consider becoming a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/LineWar It has been challenging to develop an innovative RTS, and hard lessons were learned when releasing it without single-player support. The number of sales since the release does not justify the work that has been put into this date, nor would it justify continued development, but it is the belief in the game and the joy expressed by the dedicated group of players with over a thousand hours in the game that drives development forward. Support through Patreon is greatly appreciated to help development.
SPREAD THE WORD
The most important thing of all that you can do to help Line War is to spread the word. It goes a very long way! Tell your friends about it and play Line War live on Twitch or YouTube, or make videos about it.
Following the single-player release, Line War development will continue. If the single-player release goes well and the interest picks up, I will personally double down and commit more time and invest further to drive development forward.
Single-player skirmish AI update
Greetings all present and future Line War enthusiasts!
Go to my latest article on Reddit for an in-depth, technical update on the progress of bringing single-player AI to Line War.
I also recommend everyone to watch the latest final-stage matches in our ongoing tournament at Challonge, to see how deep the gameplay can get at pro-level. Replay ID's are available as attached .lwreplay files on some match entries, but can also be found in the #match-replays channel in Discord. Another option is to see some of the narrated matches over at SodaQuacker's YT channel.
Best regards Basantos
Line War Tournament 23T2
Hello everyone!
This is a followup with more information about the tournament. See original post here.
Start of the tournament is almost here! We need 5 more players to form a full 32p tournament. We want you to join the tournament, whether you are new to the game or a veteran from the past!
YOU HAVE 8 MORE HOURS UNTIL SIGNUP IS DUE! ːsteamhappyː
Registration will be open until September 14 6:00 PM (18:00) CEST. Tournament will start in September 15 6:00 PM (18:00) CEST. Check-in starts September 14 6:00 PM (18:00) CEST (DON'T FORGET!)
Stage 1: Participants in group of 4 will play against each other 2 matches each (6 matches in total for 1 player, on 6 different maps). No one will be eliminated during 1st stage - instead N amount of players with most amount of loses will be placed in losers brackets right away in stage 2 of the tournament (They need to be eliminated only once - see it here https://linewar.challonge.com/23T2_1v1/bracket). If there wont be enough participants to form a full group - they will be placed in reserves or in losing brackets in Stage 2 right away. More information on Stage 2 will be provided later to tournament participants.
Rules:
DON'T FORGET TO CHECK IN! It will start in September 14 6:00 PM (18:00) CEST
If you wont be able to play a match for long period of time - report it to tournament organisers through Discord. If player wont respond to organiser/opponent AND will not play straight for 2-3 days - that player will be disqualified.
In chat: Act friendly, do not spam, no harsh language, respect your opponents.
Don't intentionally prolong the match by "turtleling" or by building sneaky buildings. Resign when you are sure that you cant win.
All strategies and units are allowed in matches (off-shore subpens/shipyards placement, sneaky barracks in small territory behind the line and so on)
If player disconnects in middle of the match (power outage, connection problems, etc) - match can be replayed if both sides agree. Otherwise the one who disconnects loses automatically.
Scheduling and playing the matches:
Open match details (click on magnifying glass, look at the picture below) to get name of your next opponent and map seed
Agree with your opponent on the date and time when you will play your match in tournament-chat channel. NOTE: During group stage, it will be smart to contact all your opponents immediately at same time.
On a set time, create or join a public lobby with your opponent. You can utilize password protection in a lobby to exclude other players. Play a match while following the rules. NOTE: If you encountered a problem (opponent is not showing up, cheating, badmouthing and etc) report it to tournament-problems channel
Once match is played, report the score on Challonge (look at picture below) and send replay name in tournament-replays channel of LW Discord server
Prizes from Discord moderators: 1st place - Role Tournament Champion + Role icon of choice from list of LW emojis in discord. 2nd place - Role Tournament 2nd + Role icon of choice from list of LW emojis in discord. 3rd place - Role Tournament 3rd + Role icon of choice from list of LW emojis in discord.
Prizes from Studio Centurion: 1st place - 3 LW steam keys (to give to friends, cannot be sold) 2nd place - 2 LW steam keys (to give to friends, cannot be sold) 3rd place - 1 LW steam key (to give to friends, cannot be sold)
Media coverage: Expect some full-length, narrated tournament matches to pop up in these places eventually
Unused Steam game keys will be revoked soon! All unused game keys won during previous tournaments but still inactivated by September 28 will be revoked.
Line War Tournament 23T2
Hello everyone!
We hereby announce a start of registration for the upcoming 23T2 1vs1 tournament! It consists of 2 stages - and will go for approximately 2 weeks (1 week per stage). More details on stages will be presented later. Amount of participants are unlimited and everyone can participate. (NOTE: There is a chance that there wont be enough people to form a full group. If that happens, the one who registered late will be put in reserve for 1st stage - to switch those who didnt show up for a long time or cant participate in upcoming matches).
Matches will be played in a free format - DM your opponent and set a time when you can play together. (Similar to 23T1)
Registration will be open until September 14 6:00 PM (18:00) CEST. Tournament will start in September 15 6:00 PM (18:00) CEST.
Your Steam profile ID/link to your steam profile ID
Amount of matches you played in LW (approx)
When you are available for playing LW (can be skipped)
More details will be posted later. If you have any questions - ask them to Nickname (@SomeoneSaidThatMyNicknameSucks) in the Line War Discord.
See you on the battlefield!
Patch 36.2
A new, dedicated balance patch was shipped yesterday. It's one of the biggest balance changes so far since release. Here are some highlights:
Various Tank nerfs, adressing the 3 Factory / Tank opening meta
Much greater range bonus for entrenched units, which increases the game's space control element
Commandos always spotted by non-Tank land entities at point-blank range
See Release Notes for more info and watch this replay between SomeoneSaidMyNicknameSucks and Plantblock (both of whom are pros) for an example of the new, great gameplay.
