Time flies when you're having fun and the summer is already here. In Sweden, we're about to celebrate Midsummer this week and we two developers are beginning our summer vacation with our families today. We've been working on Line War for the past three years straight, and we are very excited to continue with the work and everything Line War has in store for the future. But first, we'll need to recharge our batteries and spend some time with our very patient families. We hope that you also have a nice summer to spend with friends and family, and also playing Line War which will be up and running :)
We will drop into the Discord and monitor the servers during this period. The two of us will be back working full-time on Line War on 22 August.
Recap
The Unity and Network Library Upgrade
Most recently, we managed to do the "dreaded" Unity and UnityTransport network upgrade which was essential to get us back to a supported Unity version with the newly released (but dare we say scarily undocumented) network library. It was not an easy task, but very important for the future of Line War. We believe it is eliminating some of the problems people have been experiencing losing their connection to an ongoing game and our data shows that such disconnects are less frequent now.
With this engine upgrade, we also see a performance boost for many GPUs. We still have plenty of optimization to do in the future but for now, the increase in FPS is a nice bonus.
First Line War Tournament - 22Q2
We also just hosted the first quarterly Line War tournament this past weekend. A total of 126 matches have been played over two days in Line War 22Q2. You can watch the tournament stream archives on our YouTube channel:
A new cloud-based replay system was recently implemented in time for the tournament. The replays are now automatically saved after each match and you can easily access them, download multiple replays at the same time, and share them as a simple text-string.
Going Forward
The roadmap (see the Line War website) is still unchanged, and additionally, we are also working on a basic AI to practice against. Unfortunately, bugs in the network code prevented us from releasing the basic AI before the summer break, but it is a priority.
We hear and understand the feedback about the AI, both in comments and reviews, so it is a priority to get it implemented, but it will likely be implemented in September. Meanwhile, we hope that those of you who prefer an AI to practice against will wait to buy Line War until it has been implemented.
Although we have a vacation, we will likely both sneak in some development work during this period when our families are asleep.
Basantos will be working on the Teams and FFA implementation according to the roadmap. Smaller balance changes are also on the table and may get introduced through this period.
Imphenzia will be working on implementing the basic AI to practice against as a result of feedback in comments and reviews. Initial tests are looking promising and the AI in development is able to pick strong starting locations and expand. A knowledge library is being built for the AI so it can prioritize decisions when it comes to expanding, defending, attacking, and constructing. The AI will not be cheating and it will play by the same input rules as any human player. The release date is not set yet and be aware that it'll be a basic opponent to practice against (without pressure and ranking concerns) but it will not substitute the skill of a human player in the early stages.
Join the Line War Discord - here you'll find friendly people to play against, discuss strategies, and share your favorite map seeds!
For the curious: A total of 84601 matches have been played and combined people have spent 73208 hours in Line War. The player with the most play-time has played a total of 864 matches winning 87% of those.
Thanks to EVERYONE who is buying and playing Line War! We are thrilled to have an active core community and we look forward to continuing the development and growth of Line War for years to come!
Wishing you all an amazing summer.
/ Imphenzia & Basantos
Line War Tournament 22Q2 Group Stage Live Stream
We're streaming matches from the group stage of the first quarterly Line War Tournament 22Q2 on the new Line War Twitch Channel: https://twitch.tv/linewargame
34.10 Gradual steps towards matchmaking stability
We are gradually moving towards a more stable matchmaking process. Thank you for your patience and understanding, we are working with all of our focus to resolve the matchmaking issues since the big network upgrade.
34.9 - Matchmaking Updates
We've had a shaky release of the new network code. We're releasing improvements to some of the issues but we may continue to have some issues on Friday.
This fix improves the durability of the matchmaking and increases logging for further improvements.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
34.8 update 1
Fixed cloud replay download URL.
34.8 - New NetworkLibrary, Cloud Replays, Lobby Option and Chat
Version 34.8
This is released as a minor version but behind the scenes we have done a major upgrade to replace the entire netcode and Unity version. This should hopefully provide a more stable connection for those who have experienced occasional timeouts.
Changes:
New network transport library (total replacement)
New cloud-based replays (no need to wait for replay download after a match, replays are automatically available after a match)
New connections indicator showing if a connection is unstable
New "Create/Join Lobby" feature, you can create a lobby and copy/paste the name for someone else to join
Improved chat, you can chat cross-scenes in Select World, Game, and End Screen with chat history and timestamps.
Performance improvements for modern GPUs
Line War 22Q2 Tournament
We're happy to announce the first official Line War Tournament to be held 18-19 June 2022.
In short, it's a 32 player tournament with invitations sent from the top of the leaderboard to players that have played 30 or more matches. On 18 June there is a group stage, and on 19 June there will be a double-elimination final stage.
We're excited to also stream matches and publish post-tournament videos with commentary from many of the matches. It should be a lot of fun for participators and spectators alike =)
What's Coming Next?
Four weeks have nearly passed since Line War was released and we’re happy to release an announcement to let everyone know what’s going on and how we are moving forward.
We are absolutely thrilled to hear that the concept of Line War is received very positively and many players have become hooked on what Line War has to offer in terms of replayability and strategic game-play.
2022 Q2 Line War Tournament 17-18 June
The first official Line War online tournament will take place during 17 - 18 June 2022. A total of 32 players will be invited starting from the top of the official leaderboard (https://linewar.com/leaderboard). Important: Only players who have played 30 or more matches will qualify! More information about the tournament will be announced shortly. Meanwhile, save the dates and play as much as possible to climb the leaderboard and ensure you have a total of at least 30 matches played.
Version 34.8 is approaching
Beta testing of version 34.8 containing the new network code will begin soon. When it is stable, we should see a public release of this version in the near future. This should resolve issues for those who have experienced network connectivity timeouts.
New “Cloud Replays” will be released with version 34.8. You will no longer need to wait at the end-screen to slowly download replays, they will automatically be archived in the cloud where you can download them to your computer.
Optional balance patch that will address the issues surrounding “Arty/SAM blobs”.
The top concerns that we see in the feedback, reviews, and discussions relate primarily to two things: 1) Lack of single-player AI, and 2) Downward trending (but normal) player count and increased time spent in the matchmaking queue.
We are still set on our goal to make Line War primarily a PvP experience, however, the overwhelming feedback on this front has led us to make some adjustments.
Reprioritization for coming version 35
A basic AI is being prototyped that may offer reasonable practicing grounds, especially for new players. Our initial tests are promising, the AI should be able to pick good starting territories, conquer and expand, build up an army and try to force you into submission. It will not, however, be a skilled AI capable of making clever and beautiful strategic decisions - for this experience we will always recommend tackling another human player in PvP, or waiting until we can reinvest time and resources to develop an intelligent AI opponent.
The Aircraft Carrier unit, a floating airbase, is scheduled for implementation in version 35 too. This should be a fun unit for those of you who have already become familiar with Line War and are looking for some extra in your strategic toolbox to play with.
Want to know more about why and how we are doing? Please feel free to carry on reading:
The reason why we prioritize the above before FFA and Teams, is that the FFA and Teams implementation would not be possible to deliver before the summer. During the summer, we have to take a development break due to family commitments and a potential intercontinental move by one of the developers. We would like to focus on items that we believe have a higher chance of delivery before we head into a summer break.
Why a Tournament?
Line War is a PvP game where matches can be very exciting to watch. We hosted a smaller community-driven tournament during the demo period and it led to a lot of excitement and activity around the game. Since the start, we have aimed for Line War to be a game where people compete and this will be the start of what we hope is to become a quarterly recurring event to bring attention and new players to the game through broadcasting and commentating matches.
Why the Unity and Netcode Upgrade?
During the past couple of weeks, we have been working on an essential game engine upgrade where we move away from an unsupported Unity 2018 version to a long-term supported Unity 2021 version. You may wonder why we are prioritizing this, and we would love it if we could exclusively focus on adding game features, but we aim for Line War to have a long and stable life. The Unity upgrade brings us back to a supported version and we want to increase the network reliability with the new network library. There is a confirmed AI navigation bug that will only be fixed in the newer versions of Unity.
Why the cloud-based replays?
While the netcode was being worked on, one of the developers had a couple of days of available time and there had been quite a few reports where replays timed out and could not be downloaded during which time chatting to the opponent was not possible. By letting the server automatically send the replays to the cloud, no waiting is necessary and the risks of losing or forgetting to download a replay are removed.
Why a Basic AI?
The lack of single-player AI is by far the most common criticism we have received following the launch. In combination with the natural reduction of concurrent players that most games experience after a hyped-up launch period, we may have the opportunity to implement a very basic AI to practice against. It will not be a full single-player experience by any means, but it can be one step in the direction to meet some of the concerns and wishes that we see in the discussions and in the reviews. The AI will not be cheating. It can only see what a player would see. It will not have any discounted unit prices, speed buffs, or any other advantage. It will observe the battlefield like a player and use the command painter to draw and manage commands.
Why the Aircraft Carrier unit?
Since we won’t have time to implement FFA and Teams before the summer, there is a slight chance that we may be able to deliver the Aircraft Carrier unit instead. It could be a fun addition to those who have already played many Line War matches and look forward to another unit being implemented.
Release 34 Patch 7 - Game balance patch only
Taking the edge off the initial attacks of Strikers.
Slight boost for Interceptor.
Nerfing Submarines capability to participate in regular combat.
Making Destroyers more capable as attack ships.
Final Day for Launch Discount
Here is a reminder to everyone that the 25% launch discount ends 12 May 09:00 AM PDT, 18:00 CEST, 16:00 GMT so you may want to consider grabbing it while it's still on offer.
The release week has been very exciting! Thanks to everyone who has purchased and played the game so far, and we are very pleased with the overall "Very Positive" reviews it has received from players that recognize what our goals and ambitions are with Line War. We welcome the feedback and we look forward to continuing development and updating the game.
As a small 2-person indie-development team, and especially as we have set out to create a multiplayer game, we are very thrilled about the launch and reception of Line War.
At the time of writing this post, in less than a week since Line War was released, nearly 14000 matches have already been played.
Please take this into account if you are undecided on whether or not to buy Line War yet:
Looking for a Single Player Game? Line War is, at the moment, a multiplayer-only game! If you are looking for a single-player game, there are other alternatives out there. Consider wish-listing Line War for now and hold off with any purchase to when it is added. We hear the feedback loud and clear, and when we have the capability, we plan to add single-player content.
Worried about potentially shrinking number of players? Matchmaking is the main concern for any multiplayer game, and diminishing player number is a concern for many who have decided not to buy. Line War benefits from only needing 1 more player in the matchmaking queue anywhere in the world for a match to be made. We have players in New Zealand playing against Europeans without any noticeable lag. We try to tune the matchmaking so that players of equal skills match for more enjoyable games. If the player count was to reduce, we can speed up the player search for quicker matchups. Currently, players queue for on average less than 45 seconds to get a very close skilled matchup, and matches generally last for around 30 minutes on average.
We are still prioritizing implementing our remaining features for multiplayer (such as team modes, technologies, infrastructure, etc.) and those updates will be free for existing players. If the player count was to significantly drop, we would prioritize implementing single-player content sooner rather than later so those that have already bought the game can still play Line War - and the already existing core community will likely look for matches.
We have a public roadmap, but as we learn more post-launch we may need to change priorities and update the order of things.
