I am sending out friend invites to all of the winners of the beta participation entry that we announced here:
http://steamcommunity.com/games/451400/announcements/detail/876326963862901920
The lucky winners chosen to participate in the Beta are: Some1xx, bikkynlolly, Qwerty Drive, Frazzz, Archangel0934, vargabbank, stankapl, jeffster!, Defiler117, Firegrave22, Carnwulf, BlackDraft
If your name is listed I’ll have sent you a friend request. Please check and accept the invite so I can send you details and keys. We will take notes of your feedback on the game and address them as much as possible in updates.
We hope you enjoy this beta and to all who unfortunately missed the best, get ready for launch on May 31st.
Meridian: Squad 22 Beta Access!
As we approach release for Meridian: Squad 22, we will be looking for Steam users to help test the game in a public beta programme.
If you would like to play the game early and share your thoughts with the development team, click the Follow button on the store page and leave a comment here expressing your interest.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/451400/
Successful applicants will be picked at random on May 26th and will receive a Steam key of the full game! - Good luck!
A new campaign mission linking the story of New World and Squad 22
Rebalanced AI with an easier „Easy” difficulty and a bit tougher „Hard” difficulty
Trading Cards
New achievements
Additional language packs
A new unit: the Manticore
The Manticore is a heavy tank developed from Scouts. It is a powerful weapon that was used by Squad 22 throughout their mission. The schematics they've left behind allows you to use this unit from Meridian: Squad 22 in skirmish battles, but be careful – the enemy will use it as well!
A new campaign mission: Traces of Squad 22
After the events of Meridian: New World, Daniel Hanson and his squad are scouting the surface of Meridian to salvage as much of the abandoned outposts as possible. During their search, they encounter an outpost which used to belong to Squad 22.
The events of Meridian: Squad 22 happened after the colonists were sent to Meridian but before the central events of Meridian: New World took place. Information about Squad 22 was already found during the campaign of Meridian: New World, but you can uncover more in this brand new campaign mission!
The Units of Meridian: Squad 22
Infantry
Infantry units in Squad 22 are an ideal choice if you prefer quick, aggressive play. On its own, infantry is a viable choice if you prefer to micro-manage your units as most infantry units require special tactics to be efficient. The Infiltrator, for instance, is an invisible unit that becomes permanently visible the first time it attacks. It is ideal for scouting or even surgical strikes where you can safely approach the enemy unit you want to take out. Another useful unit is the Assault Trooper which has a self-repairing armor, allowing it to be the perfect unit for micro-management. When it is damaged, simply pull it away from the line of fire, it quickly regenerates and then you can send it right back in.
Vehicles
Vehicle units in Squad 22 support slow, strategic play. Instead of managing every single unit, the point of vehicles is to have the right unit composition. The Chimera mech and various tanks allow you to prepare for any scenario. Once you engage the enemy in battle, you need to make sure you keep an eye on your vehicles' health and use your healing ability whenever it is needed.
Air units
Air units are massive threats to vehicle play, as they can deal huge amounts of damage in the right hands. Their surgical strikes need to be managed carefully though as air units have a light armor that cannot sustain heavy damage. In fact, engaging in direct combat with air units is rarely a good idea as they will be destroyed very quickly. Use fighters to lure away and take out enemy units one-by-one, or to do serious damage to the enemy economy. Use bombers to deal high amounts of area damage to enemy ground units. Air units are perfect in a supporting role as well to complement your infantry or vehicle squads.
Naval units
Naval units in Squad 22 have various uses. First and foremost, you can use naval units to considerably weaken enemy infrastructure by taking out buildings on the shore. The enemy will have a hard time defending them – unless of course they use naval units as well, or bring air units.
The Scavenger naval unit can also help boost your economy. Whenever a naval unit is destroyed (whether it's an enemy or your own), its debris can be salvaged by a Scavenger, providing most of the destroyed ship's original cost as an income to you.
The Stories of Meridian
The Story of Meridian: New World
Planet Meridian was discovered in the year 3011. Since resources were exhausted on Earth, mankind began exploring outer space, desperately trying to find a planet to colonize. Meridian was the most viable choice. Commander Daniel Hanson has landed with his team of scientists and military personel to explore the planet and report back to Earth when colonization can be initiated. Shortly after their preparations have ended and they're ready to report back, lead scientist Jeffrey Donovan reports an incoming distress call from a woman on Meridian. The team heads to the source of the signal in Sector 16-2B to find out what happened on Meridian.
The Story of Meridian: Squad 22
A year after the colonists have left Earth, the specialist squad known as 'Squad 22' is dispatched to locate the colonists and bring them home safely. Almost immediately after Squad 22's arrival to planet Meridian, their ship is attacked and forced to crash-land in the wilderness. An unknown enemy engages them on the ground. The hostiles seem to be some kind of cyborgs built by humans. Even though the mission of Squad 22 is to locate the colonists, soon even survival seems impossible. What happened to the colonist crew? Why is there no sign of them? The story of Squad 22 unfolds as events of the past and present intertwine and finally become clear.
The Future of Meridian
The Meridian story was originally designed to be told through four games. All four storylines have been written during the development of Meridian: New World, which is why you'll find references in all games to all the other games. For example, during the campaign of Meridian: New World, there are references to Squad 22. In Meridian: Squad 22, you'll find references to Meridian: New World, as well as future games. All Meridian games serve the purpose of presenting you with a story full of choices that will one day reach a conclusion and ask you to make one final choice that ties everything together.
An In-Depth Look at Enemy AI Systems
In Meridian: New World, enemy AI has easy, normal and hard difficulty settings.
Easy mode sets less money than the player and puts it at a disadvantage. Normal has equal chances and hard gives it a bit of a cheating edge. Still, all three difficulties are fundamentally playing by the same rules, weighing events and responding the same way.
In Meridian: Squad 22, there are Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard and Insane AI difficulties. You'll encounter each in the campaign and conquest modes. Unlike its predecessor, Meridian: Squad 22's AIs store a list of possible decisions and each AI chooses the next move in a different way.
Above: Visualization from the game's editor of the AI evaluating possible tactics. Your own units also evaluate their own moves to be able to choose the best possible reaction. The various AIs weigh information differently. For instance, the Normal AI will have a hard time responding properly when you attack it on multiple fronts. It will focus on both, but it's not good at deciding how to split its forces. In this same situation, the Very Hard AI will almost instantly react with the most effective solution possible. Because of this, playing against the various AI difficulties truly feels different. Harder AI difficulties present a challenge because of their way of thinking. Similarly, your own units analyze the current situation and choose the best solution to make sure you deal the most damage. This, of course, is overridden by your own commands, so if you specifically order your units to attack another, the AI won't decide on its own to attack something else.
Above: The same scene in-game. See how your own units choose the best targets to be able to deal the most possible damage before their own HP runs out. For example, your tank in the middle deals higher damage to enemy vehicles and since it's low on health, it chooses a vehicle target for maximum impact.
Meridian: Squad 22 is Coming Soon!
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to Meridian: Squad 22, the sequel to Meridian: New World!
There's a lot to discuss about the game, we'll jump right in with graphics and AI!
Graphics
All of Meridian: Squad 22's units have much greater detail than in the prequel, Meridian: New World. Though Meridian: Squad 22 features a few units from the first game, these have been completely re-modelled and re-textured with great attention to detail.
The water effect was also re-designed for improved realism. This is especially important because Squad 22 features naval units, so the active gameplay will often be focused on the water surface.
And of course, unlike its predecessor, Squad 22 also features zooming and rotation! :)
Above: Meridian: New World
Above: Meridian: Squad 22
Pathfinding
In Meridian: New World, the pathfinding was sub-par because units were unaware of each other entirely. This is very clear when you take a look at how individual units attempted to find a path, they bumped into each other and immediately searched for a new path, delaying general movement. In Meridian: Squad 22 however, units accelerate and decelerate based on the surrounding units and adjust their path by predicting where nearby units will end up. This results in much smoother movement and better controls.
