Tactical Control
Balance patch 2019.04.01.a Is Live
The last patch changed some values and resulted in some units losing some of their appeal. This patch attempts to compensate. Details follow.
Visibility while moving is now increased by 25%, up from 10%. The 10% value didn't feel impactful enough, 25% is more visible and should have a bigger effect on planning.
Increased S range from 2600 to 3200, but reduced its durability from 400 to 300. In the last patch, S has had its range drastically reduced. While it felt like it needed a nerf, this wasn't it. It resulted in S's requiring lots of micromanagement and becoming easily suppressed and helpless. The current change restores some of it s lost range, while further reducing its durability. It is now closer to the harrasing unit it's supposed to be.
H health reduced from 340 to 300. H's still didn't feel fragile enough. This should make it more important to protect them behind other friendly units.
I entrench time is now 10s normally, but increases to 30s while the I is attacked. Also, I's now have a 25% firepower bonus when entrenched. Entrenched visibility is also reduced from 1350 to 1250. The intent is to make it more valuable to position I's before the shooting starts.
Reduced R visibility from 1350 to 1250. This change is mainly meant to compensate the visibility debuff while moving.
These changes should help to better differentiate the unit types and bring them closer to their intended roles.
Thanks for reading, and good luck on the battlefield
The dev
Patch 2019.03.31.a - Game Mode Rework - Is Now Live
This patch replaces Basic Games with single-player scenarios, intended to teach the game to beginners and advanced tactics to more experienced players. The requirement for 10 Basic wins before playing full games is now removed. Some unit stats tuning is also included, along with some fixes and tweaks.
Since launch, players have been almost solely playing Basic Games. This was NOT the intended outcome. Basic Games were meant to act as a more fun form of tutorial, played by beginners to get a grip on the game before playing Full Games - the "real game".
What happened instead was that the population was too low, causing players who unlocked Full Games to be unable to find opponents online. So, of course, they reverted to Basic Games, where at least they could find someone to play against. The result: almost nobody played full games.
So, Basic Games are out. Everyone can play Full games (now renamed to Random Battles) from the start, and all online matchmaking is for this game mode.
Beginners can play Practice Battles, the Basics pack, to learn how to play in a "learn-by-doing" manner but in a safer environment than against highly skilled human opponents.
More Scenario packs are currently in development and will soon be available as paid DLC. They will offer higher-difficulty challenges for more advanced players, to improve their understanding of game mechanics and complex tactics.
Unit stats changes:
A: now immune to suppression. A's are meant to be slow and unstoppable, so halving their speed under fire doesn't feel right.
H: reduced durability from 375 to 340 and range from 3500 to 3200. H's are a bit too powerful at the moment, this should make them slightly less overwhelming while preserving the "heavy artillery" felling.
I: entrench time increased from 10s to 20s. Since I's can entrench while in combat, moving them feels inconsequential if the entrench time is too low.
S: reduced durability from 600 to 400 and range from 3500 to 2600. Since the addition of the suppression mechanic, S have become simply too good at kiting. This change hopefully preserves their intended role, while making them more vulnerable if they get caught.
This patch adds a number of changes, hopefully will allow more players to enjoy the game as it was meant to be played. Unit stats are by no means final, but should be a step in the right direction: diverse, fun and effective unit types. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the game.
Good luck on the battlefield
The dev
Balance Patch 2019.03.24.b Is Live
This patch addresses the numerous complaints concerning game pacing. Hopfeully, the game will feel more dynamic without adding too big a cognitive burden on new players. Also, a few fixes, tweaks an option to invert mouse buttons.
Previously, game pacing had been nerfed drastically by applying a 25% slowdown on all game events. While this did slow down the action, it caused many games to end in a draw that shouldn't have. The global reduction has been removed, with targeted reductions added instead: movement is now nerfed by 10% (instead of 25%) while damage dealt stays reduced by 25%. This should increase the pace of the game while still leaving some time for command decisions in the heat of action. Further tweaks to these parameters are very likely, but this should be a step in the right direction.
Dead units are now less likely to occlude living ones. This happened after heated battles, causing the battlefield to become unreadable.
Left-handed players now have the option to invert their mouse buttons if they prefer.
The stats window has received some fixing, it should now work more or less as intended.
Good luck, have fun and thanks for playing Tactical Control !
The dev
Update 2019.03.24.a Is Now Live
The default scheme stays the same, you can switch to the new controls from the Options menu. The new control scheme makes more use of the right mouse button. Left-click to select your units and target enemy units. Left-clicking the currently selected unit issues a "cease-fire" order but lets the unit continue moving. Right-clicking issues a movement order, except if you right-click the selected unit. Then, it just stops (but keeps attacking, if it has a target in range).
Since players aren't too numerous currently, matchmaking has been tuned to more quickly find distant players.
A larger balance patch is in progress, should arrive soon(tm), when it's done(tm)
Until then, good luck, have fun!
The dev
Big Balance and Mechanics Patch 2019.03.22.b Is Live
The biggest change in this patch are updates for the game's movement and visibility mechanics. Also, several units have had small-ish stat updates. The "SEARCHING" menu page is also improved. Details follow.
New movement mechanic: suppression. Units under attack move at 50% speed. This is meant to increase the defensive potential of static units, like H and I. An attacker must think twice before going into an enemy's field of fire, because he might not escape before taking significant casualties.
C are immune to suppression, so they move at their full move speed even under enemy fire. This is in line with their intended role as melee chargers.
New visibility mechanic: while moving, visibility increases by 10%. This will make static units slightly better hidden than moving ones, possibly increasing the utility of R and I. The effect of this change is not certain, and it might be rolled back if it produces undesired effects.
Visibility, now, is also "sticky": once detected, a unit will stay detected in a slightly larger radius. This should reduce unit "flickering", where moving rapidly in/out of detection range causes the unit to appear/disappear rapidly.
R buff: speed increased from 144 to 165; visibility reduced by 25%. The R is weak and fragile, and this is a good thing! However, it should feel very sneaky and agile too, and this should bring it closer to its intended personality.
A buff: increased speed from 32 to 50. While A are meant to be slow and ponderous, this might have been somewhat exaggerated. A aren't immune to suppression, so they'll be plenty ponderous when under fire. Which they should be!
Finally, the "Searching.." interface now includes a list of available units in the currently selected game type. Commanders now have no reason not be familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of their enemies!
Looking forward to your thoughts and feedback
The dev
Balance Patch 2019.03.21.e
Balance changes:
Reduced H firepower from 250 to 160. This should make it easier to approach turtling groups of H.
Reduced overall game speed by 25%. Currently, games feel a bit too click-heavy and the action can become overwhelming, especially for new players.
Looking forward to your thoughts
The dev
Tactical Control Is Live !
Tactical Control is now live and playable!
Looking forward to your feedback and (hopefully few) bug reports.
The Custom Games DLC is also available for purchase. I strongly recommend playing a few free games before buying.
Thanks for your interest and good hunting!
The dev
Release Delayed
Regrettably, Tactical Control is not yet ready to be released, even in Early Access. While the estimated release date was in February 2019, this turned out unrealistic and could not be achieved. The game's Early Access release is now scheduled for the second half of March 2019.
The only reason for this postponement is that the game was felt insufficiently polished and tuned to be displayed to interested players. In other words, it's working, but it's still not good enough.
Thank you for your patience and interest in Tactical Control
The dev