Hello there and a warm welcome to the update of your terminal!
This weeks development has been focused on mainly three things. (1) The continued improvement of the AI where its decision making ability has been enhanced even further and (2) the confirmation of the improved game balancing, in particular with regards to the focuses and policies. (3) Prepared the new content for the rollout with the next Sprint. We have also introduced a few new policies as part of this new update.
Thank you for your patience and for all the community feedback and support! A special thanks to all of you whom participated in Terminal Thursday. What a treat!
II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in final BETA testing and receiving its finalized graphical assets.
III) Policies are getting rolled out with each new patch.
CHANGELOG
AI
Fixed an issue where an AI would get stuck on theater selection
Fixed AI causing exception when picking focus where best option has a negative score
Readjusted AI's preferences when launching policies
Tweaking of AI scores to enable the AI a more accurate selection for interest resource use
Fixed AI simulation affecting world overview War Zones UI
AI now evaluates more effects and is even better at strategizing in depth
Improved AI use of EYES ONLY DLC Intelligence missions
Game no longer prints out incorrect War Zone messages when AI is running a full world simulation potentially giving away it's plans
GAME
Fixed an issue that would cause nuclear research to be displayed as faulty when launching a nuclear apocalypse
Updated wording for Surface Fleets' Convoying Ability
Updated military unit abilities to clarify when the passive abilities are available
Fixed an issue where the theater was incorrectly displayed
Added updates for Eyes Only to SCN10 Balance of Power
Updated policies for SCN 10 Balance of Power
Improve the automatic Victory Point gain log message to clarify when you or the enemy gains VP
Fixed an issue where the wording incorrectly suggested the ELITE interests are to set to 9 instead of the alignment
MULTIPLAYER
Updated multiplayer server connection to a new version to fix an issue where sometimes multiplayer games would get incorrectly timed out and disconnected
INTELLIGENCE
Updated notification for Intelligence implementation that End Turn on failure
POLICIES USA
NEW HELLENIC RESISTANCE: Gain 2 VP for each USA INFLUENCE in GREECE.
USSR
NEW POPULAR REVOLUTIONS: Gain 3 VP. Trigger a WAR ZONE in 2 target regions.
NEW FIFTH INTERNATIONAL: Gain 1 VP for each USSR CONTROLLED region in MIDDLE EAST.
NEW FIFTH INTERNATIONAL: Gain 1 VP for each USSR CONTROLLED region in WESTERN EUROPE.
NEW FIFTH INTERNATIONAL: Gain 1 VP for each USSR CONTROLLED region in SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.
GAME EDITOR
Exclamation mark showing excess in interests is not visible when you give the opponent interests
OTHER
Top Left text uses background color in case of Monofonto-glow
Fixed typos in Narrative Decisions
Updated War Zone wording to clarify its meaning
Fixed an issue where the overlay of MIRVIN and Options can overlay each other
Terminal Conflict: Update and Full Changelog
Hello there! What a wonderful reception of the new Eyes Only DLC and we are naturally doing our part at the battle-stations.
We got initial reports that the AI was not performing as intended and for this reason as you might have seen we have delayed the publishing the full change-log until we had found the AI issue and fixed it. It turned out to be a small issue that was needlessly causing the AI to mismanage its resources. We also saw, that there was a need to further tweak the balancing of the intelligence operations and instead of losing interests with a particular interest holder in society for failing a top secret missions, failure by your intelligence services will instead remain unknown to the public end will instead end your turn.
With the AI fix patched and testing done, we are now ready to roll out the full change-log and take you through the wonderful updates made during this development cycle. The manual is being updated to reflect these changes and some other minor changes and we will be rolling its first draft out this Terminal Thursday 18:00-20:00 CEST. Thank you for your patience and for all the community feedback and support to the guys laboring away searching the bug during the weekend.
A special thanks to all who have made this possible and for those who would like to enjoy the epic battle between our chief game designer Gellert Keresztes and Lemuel Sora for the release stream. [previewyoutube="_zCBHY6_jTw;full"]
II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in final BETA testing.
CHANGELOG
AI
AI has enhanced Focus selection abilities and is much more strategic in making its choices when selecting where to focus
Combat ability has been improved and will now to a larger degree exploit favorable map positioning
AI recognizes hidden costs of intelligence and sets longer term deployment plans
Improved further the AI’s ability to chose nuclear strike targets
GAME
NEW DELAY button added to Focus Selection that is available after the first round of focus selection where you spend 2 PEOPLE to gain 2 ELITES and reduce friendly focuses by 3 TURNS.
NEW Forcing an enemy military unit to WITHDRAW now provides half its value in VP.
NEW End Turn button introduced for when you want to pass the initiative or have selected a strategy that does not require you to take further actions this turn
NEW Alignment, now represents the growth of ideas in your domestic politics. Your alignment value is provided to you at the start of each timeline allowing you to build a proper interest engine.
NEW Victory conditions can now be Minor or Major and both faction surviving without nuclear war past 1991- will be rewarded with mutual Minor victory
NEW Interests are no longer given 1 per Turn. Instead interests are collected by selecting a Focus that provides resources according to their description text
NEW Nuclear Mapmode implemented to get a preview of the apocalypse and the ranges of your delivery systems. Select the blinking mini-map icon and chose the nuclear icon to see a nuclear strike range simulation map
Logistics of military units no longer cost turns to deploy and instead requires FINANCE
Replaced the old menu navigation system with a new one displaying buttons for Decisions, Policies, Allies, Units, Research, Intel, Space Race and Nuclear Authorization
Removed the narrow bonuses provided by controlling or dominating certain percentages of a theater as it incorrectly was providing incentives to reach brackets of target values instead of spreading your factions sphere of influence
UX/UI
NEW Victory conditions now has a separate screen. Review it by selecting the button housing your VP
Finalize decluttering of the screens by removing elements that are not in use or are not primary to the task at hand
Add further clarity to the screens by the use of color and highlighting to direct the attention of the player
Added an updated notification for buttons - accessed by PRESS + HOLD 2 sec over most active buttons
Added a simple DLC activator where you can turn on/off to play with DLCs you own
Enhanced Message Log to give you a better overview of actions taken by you and the opponent. Select the space where messages are printed out at the bottom of the screen or select directly a message to access it
You can now use units with TRANSIT ability to move to a friendly region and use the Map Arrow to transport it the final step
Historical Characters can now be properly viewed in the same Allies menu as Leaders and can be FAVORED from there to activate a particular one in a target theater
New animations added for smoother experience
Disarmed unit notifications no longer printed on map
SPACE RACE
NEW System for space race has been fully restructured to make space missions and bonuses easy to overview and launch
RESEARCH
NEW System for research to display the proper bonuses in one easily manageable screen
You can now see which unit types a research impacts directly in the screen as part of the overview
INTELLIGENCE
Updated costs of intelligence missions to better match the balancing
Some Intel missions will add interest alignment if successful 1) Infiltrate (+1 Military) 2) Espionage (+1 Finance) 3) Counter-Intelligence (+1 Government)
Added the ability to see enemy interests that can be updated by the use of Espionage and where accuracy decays over time
FOCUSES
Reworked the focuses to now provide bonuses, each particularly tailored to their historical counterpart and translated into game terms
DECISIONS
Updated the Return of the King and Chinese Civil War decision chains
Re-balanced the values of several decision chains to better match their respective historical setups
Timed decisions with player-driven influence deployment now auto-place points when turn ends instead of those getting lost
POLICIES
Policies are now activated by Focuses and become available to accomplish for the rest of the game providing rewards when completed.
Reworked all policies to serve as the main goals in the game providing VP and Influence when achieved
You can now review your opponents Policies in the policy screen
LEADERS
Leader recruitment dialog now shows interest mismanagement warning
Updated Khimati's ability
Historical Characters powers no longer shows negative value when a character is dead
Leaders are no longer immortal when using timeline cheat
Leader death dialog now comes after leader recruitment dialog to make it more useful to the player to understand what has taken place especially if leaders are contesting one another
Recruiting a leader now plays their costume made sound as they enter the fray
MAP
Fixed an issue where South American regions where not properly connected
Adjusted positioning for East Asian and Middle Eastern units
Updated Land positioning in Greenland
Fixed an issue where GUAM was lacking its influence number
Renamed Southern Antarctic to Kerguelen Islands
MODDING
NEW DEBUG menu available when running the game from the editor that gains you the ability to:
Cheat for most values such as interests, influence, VP, Doomsday Clock, Arsenal and more.
View and change Opponents core values
Allows to advance Turn, Focuses, Timelines
Select starting Timeline to do your test run
Select a Quick AI mode if you do not want the AI to strategize about choices
Fire any Decision or Focus by inputting their ID
Enable tooltips to see detailed information about game elements on the map
Enable 100% success chance for intelligence missions
Modify and test Logistics
Standardized all the modding elements that target an enemy to be defined as ‘Opponent’
THIS function now works with RegionPolNumber and TriggerType
ArgumentType now has THIS
MULTIPLAYER
Fixed various issues that would sometimes disconnect a multiplayer game
Fixed a minor issue that would sometime result in a de-sync between the Leader Power of the Client in multiplayer games
OTHER
Fixed various typos
Added various smaller missing assets
Implemented a sound priority system that takes into account which sounds are playing and sets their priorities depending on what the player should focus attention to
Added a soundtrack to Central America
Updated the soundscape and Equalized sounds that were not properly on the same sound level
Updated the retro printer sound to match more closely to the proper terminal old terminal soundscape
Fixed an issue where positioning ow World Overview Sprites were incorrectly placed
Pixel nudging
Terminal Conflict: For your Eyes Only!
Hello there! We challenge you to Global Thermonuclear War!
A well-placed spy can change the destiny of a nation. The risks are great, and the rewards are even greater. When the fate of the world is on the line, what was once inconceivable can suddenly become a reality.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can also make sure to get your voice heard on our Twitter , Facebook , Reddit and join our Steam Community. We'll always notice a fun, well written post anytime.
"The Discretionary Masterclass"- Eyes Only DLC Development Diary
Welcome to the briefing! Aggressive agents might be tempted to trigger the missions of EYES ONLY without careful consideration, but never forget – the enemy excel at exploiting such eagerness. Poor planning may lead toward diplomatic disaster, and ultimately push the world into the arms of Armageddon. Before moving forward, you should review all the relevant factors.
Mission Basics
When unlocking a mission from the Special Operations Division, think carefully about when and where to deploy it. These powerful programs are far from a done deal, and intelligence indicates that many have at most a 30 – 60% of success. You literally have only one shot at this, so it had better count.
If you should fail, there’s a good chance that the enemy will get wind of it. Hell, even if you pull off the operation perfectly there's still a real risk of being revealed.
A responsible agent will always remember this sobering fact: Every mission performed raises the chance of detection. The silence of the enemy should never be taken as a sign of safety. Analysts predict that the enemy will probably proceed in one of several ways.
They might seek to solve the matter via back-channels, but their love of lies and anarchic antagonism makes this unlikely.
Instead, they'll try to play the victim and create a scandal at the United Nations, or may strike directly at our forces with a cowardly counter-blow.
Consider also that covert missions can be saved for use at the time of your choosing – and vitally, can be chained together in ways that are deceptively devastating.
The “Surprise” US invasion
After significant planning and preparation agents have successfully managed to execute Operation Gold in Western Europe.
US forces gain a 20% chance of infiltrating each enemy unit in the theater - and the story revealed was well worth the risk. The Russians have positioned their units for a secret strike against US influence in the theater. If we immediately deploy our forces near the invasion point this can be countered. However, it might be judicious to let the ravenous Reds make the first move.
The Stargate program may have been publicly discredited, but the truth is that we have been hiding its true results. We now have new tools are our disposal that are both fantastic and frightening, ones that the propaganda weakened minds of the Soviet soldier will prove most vulnerable to.
They shall launch their “surprise” strike across the Rhine, and then we'll hit them with the full power of Stargate.
The enemy units will be stopped in their tracks, dazed, and open to a crippling counter-offensive. If we have a leader on-hand in the right region we might even be able to drag them over to the cause of freedom. Either way, we'll catch them completely flat footed.
Even if the Soviets create an international incident, they will find their options limited and if the enemy pushes the Doomsday clock to midnight – all the better. With a few well placed US Bomber Commands, the fearless forces of United States shall be baptized and reborn in the nuclear fire of righteousness.
No matter what happens, the machinations of the malevolent Soviet tanks will grind to a halt when faced with the magnificence of America's air power. Victory shall surely side with the soldiers of Democracy.
Final Thoughts
The tools we've provided in EYES ONLY are there to be used at your discretion, but are best deployed carefully. Masterful strategy is what matters most. If you can wait for the proper moment and exploit the weaknesses of your enemy, the voices of victory shall be yours.
I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!
II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.
III) Finalize UX/UI overhaul and optimization:
Finalize decluttering of the screens by removing elements that are not in use or are not primary to the task at hand
Add further clarity to the screens by the use of color and highlighting to direct the attention of the player
Complete testing of the designs and validate that they have the impact we seek
"The Lubyanka Letter" - Eyes Only DLC Development Diary
Welcome Comrades! Having previously presented the clandestine missions of the USA, we pull back the anti-capitalist iron curtain guarding the secret programs of the Soviets!
The High-Risk Operations
Operation: Romeo
Every facility has a weak point, and who better to penetrate it than the most handsome of secret agents. The feeble-minded secretaries of the decadent European bourgeoisie are unable to resist a well-trained seducer. If we find ourselves behind in the technological race, for the price of true love, the Revolution will gain one free nuclear technology.
Operation: Cylinder
Westerners worship profit above all else, and so are prime targets for this form of corruption. An inebriated mole can thus be recruited at a certain naval facility to leak details of important enemy plans, revealing their submarine placements around the world.
Operation: Earthquake
The American government is constantly touting its close relationship with its slathering barons of industry, shoveling money into their greedy mouths while trusting them to aid in their schemes. Too bad that they haven't spent any of their larder on security. Gain entrance, and learn valuable data on the military fighters in development, allowing the noble Soviet to gain a free fighter for each American fighter command deployed worldwide.
Operation: Red Boulder
Much has been made of the interconnection of the USA and its disparate and disorganized allies. Where they see strength, the KGB sees opportunity. One by one they shall fall into disorder, and all to the glory and strength of the Soviet forces. Their networks cracked asunder, revealing how to temporarily defeat various enemy intelligence missions for several turns.
Operation: Panther
Divide and conquer, a maxim Washington should well remember. It proclaims to believe in the liberty of all men with one hand, but with the other exploits their labor and bends them toward slavery without mercy. As Russia stands to liberate all the workers of the world, it can entice the downtrodden to denounce the contradiction of capitalism and its so-called democracy. In doing so, the USA's People interest will crumble to a point just short of total anarchy.
Domestic Programs
Program: Boomerang
Never forget that it is essential to defeating whatever the enemy throws at you. Implementing a program to effectively block western counter-espionage efforts will ensure Soviet operational dominance for several turns, and surely make the Americans think twice before attempting to make light of the KGB.
Program: Progress
The world knows that American values are a sham. Underneath every rock, there is the slimy and wriggling reality of western capitalism. What harm is there in enhancing and promoting what is transparently true? With international opinion turning against them, block the next enemy policy and set the Soviet peoples' interest to 5.
Program: Radioson
It is not merely the politics and ethics of the Soviet that is superior. The people themselves are stronger, faster, and full of untapped potential far above that of those confined by the conventions of the bourgeois sciences. Russian brilliance and daring can unlock this potential through Psychotronic advancements, paving the way for a new Soviet man to take to the fore – and even potentially learn to stop an enemy invasion in its tracks.
Program: Maximum Integration
A network of shell companies created in the West would bring back to us some innovations that the Capitalists now hoard for themselves. These valuable discoveries by right belong to the workers, and so the Soviet Union shall seize them on their behalf. This, in turn, would potentially grant the Revolution many victory points, depending on the level of American reaction.
Final Thoughts
With these missions, the USSR will be able to deftly handle anything that the USA can throw at them. However, even if the tide of history seems to side with the Revolution, one must not slacken their efforts – take these tools and use them with skill and prove Soviet superiority. Only then will you triumph!
I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!
II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.
III) Finalize UX/UI overhaul and optimization:
Finalize decluttering of the screens by removing elements that are not in use or are not primary to the task at hand
Add further clarity to the screens by the use of color and highlighting to direct the attention of the player
Complete testing of the designs and validate that they have the impact we seek
"The Agency" - Eyes Only DLC Development Diary
Sharpen your Curare tipped umbrellas, set your camera watches on standby, and sit back with another secret update from the Hearts of Iron: Road to 56 team. Having worked hard, we’re happy to bring you all the details about the United States' dastardly and dubious intelligence missions!
High-Risk Operations
We wanted to create intense and highly rewarding clandestine operations for the player to perform, spanning every era of the Cold War. As with all the content in EYES ONLY they are unique, powerful, and delightfully challenging to perform.
Operation: Gold From the very start of the game in 1946, the United States can infiltrate the Soviet borders and run tunnels underneath the feet of unsuspecting enemy soldiers. If successful, you will gain a 20% chance to infiltrate each enemy unit in the theater!
Operation: Luna Should you find yourself behind the Soviets in Victory Points, this mission will allow the US to capture and study a Soviet Lunik probe. If your agents pull off this daring feat, you will be rewarded with a new Space Race technology.
Operation: Coldfeet The USSR is plotting something in the far north. Launch a clandestine operation to investigate an abandoned base before it is consumed by the ice! Gather valuable intelligence and force up to two USSR submarine fleets back to port from the Arctic.
Operation: Ivy Bells Tapping into underseas communication cables is no small feat, but with a little luck you will learn the secrets of Soviet allies. Turning their power against their nuclear-crazed overlords, you will reduce the USSR's arsenal by 0.5 for each deployed leader’s power.
Operation: Azorian Recently the Soviets lost contact with one of their experimental vessels, which they believe it to be safely buried at the bottom of the ocean. Perhaps the most daring mission of all, you can attempt to retrieve the enemy vessel. If successful, for one turn, you are guaranteed to break their encryption and lift the fog of war for enemy submarine fleets.
Domestic Programs
These are broad-scale initiatives meant to enhance the United States' power on native soil. While they might sometimes be ethically questionable, they can result in tremendous advantages and even lead to additional decisions and discoveries!
Program: Shamrock & Minaret The US government can decide to engage in the mass intercept of domestic communications. This allows for the temporary halting of any Soviet counter-intelligence operations for several turns, and perhaps even opening up for the possibility to recruit certain feline spies.
Program: Mockingbird A free press is core to the values of the United States, but sometimes the media needs a little nudge in the right direction. Performing this program sets the People's interest to 5 and blocks the next enemy policy. Crossing this threshold ethically, you will get the option to launch a false-flag operation on domestic soil later. If we are taking risks, we might as well go all the way!
Program: Stargate The Soviets have been rumored to be working on the creation of super-human abilities using paranormal phenomena and body-altering substances. Naturally, the US must not be left behind! If successful, it stops an enemy invasion in its tracks and may lead to an entire research program where the United States can engage in a clandestine effort to fully expand the limits of human potential.
Program: In-Q-Tel The relationship between corporations and the Elites in America has always been a cozy one. Manage the spy game better than the Soviets, and those bonds can be made even stronger, potentially granting a significant Victory Point bonus.
Final Thoughts
We hope that you'll enjoy the tools contained within EYES ONLY and all the challenging options and strategies they provide. Remember to use them at the right time and the Soviets won’t stand a chance. Date for release of the DLC will be announced soon for Q2 2020.
I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!
II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.
III) Finalize UX/UI overhaul and optimization:
Finalize decluttering of the screens by removing elements that are not in use or are not primary to the task at hand
Add further clarity to the screens by the use of color and highlighting to direct the attention of the player
Complete testing of the designs and validate that they have the impact we seek
Seasonal Greetings!
Seasonal Greetings from our Terminal Conflict Development team!
What a year this has been, and what better this season than to chill with some Cold War strategy? In the spirit of the season, we send you our sincerest appreciation for the support you have given us. Make sure to stop by our Twitter , Facebook or Reddit pages to give a warm greeting to our hard-working team. Enjoy your festive holidays with your dearest friends and family!
Thank you all and Mighty Cheers! The Tinker Toy elves at Strategy Mill
I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in January 2020!
II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.
III) Finalize UX/UI overhaul and optimization: 1. Finalize decluttering of the screens by removing elements that are not in use or are not primary to the task at hand 2. Add further clarity to the screens by the use of color and highlighting to direct the attention of the player 3. Complete testing of the designs and validate that they have the impact we seek
"Armchair General" Development Diary 53
It was a total surprise, as they never thought we would go that far and only realized that they were caught as the tanks began firing. We fought from daybreak that morning when we could hardly see, until late that evening. As it started getting dark, we knew we needed to get out of there.
From the plan, into action! Leading the US or the Soviet Union military through the Cold War means that conventional combat orders are given usually on the army, air force or fleet level. First and foremost a quick refreshment of what combat orders are in your terminal.
Issuing Combat Orders
Combat orders are given to military units and either involve maneuvering (moving or attacking) a unit or making use of a unit's Activated Abilities. The following are always considered to be combat actions:
Direct attack or any combat with a military unit
Disembarking (Surface Fleet ability) an Army Command in a non-friendly region
Disembarking into an empty hostile region (controlled or dominated by the opponent) will deplete all actions of the land unit and the Surface Vessel and set the region onto a war zone footing.
Disembarking into a region occupied by the opponent will immediately fail, with the Surface Vessel entering combat and the opponent's Army Command unit reorganizing.
Disembarking into a hostile region occupied by an opponent's engaged unit will immediately succeed (positioning the enemy in withdrawal) and will deplete all actions of the land unit and the Surface Vessel and set the region onto a war footing.
Any action by a military unit that shifts Influence towards your faction
Sometimes the tide can turn and that is when you need to urgently bring in reinforcements into a theater. Naturally, you can always deploy more military units ending your turn but newly deployed units take a turn to get Combat Ready. Fear not! There are other ways to keep the initiative.
Cross Theater Maneuvers
If you need to shift the theater of a non-air military unit, placing it in a region adjacent to your desired theater allows for it to maneuver across theater borders when Combat Ready. Simply select a colored arrow in your destined theater and press the icon of the unit type you would like to maneuver.
Example: The USSR can maneuver Combat Ready non-air units from regions bordering Yugoslavia in the Eastern Europe theater.
Select the target Yugoslavian region to execute the order and the unit will immediately carry out the order without you having to redeploy it or return it to the Command Reserve. If you instead hold your mouse cursor over the target region and Press + Hold for 2 seconds, the terminal will try and calculate the chance for success.
Withdrawal
Should you have gotten your unit defeated in a non-controlled region you can try to make an escape. Displayed within a hollow icon, Fleets and Commands that have not been destroyed but have been set for withdrawal may withdraw from combat into a friendly region ending your turn and be set as Engaged.
If you lack the turns or desire to ignore withdrawing, the unit set for withdrawal is removed from the map and safely retires instead to the Command Reserve.
Example: The US Carrier Fleet's position in Italy is untenable due to the arrival of a Soviet Submarine Fleet into the region. Without a Surface Fleet to defend the position against the subs, the Carrier Fleet is set to withdraw and will be retired by the Military unless given a withdrawal order by you.
This is not the worst thing that can happen but should things look really terrible then there is now one last desperate option at your disposal.
Surprise Assault
Achieved by purposefully deploying a unit from Command Reserve directly into a region with a visible enemy unit(s). With regular combat rules applying, this action will end your turn and result in a combat defeat by your hastily deployed assaulting unit. The benefit though is that it will Engage one enemy unit for four (4) turns. That will keep them busy and buy you time to organize defensive deployment or perhaps even a counterattack.
Example: With Communism spreading into Western Europe and Italy controlled by the Soviet sphere, the US has deployed a Carrier Fleet in the region that we must suppress, otherwise it will simply destroy any friendly sea units deployed in Yugoslavia, as they require one turn to become Combat Ready. Sending a Surprise Assault with a Submarine Fleet will instead engage the enemy Carrier Fleet for 4 turns buying enough time to allow a defensive deployment to take place in Yugoslavia with a second Submarine Fleet.
Upcoming Development I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!
II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.
III) Finalize UX/UI overhaul and optimization: 1. Finalize decluttering of the screens by removing elements that are not in use or are not primary to the task at hand 2. Add further clarity to the screens by the use of color and highlighting to direct the attention of the player 3. Complete testing of the designs and validate that they have the impact we seek
CHANGELOG
AI
Fixed an issue where the AI would be too aggressive and would potentially bankrupt itself in search for a quick victory with Policies
GAME
Updated combat rules
Fixed an issue that would cause Save Games not to function properly
Update to theaters and repositioning for better clarity
Fixed some Maneuver arrows that were rotated incorrectly
Updated Influence map values in the hierarchy that could cause some to be improperly displayed
The timer will be updated and starting the next patch will show minutes and second
INTELLIGENCE
NEW Created and implemented design for US/Soviet risky missions for DLC Eyes Only
Removed a possible People cost for False Flag
Improved the notification text for US/Soviet intel missions
DECISIONS
NEW Created and implemenented a set of decisions for US intelligence
Updated a text in to clarify McCarthy's relationship with Anslinger
MAP
Updated all theater maps including the Arctic to better match the design going forward
OTHER
DLC button no longer available in Options Menu
Updated icons in Options Menu
Terminal Conflict: Eyes Only - Upcoming DLC
A well-placed spy can change the destiny of a nation. Striking from the shadows, attempting critical missions whose very existence is known to only a select few, and the cloak-and-dagger diplomacy emblematic of the Cold War. Have you ever wanted to run tunnels underneath the Iron Curtain? How about training spies to seduce and infiltrate sensitive enemy facilities? Maybe some domestic programs to surveil your own people and to run experiments that seek to reach the edges of human ability? The risks are great, and the rewards are even greater. After all - when the fate of the world is on the line, what was once inconceivable can suddenly become a reality.
A Brilliant Venture
Terminal Conflict: Eyes Only, is a new DLC under development as a result of an internal partnership with the renown Leif 'Greatexperiment' Miller and the distinguished William 'Thinking Waffle' Bois d'Enghien. This award-winning team with over half a million subscribers behind their Hearts of Iron IV: Road to 56 project are bringing five categories of content:
Unique High-Risk Missions USA & USSR Throughout the game, certain unique opportunities will arise for dangerous espionage missions. These have powerful and unique effects in the game, such as being able to take enemy submarines out of service and catching up in the nuclear arms race. You only have one shot to pull these off and the consequences for failure can be devastating, so plan carefully!
Unique Domestic Programs USA & USSR Within your own territory, it will now be possible to fund wide-reaching programs, many of which are of an ethically dubious nature. This includes being able to intercept the communications of your own populace and even look into the creation of super soldiers and supposed extra-sensory abilities. If you don't mind the possibility of your citizens finding out of course.
New International Crises Failure in the above missions and programs can lead to a major crisis that plays out on the world stage. When you are called to the United Nations to answer for your actions know that you are engaging in a dangerous game that can lead to vindication or condemnation in the eyes of the international community.
In addition, this extra content does not unbalance Multiplayer games. When connecting to a player that hosts with a higher tier DLC, the game for both you and your opponent will always play the highest DLCs available.
Lending a Lunik
Details on all the missions will come in future development diaries, but for now, we are happy to present one: Operation Luna. In the early 1960s, the Soviets were still ahead in the Space Race and had decided to take a victory lap of sorts by brashly showing off their Lunik probes at various western museums.
The United States saw an opportunity in this display of Soviet technology, and so embarked on an operation that was equal parts brilliance and desperation. They wished to "borrow" the probe, study its workings, and then return the device without the Russians ever realizing.
In reality, the USA managed this feat not once, but twice. You now have a chance to attempt the same in Terminal Conflict, but success is far from assured. If you do pull off the mission your side will use the knowledge gained to advance a step in the space race and show the Soviets the price of their arrogance.
Stranger than Fiction While many are aware of the Space Race and Missile Gap, few know that both sides were deeply worried that the enemy could also develop an unexpected advantage in yet another area: Parapsychology. Strange and frightening powers of the mind, body, and other superhuman abilities.
Sanity and calm were no match for the omnipresent paranoia of the Cold War, and so both sides invested heavily in researching these phenomena simply to prevent the other from gaining any possible advantage. No matter how unlikely or slim.
In the game we have represented these with the domestic programs: Stargate and Radioson for the Americans and Soviets respectively. Successfully completing them grants a powerful one-time ability to stop a potential invasion in its tracks. Even more, a decision chain will let you explore various aspects of the program and achieve further dubious rewards.
Do you dare explore the limits of human potential?
Final Thoughts
Nothing is more central to the Cold War experience than intelligence. With "Eyes Only" players will have access to the tools to defeat their opponent in new and exciting ways worthy of the most hardened spy novel. Move carefully in the shadows, and the final blow that you strike may be one that the enemy never even sees.
-Agents Greatexperiment and Thinking Waffle
"For AIs and Policies" Development Diary 52
Watching the CRT screen flickering with a long list of log messages, we were desperately trying to make sense of them. Codes, coordinates, trajectories, names of distant places, some of them we have never heard of before. Computer terminals are a blessing, of course, but watching all that information flowing on the screen, we had a chilling sensation of helplessness and paranoia. It didn't strike us until the East Coast of the United States appeared on the screen. Then we understood the machine had begun to think by itself. And decided we would be a target.
The Cold War Terminal AI
The Cold War zeitgeist is strongly connected with the computer culture and the first tries at artificial intelligence. We are convinced that no strategy game about the Cold War would be complete without an efficient AI, one that can, not only correctly interpret what is happening on the global scale, but also be able to build strategies, and act upon it. Perhaps even in ways that may possibly offset even the most advanced human player.
AIs are always destined to and are being built with a twin soul. On one hand a friend, someone that sticks with you loyally helping you in your cutthroat two duels for power and influence. On the other, a mighty powerful adversary challenging you in single-player combat holding the fate of humankind itself. Human self-admiration and fallibility has its limitations the computers do not share. Terminal Conflict's MIRVIN was but one of the first.
Improved AI
Work on the AI has been going on relentlessly from the start of development, but lately, we have had an important breakthrough. The first iterations of the AI were aiming at maximizing results in the short term: analyzing the present situation and make a decision that would make sense in the snapshot which the game was at that moment in time. It was working excluding the worst options immediately and picking from what was left.
Now it works in a completely different way.
If we had to summarize it in one word we’d say ‘planning’. That’s what the AI is doing now, creating alternatives that span into the future instead of just the present. Timelines, scenarios, the AI is now picking from the most fruitful alternatives for the future. This is a challenging task as the calculations involved are numerous, to put it lightly and so we've been working hard with optimization.
Fun fact: the first iteration of this new AI took more than six seconds to complete each calculation before making a move. Now, after a lot of coding work by Lennart Berg, optimizing with Davide Benedetti, QA from Alfred 'Zeress' Frendo-Cumbo, William "Thiking_waffle" Bois d'Enghien and your feedback on forums and Discord, that number has been reduced to 0.15 to 0.20 seconds. In a nutshell, the AI is way smarter, and a lot faster.
MIRVIN AI play
Let’s look at an example of how MIRVIN the AI makes use of all the resources it has in its possession:
We are in Timeline 1961-1965 and the AI chooses 'Anti Imperial Alliance' in South America as focus, a challenge to take control of Argentina.
The AI disarms and I, feeling confident, opt for Arms Race in the hopes of landing a punch with my imperialist fist!
MIRVIN places the influence gathered from its one-sided Disarmament which brings Argentina in balance. During my turn, I choose to act, so I deploy an Army Command to Chile and march it right into Argentina. So long AI ambition!
Until I get this…
MIRVIN strikes back, recruits Peron, who contests and eliminates my US Army Command on the field and proceeds then to spend his power to get Argentina back on USSR’s side. And there is now no time for me to get more troops there, Argentina is about to go full-on socialist.
Policies System Update
Another update we want to mention in this development diary is the improvement of Ai's use of Policies as well as updates to the system itself.
Being able to create plans, the AI is improving its strategic use of Policies. The system itself has received updates as we wanted to give you less restricted access to the policies while reducing unnecessary clogging in the interface. Dotted lines for buttons also mark selections containing further choices. Policies are now also freely accessible and we removed the restriction on the amount you can hold to allow even better strategic use.
We hope you will enjoy the updates and continue to keep us posted!
Upcoming Development I) NEW tutorials are in productions and the official MANUAL is in print! Expect the first rollout in the coming weeks!
II) KIM IL-SUNG: A Communist Ideologue and Supreme Leader will rise to power like the living Sun to establish a People's Republic like never seen before and the first Communist dynasty. Or will his life be cut short and his reign curtailed by US regional power? The rise of North Korea is in BETA testing.
III) Cooperation to be announced with a famous modding team!
CHANGELOG
AI
AI will now simulate ahead and behave even more strategically
AI will now be a lot more vigilant in creating plans
Policies are better planned and used
AI now handles Intelligence and understands cooldowns
Further optimization of the AI calculations
GAME
Fixed an issue where the profile selected might give an error message
Fighters should be engaged when attacking surface fleets
Updated combat preview logic to match actual combat rules
Updated notification for Non-focus theater war declaration
Combat preview prioritizes units that can defend
Combat preview notification should correctly target defending units first
INTELLIGENCE
NEW You can now see how your Intelligence success chance is calculated. Select an intel operation and PRESS + HOLD for 2 seconds in a region with an intelligence success marker
Updated names for US intel Operations
Fixed an issue where the recon notification was incorrect
Fixed an issue where Espionage and Infiltrate intel mission had the wrong sprite in the log
Perform narrative check after performing intel mission attempt
DECISIONS
Updated cooldown and PerTimeline policies descriptions
Updated an issue where Mao's name would not be lit in Red Dragon Rising
Updated an issue where Peng needs to have his flag set
WARGAMES
SCN 7 GRAND CAMPAIGN now properly awards GOVERNMENT interests
Fixed an issue in SCN 7 GRAND CAMPAIGN that would make it impossible to complete the scenario
Fixed an issue in SCN 8 The China Card that was preventing the scenario from being played fully
EDITOR
Intel deployment rules centralized
Intelligence rules can now be set individually for each mission and bonuses can be defined separately for each faction
