Jagged Alliance: Back in Action Message Board

There are too many Jagged Alliances all at once! Two! I can barely cope with two of anything, my arms constantly getting tangled as I try to do simple tasks like combing a pony. But be told that Jagged Alliance: Crossfire has nothing to do with Jagged Alliance: Online. Well, not nothing, but you know what I mean. It is, in fact, an EXPANDALONE! to Jagged Alliance: Back In Action, the delayed reboot of the formerly turn-based series. And it has a release date: September. Okay, it has a release month.

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Changelog:
- Added sorting options to recruitment screen
- Texts on DLC startscreens do not show objective line twice
- Fixed leave map button activating when squad fails to conquer airport (potential crash)
- Fixed wrong initialization of internal value (potential crash)
- Fixed some AI routines, which caused NPCs to show false behavior
- Fixed 1 pixel gap on world map between Arulco and Arulco Maze
- Polish texts revised

V 1.13a
Added DLC support, DLC can be accessed via main menu
Savegames crated on DLC maps are marked in the loading menu
Fixed ammo for Grenade Launcher not displayed as 40mm
Fixed crash upon deleting all mails
Fixed exploit that allowed to duplicate items and could result in crashes
Fixed right click allowing to move items from sector inventory when it was inaccessible
Fixed cone preview displayed on turning in plan & go vanishing when the stance is changed after the turning action
Fixed mouse cursor vanishing when scrolling by moving the cursor to the border of the screen in fullscreen mode while pressing ALT or WASD
Fixed building attacker AI with melee weapon stopping when attacked from afar
Fixed mercs and militia not dropping correctly from ladders when dying while still climbing

I had very mixed feelings about Jagged Alliance: Back In Action and not the kind that make for the emotional equivalent of a delicious bourbon-based beverage. This was more like a draught of nostalgic ambrosia that someone had spilled kerosene in. That I still drank it and would do so again speaks ill of my character. The recent patch siphons in something sweet and much in demand though – a ‘tactical’ mode. That might seem a bit like if Battlefield 3 adding a ‘shooter’ mode months after release, but at least someone’s listened to the complaints and JABIA is receiving decent support. The main addition is that enemies must be revealed through line of sight but there’s plenty more. Full change list below.

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V 1.13
Added Features
• Added hard difficulty level as option on game start. Modifies enemy strength, income and starting funds.
• Added tactical mode as option on game start.
- Enemies have to be revealed via line of sight in tactical mode.
- Sound sources are marked in tactical view as well as on the minimap
• Added two new achievements for tactical mode and higher difficulty.
• Added option to level recruited militia up via the location UI on the world map.
• Added options to distribute militia via location UI (evenly across all combat zones, focused on a single combat zone)
• Added sector inventory, accessible via Character Detail Screen
- Always accessible in friendly sectors
- Automatically includes all containers that have been opened and all enemy drops that have been spotted by the player
- Accessible for militia recruitment and trading with NPCs
• Added item exchange via Drag & Drop in Character Details Screen. Illegible mercs are marked red. • Within hostile sectors mercs need to be within 5m distance to be able to exchange items.
• Stamina is reduced when returning to the strategic map when squads travelled great distances in the tactical view
• Current ammo saved for each weapon, weapons are unloaded when being handed over to militia. • Militia will hand weapons back unloaded to prevent players cheating ammo via the militia equip screen
• NPC Traders restock their inventory over time (rules can be modified via characters.txt)
• Targeting line indicates best range of weapon and chance to hit via color from green (good) to red (bad)
• Camera scrolling possible by moving the cursor to the border of the screen in fullscreen mode
• Added Sound FX for melee attacks
• Putting away a fire arm for non-combat actions (e.g. heal) will no longer reset the firemode of the weapon
• Added scrollbar in mail list window
• Added trash can icon to delete mail to mail window
Bug Fixes
• Fixed some exploits that allowed to duplicate items via item exchange
• Fixed bugs in squad selection via list on world map
• Fixed regeneration of HP on world map, HP lost due to wounds takes longer to regenerate
• Added missing text for Raiders hiring dialogue
• Fixed Blood not liking Magic due to a typo
• Fixed MP53 weapon type not being specified
• Fixed Deidrannas sending of troops based on the players income becoming less likely
• Fixed orientation of 66mm rocket shot from LAW
• Fixed issue when player receives several items of the as quest reward and has not enough space in inventory to hold all of them
• Fixed crash in tutorial
• Fixed several mercs that move as a group changing positions after reaching their destination if one of them with active guard mode receives a new goto order
• Fixed guard mode would prevent mercs from letting other mercs pass them
• Fixed mail list not being cleared when starting a new game
• Fixed item swap to player inventory for stacked items on rightclick and by "loot all"-button
• Fixed bug in loner trait
• Fixed bug in tough trait
• Added slight offset to grenade explosions to prevent explosions inside ground to prevent grenades damage to be reduced by terrain
• Changes to terrain to prevent grenades from falling through ground on machines with low frame rates
• Fixed explosions not destroying armor correctly
Balancing Changes and Tweaks
• Added grenade launcher ammo to containers in some locations in the world
• Added grenade launcher ammo to the stock of some local traders
• Slightly decreased accuracy of snipers when prone
• Tweaked enemy attributes to adjust aim time in combat
• Tweaked enemy perception to accommodate introduction of Line of Sight
• Enemies drop the amount of ammo they have left in their weapon
• Enemy area defenders swap random positions to make the game less predictable in tactical mode (interval can be modified via templatesAIdescription.txt)
• Reduced chance of friendly fire between enemies
• State of tanks is stored outside of levels
• Destroyed tanks only respawn if the location still belongs to the enemy after 24 hours
• Location of Limited Edition DaHonko Flakes is now randomized
• NPC traders item list is sorted by item type
• Tweaks and improvements to pathfinding and navmesh calculation, mercs should not slow down in narrow passages anymore
• Tweaked damage done to vehicles by explosives making tanks harder to destroy with grenades alone
Localization
• Polish language files added
• Added missing texts for French
• Added polish translation for game launcher

V1.11
General Bugfixes
- Fixed some enemy using wrong combination of pants and shoe meshes
- Fixed Sightcones not being cleared properly when leaving a level
- Fixed Sightcones displayed in wrong direction when moving in command mode
- Shader bug fixed that caused incorrectly colored objects
- Fixed bug where tank had impact on performance
- Fixed smoke grenade (blocking sight and its visual effect duration were slightly different)
- Fixed bug where recruitable PCs like Ira became not recruitable after leaving the map
- Fixed bug where AI coud become unalterted again after saving & loading
Modding
- Added additional Weapon and Ammo IDs
- Sight distances made more easy to modify
- Noise made more easy to modify
Achievements
- Fixed bug where "She's dead, Enrico" achievement would not unlock correctly
- Collect achievements are not anymore received when game has been modified
Visuals and Graphics Options added
- Launcher does not anymore check for vertex shader texture fetch, prohibiting older cards to start the game although they feature SM 3.0
- Added Distance based culling for small objects
- Added "Very High" terrain quality option in ingame menu
- Added View Distance as option in ingame menu (determines distance fog position)
Gameplay Fixes and Changes
- Civilians and potential militia recruits do not trigger mines anymore
- Children will try to maintain a minimum distance from player characters to ensure they do not clog doors or passages when following the player around the map
- Noise perception influenced by objects that cover the origin of the sound
- Enemy perception tweaked, enemies can now see and hear slightly better which will make it more likely that they use their weapon range to full extend (e.g. enemies with rifles will open fire from a greater distance)
- Enemy sight cones in 2D displays in addition to 3D Cone to make more clear what an enemy can see and to make lag of 3d cone calculation on slower machines more bearable
- Durability of clothing or items worn is only reduced when they actually prevented damage
- Armor is reduced only by 10% for each time it can fully prevent its protection value (e.g. if armor can potentially prevent 30 damage and only prevents 15 damage since it is hit in an already existing weak spot its durability is only reduced by 5%)
- Stamina is not reduced anymore when the whole map belongs to the player (all enemies are killed)
- Bobby Rays Inventory only restocks after 3 days
- Bobby Rays express delivery now takes 24 hours, standard delivery takes 48 hours
- Laserpointer attachments reduce time to aim
- When a merc is hit while aiming the time to aim is reduced in relation to the damage received
- Targeting has several points of origin to become more flexible, further reduced chance of a small objects preventing a shot
- Picking improved, should be easier to select body zones when targeting
- Militia is always on the map even if the map still belongs to the enemy and can be recruited directly after liberating a map
- Reloading always reduces the smallest stack of ammo in the inventory to ensure that inventory space is cleared more quickly
- World Map: Travel speed is reduced when stamina is low
- World Map: Squads are forced to rest when stamina is close to 0 stamina to prevent squads reaching their target location with 0 stamina
- Explosives Skill also influences time for grenades to detonate after being thrown (e.g. a merc with higher explosive skill will cook grenades longer before throwing them so they explode more closely to their impact on the ground)
UI
- SHIFT+ RIGHT CLICK on target orders merc to repeat the attack until the target is dead
- Merc names are displayed on mouse over
- Time to shoot is displayed as a countdown on each merc when attacking to make it more transparent that a merc is actually trying to shoot and how long it will take the merc to fire his shot
- Closing the inventory when a merc has been selected who is currently selectable in game will not reset selection to previous merc
- Added „Loot All Button in loot UI
- Added Select Whole Squad Button to Squad name
- Minimap: Left Click jumps camera to cursor position
- Minimap: Right Click orders selected merc(s) to move to cursor position
- Worldmap: Added „Enter Map Button to Squad UI to allow fast travel via the world map to be more flexible (e.g. player can also enter a map outside a combat zone)
- Worldmap: Clicking enemy squad displays level of squad members to allow the player to make a more educated guess on wheter or not he should intercept the squad or leave the defense to militia
- Worldmap: Squad UI displays slowdown or resting via status icon
Sound
- Sound played after last enemy on map has been killed
Additional
- Added translations for new features
- Further improvements to targeting enemy body zones with the cursor
- Fixed bug where wounds would result in mercs not being able to recover stamina anymore
- Fixed some recruitable characters not displaying legs when their pants were removed
- Grenade launcher now launches grenades instead of shooting them in a direct path
- 40mm grenades added to be used by Grenade Launcher
- Color of line drawn to target now indicates ideal distance for shooting target (green = ideal)
- Changed melee base damage to prevent some melee focused mercs from one hitting enemies of level 3 and above
- Fixed bug where tanks could not be hit with rockets fired from rocket launcher
- Fixed unreachable enemy spawn position on map Overland11
- Open or closed state for all doors in Drassen Airport are saved now
- Fixed explosive spot in Alma prison on which wall was not correctly removed on both sided

Alec and Adam lurked on opposite sides of the supermarket car park, lying on their bellies, waiting, watching. Each knew the other was out there somewhere – but where? Slowly, they crawled forwards, occasionally hiding behind a trolley rack or starting as an orange plastic bag fluttered past in the gentle evening breeze. Suddenly, Alec was caught in the light of a cash machine, and Adam wasted no time in seizing the opportunity. He reached to his side, and brought up his specially-silenced keyboard. ‘Meer!’ he shouted. ‘You can’t run any longer. It’s too late for you now. It’s time. Time to talk about what we each made of Jagged Alliance: Back In Action.‘ Alec froze, hesistated. He thought about making a break for the pool of darkness behind the wheelie bins, but finally he accepted that he could be fugitive no longer. ‘Alright, Smith, you’ve got a deal! But keep those hands where I can see them.’(more…)

V 1.06

- Fixed tank explosion played in a loop
- Fixed target for repair / heal not being accessible for mechanic / healer
- Cone preview is visible when changing stance or turning merc in command mode
- Additional target points on torso and head added to make aiming more flexible and critical headshots being less likely
- Fixed locations being inaccessible when defender count is zero
- Fixed crashes on combat start due to level loading without adding player squad
- Enforcing low terrain quality mode when free graphics card memory in high quality mode would be below 128MB
- Fixed tooltips on character portraits and quickslots
- Fixed blocked path on Overland_11

We are an army of the persistent, the courageous, the savvy, the devoted. We are the few who have liberated Arulco, we sent flowers to the queen and then we blew the doors off her palace. We never quite worked out why we were being attacked by Bloodcats and we mostly ignored the existence of the Crepitus. Many of us learned that cows make for excellent target practice, even if we felt bad about it afterwards. All of us have seized Drassen airport more times than we care to remember. It is only right that one of us should go Back In Action.

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V 1.05
- Fixed some doors still not being open after loading a saved game that was created in command mode
- Updated Spanish world event messages
- Fixed crashes on worldmap in french, italian and spanish language
- Loading a savegame that was suffering from the invisible location bug (V 1.00 and prior) fixes display of location icon
- LOD for ground texture baking, reduced required video memory for texture baking
- Killcam option is saved globally, not in savegame
- Material of metal fences does not block cursor anymore

Dave and Vinny seek to exploit every tactical advantage, including nudism.

- v.1.03 for Jagged Alliance: Back in Action
- the first patch for the demo for Jagged Alliance: Back in Action

Bland headlines, eh? Steam is now host to a demo for Jagged Alliance: Back In Action, so all those people who have been dismissive of the move to pausable real time can see if hats must be salted, peppered and devoured. Similarly, those who have laid out a welcome mat for Colonel Change can see what the blighter does once he’s in their parlour, hanging his hat on the coat rack and his coat on the hat rack. Oh, you confounding swine, Change, why must you play with our expectations so? If you’re allergic to Steam, here are alternate download links.

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Bland headlines, eh? Steam is now host to a demo for Jagged Alliance: Back In Action, so all those people who have been dismissive of the move to pausable real time can see if hats must be salted, peppered and devoured. Similarly, those who have laid out a welcome mat for Colonel Change can see what the blighter does once he’s in their parlour, hanging his hat on the coat rack and his coat on the hat rack. Oh, you confounding swine, Change, why must you play with our expectations so? If you’re allergic to Steam, here are alternate download links.

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When it was revealed that Jagged Alliance: Back In Action would use a ‘plan & go’ pausable action system rather than the turn-based trappings of yore, I expected the outcry to be loud and shrill. Mine was, until I played the game at which point I was forced to acknowledge that actual hands-on experience is more useful than spurious supposition. Who would have thought? I found something new to whine about when I saw the necessarily clear evidence that the game contains no fog of war. Then I thought it might be added for release. I was wrong, buried beneath crossed wires. Some people seem as unconcerned about the missing fog as they were about the missing turns, so perhaps this gameplay video will help everyone to have contrary thoughts.

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If you read my earlier impressions of Jagged Alliance: Back In Action, you may have noticed that there was no release date listed. February 9th is the day the game will unlock on Steam and today, news comes that February 14th will see a US retail launch, with information on boxed versions in other territories to follow. Games in boxes! How quaint. Don’t leave though, because release dates are as nothing next to the news that fog of war will be present in the game.

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I’ve been playing an early version of Jagged Alliance – Back In Action, the upcoming remake of one of my most beloved games. I keep my copy of Jagged Alliance 2 atop a giant stack of Soldier of Fortune magazines, which stands between an ashtray containing a smouldering over-sized cigar, some satellite surveillance photos of a dictator’s villa, a few scattered dogtags (some with bulletholes through them) and a pile of empty shell casings. I don’t know why I keep a lot of that stuff but I guess it reminds me how much of a man I am. Can Back In Action do the same?

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Now I’m in charge things are going to change around here. On this planet. The first thing is: ALL sequels must have the subtitle, “Back In Action”. I don’t care if it’s your fifth game/film in a row with the same subtitle, that’s how it is, and you’ve no choice. So it is that Kalypso have named the return of the RTS series, Jagged Alliance: Back In Action. They have complied. All will. And they’ve finally stopped piddling around with teasers and put out a proper trailer for the game.

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It’s almost December now, and even though I’ve checked my hard drive thoroughly, again and again, there is no trace of Jagged Alliance: Back In Action on it. Which doesn’t make any sense, given the game was supposed to be out on October 18th. Let me just check again.

[Checks] Nope, there’s half of an Alanis Morrisette album an ex left on there years ago, but that’s all the Jagged I’m getting. Wha’happened?

[Checks](more…)

Choose your team and plan your ambush in this trailer.

The commando and the sniper move in for the surgical strike in an example of the game's reactive real-time play.

The mercenary begins to inch toward action in the second installment of this walkthrough.

This Jagged Alliance: Back in Action rundown starts off with a whole lot of map, but there's plenty of info to be had.