Jagged Alliance 3 (again!)

[Max Peck]

I think my dream mod at this point would be something that adds a crate sitting on the first beach containing a half dozen AK-47s with ammo. After the first couple of playthroughs, starting a run with nothing but pistols yet again is more tedious than challenging.

[Blackhawk]

I'm getting close to the end (map spoilers):

Spoiler:

Green marks indicate a 'cleared' sector that I've searched. He's backed into a corner and running out of resources.

[coopasonic]

I'm getting close to the end (map spoilers):

Spoiler:

Green marks indicate a 'cleared' sector that I've searched. He's backed into a corner and running out of resources.

Your game is ending very differently from mine.

[Carpet_pissr]

I'm getting close to the end (map spoilers):

Spoiler:

Green marks indicate a 'cleared' sector that I've searched. He's backed into a corner and running out of resources.

Your game is ending very differently from mine.

Didn’t click the spoiler, but love seeing that last line.

[Blackhawk]

Your game is ending very differently from mine.

I don't know if it's tied to the map, but the screenshot of the map I'm using to track zones was from pretty early in my playthrough. I actually control everything (every city, mine, etc) that isn't in that final corner.

[coopasonic]

Yeah, I assumed that the screenshot itself was also your current game state and may have read more into your words than intended.

[Blackhawk]

Yeah, I took the map shot fairly early when I realized that the enemy patrols just wandering past an area 'flipped' it back to red, and I couldn't remember which zones I'd searched and which I hadn't. I just screenshotted (screenshat?) the map, opened it in paint . net, created a fairly visible brush the right size, and 'stamp' each area as I finish it.

[Blackhawk]

And finished. That last mission was quite a challenge, at least if you wanted things to go well. Final mission spoilers, including what I eventually did:

Spoiler:

I managed to get one merc up to the tent without being spotted, but Shadow (with his upright stealth) was the only one able to pull it off. Since I couldn't get other mercs up there without initiating combat, and since you got exactly one half of one round to counter the execution, I was finding it a challenge to get him through it alive. I went looking for a tip, and found a simple one: Smoke. I left Shadow up there, and used the rest of my mercs to clear the left side of the camp (facing up the hill.) That left those on the path up to the tent, those right under the path, and those within the tent itself. I got my troops as close as I could, I set up as many overwatch points as I could, and then I had Ivan and Meltdown (my heavy weapons mercs) pull out mortars and drop smoke shells right on top of the tent. This did two things: First, it made all of the mercs inside run outside, which gave me more time to deal with them (and brought them into my fields of fire.) Second, it covered the area with smoke, so when The Major ran back up and started pumping rounds into The Prez, it was just 2 (Graze), 2 (Graze), 2 (Graze). The first round I cleared about 90% of the troops on the ground and path out (I had 12 mercs on site, and nine of them were in overwatch with full loads of AP ammo.) The second round I sprinted up the ramp, and was able to get enough mercs close to clear out the rest and set up on the Major. When I went to his turn, he had three or four overwatch cones on him, which was enough to take him down.

My team comps. I'm putting them in spoiler tags only because it includes a few special recruitable characters names.

Spoiler:

My A team at the end (and for the last 2/3 of the game) were Sable (my custom merc, set up as a scout), Wolf (mechanic), Barry (explosives), Thor (medic), Ivan (heavy), and Raven (sniper.) My B team (which was mostly for mopping up and backing up my A team on tough fights) was Shadow, Sully, Reaper, Fox, Steroid, and Meltdown. My C team was Flay, Larry, Hitman, MD, Livewire, and Grizzly. They were free and super cheap mercs, and their whole purpose in life was to sit in frequently assaulted locations to help fight off the attackers (through auto-resolve - the only time I ever used it), and to train up new militia afterward.

My D team consisted of... Pierre. He was a leftover, and I didn't really need him for much, so I mostly used him for errands - running down to buy ammo, pick up supplies from a stash, etc. and ferry them back.

My MVPs, showing their final stats and builds:

Sable, my personal merc:



Ivan, my heavy (nothing moved in his field of fire and survived!):



Barry, one of the most effective mercs in my team, and yet one of the cheapest to hire:



And in my inventory at the end, I had (in addition to ammo and other odds and ends:

[*]Around $750,000 cash, and that was right after paying for new contracts for my entire team
[*] 1,205 meds
[*] 246 unused parts (every weapon was fully modded)
[*] 141 gunpowder (ammo crafting was too damned expensive, parts wise, to be practical)
[*] 44 mixed detonators
[*] 46 steel pipes
[*] 51 flares (I never did figure out what these are used for...)
[*] 38 unspent Franks
[*] 21 lenses
[*] 69 tiny diamonds I had never cashed in
[*] 80 40mm flashbangs

I'd turned in (I think) 16 artifacts, and had more in my bag.

I finished, as far as I know, every quest, with a small number of exceptions. Two I failed because they were timed quests that I was never informed were timed until they'd failed ( ), and one I couldn't progress because that idiot stood in the middle of a firefight and got his stupid chicken shot early on. Had I known, I'd have reloaded the keep the motherclucker alive.

In case anyone is wondering, here are the timed quests I failed:

Spoiler:

Save Biff
Dealing with the situation in the junkyard

[Blackhawk]

My final view:

Really great game. I was skeptical when it was announced due to the number of failed Jagged Alliance sequels/reboots that have passed by over the years, but they really did pull it off. It's a little different from Jagged Alliance 2 and shows a lot of X-COM (or XCOM, or X-com, or whatever) influence, but they couldn't really release 1990s gameplay, either. There's got to be a balance between faithful recreation and modernizing. The System Shock remake failed in this regard. Jagged Alliance 3, I thought, nailed it. The atmosphere and personality are spot-on, with that unapologetic 90s action film feel that the first one had. I was very, very happy with it.

That's not to say that there weren't a few issues. The interface needed a few tweaks, and player communication needed some work (like more meaningful icons, better perk descriptions, and telling you when a quest has a time limit.) The camera was fine once in-mission, but the deployment camera was completely useless for figuring out which locations had cover or concealment (I used the free camera mod to counter this.) There were some scripted 'gotchas' that I greatly disliked, and the deployment zones needed to be much less restrictive.

But most of that was just minor annoyances. It was a great game that I'll absolutely be playing again in the future.

[Max Peck]

[*] 51 flares (I never did figure out what these are used for...)

I never bothered with them, but since they are throwable my assumption is that you use them at night by tossing them to illuminate a dark area.

[Blackhawk]

I assume, and likewise cyalume sticks. But the darkness penalties never made it reasonable to waste an action on them, and my non-frontliners all had night vision on.

[Max Peck]

Yeah, if setting up ambushes was more manageable they might be useful to shape the battleground at night before engaging (assuming the AI is dumb enough to just walk into a pool of light), but as things stand if I'm going to throw something in combat it's either going to be a knife or something that goes boom.

[Blackhawk]

I never had much trouble with ambushes, at least once there was an active pause option. Get mercs in position, wait for the enemy, pause, lay down all of the overwatch fields, pick the merc you want to kick things off with, and make a kill. They're usually all dead before they get out of their 'repositioning' phase.

The biggest problem was when you had two enemies you wanted to take out at the same time without risking alerting others nearby. Two snipers would have zero trouble with this, but in this game, it wasn't really possible.

[Blackhawk]

But now that I think about it, being able to coordinate sniper shots to take out multiple enemies simultaneously would have made most of the game completely trivial.

[Carpet_pissr]

I assume, and likewise cyalume sticks. But the darkness penalties never made it reasonable to waste an action on them, and my non-frontliners all had night vision on.

I suspect the flares were included because they were such a big part of taking new sectors in previous versions. i.e. wait til night, take lots of flares, light that bitch up in multiple spots and start shooting anything that moves.

Sounds like they are not quite as necessary in JA3.

[Tampa_Gamer]

FYI, nice patch roadmap to look forward to!

Spoiler:

Patch Roadmap
Hello, everyone! I am Boian Spasov, creative director of Jagged Alliance 3, and today I want to share with you a roadmap of our current plans for future free updates.

Release day came and went and it was awesome, but our work on Jagged Alliance continues and our team remains committed to supporting the game post-release. We’ve received so much feedback that it took us quite a while to go through everything and solidify our plans, but now we are finally ready to share them with you. This roadmap includes improvements suggested by the community and some of our own previously unrealized ideas as well.

We aim to release one patch per month, but with the usual disclaimers that plans may change down the road and we are also keeping a few surprises in our sleeves. So let’s get into specifics…

Update 1.2 - Codename: Buns (Combat Quality of Life)

The first upcoming patch will encompass various changes related to the combat aspect of the game – offering additional information in the UI, improving and deepening the bullet simulation and even providing the option to play through massive combats at a faster pace. Since this patch is close on the horizon, I can provide some of the highlights as well:

Inaccurate attacks may hit other body parts of the targets incidentally
Number of remaining Overwatch attacks is clearly indicated in-view
Ability to salvage knives and other items that were previously unsalvageable
Toggle button for faster enemy and ally turns
Ricochet bullets able to hit and cause collateral damage
Various improvements to melee animations

Update 1.3 - Codename: Vicki (Bobby Ray’s Guns and Things)

As Jagged Alliance veterans know very well, “Bobby Ray’s Guns and Things” is the finest, and quite possibly, the only online store for merc gear.

No other feature from Jagged Alliance 2 was requested as much from our community as this one! We miss Bobby Ray as well and we are glad to oblige and expand his services with delivery to Grand Chien! will allow you to purchase new and used armor, weapons and ammo and ultimately to gear up your mercs just the way you want to, as long as you can afford it!

Update 1.4 - Codename: Wolf (Sat View Quality of Life)

The next update focuses on improvements in the Sat View. It will enhance the Sector stash and the Conflict Screen interfaces. Both of these screens are currently somewhat confusing and we are looking into ways of organizing the information there in a more convenient way.

As part of this update we will enhance and rebalance some of the Sat View operations, such as Scouting. Finally, we are going to offer a way for solitary mercs to improve their stats by practicing without a trainer.

Update 1.5 - Codename: Larry (Modding Maps and Campaigns)

As we’ve talked before, our second modding update will offer powerful tools such as map and quest editors. The map editor will allow modifying existing maps by adding new objects and quests or creating entirely new maps from scratch. These maps can be added seamlessly into the existing game campaign or used to create an entirely new custom campaign, complete with new quests, NPCs, dialogues and interactions.

This will open the door for modding projects of massive scope such as recreating the old Jagged Alliance games in Jagged Alliance 3!

[Blackhawk]

Ooh, Bobby Ray's.

I think I can look forward to a fresh experience in a couple of years when I go back to it again (and I almost certainly will.)

[Carpet_pissr]

“Ability to salvage knives and other items that were previously unsalvageable”

Yay. Wait, does he mean “salvage” or “retrieve”?

The last time I played I remember chucking a knife at someone’s head and I never saw it again, even though I’m 98% sure “(retrievable)” was in the description of said knife.

[mori]

Been enjoying playing this the last couple of weeks. I found the early game much more difficult that JA2 was early game. But once the economy starts going and can hire more MERCs it gets easier. I am generally OK with the smaller maps but I do not like the very limited deployment areas. Will welcome when Bobby Ray's gets added in a future patch. I like the combat but find myself just sneaking Mouse around and shooting Legion goons in the head at close range. If I am not executing them with Mouse I am using Barry to blast them with explosives. Of course when things go wrong and I am thankful of the forgiving save system.

[Carpet_pissr]

Big ol patch today, fixing a lot of things I noticed in my very limited playtime to date, namely:

"Enemies are more likely to react to their buddies getting shot nearby"

But also looks like a lot of focus on fixing the very broken melee fighter option. Also a lot of work/fixes for mod creators.

Glad to see they are really continuing to support this. I suspect with this patch, anything coming after will be small hotfixes if that. TIME TO PLAY!

Maybe one more big patch from BGIII and that too should be mostly baked.

[mori]

I just have the final showdown to deal with now so 98% done. I really struggled in the mid game as I kept trying to play it my way when all I really needed to do is equip everyone with scoped long rifles and shoot from long range. Once the enemies become armored and bullet sponges, it is a fools errand to try and get up close and personal. Mouse and Raven are tied for the most kills however. I use Mouse and Blood as scouts and just let those two finish off any wounded and stragglers. I have to go back and look at the stats but it seemed like Raven never missed or always made the shot count when it mattered.

JA 3 is not as fun as JA 2 and the replay factor is not there. JA 3 forces you to play a certain way and I see no reason to go back and try out other MERCS and try to play a different way. JA 3 did not have the depth of story and character interactions of its predecessor. Just not the variety. Maybe will come back in a couple years once it gets modded out.

[Blackhawk]

I purposely limited myself to two sniper-type characters. The others were a mix of machine guns, assault rifles, and explosives, with the occasional SMG.

I avoided melee, but then again, going up against and armed force with a machete is more than a little silly to begin with.

[jztemple2]

I avoided melee, but then again, going up against and armed force with a machete is more than a little silly to begin with.

[Carpet_pissr]

!! Is that zombie Stallone?!

[Blackhawk]

I avoided melee, but then again, going up against and armed force with a machete is more than a little silly to begin with.

I have no idea what that's from. I'm guessing, though, that it wasn't a movie in which he fought exclusively with a machete against an entire army.

[mori]

I avoided melee, but then again, going up against and armed force with a machete is more than a little silly to begin with.

I have no idea what that's from. I'm guessing, though, that it wasn't a movie in which he fought exclusively with a machete against an entire army.

I was watching a Twitch stream where the person was playing on hardcore mode with only Blood armed with a machete. He got as far as Grand Chien assaulting the Palace of which I thought was fantastic getting that far. Even after capturing Ernie they still would have had to capture a couple other urban zones to get to that point if I am not mistaken.

[Carpet_pissr]

JA 3 is not as fun as JA 2 and the replay factor is not there. JA 3 forces you to play a certain way and I see no reason to go back and try out other MERCS and try to play a different way. JA 3 did not have the depth of story and character interactions of its predecessor. Just not the variety. Maybe will come back in a couple years once it gets modded out.

This deeply saddens me.

[Blackhawk]

JA 3 is not as fun as JA 2 and the replay factor is not there. JA 3 forces you to play a certain way and I see no reason to go back and try out other MERCS and try to play a different way. JA 3 did not have the depth of story and character interactions of its predecessor. Just not the variety. Maybe will come back in a couple years once it gets modded out.

This deeply saddens me.

Just keep in mind that I disagreed. To be honest, I agree with the statement, "JA 3 is not as fun as JA 2 and the replay factor is not there", but only by qualifying it and saying that it was 90% there, not completely absent.

It does not force you to play a certain way. There is one approach that is absolutely overpowered, but that mean that you have to choose it.

[Carpet_pissr]

Well, I've played enough to know that it isn't and never will be (nor was intended to be) a 3rd JA like *I* wanted, but I keep trying to convince myself for some reason that it could be just as good, even though it's a very different game (and IMO, should probably be called something else, to indicate that it's in the "JA World" but is not a real sequel to the previous versions.

Maybe my general grumpiness about this stuff is down to freaking semantics, and calling games "2" or "3" or "10" when maybe they should be called "Island Occupation: A Jagged Alliance Game" or something similar. Calling it Game TItle followed by a number after the last beloved title in a series, sets certain expectations (for me at least, and apparently I am in the minority on that)

Man I'm using that emoji a lot lately...

Pubic Paperdoll Fun: A Baldur's Gate Game set in an exploding, flying kidney, with lots of teh boobies! (tee hee!)
XCOM On an Island, With No Aliens, Blasters, or Spaceships: A Jagged Alliance Game
Etc...

[Blackhawk]

To be fair, any sequel was going to be different after 24 years. Gaming has evolved too much to have a game be too much like the old one and still be successful. Just like practically everything except the atmosphere is different between Baldur's Gate 2 and 3.

JA3 wasn't without its issues (which I've discussed), but I thought they did a great job of balancing the need to update the game with the need to keep true to the original, something that none of the other 'sequels' and spin-offs achieved.

[Madmarcus]

I agree with Blackhawk. While a modern take on JA2 1.13 might have been interesting I didn't go into JA3 expecting it. The world has moved on. My only real fault is that they turned up the cartoonish stereotypes of the mercs another notch which, combined with more voiced lines, meant that they reduced the number of mercs. Of course some of that is that I felt JA2 pushed the sniper /marksman rifles at long range even harder that JA3 does. In 3 most of the maps are tighter and I can get some use out of SMGs and ARs.

I don't know how the replayability of the JA3 will stand up. I replayed JA2 many times even though it was almost always the same main core of mercs and the same path through the country. I think JA3 might allow for more different paths although the refugee camp event does sort of dominate things.

[Carpet_pissr]

I agree with Blackhawk. While a modern take on JA2 1.13 might have been interesting I didn't go into JA3 expecting it. The world has moved on. My only real fault is that they turned up the cartoonish stereotypes of the mercs another notch which, combined with more voiced lines, meant that they reduced the number of mercs. Of course some of that is that I felt JA2 pushed the sniper /marksman rifles at long range even harder that JA3 does. In 3 most of the maps are tighter and I can get some use out of SMGs and ARs.

I don't know how the replayability of the JA3 will stand up. I replayed JA2 many times even though it was almost always the same main core of mercs and the same path through the country. I think JA3 might allow for more different paths although the refugee camp event does sort of dominate things.

The 24 years old is a VERY valid point, that I must keep reminding myself of when I go on these grumpy rants.

I think ONE reason that JA2>3, specifically wrt replayability, is the fact that 3 feels very much on rails, in comparison to 2 (in a way, like XCOM did to the OG versions). Like, there is a specific path they want you to follow - and they mostly use terrain and buildings to create that HIGHLY suggested path...you can't just wander around aimlessly like you could in JA2 (and many would see that as a negative...that you COULD wander aimlessly, wasting hours, instead of the instant gratification of Fight! Encounter! Fight! Encounter, etc.)

But that 25 YO open design is probably counter to the current "best practices" of "efficient game creation" or whatnot. Hell, it may not have even been a conscious decision back then, it was just the way things were done, and they are done differently today, to cater to today's gamers (rightly, IMO). Damn, I'm just old.

[Blackhawk]

Like, there is a specific path they want you to follow - and they mostly use terrain and buildings to create that HIGHLY suggested path...you can't just wander around aimlessly like you could in JA2 (and many would see that as a negative...that you COULD wander aimlessly, wasting hours, instead of the instant gratification of Fight! Encounter! Fight! Encounter, etc.)

I actually felt that way about the maps themselves - they sometimes felt claustrophobic, and you had far too little control over where you deployed (especially when they'd drop you into the middle of a map you were supposedly invading, at least one time right in the middle of the road in front of a pintle-mounted machine gun. Had they extended the borders of the maps a bit, and given you expended deployment options for grids you had scouted, it would have improved it.

[Carpet_pissr]

Big ol' 560 MB patch dropped today, and they finally fixed this (I thought it was me every time I ran into this, but apparently not!)

"Fixed the 7.62 NATO and WP ammo description about what types of weapons can use them."

[Max Peck]

Patch 1.3.0 Notes:

[jztemple2]

New free content dropped today:

[Carpet_pissr]

And further, welcome adjustments to stashes and inventory, apparently:

New questline "U-Bahn" (German for subway)
New underground transport system
Seven expansive maps within a laboratory complex
Revamped Conflict Screen
Multiselection in the inventory
Sector stash overhaul
Tweaks to some Operations
Additional fixes and adjustments

[jztemple2]

It's a Modders World: Jagged Alliance 3 Gets Free Content Update Today!

It's a Modders World: Jagged Alliane 3 Gets Free Content Update Today!

Sofia, Bulgaria / Vienna, Austria, February 6th, 2024: With its latest free update, Patch 1.5 "Larry", the critically acclaimed turn-based strategy game Jagged Alliance 3 introduces new content in the form of optional and variable rule sets, enriching your campaign in Grand Chien with fresh challenges and opportunities. Among the examples of how to intensify the trials for your Mercs are features like "Body Count," where your fellow warriors confront larger enemy squads, "Hard Lessons," which prolongs the time needed for a Merc to level up, and "Ammo Scarcity," as the name suggests, introduces scarcity of ammunition. Conversely, players can also leverage rules such as "A.I.M Legendary Deals," which reduce the starting salaries of elite and legendary Mercs, aiding their strategic endeavors. Players have the liberty to combine these rules as they see fit, shaping their challenges as they embark on their mission to liberate Grand Chien!

Moreover, update 1.5 empowers dedicated modders with extensive tools to modify, enhance, and even rebuild most aspects of the game. We eagerly anticipate the release of outstanding mods in the upcoming weeks and months.

Update 1.5 "Larry" includes:

• New extensive modding tools: Create new campaigns, and quests, edit maps, and much more.
• 10 new game rules: Customize the difficulty of each playthrough with these optional new rules and combine them as you see fit
• Some issues fixed
• You can check out the full patch notes here: https://thqnordic.com/article/patch-notes-15

[Madmarcus]

I'm excited to see what people come up with!

[Blackhawk]

Yeah, I won't be ready for another run for a year or so, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's out there when I get back to it.