A tall metal box with a 25-pounder sticking out of it, placed on the Valentine tank chassis - even its lofty name couldn’t redeem the Bishop.



The Bishop was a hasty British attempt at making the 25-pounder-gun howitzer self-propelled - and like anything hasty, the attempt was largely doomed from the start. Due to awkward construction the gun’s maximum angle was sharply reduced, and its effective range was effectively halved compared to the towed variant. It forced the troops operating it to resort to trickery, such as building ramps to elevate the whole front of the vehicle to improve the firing arc.



Although the Bishop saw action throughout the African and Italian campaigns, few tears were shed when it eventually ended up replaced by the American heavy-hitter M7 Priest.




Bishop is a first self-propelled artillery unit in the British campaign with the Gun range of 3, which serves its purpose up until you get access to a better M7 Priest model with the Gun range of 4.



Support us by adding Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom to your wishlist:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1381850/Strategic_Mind_Fight_for_Freedom/

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Admiral! The year 2021 is upon us and it brings along new game updates.

• The “End turn” button was moved to the top-right corner of the screen to minimize the possibility of clicking it by accident.
  
• Reworked lighting during all types of turns: day time / night time, rain, etc.
  
• Some visual changes.

• Mines no longer gain +1 Spotting during the Night.
  
• The “Undo” button can no longer be used after the aircraft units landing or take-off.
  
• Other minor issues.

This is not the full list of changes that we plan to deliver, so stay tuned for more fixes and improvements to come.

We will keep polishing and improving the game.

Looking forward to more feedback

With best regards
Starni Games team

General! Our ever-vigilant intelligence service has prepared a news update, for your eyes only!
Here are all of our spy’s key findings.


The winner of the vote is Roll out the barrel. So, as we promised it will replace Dixie in the track list we posted before. Thanks to everyone for participating in the vote and helping us shape the upcoming game!

Here are all the results:
1. Roll Out the Barrel - 4 votes.
2. Semper Fidelis Stars And Stripes Forever - 2 votes.
3. Dixie - 1 vote.
4. Battle Cry of Freedom - 1 vote.


As you know we have a series of gameplay videos where our Lead Game Designer plays all Strategic Mind series titles. The plan is to cover the first two operations of every Strategic mind campaign. The question is what to cover afterward.

We could do a full campaign playthrough, but as it will require quite a while to make the playthrough, we want to ask your advice - what campaign you would be interested in the most? Please, leave your vote in the comments to this article across our community hubs. The possible choices:

1. Strategic Mind: The Pacific | United States campaign.
2. Strategic Mind: The Pacific | The Empire of Japan campaign.
3. Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg | German campaign.
4. Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism | USSR campaign.

Here is a list of previous episodes in case you have missed any:






Right now we are doing internal testing of the next wave of updates for all the Strategic Mind titles that will be delivered to Steam later this week. It will be shipped to Strategic Mind: The Pacific, Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg, and Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism. More details in the patch notes.

Support our project by adding Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom to your wishlist:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1381850/Strategic_Mind_Fight_for_Freedom/

This is it for this week’s report.

Ever vigilant
Starni Games Intelligence Service

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The animals help lone people get a true friend or could become one more child for the couples. The animals do not get moody and would not feel offended. That is both their strength and their weakness.

Pets have been a part of human life for millennia, and the popularity of having one is ever-growing. Animals seem to have always been at our side. The wolves lived among humans for centuries, and there’s evidence that humans, cats, and dogs have been together for around 12,000 years.

In the 1600s, keeping toy dog breeds was trending among European royalty. Birds were the pet of choice in Spain among all classes well into the 1960s. We do not know the exact origins of the Love Your Pet Day, but people all over the world began celebrating it in the early 21 century.

Today we are sharing with you some photos of our pets to show appreciation for them. These are the smallest things we can do for them. We hope these photos will make your day better if you were a little off after the working week.

Share with us the photos of your pets and we will post them on our Twitter today. You can send it via Twitter or using the 'general flood' channel on Discord. Also, you can leave a short story of your pet in the comments below: what is his name, where did you get him, how old is he.


A few years ago the owners of Fairy throw her out on the streets, where our narrative designer Stas had picked her up.



The cat turned out to be pregnant, but Stas decided to keep her and found people who were happy to take the kittens.



The Fairy has quite the character - it is harder to give her a hug than to complete a full campaign run in Strategic Mind. If she wants you to pet her or give her a hug - she will approach you herself.



Special trait: Hates the vet.


Our Lead Level Designer Alex saved the cats from the street and made sure they got all the necessary veterinary attention.



The older one - Sakura is memorable to the owners as her birthday coincides with the date when the relations between Alex and his wife had started.



The younger one - Kityk is memorable as well, as one day she had fallen out of the window of the 5th-floor apartment. She had survived the fall somehow, but her jaw and two paws were broken and she was literally between life and death. Despite all of the friends' suggestions that she should be euthanized, Alex and his wife spent 2 months and lots of money to make sure Kityk is rehabilitated. "It was a trial for us that we had to go through together with my wife, and I think it made our relationship even stronger", says Alex.


Here is our cat distracting me from work - Alex.

Alex: After a few years we feel that all our efforts have been paid back tenfold since we feel the love of our pets: they want to be caressed, often get on our lap, and request a hug, and what is most important - are happy when we rub their bellies.



For Alex and his wife, the cats are exactly like children. The couple would not agree with anyone who thinks those are different things and would try to convince him otherwise. :)


This beautiful creature seemingly made out of plush belongs to the family of our technical artist Danya.




The hedgehog of our 2D-artist Kate and Level designer Sasha.


Nora loves extreme, not just to eat or to run in the wheel.

Our team wishes you to have a great weekend!
Starni Games team

Hello, guys! Today, we offer you to watch the Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism playthrough at the Challenging difficulty by Night Phoenix.

Here is a full playthrough of the 6th operation - the Battle of Moscow. In this scenario, you have to stop the Germans at the very doorsteps of the Kremlin, holding the last line of defense. "We have Moscow behind us and we have no right to retreat." - says the famous wartime slogan. Take a look at the heroic defense of the city and its surrounding area, including the city of Tula - vital to preventing the full encirclement of Moscow.







Add Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom to your wishlist and and press the "Follow" button:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1381850/Strategic_Mind_Fight_for_Freedom/
Have a great weekend!

In 1938, the British government issued a call to design a new army scouting vehicle. The results included not only one of the most successful recon vehicles of the WWII, the Daimler Dingo, but also its up-armed and up-armored cousin - Daimler Armoured Car.




Daimler Dingo saw action comparatively early - on mainland France in 1940, and remained in service throughout the entire war and beyond. It was deployed on every front where the British Expeditionary Force had fought, and proved itself to be fast, reliable and easily maintained. With a height of only 1.5 meters, it was also incredibly stealthy. A combat engineer vehicle, a scouting car, or a command vehicle - the Dingo excelled in every role.








Daimler Armoured Car kept most of the Dingo’s virtues, but also added a 2-pounder cannon - a fearsome caliber for a vehicle this small, which led to it being classified as a “light wheeled tank”.





In the British campaign, one of the unit classes that you can assign your HQ unit to will be the Recon. Additionally, one of the HQ skills makes all Recon units provide bonuses to the nearby units due to intel they gather. So, having powerful Recon units is an extremely good addition to your army.

👉 Support us by adding Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom to your wishlist:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1381850/Strategic_Mind_Fight_for_Freedom/

My Way Day is a holiday for doing whatever you like, however you like it. As long as it’s legal, of course.
Wanna crack open a cold one and just spend all day playing your favorite games? Go ahead. How about being a bit more adventurous and getting started on that novel you always wanted to write? Absolutely fine. And what if you don’t just want to play games, but create them? Perhaps today is the day to apply for Level Design courses, or start learning Unreal Engine 4 through Youtube.

We asked our colleagues about their plans for My Way Day, as well as some deeper subjects, such as their chosen path in life, whether they had any doubts about going into game development, and whether there was any push back from those around them. We hope these replies will inspire you to live the kind of life you want to live.

If you will like the stories from our team, leave your questions in the comments and in the following posts we’ll answer them all. And tell us - what have you always wanted to try but kept putting off?

Facebook

Q: What did you study, and have you ever worked according to your major?
Alex: I've finished Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, one of the best (if not The Best) Ukrainian technical universities, having a degree in "Computer Engineering", so basically, I'm a programmer.

Q: How long have you been working for Starni Games, and what’s your job here?
Alex: I've been working in Starni Games for 1.5 years now. Started as a game designer, now I'm a lead level-designer. Most of the time I'm writing and testing scripts (you could say Quest Designer's work, but we are a small team, so we often do tasks from different categories), and managing the work plan of our small team.

Q: Have you had any doubts about going into game development? Perhaps your relatives were against it, or you yourself had some doubts about it being a serious career choice?
Alex: I was scared about my lack of skills and wanted to finish some Game Designers courses first. It turned out that a person becomes a fast-learner when working with something they love. And I've always loved Math, so working with numbers and algorithms is my strong point.

Q: Have you ever done anything that went against the grain, regardless of the opinion of your relatives or the society at large, but that you were absolutely sure about? Tell us about it, and how it worked out for you. It doesn’t have to be an example from the gamedev.
Alex: Well, I've dropped out of university two months before graduation. I was eager to show everybody that a diploma isn't required for a successful career. My family was shocked, but they supported me anyway. Well, some of them. Two years later I recovered at the university and finished it. But this time not because this was expected from me, but because I wanted it myself. To be honest, I still haven't used my diploma once (and don't think I ever would), but it serves me as a token. A token that reminds me to do things when I want them, not when others want me to do it.

Q: What would be your advice for the people who are afraid to live according to their own interests and ideas? Perhaps, people who are hesitant about working in game development.
Alex: When a person is doing something they love, it is much more likely for them to achieve big progress in it. Rather than spend years waiting. I believe it is much better to take a step forward and look out for new opportunities. We only live once, so make sure it's the life you want to live!)

Q: On My Way Day one should kick back and do what they like, how they like. Watch a movie you’ve been putting off, or eat something your usual diet forbids. What would you do on such a day?
Alex: I believe I would play tabletop games all day long together with my wife and friends :)

Facebook

Q: What did you study, and have you ever worked according to your major?
Constantine: Directing movies, and yes.

Q: How long have you been working for Starni Games, and what’s your job here?
Constantine: Almost 2 years, working as the director, script writer and editor.

Q: Have you had any doubts about going into game development? Perhaps your relatives were against it, or you yourself had some doubts about it being a serious career choice?
Constantine: At first I had doubts, but it was probably just the fear of something new and unknown.

Q: Have you ever done anything that went against the grain, regardless of the opinion of your relatives or the society at large, but that you were absolutely sure about? Tell us about it, and how it worked out for you. It doesn’t have to be an example from the gamedev.
Constantine: I’ve applied to major in Directing three times.

Q: What would be your advice for the people who are afraid to live according to their own interests and ideas? Perhaps, people who are hesitant about working in game development.
Constantine: If you feel like something is “your thing”, just do it, and don’t listen to anybody.

Q: On My Way Day one should kick back and do what they like, how they like. Watch a movie you’ve been putting off, or eat something your usual diet forbids. What would you do on such a day?
Constantine: I will finally watch the Godfather Trilogy.


Q: What did you study, and have you ever worked according to your major?
Indardis: studied for an Astrophysicist, never worked as one.

Q: Have you had any doubts about going into game development? Perhaps your relatives were against it, or you yourself had some doubts about it being a serious career choice?
Indardis: I had my personal doubts. Since I had no experience in the field, I was worried if I’d manage to succeed in the profession. But as it turned out, if you have the desire to learn and a bit of patience, there is nothing scary to it.

Q: What would be your advice for the people who are afraid to live according to their own interests and ideas? Perhaps, people who are hesitant about working in game development.
Indardis: I don’t know if we could call it advice, but I can say that you shouldn’t limit yourself without a good reason for it. If you aren’t content with something, you should try to change it. Maybe you want to work in a different field, say, game development, or maybe you want a different lifestyle. Because if day after day you do something you don’t enjoy, you will quickly burn out and stop enjoying life altogether. It never hurts to try.

Q: On My Way Day one should kick back and do what they like, how they like. Watch a movie you’ve been putting off, or eat something your usual diet forbids. What would you do on such a day?
Indardis: On My Way Day, I would take a day off and spend the day enjoying my friends’ company in a co-op game, or playing tabletop.

Instagram

Q: What did you study, and have you ever worked according to your major?
Kate: Cinema and TV Directing. I haven’t worked as a director, but the editing knowledge comes in handy when making my Youtube vlog or trailers for Starni Games.

Q: Have you had any doubts about going into game development? Perhaps your relatives were against it, or you yourself had some doubts about it being a serious career choice?
Kate: Nope.

Q: Have you ever done anything that went against the grain, regardless of the opinion of your relatives or the society at large, but that you were absolutely sure about? Tell us about it, and how it worked out for you. It doesn’t have to be an example from the gamedev.
Kate: I did skip a lot of classes back in school. I’m against the traditional education system, where you sit in a class for hours at a time and study something that doesn’t interest you and cannot be applied practically. When I got the Internet, I started learning more through it than I ever did at school. My decision to skip school and the university made for some conflict with my relatives, but all in all, I don’t regret spending less time in the classroom than my classmates did.

Grades and systemic knowledge don’t affect anything in life, nor will they make you happier. And you gain experience a lot quicker when you’re doing what you like, not what you’re forced to.

I went to the university because me having a diploma was very important for my family. I do have it now, but I haven’t seen it since I graduated, back in 2014. It’s something in the depth of my desk, with the rest of the “important documents”.

Q: What would be your advice for the people who are afraid to live according to their own interests and ideas? Perhaps, people who are hesitant about working in game development.
Kate: If you’re afraid of doing what you like, you can waste your youth and end up with a lot of regrets. Doesn’t matter how someone else lives and what they do, what’s important is that you are comfortable and happy doing what you do every day.

Q: On My Way Day one should kick back and do what they like, how they like. Watch a movie you’ve been putting off, or eat something your usual diet forbids. What would you do on such a day?
Kate: I want to finally find the time to draw a picture of the Mandalorian and Grogu. And sew an eco-bag.

Instagram
ArtStation
Instagram with works

Q: What did you study, and have you ever worked according to your major?
Katya: My first major was in Astrophysics in the Taras Schevchenko National University of Kyiv, and right now I’m majoring in Illustration. I’ve worked as a lab assistant at a lyceum once, but becoming a scientist in this country is a tall order.

Q: How long have you been working for Starni Games, and what’s your job here?
Katya: About 3.5 months.

Q: Have you had any doubts about going into game development? Perhaps your relatives were against it, or you yourself had some doubts about it being a serious career choice?
Katya: My relatives always supported me, I think I had more of personal doubt not about gamedev but about studying to become an artist. It didn’t seem serious enough. As for game development though - that’s very serious to me. The field is full of high-class professionals, and I’m always worried about my work not being up to par. And in turn, game development convinced me to pursue an artistic career.

Q: Have you ever done anything that went against the grain, regardless of the opinion of your relatives or the society at large, but that you were absolutely sure about? Tell us about it, and how it worked out for you. It doesn’t have to be an example from the gamedev.
Katya: Tough to say. Maybe, my relatives would want me to be closer to my hometown, but it has neither the education I’d want, nor the companies I could work at.

Q: What would be your advice for the people who are afraid to live according to their own interests and ideas? Perhaps, people who are hesitant about working in game development.
Katya: Just remember that game development is a career - it’s not a bed of roses, and you won’t always have a ton of interesting and varied tasks. There’s plenty of routine work that simply needs to be done, many technical decisions that are counterintuitive and not obvious, and the expectations are very high.

The difference between an office job and a gamedev office job (at least for me) is that you actually get to draw, though within certain parameters, style and specifications. It’s a 9-to-5, 5 days a week before a computer screen, and the quality standards are very high, and sometimes pretty hard to meet. The good part is that your team will likely be full of young and progressive people with varied interests, skills and knowledge, and that’s really cool. Also, you might end up with the most interesting project in the world, but even there it will be 20% artistic and exciting, and 80% repetitive and necessary.

You’ll get to make games, but in return you’ll pay with your time, energy, and ego, you’ll have to give it your 100% and find ways to fit the requirements, learn to cooperate with your coworkers and always - always, even in your sleep - grow, learn something new and develop yourself. If that doesn’t scare you, definitely try your hand in game development. It’s not an easy path by any means, but if you have a genuine interest in it, you will handle it, and eventually you’ll work on wonderful projects straight out of your dreams.

Q: On My Way Day one should kick back and do what they like, how they like. Watch a movie you’ve been putting off, or eat something your usual diet forbids. What would you do on such a day?
Katya: Actually, last weekend I did something like that - canceled all of my meetings and spent the day drawing, watching cartoons and reading manga. And have some sleep, too.

I want to slow down, brew some coffee, work on my personal projects and think about the future, think up some concrete steps for realizing my ideas, and put my life and my thoughts in order. So if I had to do something super-inspiring on My Way Day, I’d do that. Too bad there’s the same number of hours in that day as in any other.


Q: What did you study, and have you ever worked according to your major?
Tepes: Something about typography, I can’t even remember the precise wording. Haven’t used that in my work at all.

Q: How long have you been working for Starni Games, and what’s your job here?
Tepes: Since the work on the Pacific had begun, so for 2 years by now. My responsibilities are pretty wide: Narrative Design (maps and their scripts), Game Design (units, skills and game mechanics), music and sound, once I even had to be a mocap artist :) If someone remembers the epic Iwo Jima flag raising, here’s the terrible secret - I play every single American soldier in that scene. And the flag was a coat rack with a broom scotch-taped to it.

Q: Have you had any doubts about going into game development? Perhaps your relatives were against it, or you yourself had some doubts about it being a serious career choice?
Tepes: It’s pretty hard to talk me down from something really interesting :) But nobody really tried. All my relatives were just happy I found a job in game development.

Q: Have you ever done anything that went against the grain, regardless of the opinion of your relatives or the society at large, but that you were absolutely sure about? Tell us about it, and how it worked out for you. It doesn’t have to be an example from the gamedev.
Tepes: I’ve always argued with people, since I was a kid. Never understood why I should go to sleep at 22:00 if I’m still full of energy :) Seriously though, since I was about 14 I preferred to do my own thinking. I listen to others, of course, but the final decision is up to me. Can’t think of a specific situation.

Q: What would be your advice for the people who are afraid to live according to their own interests and ideas? Perhaps, people who are hesitant about working in game development.
Tepes: Giving advice is much easier than following it. So instead I’ll tell you a bit about what game development is like. First of all, making a game is long, hard and often very boring. Sure, there are interesting parts, but be ready that most of your wonderful ideas will be discarded the moment you voice them, and the rest will mostly end up on the cutting room floor due to technical limitations. If you’re not ready for that - game development is not the way to go. Second, gamedev isn’t where fortunes are made. If you want to make a lot of money fast, pick a different field. Maybe things are different in mobile gaming, but I can’t say anything about it. Third, be ready that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. You will have to improvise, change things quickly, solve unexpected problems - some of them really unexpected. If all that doesn’t scare you, welcome to gamedev. If you can’t handle criticism or adversity - perhaps reconsider.

Q: On My Way Day one should kick back and do what they like, how they like. Watch a movie you’ve been putting off, or eat something your usual diet forbids. What would you do on such a day?
Tepes: I’d have myself some good night’s sleep. Seriously though, I have several unfinished scripts in the works (personal projects), so I’d probably do some work on them.

Have a nice My Way day!

General! Our ever-vigilant intelligence service has prepared a news update, for your eyes only!
Here are all of our spy’s key findings.

We have heard your feedback about our tracks after the previous report. One of the tracks we planned to have in the game was put into question by some of the players.

So, we offer you to vote for the track slot (US campaign) and choose among four different candidates.

The in-game track will be instrumental with no voice.

You have one week to vote in the comments to this news article across all our community hubs. Post one name of the track or its number:

1. Battle Cry of Freedom. Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYxKVek5fh8
2. Semper Fidelis Stars And Stripes Forever. Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAnky-QJwII
3. Dixie. Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OKdbc0DYpM
4. Roll Out the Barrel. Reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BA6Ym8gX20
We will let you know about the results in the next weekly reports.

We plan to have the next big update for all games of the series to be delivered to Steam during the next working week. It will fix a number of issues and add visual improvements. More details in the patch note next week.

Support our project by adding Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom to your wishlist:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1381850/Strategic_Mind_Fight_for_Freedom/
This is it for this week’s report.

Ever vigilant
Starni Games Intelligence Service

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Hello, guys! Today we will tell you in detail about the whole scenario creation process. To illustrate it we will use footage taken during the creation of the 5th scenario of the US campaign in the upcoming Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom — Western Allied invasion of Germany.

The following article is brought to you by Alex Marchenko, Lead Level Designer at Starni Games.


Every level development starts with the Narrative Designers making research about a chosen operation. After studying different maps of the region (war plans, geographic maps, river maps etc.), they are making a PSD file with all hexes, where terrain types are marked with different colors.


- Terrain design in a PSD file.

After designing the terrain, the Narrative Designers put different symbols on separate layers indicating: roads, infrastructure, units, objectives and other tips for the Level Designers team.


- PSD file with all the marks. Well, almost all.

Additionally, Narrative Designers create a larger version of the map that includes territories outside the combat zone — hex grid, but which are still visible. We do not want our maps to be cut off abruptly at the edge, so we put considerable extra effort to create additional terrain around the operational area to allow a gradual fade of the visible area into the fog.


- Full level. Play Zone (operational area) is marked by the red rectangle.


Now Level Designers make an empty level in Unreal Engine, using a sample with pre-set world settings.


- An empty level in UE4.

Next, the Level Designers use an automated script written by our Programmers to import the hex grid and all technical parameters of hexes, such as terrain types, roads and infrastructure locations into Unreal Engine 4.



- A level with imported data: terrain types, roads, railroads, rivers, deployment hexes, etc.

Using Photoshop, Level Designers make a Heightmap of the level. The Heightmap is a special file that indicates the landscape heights at different areas of the map.


- This is how the Heightmap file looks in Photoshop.

The Heightmap is then imported into UE4 as well, using the engine's features.


- The map after the heightmap file import.


Next step is coloring the landscape according to different terrain types. First, the Level Designers create masks for all kinds of terrain in Photoshop.


- Terrain masks for the level.

Next, we import masks into the engine, using UE4 features. As you may know, we have different visual types of maps, such as “Europe”, “Africa”, “Winter”, “Steppe”, and “Pacific”. We have also added “Jungles” setup in SM: Fight for Freedom for the operation in Burma.


- This is how the level looks in the editor after adding terrain colouring and textures.


The next step is to create big rivers and lakes on the level, using UE4 tools such as splines and planes (not the fighter planes ;) ). After that, we have to smooth the river banks and paint it in the “sand” and “ground” terrain for better looks.


- The level with the proper river.


It is now time for the hardest part of level creation — laying roads, railroads and small rivers. Why is it so hard? Well, the UE4 splines are “a pain in the ... arm”, as our Level Designers would say. The task here is to lay splines on the landscape so that none will float in the air or fall through the terrain. There are useful tools to help you achieve that, but it still requires a considerable amount of manual work. Also rivers should always go downhill, so hills and mountains on their way are a regular problem. Nevertheless, a job is a job, so here is the level after road and river management:



- The level has roads, railroads and small rivers, but no cities, bridges etc.

Well, the hardest part of the work is now finished.


Next step is to put buildings on the level: bridges over big and small rivers, houses in the city hexes, and infrastructure: supply points/hubs, airfields, ports, and railway stations.



- The roads no longer look weird — we have bridges and houses.


Now it is time to give the nature some respect – we plant trees and flowers, throw stones, and raise birds.


- At this point, the work on the visual components is pretty much done.

It is high time to give some additional personalization to the level by putting different environmental features, such as destructible assets: wooden fences, statues, electric poles etc. We also add animated objects, using UE4 blueprints, such as: spinning windmills, spotlights, lighthouses etc.

We also add some of the iconic buildings and geographical features like Stonehenge, Kremlin, the Great Barrier Reef etc.

Last cosmetic part would be painting the river bottom with rocks and sea shallow water with seashells, adding clouds in the sky and putting a fog box around the map so that players cannot see “the edge of the world”.


Now we have to place the enemy units on map, including fortifications, such as forts and minefields, giving them suitable equipment and vehicles. Then we will place the player-controlled non-core units.


- Units that are still without models are marked as question marks.


The last part would be writing scripts and finally testing it over and over again, until perfect balance is achieved.


- This is how the operation script files look like. It is the Saar offensive script.

At first we just test the scripts and fix obvious balance issues for a single scenario. At this stage the use of cheat codes is allowed to speed up the testing.


- The first tests of the operation.

As you can see, the player units have 99 strength. Also there is no localisation for mission names and no pictures for the units at the bottom of the screen. Some units don't even have a model and only have a placeholder “question mark” model instead.


At this stage several people on the team have to do a full campaign playthrough, testing all scenarios in a consecutive manner and without any unfair advantages — they play exactly as the players would, to gauge the difficulty and adjust all the rough edges. Of course having played Strategic Mind games a lot, they have a very good understanding of the game, so we have to take that into account when setting the turn limits and balancing enemy units.


- The UK campaign first full playthrough completed. Some of the awards pictures are still in development.


The process of map creation from the “Basic idea is created” to the “Game ready” stage usually takes about 2 weeks. Enormous maps such as the Battle of Moscow in SM: Blitzkrieg may take up to 4 weeks. Each map requires the work of at least 4 different specialists: narrative designer creating texts and concept, level designer creating visuals, technical level designer writing scripts and QA specialist looking for bugs.


Bonus screenshot: that’s how we test maps before our artists finished working on all the unit models.


- Just imagine how difficult it is to wage war while all your troops are just a bunch of marks with different stats, lying around across the battlefield.

Share your thoughts in the comments below!

If you want to support our efforts - wishlist and follow our upcoming title:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1381850/Strategic_Mind_Fight_for_Freedom/



With best regards
Starni Games team

Hello, guys!

Today's broadcast features the Battle of the Coral Sea scenario from the Strategic Mind: The Pacific.🔴 Watch the gameplay now on the Broadcast page.

🍪 Rewatch the gameplay anytime you want on YouTube.

This is a Developer’s gameplay series by Starni Games. In these episodes the Lead game designer of the Strategic Mind series Oleksandr plays our games with the commentary, explaining the game mechanics and telling you more about the game development process. Watch all the episodes on YouTube.

Don't forget that you can save 40% on Strategic Mind: The Pacific while it's 2021 Lunar New Year Sale on Steam. The offer ends on February 15:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/991810/Strategic_Mind_The_Pacific/