The 0.10 update is now live

In this build, I've focused on fixing many of the small annoyances and long-standing bugs (engagements abruptly ending for no reason, units getting stuck in traffic, units being unable to leave the map), as well as merging the changes from the last two hotfixes (related mostly to the broken logic of arrests).

New features

I'm in the process of reworking the Command Missions - this part of the game consists mostly of the oldest code in the entire project, and has been written in a way that didn't allow me much flexibility. Some of you may remember that at some point I've decided to completely disable the allied patrols, because their units were constantly getting lost on the map. In the future builds, I will gradually re-create the code needed for making these missions work more reliably, and will soon be able to add these patrol missions back in.

"Black Bird Down"

This game has largely been inspired by the movie "Black Hawn Down" and I'm always looking to add more helicopter-based events into it. Using the new Command AI, I've now been able to add friendly helicopters onto the map. As they spawn, their only goal is to travel through the map, carrying a bunch of allies, and (of course) get shot down by the enemy, occasionally. If a helicopter is downed, the Command will ask you to scramble the usual casevac mission, most likely in areas where you didn't plan on going.

The future upcoming changes

• I am now working on the previously mentioned "building the case" update. The idea is to create a new type of enemy in the game - insurgents who permanently reside on the map, live in the houses alongside the civilians, and plan and execute increasingly more complex attacks against you, becoming high value targets for your Command, in the process. Your goal will of course be to find them and destroy them.

Full changelog:

version 0.10:

• NEW: the friendly AI will now spawn it's own helicopters into your airspace. For now, their only goal is to pass through the map, transporting it's own units. My idea is that it will create some "black hawk down" scenarios, any time the enemy AI manages to shoot one down. A downed helicopter will spawn the usual critical mission from your Command, demanding help and evacuation of all the wounded. Any survivors of these crashes will leave the map on their own.
• NEW: continued the re-work of the remaining AI missions from the old, rigid system into the new tree-based logic. This will fix a lot of the weird AI behaviors (like getting stuck on the map, ignoring everything around them), because it's now much easier for me to re-trigger the mission logic when something unexpected happens on the map. The old system would only wait for specific events once, and in just one scenario (like: a car reached it's destination, so it better be around the house I was trying to send it to, or else it's gonna get lost). This is the reason why for now all ground-based allied patrols are still disabled in the game - their missions are not yet completely rewritten to the new system, and they were getting stuck on the map all the time, because of this.
• (again) fixed the issue with insurgent units only getting a single type of weapon
• NEW: you can now ignore some of the missions issued to you by the Command, if you want to do something else, instead. Any mission that isn't critical and doesn't have any of it's own actors assigned, can now be ignored (just click on the button in the mission details window) at a tiny cost to your relations with the Command.
• disabled the small extra window (the mission helper assistant) that used to pop up alongside the main command mission window (every single time you clicked it). You can still open it with the dedicated button, if you want to
• FIX: fixed the logic used to unspawn units that left the map. Now any unit that wanders too far from the bounds of the game map will reliably get unspawned.
• FIX: found and fixed another scenario where cars would be permanently waiting in traffic, for no good reason (getting stuck on the map)
• FIX: fixed the automatic camera movement (the script that's supposed to show you points of interest on the map, but instead was yanking your camera away from you violently)
• FIX: sometimes actors would prematurely get removed from their engagements, causing others to constantly enter and leave their "combat mode"
• added some FX for showing hits on vehicles (if a bullet damages a vehicle, some sparks will show up), cause it was never clear if the enemy was actually doing any damage. Will probably add something even more visible in the future.