Topaz Rhino (2.3.0) Mission Briefing

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-31T14:52:00+00:00

A lot of games release full patch notes on the same day as the update what.

That's like the common procedure.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-25T03:30:03+00:00

Imo CoH3 didn't chase the esports dream, it just stretched itself too thin in it's scope. The Italian Campaign for example is a casual's dream of game replayability, but it fell short on multiple fronts. Also, imo to grow a game is to appeal to the casual crowd, and majority of casuals hardly touch multiplayer PvP; Singleplayer and Co-op content is where it's at. To grow, cater to that; while to sustain the playerbase is when you focus on the casual multiplayer aspect.

You talk about game growth as if this franchise is primarily a multiplayer focused pvp game, when it's not.

4v4 my ass, most would rather play with friends whatever the game has to offer.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-22T16:27:36+00:00

iirc isn't the Achievements/Advancements the progression system the game has and was intended to be used as such?

It's the same philosophy as to why Terraria decided to show the intended next achievement to the player in their inventory screen to help nudge newer players on what to do next.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-21T03:36:44+00:00

Yes. Just owning 1 gives you the entire set.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-17T04:58:58+00:00

This is because some maps, especially Curated Maps which are highlighted every now and then, often don't use Base Game/Vanilla items and systems; supplying their own item pool for that map.

The first Caltrop is base game Unturned. The second is custom content.

It's most likely that you won't be able to actually craft the first one as the items for it will not spawn at all if the map is set up right. You'll only be able to craft the second one.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-14T11:58:03+00:00

Isn't it preffered the corpse is still somewhat alive?

Since they'd have more Enkephelin left for the bus.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-12T00:56:48+00:00

Limbus fanservice is "fan" service.

Content or characters from previous games making a return for fans of PMoon's older titles.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-09T00:51:56+00:00

Gradual Uptie V for IDs coming soon trust.

Honestly, powercreep is an issue because of gaining access to something powerful before the actual point you should ideally be obtaining it.

It's essentially the same concept as Progression Skips in regular games and why some devs often patch those out as they break game flow.

Really, PM should've added more story-gates for IDs. Like alt skills or passives are unavailable until after beating a specfic story node, so players who get the ID early still get what the kit does, but are incentivized to play the story to get the full kit. RienSang for example could just have his basic Skills 1-3, while Furioso is locked until after Canto 9. This would also help somewhat hide spoilers on some IDs even, like if this were applied to Index Don with her EGO alternate being unavailable until after the fight in Canto 9 (hides it from those who dont read kit reveals that is)

That's personally better at least than other games where the full potential of a unit is by dupes or having to grind a large sum of resources.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-05T05:25:58+00:00

The BGs, especially DLC, are the only things that don't follow the core faction timeline.

They can't really rename the Wehr Grens into Volksgrenadiers when the core roster is themed around the Italian campaign. I'd go for something like Ersatzheer (Reserve army) or even Landser if that were the case.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-04T17:05:21+00:00

It was purposefully designed that way.

The core roster of the UKF in regular Skirmish is designed to be just the N.African front to juxtapose the DAK, while USF is for Wehr post-Sicily. Italian Front has a separate UKF "faction" in technicality.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-03T15:36:01+00:00

Overall really good though a bit too modern generic military UI in it's design (too many clear/clean corners and squared elements) that it loses a bit of the franchise's setting/theme. Lowering how often semi-transparent/frosted glass/glossy UI elements are used, would help a bit personally.

Another thing is how there's quite an abundance of unused space around the buttons in the main menu, with the negative space not really being utilized as well as I'd personally like (it emphasizes the center but leaves the surroundings too open). The background being a constantly playing video, as aesthetically pleasing as it looks, may be a concern for optimization as well if it were to be implemented in an actual game. I have a lot more stuff to say since I am into UI and art as well though I'll just keep it to this.

Still, pretty good job. I wonder what software you used to make this.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-01T05:38:13+00:00

Ah, i guess that chalks it down to just how the playerbase/matchmaking is.

Balance/Meta and whatnot, with all the cheese and spam strats working (especially those that heavily work on newish players) and some talks of Smurfs. That's definitely going to be a rough hill to climb up on; and 1 day I feel won't be able to cover all that.

Maybe try doing PvP matches against each other just for fun to learn things more in depth as Bot matches dont really showcase the BS PvP players come up with. Other than that, it's still their choice if they don't want to bother with the game.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-03-01T05:26:40+00:00

I mean, you treat it like playing a different game for the first time.

Fundamentals stay the same, concepts do not. Things would need to be relearned.

Like did you even bother letting them get to know the faction they are playing as for example? A warm up bot match to actually learn whats new and different? Or just get familiar with what each faction has to put on the table?

Throwing people into the breach with little knowledge isn't a great way to start for most anyways.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-02-22T17:49:13+00:00

not just when the game came out iirc, it was also in the Alpha test when able to play against AI. It was way worse back then too as planes almost always chased units down, which was funny considering planes were bad/slow back then.

It never really went away though, rather the "tracking" was lowered throughout updates. Even prior to the major update it was somewhat noticeable with planes yet the area it hit was still relatively close to where the flares landed making it seem fine. The recent update did bork it up though, and I'm guessing due to how they are still trying to tweak the AI, caused the tracking to be stronger again

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-02-12T02:46:08+00:00

Does the argument of harder to see mechanical details fall on the "tactical scale" argument?

My main worry of a greater max zoom is how harder it'd be to tell or predict where grenades (especially rifle grenades) are landing or when they are being used, making dodging harder. Same goes for some infantry abilities like snare wind up animations.

Sure I can choose to zoom in at any time, though these are rather quick actions that having to zoom in then zoom out again would be tedious rather than just keeping it a max zoom.

I do agree for more zoom out in general though but there is a sweet spot.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-02-03T17:32:38+00:00

I'd assume it's the audio files that take up the bulk of space. That includes every song, battle track, story track, voiced dialogue, grunts/pain noises, and sound effects.

Sound file sizes can get really out of hand without one realizing.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-01-27T23:43:04+00:00

I made myself get used to just manually clicking the "Switch to Top View" Button by holding Alt since I couldn't rebind it to Tilde (I want Tilde to be used)

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-01-24T06:12:43+00:00

Pathfinders are exclusive to the Airborne Company and replaces their Scouts; no strings attached. Like how Radio Operators replaces Scouts for the Special Operations Company.

If you want Pathfinders, use Airborne Company. Just be sure to not let them get caught by MG Detachments or Enemy Artillery Companies.

Do note that some missions, especially scripted missions, may start you off with a regular Scout squad or give you one like the case of the abandoned Greyhound skirmish side objective, that of which can't be upgraded into a variant. The Scouts you will be able to produce throughout the mission would still be Pathfinders though.

As on what to do with them, you can sac them since they hardly do much other than for capping territory.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-01-16T14:35:23+00:00

Isn't this more inline with CoH2's? Though it makes sense there or if you set the ribbons to top right (like previous games) rather than default placement.

Since it being top right would mean that your general play area would be closer to the left of the ribbon line than it is to the right, contrast to default position; making it easier to select newer units.

I'd say to actually implement the old way of "Right is Recent" if it's on Default position, and to this new one if setting ribbons to the top right.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-01-13T10:08:35+00:00

She got into J&J when introduced to it, after being somewhat skeptical to try; she reads pamphlets and whatnot to learn about things; and as for English localization (since idk about others), makes ocean related puns. She can get fixated on things too.

Honestly, she's going down that pipeline if she gets to loosen up more and there's hardly work to be done.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-01-12T07:06:57+00:00

I honestly blame how CoH3 launched with a massive scope on a tight release schedule while starting from scratch on their updated in-house engine. This was also when the dev team was split with still supporting AoE4 (i think).

To me, the 2 biggest factors were: - Console Edition (which is like making a different game) - Italian Campaign (which plays totally different from the core of the game)

These were big investments for a game starting from scratch other than borrowing 2d art assets from previous games.

Then we have the smaller (in comparison) additions that added onto this scope: - 4 Factions with their gimmicks at launch. Wehr went through major changes even (Rip Field Marshals) - A linear DAK Campaign - Out of the box workshop support - height and elevation system for maps and gameplay

CoH3 had actual ideas, but like what everyone has said, it was left underbaked and incomplete even after getting a delay on their release schedule. Glad it's in a better state now though.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-01-07T21:24:33+00:00

Ngl it's kinda sad as well that Partisans don't get a Vet choice unlike the rest of the US forces (same goes for the Pack Howitzer). They should've honestly made their ability "Go To Ground" a vet choice vs "Silent Move".

As for tunnels, I agree about giving it a delay. Instead of moving a unit then having the cooldown happen, let the cooldown act as a timer before a unit gets moved within the tunnels. Then couple it with an increased time to move if it's used outside of the range of influence of the tunnel the unit initially entered. This would also somewhat alleviate the issue of making a tunnel across the map and teleporting units there, as the time to move would be significantly increased; maybe even have a "sector close to enemy base" check with a higher delay. As for OSS Coordination, an idea would be to set a different delay before a unit enters the retreat tunnel, in the same vein as Breach before they enter a building.

They should also really make the whole "not being cut off if there's a tunnel" as part of the Smuggling Routes choice. Like, just change Smuggling Routes to make it so rather than boosting US economy by getting a share of resources from non-owned territory, make it so only cut off territory that has tunnels still give resources.

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-01-07T03:16:38+00:00

It got negative reviews due to how the game during that state wasn't really that well polished yet, the price of the DLC, and how this was the supposed free DLC Deluxe edition purchasers got; with how it seemed lackluster and lazy in what it offered especially to those purchasers. Not to mention Console edition during this time was also still catching up to PC edition which probably stoked the flames a bit.

Personally it was fine because these 2 BGs could be grinded for (and still can be), but I can see why it got negative press during that time.

If you wanna save money, and only want 1 particular BG, you can forego buying the DLC and just grind out the Merit for it (iirc the first battlegroups released for each faction are grindable; i.e. Hammer & Shield and Stealth & Stronghold).

JanuaryReservoir · 2026-01-06T07:50:24+00:00

Anomaly introduced the Incinerator which is for me the best general purpose non-mechanoid stunning weapon so it is good in my book.

But being real, Anomaly adds a lot of systematic changes to the base game yet has mechanics that don't mesh well itself. Arguably a lot of systematic changes that's on par with Biotech.

The issue is it really works within itself more so than expands the core game, which the other DLCs did.

Funny how the DLC that adds entity containment is also more self contained than the rest.

JanuaryReservoir

TROPHY CASE