Steel Company Development & Feedback (2D WWII Tactical Scale)

[emernic]

I have been developing a tactical-scale WWII game, which I (very humbly) hope will eventually be a worthy successor to the Steel Panthers series.

There are still many, many things to improve, but the demo build is available and ready for early playtesting.

ANY input from old wargamers (especially fans of Steel Panthers) is highly welcome and will be carefully considered. All aspects of the game (from the core combat model, the "OOB", the UI, and more) are fair game! Keep in mind, however, that the visuals for the UI and the units/terrain are not final.
https://steelcompany.net/

I would also love to jump on a call to get live first impressions from a few people in real time, which can be extremely helpful for improving the game. PM me on here or email nickemery23@gmail.com

A couple of the development goals for this project:
1. A UI that is simple enough to be picked up by anyone in 5 minutes, without sacrificing tremendous depth and detail in the modeling of combat.
2. An AI opponent that is competent, surprising, and adaptive.
3. A random map generator and a built in scenario editor, with the ability to seed maps directly from real-world terrain data.
4. A huge roster of units, containing weapons and equipment from every major nation in WWII (including all varieties of infantry, AFVs, artillery, close-support aircraft, etc.).
5. A dynamically generated campaign (and a couple scripted campaigns) with an interesting variety of battle types and troops that carry over between battles.
6. An engine that is built from the ground up for maximum mod support. In-game editors and simple file formats make it easy for anyone to create their own units, weapons, nations, scenarios, campaigns, and more. Most engine functionality (including the fundamental AI and weapon calculations) can be fully overridden through scripting.
7. Synchronous and asynchronous (PBEM-style) friendly multiplayer with co-op and mod support.
8. Multiplayer MATCHMAKING, allowing players to quickly find opponents of equal skill level. Secure dedicated hosting allows for absolute competitive integrity even when playing against total strangers.

Many of these goals are "met" to some extent or another, but of course the whole thing still needs several coats of polish before it will be ready for release (possibly as early as end of 2026, depending on a variety of factors).

Note: Steel Company is NOT currently affiliated with Matrix Games or any other publisher, although my inbox is open

[FOARP_slith]

Glad to see someone has picked up the torch that Steel Tigers sadly dropped back in 2022.

The Steel Panthers formula is a great one: a deep roster of units and weapons for a wide range of countries, the ability to make your own scenarios freely, simple-to-learn but hard-to-master game mechanics. However, it needs an upgrade graphically and in terms of AI otherwise the only people who are going to be playing it are old Grognards like me.

SP1 launched *31 years ago*. I was still a teenager then. Now I'm a father with a mortgage, a bald-spot, and a bad back. We can't just keep rehashing and upgrading the same old game-engine.

[mhowe]

Hah, that made me smile. When SP1 came out I was already paying my first mortgage! I didn't have bald spot but my forehead was definitely getting higher!

[emernic]

SP1 launched *31 years ago*. I was still a teenager then.

I guess I would have been a fetus

If you do try it, I would love to hear ANY feedback you might have (even if it's just "X felt confusing at first". I am basically blind to which parts are intuitive/unintuitive at this point, so I need more old grognards to be my eyes and ears for what feels right/wrong/confusing/cool.

[Steakthedog]

Hi, I'm trying to get the game running on my machine, but I'm having trouble getting the libraries and font to install onto my machine (running Bazzite), I'll try a few other things, but if you have anything that might assist while I fiddle that would be nice. Thanks!

[emernic]

Hi, I'm trying to get the game running on my machine, but I'm having trouble getting the libraries and font to install onto my machine (running Bazzite), I'll try a few other things, but if you have anything that might assist while I fiddle that would be nice. Thanks!

Thanks for trying it out. I just pushed an update that ships a fallback font with the game, so when 0.68.0 goes live in ~20 mins you can try re-downloading.

[flibby]

Really promising. Hopefully Matrix looks at this and offer you the support to turn this into a real successor to SP.

[zakblood]

thanks for the work and share

1.jpg (428.09 KiB) Viewed 919 times

[scaz]

Looks nice!

I'll be sending feedback soon.

[maitrebongo]

Absolutely fantastic.
As a *Steel Panthers* player since the very beginning, I am thrilled to see the work you’ve accomplished—it’s amazing.
For many of us, you’ve made a dream come true—one we had eventually given up on.
For that alone, you have my deepest gratitude.

Naturally, I downloaded the demo as fast as I could. The results are extremely promising for the game's future.
There are, of course, a few improvements that I imagine you are already working on.
If you need a hand, I’d be happy to help out, time and ability permitting.
I’m a modder for *Steel Panthers* and numerous other wargames (*Lock 'n Load Tactical Digital*, *V for Victory*, *Conflict of Heroes*, *Hex of Steel*, and plenty of others—including quite a few featured here on the Matrix Games forum).

I have a question: Why didn't you post the news about this game (which is undoubtedly the future successor to *Steel Panthers*) on the "prehistoric" Shrapnel Games forum? That’s where all the fans of the most polished versions to date—*WinSPWW2* and *WinSPMBT*—still hang out.

Great work, in any case.

Maitre Bongo

[emernic]

Thanks everyone for the kind words! I'm glad people are already enjoying the demo.

Why didn't you post the news about this game (which is undoubtedly the future successor to *Steel Panthers*) on the "prehistoric" Shrapnel Games forum?

I suppose I should! Although I don't want to fall afoul of their self-promotion rules or step on any toes. I've been going slow with the "marketing" while the game is under very active development, but I'm sure it will find its way around.

There are, of course, a few improvements that I imagine you are already working on.

Don't let that stop you from sending feedback anyway!

I am in the process of putting together modding documentation, and I would love to get your thoughts (with the understanding that ALL of it is pretty likely to change before release, so I would hold off on actually BUILDING too many mods at the moment). My goal is to make this the most moddable tactical-scale wargame in existence (everything from creating new units/weapons via the built-in editors to overriding the fundamental systems for AI, movement, firing weapons, etc. using scripting).

I am also working on some general "design docs" for core data models and systems (units, weapons, cover, movement, etc.), and I'm sure you would have valuable opinions there as well. If you have any horror stories or common annoyances from modding other games, those area also helpful.

[emernic]

A couple small updates:
- Gameplay trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIywECuocEs
- Discord link (for those inclined): https://discord.gg/zPvpR3j4RJ

[maitrebongo]

Excellent news regarding the modding documentation.
The first thing I notice immediately, as a graphics modder, is the very small size of the sprites used. Is this a program limitation, or can we envision modding these sprites with larger pictures to achieve a result better suited to modern screen resolutions?

Please, could you show me how to thicken the lines of the hexagonal grid; at 4K, they are much too thin.

I’m not a huge fan of using Discord, for two reasons:
- It’s impossible to automatically translate the text (not everyone is a native English speaker).
- Finding older information is really difficult and unintuitive. It would be better if practical modding information remained in a structured environment, such as a forum.

[emernic]

The first thing I notice immediately, as a graphics modder, is the very small size of the sprites used. Is this a program limitation, or can we envision modding these sprites with larger pictures to achieve a result better suited to modern screen resolutions?

Please, could you show me how to thicken the lines of the hexagonal grid; at 4K, they are much too thin.

I’m not a huge fan of using Discord, for two reasons:
- It’s impossible to automatically translate the text (not everyone is a native English speaker).
- Finding older information is really difficult and unintuitive. It would be better if practical modding information remained in a structured environment, such as a forum.

Not an engine limitation, just a lack of artistic talent. The current sprites are mostly a mixture of AI slop (downscaled, partly to make the flaws less visible) and my own rudimentary editing. I am in the process of trying to replace all sprites with hand-drawn versions, but it's very slow going... If any generous community members such as yourself want to donate or sell sprites to the project I would be VERY grateful.

I can thicken the hex grid.

I generally agree on Discord... but it's become kind of a standard discussion forum for games etc. so I think it's worth having the option for those who prefer it. I will continue to post updates on this thread and various other places (reddit, the Steam page once they goes live, maybe the Shrapnel forums if they ever approve my user registration...). Not ideal but it's hard to get everyone in one place.

[maitrebongo]

Ah, I see.
When we created the sprites for the game *Hex of Steel*, the developer and I agreed to make them 1024x1024 px to suit modern screen resolutions (yours are 123 x 123 px).
It would be great if there were still time to modify your code and increase the resolution of all the game's sprites (including terrain and all elements) to eliminate that pixelated look.
I could try to help you out with the graphics—on a voluntary, unpaid basis, depending on my availability, just as I’ve done for other games—though my day job is taking up a lot of my time right now.

[emernic]

It would be great if there were still time to modify your code and increase the resolution of all the game's sprites (including terrain and all elements) to eliminate that pixelated look.
I could try to help you out with the graphics—on a voluntary, unpaid basis, depending on my availability, just as I’ve done for other games—though my day job is taking up a lot of my time right now.

There are currently no practical limits on the size of sprites in the engine. The pixelation is in the current sprites themselves. Each unit can have its sprite scaled up or down in game by an arbitrary amount to fit on the hex (the engine does not enforce a uniform pixel density, although it certainly looks nicer if most sprites are in the same ballpark).

And that would be fantastic if you are able to find the time. Just let me know. I would be happy to help you set up a mod to test them out yourself as well if you want. Once the unit editor is released it should be really easy.

[maitrebongo]

Thanks a lot for the hexagon grid

I’ve started testing the unit sprites. I’ve got a good handle on how their size coefficient works.
It would be easier to have drawings that are already at the same scale to begin with (incidentally, I notice we’re using the same libraries for our graphics ).

The BMP format makes creating sprites extremely difficult, especially regarding pixelation and transparency. PNG would be much better. I tried using it, but your program’s code doesn't seem to accept it. Is that something that can be changed?

I also ran a test adding a higher-contrast outline and a slight drop shadow to the units (see the Panthers in the attached screenshot; the size shown in the post is how they appear on my 27-inch screen while playing in 4K).



One more question: Have you played much *Steel Panthers*? And if so, have you tried to include all the features that made it a success in your program?

[emernic]

Very nice!! The sprites definitely need to be made more legible somehow.

And great minds think alike... I already updated the engine to accept png yesterday, but it is not released yet. It will go out sometime today or tomorrow.

I have played what I would consider a "fair amount" of SPWAW and a little bit of WinSPWW2 (none of MBT), but undoubtedly nowhere near the amount that some people on these forums have. I have done a fair amount of digging (on these forums and elsewhere) for ideas and inspiration. I like to think for myself about how things could work first though and THEN see what was done before, because once an existing example is planted in my head I'm less likely to come up with something new.

It is definitely my goal to capture 90% of what people liked about the SP series (and more of course).

BTW, are you putting these directly in the Steel Company WWII module (overwriting files)? I would just make sure you have a backup copy just to make sure the next update doesn't overwrite your work. There is of course a system to have mods that "patch" units in the base game to use new sprites, but I can't remember if there are any examples of that pattern in any of the default mods.

[emernic]

On top of just improving the sprites themselves, I've also thought about adding some "high visibility" setting that adds prominent outlines, shadows, and/or highlights to all sprites (or whatever else might make them stand out). Or potentially even adding a setting/mod to switch to square symbolic counters for people who prefer them.

[thewood1]

I played around a little and its a fantastic start.

One recommendation is being able to click on the message and have the map center on the unit or action being addressed. At least I didn't notice it happening in my quick play through.

One thing you can do to make units stand out more is maybe put a little flag in the corner of the unit on the map. I find it very hard to see the units right now.

I'd like to see the firing units hex and the target units hex flash on the unit firing. Just to make it stand out more.

Another feature would be using waypoints that can be chained together so you can plan out a unit's moves. Let each waypoint have some commands available, like smoke, hide, etc.

It would be good to let multiple units be in a single hex, up to a limit.