Sacha Narine Talks Combining of TBS and RTS for Company of Heroes 3 – An Interview with Lead Campaign Designer

We got the opportunity to speak with the Lead Campaign Designer – Sacha Narine in an interview, for the upcoming Relic Entertainment’s title Company of Heroes 3.

Here are some of the question that we got to ask Sacha about Company of Heroes 3:

The Company of Heroes series have been around for nearly two decades, do you think the new title that Company of Heroes 3 will attract new players?

Sacha: Yes, we’ve designed Company of Heroes 3 to have more for strategy players of all kinds. We want the game to serve fans of campaign, cooperative, and competitive strategy. We hope that the game reaches a wide audience and maintains strong concurrency for quick matchmaking.

To new players, this is a hardcore game that requires a lot of knowledge and planning, is there anything that can help the new players to get started in the game?

Sacha: Company of Heroes isn’t a simple game, but it shouldn’t be daunting to learn. Our tutorial content and singleplayer missions should help to teach players the fundamentals of our action-strategy gameplay. We’ll also be working to produce video tutorials and guides to teach players deeper strategies and interactions.

What is the reason behind the decision of combining RTS and TBS and how do you balance the gameplay with these two different genre?

Sacha: Our dynamic campaign map is something fans were eager to see. We wanted to give players more power and control than they’ve ever had in a Relic campaign. The Italian campaign includes systems that help players focus on what they like best — turn-based strategy real-time strategy, or an even mix of both.

With Company of Heroes 3 adding in new features and units from the North African Forces, will you be planning on adding any South East Asian history in the game?

Sacha: Since Company of Heroes launched in 2006, we’ve had fans clamoring for new theatres and armies: the Eastern Front, the Mediterranean, the Pacific. We want to do it all! It’s just a matter of time. For Company of Heroes 3, we pursued what fans wanted most from the franchise, and we’ll keep doing that.

Destructible environment is one of the new features to the game, will it change the general gameplay of the game and if the building collapsed on the soldiers and tanks, will it cause any damages to them?

Sacha: Environmental dynamics are a pillar of Company of Heroes gameplay. Our improved destruction system is a massive visual upgrade but also allows squads to take cover in the ruins of some buildings after they’ve been destroyed. Collapsing buildings no longer deal damage to nearby infantry; this mechanic was removed due to concerns about multiplayer balance and RNG.

Can the players customise the looks of armies, tanks and buildings?

Sacha: We’ll have more to share about visual customization in the future. But we want to give players more control than ever over their armies in both singleplayer and multiplayer.

Are there plans to release the game on consoles?

Sacha: Right now, we’re focusing on delivering the best possible Company of Heroes game on PC for players to enjoy at launch and beyond.

With the number of new RTS games slowly decreasing, do you think Company of Heroes 3 has what it takes to turn the situation around? For example, inspiring others to create RTS.

Sacha: Strategy games are extremely popular. Company of Heroes is a franchise that fans care about and Relic takes pride in, so we believe we can reach a broad audience and support the game for many years. Relic will continue to make real-time strategy games, as will many other excellent developers.

A company worth of heroes, if you’re in the mood for a strategy game that combines both Real-Time Strategy and Turn-Based Strategy, do give Company of Heroes 3 a shot.

We would also like to thank Sacha Narine for answering our questions related to Company of Heroes during the interview. For more information and future updates on the game, do check out the official website.