We are starting frequently asked questions thread that will be regularly updated. Here is a first pack of answers:
1. What is Cossacks 3?
Cossacks 3 is a classical real time strategy game with army expansion, building construction and resource gathering. The game set in 17-18 century with 12 playable nations and allows to have up to 10 000 units under player's control. After release number of nations will be expanded to 20.
2.What OS will be needed?
Cossacks 3 supports PC, Mac and Linux platforms.
3. What are the system requirements for Cossacks 3?
Cossacks 3 new engine is so lightweight, that you can comfortably play on computers of five years old and even older.
4. When will beta test start?
Beta test will start in a couple of months, when all the main content will be ready.
5. Who will participate in beta test?
The first wave of beta testers will be chosen from the most active official forum and official social pages users.
6.When can i Preorder?
Start or the preorder planned for July-August.
7. What is the release date?
Release of Cossacks 3 planned for the Q4 2015.
8. Where I can buy Cossacks 3?
Cossacks 3 will be available on Steam mainly. It is possible that other digital distribution resources will be added to the list. Also retail version planned.
9. What about singleplayer campaigns?
By the release date there will be 5 historical singleplayer campaigns.
10. Multiplayer modes?
Cossacks 3 multiplayer allows to play up to 7 players on one map, join in groups and play against AI. Battles take place of randomly generated maps. We are working on possible increasing of number of players to 8.
11. Is it full 3D?
Cossacks 3 developed on the new highly technological engine. Game build in full 3D.
12. Any naval battles?
Yes, player can build a fleet and participate in naval battles. Land and naval battles take place on one map giving the player various strategical and tactical possibilities.
13. On what languages Cossacks 3 will be localised?
Cossacks will be available in English, German, French, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian for sure. Localisation to other languages still in discussion.
14. Will you develop the game further after the release, not counting the Mod's support?
The release of Cossacks 3 is not the end of our work on the project, but the beginning of a new stage. We are planning to release a whole range of large free updates and DLC, which will bring new nations, additional missions and full campaigns to the game. Patches for the games balance and error corrections will be released regularly.
15. Will the pre-order version differ from the main release of the game?
Yes, the pre-order version will contain some additional bonuses for gamers. Which bonuses, we can’t say for now, but it’s going to be something worthy.
16. Which 12 nations will get into the release version?
Austria, France, England, Spain, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, Prussia, Venice, Turkey, Algeria
17. Still, why the game mechanics of the first Cossacks?
After release, the game can be developed in an unpredictable script, obtaining new and interesting changes, additions to the game mechanics, balance and so on. However all this will become possible only after the game comes out. Thousands of gamers will be able to express their wishes and remarks. We consider the game mechanics of the first Cossacks to be the best starting point, the base from which to move forward. For in our opinion and in the opinion of the majority of the gamers, the game-play of the original game proved to be the most successful.
18. What about the fans of Cossacks 2 and American Conquest? The gamers liked the innovations of these games.
As we already said, the game mechanics and game-play elements of Cossacks 3 will be very close to the original Cossacks.
However with the help of the free toolkit coming with the game, the moders will be able to make absolutely any changes to game-play, balance and sets of units they desire.
We will support the promising and demanded modifications at the official level. Which include promotion, polishing quality and coding at the level of the engine and the script.
19. Will the AI in Cossacks 3 also be taken from the first Cossacks?
No, the Artificial intelligence of your future computer adversary is written from scratch.
20. Will the game have a mission editor?
The script editor will be based on the trigger concept (comdition -> action) in which we gather all our missions. It will be available with the release version of the game.
21. The new Cossacks3 is in full 3D. What level of freedom will the camera have?
In the release version we are planning to make the range of camera motion standard for classic real-time strategies games, it will provide for optimal overview and ease of operation. The limitations of the camera can be easily changed or even removed in the modifications. But we don’t support the idea of free camera.
22. Will it be possible to add the new units?
The simple toolkit in the game will allow for easy import of 3D models into the game and to configure its cooperation and options.
23. Will Ukraine possess melee infantry?
In the release version it will not.
24. What are the minimum system requirements?
Before any comprehensive and large-scale tests it is difficult to tell exactly what the system requirements will be, but the weakest computer that we have worked and tested Cossacks 3 on has the following parameters:
• OS: Microsoft Windows XP
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6320, 1860 MHz
• RAM: 2048 Mb (DDR2 SDRAM)
• Video card: ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO (256 Мб)
• Screen resolution: 1280x1024
• Processor and video card manufactured in 2007.
For the normal operation of the game 1024 Mb RAM will be enough.
25. What will be the pre-order price?
The pre-order price won't differ from the release version, but it will contain specific additions. The cost of the game will be about 20$ for the Western countries and about 12-13$ for the CIS.
26. Please describe in detail the difference between the control of units in Cossacks 3 and the original game.
We have tried to save the dynamics of the game as much as possible. And in this we have achieved it. The control and the perception of the game have remained the same.
But, in contrast to the original game, in Cossacks 3, you will be able to see how the units will be formed up at the destination point even before the order to move has been given. This simplifies the control. But the work on unit control is still ongoing.
27. Will the units characteristics remain the same as in the first Cossacks (time of formation, strength of strike/shot, defense, armor)?
Almost all the characteristics will migrate to the new game, although the balance will yet change.
The most obvious changes will concern:
• temple/church/mosque
• priest/pope/mullah
• hired rondartschier
• hired grenadier
• howitzer
• multi-barreled gun
Some changes will appear during the beta-test and the greatest plans for changes are aimed at the updates after the release of the game.
28. Will the prices for upgrades at the academy and the barracks remain the same as in the first Cossacks? Especially we are interested in the +300% upgrade for quarrying, which gave the triple advantage to the efficiency of extraction of this resource. Will a new upgrade be added?
The mechanics of this upgrade have been changed. Before there was no point in making the previous upgrade, which gave +100%. Now the upgrades have been summarized with the first of 100%, and the second one gives another +200%.
The prices for the upgrades haven't changed yet. During the large-scale testing it will be clear what we need to correct.
29. Will there be special effects, such as blood of the fallen, change of day, night and/or change of seasons?
There won't be any change of seasons, or a night and day change in Cossacks3, It will be possible to easily add the day and night change system in the modifications, as the technology is incorporated into the engine. In our opinion these kinds of effects do not fit the game mechanics of Cossacks, that's why it won't be present in the release version.
There is no blood in the game now. We have some ideas for its realization, but this matter is rooted in the plane of receiving an ESRB rating. That's why it is difficult to give a definite answer about blood in the release version.
Special effects like smoke, explosions, gunshots, fire will be there for sure, and quite spectacular.
30. Will the options like upfront resources, market conditions, diplomatic center, century, time of non-aggression (PT), with/without the balloon be the same as in the first Cossacks or will some new options be added?
The old options will remain. We haven't thought of any new ones yet, but if the gamers have any specific ideas and proposals, we are ready to listen to them. In the majority of cases the implementation of such ideas is rather simple.
31. Is there going to be one server for multi-player or several, and will it be free or with a purchase of a key?
There's going to be only one server, and it will demand a key. The key is attached to the Steam account, so it won't be lost and will always be easily found.