Go head-to head in Leviathan: Warships

Welcome to the seventh Leviathan: Warships Development Diary. The diary this week is written by Mikael Englund, one of the Designers of Leviathan: Warships,and will focus on the different game modes available in versus matches and how to find your opponents.When playing versus matches, there are two game modes to choose from:and. In the points game mode, the goal is to sink enough of the opponent’s ships to reach the point goal for the match.When starting the match the admin gets to choose the fleet size for the match and the point goal. As discussed in dev. diary #3 there are three different fleet sizes; small, medium and large (3000, 6000 and 8000 points) to choose from.The point goal is based on a percentage of the points of the current fleet size. A player wins by sinking enemy ships worth equal or more than the point goal for the match. As an example, in a Points game with the medium fleet size (6000 points) and a point goal of 50%, a player have to sink ships worth 3000 points in order to win.Only having to sink a certain amount of points worth of ships to win the match makes things quite interesting, as your ability to choose your targets wisely becomes very important. While big ships with loads of armaments are worth more points than smaller less armed ships, they will put up more of a fight and therefore, are harder targets. The strategy you use and your ability to pick your target will be crucial to your success as a captain in the points game mode. Of course it is possible to set the point goal to 100%. Then you will have to completely annihilate your enemy to win.In the assassination game mode the goal is to sink the enemy flagships. When starting a game, the admin chooses one of the three fleet sizes. In addition to the fleets the players build, they will each be provided with one flagship. The flagship is a small vessel with only a small autocannon (Kauser).Once in-game, the position of all the flagships is always visible, even through fog of war. When all the flagships of one team are sunk, that team is immediately defeated.The assassination game mode is a lot about balancing a good offence with a good defense. Deciding how many of the ships that are used for guarding your own flagship and how many that are used for attacking your enemy can often be the difference between a win or a loss. Despite knowing where your enemies’ flagships are at all times there is always a feeling of uncertainty when playing the assassination games. Playing on the fact that your opponent always knows where your flagships are will give you the opportunity to set traps and flank your enemy. But that also applies to your enemy!Both of the versus game modes in Leviathan: Warships support 2-4 players, with 1 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2 and 1 vs. 2 player matches available. When two players match off against a single player, the single player’s points are doubled so that it matches the amount of points of the 2 player team. In the Assassination game mode, not only are the points doubled, the single player will have two flagships so that both teams fight on equal terms.There are several ways to go at it when starting a versus match, all of them very easy. There is always to possibility to start a versus game with the preferred amount of players and simply invite your in-game friends.In case you don’t have enough friends online to fill up all the player slots, you can simply open up slots for matchmaking. By opening up slots for matchmaking you allow players who are searching for games to join in either through matchmaking or by browsing through the available public games.The matchmaking process lets you choose your preferred game mode as well as your preferred settings for the game such as fleet size and number of player. When starting the matchmaking search the game searches both for public games with available slots matching your criteria and for other players with matching criteria. When a match is found you are brought to the lobby where you can start to chat with your new found friends and foes, and start customizing your fleet.That wraps up the development diary for this time. The next post will highlight the different factions of Leviathan: Warships!