Releasing sometime later this year, Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 4 is a glorious return to the best RTS 40K has ever seen. Alongside reviving the series’ beloved Sync-Kill system, developer KingArt games has devised a new “multi-attack” system that changes how players interact with the game.
In an interview with PCGamer, game director Jan Theysen explained that the team is trying desperately to “reduce the number of clicks you have to do” when playing Dawn of War 4.
In RTS games, there are a lot of mechanics to remember, and a lot of things to balance. In reducing the number of clicks players need to do to perform certain actions, King Art is aiming to create a faster paced, more engaging RTS game than prior games in the series.
Some of these changes include adding WASD camera movement so players no longer have to drag their mouse to the edge of the screen (or click on the map) to look around the battlefield.
“It drove me insane,” the game director said. “When I played Dawn of War: Definitive Edition, that I had to move my cursor to the edge of the screen, or pan it. And you can’t change it, it’s not an option. We basically said, we need to make sure that, in our game, we have all the controls players would expect in an RTS and also to make them configurable.”
The biggest change the team has made for the new RTS game is the addition of the new multi-attack system. This system will allow players to box select their units with the left click, but also box select every unit they want attacked with a dragged right-click, offering more speed and versatility while also giving players the fine-tuning they require with traditional single clicks.
“When there are multiple enemies on the screen you can say: ‘Okay, I want my selected units to attack these units.’ The system picks somewhat sensible opponents, but you can then go in and optimise, like I want my units to attack these guys on the right flank, but I want these units to attack this vehicle,” Theysen said.
While Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 4 is a traditional-looking RTS, KingArt are hoping to make smart changes that push the genre forward. A lot of this relies on the developer offering smart optimisations while also letting players play the old-fashioned way, which is exactly what KingArt is doing.
There’s still no concrete release date for Dawn of War 4, but the game is expected to release later this year. While the game will feature multiplayer, the team have described the game as “overwhelmingly single player” with four full-length campaigns for fans to enjoy.
