Upcoming indie RTS DORF, from studio DORFteam, has outlined how it plans to address a longstanding infantry issue in classic Command and Conquer-style games. In its latest developer update, the team detailed a new suppression system inspired by Overhype Studios' turn-based tactics game Menace, alongside a planned squad-reinforcement system and a batch of new units.
DORFteam explains that the current build uses the old Command and Conquer approach of making infantry fall prone when attacked by certain weapons. The developer says this system was never especially strong and seemed redundant, since infantry in those games can be easily killed by machine guns and artillery. To find a better solution, the team looked to Menace, which uses a suppression meter filled by certain weapons. When the meter maxes out, targeted infantry are forced to the ground.
DORFteam is designing something similar for DORF. Suppressed infantry will move at crawling speed and have reduced accuracy, but they will also have better protection against most weapons while in that state. Suppression will apply to the entire squad rather than individual soldiers. The goal is to keep machine guns relevant in their anti-infantry role without making them so damaging that infantry become largely useless, or nerfing them into irrelevance. DORFteam hopes players will not see entire groups of infantry instantly obliterated by explosives and machine guns; instead, those counters will force infantry into a reduced state while friendly forces can advance and close the distance.
The update also covered DORF's planned squad-reinforcement system. Recruit resources will be used to reinforce lost squad units, and certain buildings that store recruits will automatically replenish them when nearby. A demonstration highlighted current issues, including squads becoming nearly unkillable when enough recruit reinforcements are present and squads endlessly moving backwards. DORFteam already has ideas to fix these problems: reducing the range of recruit buildings and giving them a relatively small storage size, and introducing squad leaders and followers or section leaders to each squad. The latter idea comes from a document Relic published on how the system works internally in its Company of Heroes games.
Several new units were also shown. The Empire's basic rifle squads add a Machine Gunner that can fire without deploying but gains accuracy if it does, making it better suited to holding the line. An annex to the infantry academy can replace those Machine Gunners with Mortars, which provide additional firepower at greater range but cannot fire while undeployed and cannot target aircraft. The Chemical Gas Sprayer is an upgrade for Empire Grenadiers, adding a corrosive effect to counter light vehicles and toxic gas to help flush out fortified positions.
New vehicles include a basic Medium Tank for the Empire, armed with a 75mm cannon and a machine gun on both its turret and hull. Depending on the annexes applied to the vehicle factory, this unit can be updated into other types such as the Tank Destroyer and Assault Gun variants. DORFteam says this annex system of unlocking variants will be core to unit progression. The Halftrack, for example, can branch out into a Cruise Missile Launcher or a chemical gas thrower that can suppress infantry and cause debuffs to vehicles. For Heavy Tanks, the team is working on versions with improved firepower and anti-air capabilities, as well as a version with a large chemical projector that creates a close-range explosion reaction for demolishing buildings and vehicles.
The update's final unit reveal is the Ironworm, an Empire-Warband hybrid that requires playing as the Empire and capturing a Warband vehicle factory. It is described as a fast-moving light tank intended to ram enemy vehicles, equipped with flamethrowers and an autocannon.
DORFteam plans to have more fleshed-out map editor tools, a working early iteration of skirmish, and more units in next month's update. DORF still has no fixed release date. Its Kickstarter page gave 2028 as a very cautious estimate in case things go wrong, but the developer hopes to release the game in 2027 if all goes well. DORF can be wishlisted on Steam.
Sources: PCGamesN.