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I disagree. As an old veteran wargamer of boardgames, rather than the newer crowd who has grown up with computer games like HOI with ever more micro-managing of everything, it was never the original intention of unit movement points to require payments for normal/combat movements. At least at this scale of strategy. For tactical simulations, fuel/ammo accountability becomes more important. I'll regress to my Avalon Hill Third Reich boardgame as an example where operational movement (strategic redeployment) is not exactly free but restricted to how many SRs can be performed each turn. It may be cheaper to move, but certainly not unlimited. Since SC/SC2 does not have op move limits (or for transports or amphibious transports either), restricting these movements by adding a cost is a reasonable compromise. Players can edit these costs up/down if they wish, but the point is the costs impose an economic limitation to consider. I'd prefer to see editable limits, with some nominal costs.

Done. And more.

Colin, I have both 2D standard counters and revised 3D sprites for my upcoming Advanced Third Reich mod. You and others may certainly use those for further customizations. Apparently, the MS Paint color palette is not very portable and customized colors cannot simply be copied on another machine. I've taken the time to document the color schemes I used and will include that info with my mod package. More to come later, soon.

Yeah this works but it's a pain. Copying&pasting the 3D sprites is easy enough but you also have to mod the highlights file which is a little more tricky. Else you get the old artillery highlight over the infantry sprite, etc. A tool of some sort would be nice? Anyways, it is doable. I'll add a reminder that editing the combat target values and sprites allows modders to do a lot of customizations, but the unit types remain the same regardless. In other words, the artillery slot still responds only to the artillery research and the AI still uses the customized units as artillery, etc. For hth games this isn't important, but for solo games the results can be disappointing.

yolo911, it will be posted in the Battlefront Repository, and yes it has challenging AI for both sides. Actually, this will be x4, with campaigns for 39, 41, 42 and 44. The PDE version of my mod is in the repository, and even if you don't have PDE you could download the files and look over the pdf design notes.

I'll chime in to say that what DD and I are experimenting with are changes to my upcoming Advanced Third Reich mod and not the official Global Conflict campaigns. We're seeing some nice results. This is a new feature and is proving to be very helpful. Where before we could only guess at overall results, now we have nice multicolored graphs to show a LOT of useful information. This will be useful not only to modders but for all players to review their completed games and be able to provide specific suggestions for improvements to the official campaigns, and have some data to back it up. I long ago decided to double the default SC2 naval movement ranges for A3R to better simulate naval action throughout the "front" as used in the original boardgame. One of the challenges in SC has been to better simulate the Battle of the Atlantic with more maneuver and less bloody engagements, allowing for some more action but not as many fleets being blown out of the water. Also the U-boat survivability and effectiveness against convoys never seemed quite right. By increasing movements, reducing naval CTVs and raising the U-boat raid multiplier, these issues seem to be less problematic. And with the convoy losses graphs showing increased total MPP losses and peaking of losses during 1942-43, the Battle of the Atlantic is looking a lot more interesting. Hubert is also interested in all this and may eventually reconsider some things for the official campaigns down the road. Enough for now. I am hoping to wrap up some playtesting of A3R and make final adjustments over the next couple weeks. Then I'll open up a new discussion thread to discuss the changes made for this version, post some screenshots, etc. :cool:

Intel only provides a spotting advantage; I'm pretty sure it doesn't affect research at all. For research, there is already a catch-up bonus factored in if an opponent has a higher level in a particular tech being researched.

This is something we have all wrestled with since SC1 was released long ago. The classic Panzer General model is relatively simple for programming and interface - single unit stacking, single unit moves, single unit attacks. This defies the traditional wargame with unit stacking, simultaneous unit moves, and combined units odds-based combat. My take on this approach has been to NOT scrutinze too deeply at this abstract scale what happens for an individual unit, in a specific tile, during a single turn. It will never make sense. But take a step back and take a broader look at the overall combat power employed in an area over a period of several turns and compare the game results with historical results and other wargames. With that perspective in mind, the SC model plays out pretty well.

I have updated the classic interface files for my A3R mod.

Each game in the series has gotten progressively better with enhancements to the generic AI and improvements to the AI and event scripts. It takes a LOT of time to fine-tune the AI scripting to get things just right AND provide challenging gameplay for both sides. I've been working on my A3R mod AI scripting for YEARS now and I'm still "fine-tuning" it. Right now I'm very pleased with latest results for the Global Conflict version. :cool: I'm an exception to the rule because I have been focused on my mod for so many years now. Unfortunately the nature of the business requires so much time for new feature and new campaign development/testing for each new game that sufficient time for making the AI great just isn't there. Hubert and the rest of the team do a great job with post-release patches making the AI better. But there comes a point when focus shifts to the next game and the "old" game AI development pretty much stops. This is true for most all games and it's disappointing. And I'm guilty of this myself; there are improvements I could make to my old PDE version mod that frankly I'm not going to spend any time doing.

Sorry, didn't mean to tease! It's nothing major really. Just a new parameter for surface raiders, but by simply adding one thing it changed the whole CTV table. Same thing for some of the scripts with new lines added here and there for more flexibility. Add one new line and you have to go back and revise every affected script. Argh! It's not hard, just tedious stuff. Again, point is you can copy/transfer most of a former map/campaign into the new editor but some additional work is required.

Yes, but... You can export data in PDE and then import your map and most data into Global Conflict. There are some complications. There are many new terrain and resource sprites, so the new map will have odd things like jungles showing up where cities were and such, but these are easily edited. New belligerence settings need to be made for each country. And one toughie, the Combat Target Values table has new parameters and needs to be redone from scratch. So good news is you don't have to redo everything from scratch but bad news is there will be some additional effort required.

Oh nay nay! Old age and treachery beats youth and skill every time. Yes so good to see some of the old ambiance back on the forum. We need the yin and yang for balance.

First of all, it's not DesertDave but Immer Etwas! A rose by any other name... I've been around and playtesting for Hubert since SC1. I've also been a playtester for Schwerpunkt for Russo-German War, Anglo-German War and now the upcoming Middle East game. And I'm playtesting some for Ouflank with the Empires in Arms game. I spent a few years writing for Wargamer.com but don't have the time for that now. A little of my background. I spent 11 years on active duty in the infantry with a secondary in nuclear weapons. Got out, worked at a nuclear plant for 6 years, and then worked at the NRC for 7 years. Since summer 2008 I've been back in the Army as a civilian on HQDA staff. Like I said, I've been busy and don't have as much time for gaming like I used to 5 years ago. Hooah.

Snowstorm, my mod is in the Battlefront SC2-PDE repository http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=314&func=select&id=16 There's a pdf manual included in the download, so even if you don't have SC2-PDE or don't want to get involved with this old version of my mod you can still read about what I did to adapt the Avalon Hill board game to SC2. Enjoy!

Eh, it's a little bit more complicated than copy & paste. Even with a head start I'd probably need a few weeks to do it to my satisfaction. I don't the time, but it's doable of course. No it still won't be official due to concerns. I've been messing with this since SC2 was released. WAW made it OK and PDE made it better, but the Global Conflict version is running sweet. If I had a nickle an hour I've been working on this hobby project I'd be rich. I'll post something in a few weeks highlighting all the upgrades and enhancements I've made since PDE. :cool:

Sure, we just can't spill the beans, that's all. Would you believe a lot of effort is going into the new Global Conflict campaigns and new scripting and new play balance issues, and not so much effort going into retrofitting the old stuff?? For those itching for ETO action, I've been busy upgrading my Advanced Third Reich mod to the new Global Conflict version and should have that ready when this is released. There are lots of script template changes and CTV changes that require a bit of work to upgrade an old scenario from PDE; it's not trivial. Someone could probably upgrade Storm of Steel at some point post-release. It's not unimpossible.

You need to save the customized localization.txt file along with an edited campaign, else the game reverts to the default localization.txt countries, etc. Is this the problem or are you seeing something different? I have not experienced this issue with any of the SC2 editors.

No, this whole thread is an unnecessary distraction. Of all the things to talk about regarding this new release, bringing up a potentially inflammatory discussion about (editable) bitmap graphic symbols and whether WWII wargames are allowed to be historically accurate or not is totally missing the point of Strategic Command WWII Global Conflict.

I did clearly say PDE (Patton Drives East) repository? I did not update A3R for the Pacific Theater.

That's my adaptation of the Advanced Third Reich (A3R) boardgame by Avalon Hill. It's in the PDE repository at http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=314&func=fileinfo&id=193 I am updating these campaigns for the upcoming WWII Global Conflict game.

You may have seen some screenshots of my A3R mod with my unofficial customized graphics? I'm not promoting a nazi-simulator or anything, just historical fact.

Oh yeah. Rest assured there's some good ETO action coming at you. :cool:

Hey thanks for your interest! What I did with this mod was take the original A3R map and essentially doubled the scale where 1 hex = 2 tiles. So it's a completely different map than SC and as natural as the boardgame map. Instead of quarterly seasonal turns, I've used monthly (4-week) turns. I kept the unit movement factors the same though, so it's possible to get 1.5x movement but when you factor in weather effects and units halted for reinforcements it works out nicely. I've created a customized order of battle true to the original game, including national differences (eg, German 4-6 armor vs Russian 3-5 armor, etc., plus air and naval DRMs) IMHO it plays very much like the original game, with a little more operational flavor with monthly turns. As for AI, I worked pretty hard to script a balanced and variable game for both sides, optimally for Intermediate +1 difficulty settings. It's good but it still has some weaknesses. I am continuing to improve my A3R mod for the upcoming release and have made some changes to the OOB and other settings to provide more balance. I've also roughed in a new 1942 scenario and will also add a 1944 scenario as well. As we get closer, I'll share more details.

Not sure how customizable these could be, but hopefully a properties feature could allow you to set parameters for individual resources? For ports, a "size" parameter allowing for how many transport actions (load or unload) are possible. And if a port is captured or bombed, it would take time to increase to max capacity. This would prevent players from capturing a port and immediately transporting in an entire army group! Not sure I agree with this unless some other things are done. Yes it often seems that units can be reinforced too quickly. But on the other hand, trying to add elite reinforcements 1 per turn takes forever, and the AI might just sit there slowly reinforcing and not doing much. There are tradeoffs to consider. One idea may be to reconsider the generic formulas where supply >5 allows reinforcement to 10+. Something like: Supply Strength >8 10+ >5 8 5 7 4 6 3 5 2 4 1 3 0 Cannot