Hubert Cater

When it is ready

Guys, honestly, this is an unneccesary debate Let's put things into perspective here by understanding that I currently have a very small development/programming team (read me) and that requires items such as beta testing (just like the development) to be implemented in manageable stages. Long story short... what I am saying is that the beta team is not closed by any means and I'll be adding in testers as needed and at the right time. For the record, I understand the concerns and I'll admit that it is difficult (for you guys) to understand what is going on behind the scenes when you don't have access to all the information, but as I mentioned, SC2 is in as good a set of hands as any right now (for its current needs) and as development moves forward so too will beta testing. In the end it tells me you guys care about the game and I am honoured by that, so all I ask for in return is for your continued patience (and trust that I just might be doing a few things right ) and we'll get as good a game out there to you as soon as possible. In the mean time I've got a really good core group of guys helping out with the game (who in all honesty go beyond the typical beta tester) and one of them has even offered his time to post some information, answer questions and offer some feedback to the community. So let's respect that for what it is, his free time, and make good use of his offer. Hubert

Hmmm... the thought "works well with others" also comes to mind when picking beta testers

Actually I've been picking the beta testers so wonder no further Well to be honest, after a few weeks and as far as Beta testers go, he is already almost up to Bill and Dave territory... so I think we are in good hands

Correct, seasonal effects can vary the amount of MPP tranfered via convoy. For example Sweden will transfer 0% during Winter. Note, they contribute 100% during summer but this does not necessarily mean 100% of their available MPP. Rather it is 100% of whatever % they are currently set to transfer. For example Sweden only transfers 60% of their available MPP and 100% of that is transfered during the summer, 75% in the Fall and Spring and 0% in the Winter (frozen port during the winter) Does this mean they have been conquered or are 100% leaning towards Germany? No, but activation percentages are important in the sense that Sweden needs to be leaning at least 20% Axis in order for that convoy event to be satisfied. Diplomacy or various Axis action that could swing Sweden towards the Allies can lower Swedish activation and in turn negate this convoy. That just refers to how many diplomatic chits the UK has left to spend Correct, there are different costs depending on minor/major status as well as whether or not it is a friendly leaning country or not Correct if you control the right territory Hope this helps, Hubert

Interesting idea but this is not possible. Hubert

Good question, but I'll let Dave answer this one as this is his baby

Thanks, this was caught earlier as well, but for some reason forgot to update the insignia Hubert [ September 29, 2005, 08:12 AM: Message edited by: Hubert Cater ]

Actually some of those screen shots are from a variety of smaller scenarios/campaigns we will be offering. For example a North Africa campaign as well as very specific scenarios like Overlord(D-Day), Market-Garden(A Bridge Too Far), Citadel(The Battle of Kursk) etc. This of course does not exclude the main European Theater campaigns that cover a similar scale as that offered in SC1 but with considerably more depth and strategy. For now it is a simple yet effective system. Each major will have a certain number of diplomatic points as well as a varying degree of influence. In addition pressure will cost MPPs to expend, i.e. to represent certain promises like increased trade, military aid etc., and the costs will vary depending on Major/Minor status as well as current alignment. For example enemy nations will cost more to secure any diplomatic success. Also, while pressure is the primary factor diplomacy in general does include some subtle nuances that will make campaigns variable each time played. For starters applied pressure is not guaranteed, so you really do have to weigh out your precious MPPs versus the chances of any diplomatic returns, and since you don't know what your enemy is up to (diplomacy wise) his actions may actually cancel out any of your diplomatic pressure you may have applied. Should provide for some interesting situations and not to mention frustration as you are never sure what your enemy is doing behind your back. One other small connection with game play is that current activation levels may sometimes be tied to other events like convoys, i.e. a US Lend Lease convoy to the UK will not be triggered until the US is at 40% activation, so it might be in your best interest (as the UK player) to press for assistance earlier on in the game, but of course it is not guaranteed. Hubert

Thanks

The AT guns in the Soviet fortifications are just eye candy for now as graphically speaking it just gives the fortified lines a more dynamic look across the map. The spotting is still the same as in SC1, depends on spotting range and placement of units. Keep in mind that spotting ranges are now all editable and can be set on a per scenario/campaign basis. The facings is just a mirroring convention, right now we just have South East and South West so when units are on top of each other it sometimes looks a bit funny. Also, that particular scenario revealed a few anomalies in my unit mirroring logic which I've since cleaned up a bit after these SS were taken. Artillery is transportable and again you can set the strike range as you like for each scenario/campaign. Did I mention a powerful editor before? For the rest keep in mind these are still in development and items like those borders can be disabled where it makes sense for the scenario. The Overlord scenario for example has the display borders disabled. Hope that answers a few questions... and... no comment on that exciting an old man part Hubert

Hehe... thanks

Unfortunately at the moment the only thing that might suffice are the alternate military icons which are a solid color but for the rest of the map we don't have much else *officially* planned. The good news though is that the graphics are all editable and with a few tweaks using a Bitmap editor it might not be too hard to simplify the look. Hope this helps, Hubert

Hey Dan, Right now these are the only planned resolutions: 1024x768 1280x1024 1600x1200 Hope this helps, Hubert

Hey Turnberry, This was indeed just a sample showing how the game engine is scaleable. Everything from grand campaigns covering the European Theater to smaller scenarios like Overlord, Kursk etc. Hubert

thedon900, Don't give up hope just yet, the good news is that things are really coming along and that faint light at the end of the tunnel is slowly starting to get a little bit brighter. I know it has been a long wait, but (in my biased opinion of course) it will have been well worth it. Hubert

Edwin, These are some pretty good ideas and it is not to say that they might not be entertained at some point, but for now we wanted to have at least a base (simple as it may be) modelled in terms of intelligence while we continue to focus on finishing up the game. As you all know, every detail takes time, and that will be one of the good things about SC2... lots of new and very powerful *details* Hubert

Believe

PS: HC I like the movement rate of HQs in SC1, it means that you really have to plan your offensives and stop them sometimes to allow supplies to catch up. Exactly. If HQ's were included, for example, in any Motorization research benefits you would then have a hard time modelling the ebb and flow on the Russian front. Interesting topic though, and one we actually discussed as well. As Edwin mentions, I think the consensus was that they are still logistical supply centers that need a reasonable amount of time to set up. Thus the limit in mobility. It should be mentioned though, that on a relative scale, France is much smaller and Patton will by default seem that much more mobile as the distance from the beaches of Normandy to Paris are much less significant than let's say from Warsaw to Moscow.

Since the hedgerows require more AP to cross it could cause supply problems for the Allies depending on which towns they control and the disposition of Axis forces, i.e. how well a supply line the Allies can draw from their units to their supply sources etc. Hubert

This is indeed Cherbourg For combat effects, and for this scenario in particular, I currently have the bocage modelling a terrain effect very similar to mountains from SC1. For example, extra entrenchment, extra combat bonuses and so on.

Meanwhile Hubert continues working in a secure subbasement guarded by Moon and Madmatt You have no idea how close to reality this really is! Not to worry guys, while SC2 has taken some time I'm confident the new game is going to be just as wild a ride as its predecessor.

Not a bad idea actually and something to consider for the future for sure

With respect to the map sizes and limitations all of these numbers (as suspected) are for the most part arbitrary. Very large map sizes in theory would be possible but I found that as you increase the size of the map certain path finding calculations will really slow down the game and so I've come up with the current maximum size. No worries though as we continue to test and even if after the game is released there is a strong demand for larger map sizes I just might be persuaded to make some adjustments. Either way, while 256x128 does not sound that big you might be surprised just how much map that actually covers Hubert

True, things were a little different back then Originally SC1 was developed in almost complete obscurity and when we made the original announcement it was already pretty close to completion. That, and not really realizing it at the time, made comments and feedback much easier on my part. It is always a learning experience and this time around, developing SC2 under the public eye has been a unique challenge and probably one of the reasons I *appear* to be less of a participant on the forums. The good news is that development continues very well, and once we get to that same stage I was in with SC1, expect to see and hear much more from me than what you've seen up to now