Aacooper Posted December 23, 1999 Share Posted December 23, 1999 Driving home from work today I sketched the rough outline for "CM5 - Operations". Since I couldn't get a single Fortran or C program to work in college, I better let everyone know what my idea is in case someone wants to take it up: After the entirety of WW2 is covered in CM, the next step is to add an operational level. Basically, it would be a programmed method to play Fionn's "Meta-Campaign". It would borrow ideas from the V4V games and TOAW. The scale would be one division's piece of a battle over several days, and the operational level would allow more maneuvering, concentration of force, feinting, etc... The operational portion would be WEGO, where players move around company or battalion-sized units. The map would be pixelized, not hexes, and the game would shift to the combat map when units are within range of each other (visibility plays a part too, so a unit on an important hill would force more combat than one in the middle of a dense forest). The forces for each combat would, like TOAW, be tracked individually, so the tactical combat could be properly set up. Like TOAW, units could be sent to respond to an enemy attack. The maps would be a mixture of pre-planned and randomly created. An important area could be created, or important highways could be laid down, then the rest would be randomly created. Around that basic system, there would need to be supply, similar to V4V, and more precise. So, tons of ammo & POL used and supplied would be tracked, and the transportation capability of the supply net would be kept track off. A certain amount of attrition would be automatic. Artillery barrages and harrassing artillery fire would be abstracted. The idea would be to make the same decisions as a divisional commander, but use the most accurate tactical engine for determining combat results. Battles that had some maneuver (desert, Russia, Bulge) would be more interesting than an attrition battle like Normandy. Multiplayer would be needed to speed things along, and include the interesting options Fionn mentioned. Obviously there's a few flaws in the plan, namely the length of each game, and in a 1 player game, the strength of the AI. Also, the potential market is likely to be a subset of the intersection of the TOAW and CM groups of players (miniscule). Still, how neat would it be to out-maneuver your opponent, concentrate your forces, and see your advance fail because a battery of 88's clogged the bridge with destroyed Shermans?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scurlock Posted December 24, 1999 Share Posted December 24, 1999 I allways wanted to do an entire opperation on a shrunken scale, say 10% or so. Calculate the # of units available, hex out a map, place your units on the map, make your movements, and once contact was made, play it out at the tactical level on the computer using SP, or in this case CM. I always wished a quality game would come out that would do what I just described. There was one game produced that did this but it was a joke (can't remember the name). I mentioned the idea to some people in the software business and they said it was unmarketable. Maybe someday I can get about a dozen hardcorp gamers together, build a campain on paper, then play it through on CM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted December 24, 1999 Share Posted December 24, 1999 Scurlock, You need to notify Fionn. He has proposed just such a Campaign system as you describe. So far there are about 50 players that are interested and Fionn has made up a mailing list so we can discuss the topic in detail. Just so you know, there will be about 25 players per Division in this system. There will be GM's that keep all the information together and maintain FoW. His e-mail is: fionnk@thegamers.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Captain Foobar Posted December 25, 1999 Share Posted December 25, 1999 I can't believe this..... We don't even have CM one out yet, and the speculation has reached as far as CM-5!!!! I can't say I blame anybody, its hard to wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Compassion Posted December 25, 1999 Share Posted December 25, 1999 Hey... You think we can get a demo of CM 5 sometime soon? We been talking about it for what 2 days now and still nothing? What's up with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted December 25, 1999 Share Posted December 25, 1999 Its sloth, sheer sloth. ------------------ ___________ Fionn Kelly Manager of Historical Research, The Gamers Net - Gaming for Gamers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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