Guest John Maragoudakis Posted March 22, 1999 Share Posted March 22, 1999 Firstly, take a look at the following link. Notice the Italian soldiers' weapons. Those rifles look alot like the FNs we had way back in 1984. What is a modern Italian army doing in Macedonia with such antiquated arms? http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9903/21/kosovo.04/ Ok on to my question. I'm not sure if this was covered. By clicking on a unit, can we get a circle appear around the unit/tank showing the max/effective range for each of it's weapons? Then if that was possible, can we press a lock button to keep the range circle of the previous squad on screen while we check the range circle of another squad? In this way you could click on all your squads and easily see all the range circles. this would make sure you have all your bases covered. Along the same lines, if we can check what a unit sees, can we lock this info while we check what another unit sees so that clicking on multiple squads allows you to ensure everyone is in position to prevent the enemy from sneaking by. If you don't press a lock button, then only the squad that is presently selected would have info on it displayed, either range or sight. This might speed up gameplay since a player would not have to look up enemy unit ranges as often. Clicking on a lock button then clicking on an enemy tank and then on your tank, you could easily see two range cirles showing who can hit the other guy while remaining out of range. This feature was in the game Max. [This message has been edited by John Maragoudakis (edited 03-22-99).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted March 22, 1999 Share Posted March 22, 1999 No, neither of these features will be in Combat Mission. Here is why... Max range means little if anything in CM. In theory a German LMG could hit targets out to about 1000m, but pretty much only on the firing range. Effective range was more like 400m-500m. Sure, you *can* shoot out to 1000m in CM, but it won't do you much good. So max range is not necessarily meaningful. This is especially true for a mixed weapons squad. HUGE firepower up close, quickly diminishing, and then going to practically nil after about 300m or so. What we do have is feedback as to how much firepower is available at what range. This is in a chart form as well as displayed in realtime while issuing a fire order. It is all the info you really need, and is far more useful than a circle around each unit. We also don't want it too easy to plan fire support. After all, such a thing is not a mathematically precise undertaking in real combat. Mistakes will be made, blind spots will exist. If we gave the player too many "tools" these realistic errors would be far too easily eliminated. "Hmmm... let's see.... if I just move this guy 2 meters to the left I can have covering fire for everybody." Not realistic, not fun. As it is a player can pretty much do this, but has to be one anal bastard who doesn't mind spending way too much time on small details We can't stop this, but we can certainly opt to not make it any easier. Oh, and God forbid that player EVER goes up against a human with a Orders Phase time clock! I love kicking micromanager monger ass, 'cause I am the king of on the fly thinking The second point has been covered many times before. All enemy units are displayed once spotted. There is no individual tracking of what unit sees what. Either it is spotted, to one degree or another, or it isn't. Of course, that doesn't mean you have the ability to hit the enemy unit (LOS, range, etc.). As stated above, we aren't going to make LOS any easier than it is now. Powerful enough as it is. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Maragoudakis Posted March 22, 1999 Share Posted March 22, 1999 How about simply adding a marker/pen feature. If a player clicks on the pen icon, his cursur turns into a little marker/pen. Now the player could scribble notes on the actual map. Officers do have pens,(waterproof pens are ideal), and they do have maps and they do make notes on the maps. In this way a player can scribble anything he desires on his map. Even give him a choice of a few colors and an eraser. I think it would be really neat to note where possible enemy positions might be on my personal map. You could even jot down where you took casualties or anything you deem important. There, no extra help from the game just a little pen to make lines and circles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted March 22, 1999 Share Posted March 22, 1999 Technically impossible. I think you are making up solutions to problems that don't exist. All the information you need is available in a very easy to use, easy to understand, system. There is no need for anything more. In fact, more information is probably harmful for both playability and realism. Trust us Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Maragoudakis Posted March 22, 1999 Share Posted March 22, 1999 Technically impossible, I can understand. I find it hard(but not impossible) to believe though that a virtual pen would affect balance and playability. Admittedly, we haven't yet seen your product so I can't presently judge the planning tools. Looking forward to the beta stage.(or the demo ) On the otherhand if you are looking to parrallel a real time experiance and thus want to simulate all the problems associated with a real time war, (memory,human error), perhaps less tools is better since you already have an inherantly huge planning advantage with a turn based format. [This message has been edited by John Maragoudakis (edited 03-22-99).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted March 22, 1999 Share Posted March 22, 1999 That last paragraph hits the nail right on the 'ol head There are so many unrealistic advantages in the player's favor (though necessary to have a game!) that we don't want to make it any easier. If we did CM would cease to be a game and simulation, instead it would become a map exercise. Yawn! The player that can do more with less information will most likely be the better player, and in war would be the better commander. A game/simulation should allow the player to become so familiar with how things work THROUGH GAMEPLAY that charts and tables aren't needed 90% of the time. This will allow him/her to assess strengths and weaknesses of both sides, come up with a plan, and execute that plan using INTUITION and perhaps even GENIUS. This huge part warfare is something that we want in CM. The person that needs charts and a calculator to win boardgame battles will most likely get his/her ass kicked in CM until they learn the right way to command a force. To win such people are going to have to start thinking like an officer, not a statistician. So far CM is very much on track to achieve this goal. All the information that is needed is in the game at your finger tips. If you want to check out the LOS for each and every unit, each and every turn, you are welcome to do that. But a player can also achieve the same end results without all the checks, if the skill level is there. It is this player, the one who can judge things using intuition, and not the number centric player, that I would put a bet on for kicking some ass Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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