Jump to content

Sci-Fi Combat Mission Theme (Starship Troopers, Space Lobsters, MechWarrior, Ogre...) VOTE


Recommended Posts

Was it Dr. Who that uncovered the Reptilian Overlord plot? (copied from the Bundle thread)

Science Fiction Combat Mission should be a fan based micro DLC.  

  1. Ask the fans a series of loaded questions of what they would like to see in a SF Combat Mission Theme (Starship Troopers, Space Lobsters, MechWarrior, Ogre...).   Maybe even something like Starship Troopers with mechs and dropships vs the Space Lobsters in Ogres.
  2. Let the fans decide what units they would most want.
  3. The fans could provide the stats of the units, terrain graphics, some of the unit graphics (we have some very talented fans).  
  4. Battlefront could contract out the last of the graphics creation.
  5. Watch the sales pour in on Steam.

It would be a win-win for a paid DLC module.  I'd pay $39.95 for that! You have to admit, something like that would go over like gangbusters on Steam. Nothing like it is available that mixes genres. 

If you have a favorite Science Fiction trope that you would like to see a Combat Mission DLC and/or Mod for please upvote the post with your favorite(s).  I'll get 'er started:

Edited by Probus
Add steps...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, IanL said:

LOL yep which is why my answer would be none of the above. Sorry.

Every minute spent on that sci-fi stuff would be a minute they could not devote to WW2 or Modern titles or engine work. I want more content way more than any sci-fi stuff.

I agree with you Ian, that's why I suggested it be a fan based mod, see step 3.  I don't want Battlefront distracted from Early WWII or Taiwan vs China or even CMIII.  Let the fan's hand them the content and they can package it up and reap the profits on Steam.

Edited by Probus
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suspect some pushback from purists will occur :)

Which was also me at one point. I'll use Total War as an example. My first Total War game was Med 2. I absolutely wore the finish off that game. Thousands of hours over the years, and most of it modded, like Stainless Steel which was the one I liked best. But I was also aware of the Third Age mod, which seemed wickedly popular.  It's a Middle Earth/ Lord of the Rings style conversion. I didn't play it, but did note how popular it was.

I considered myself a historical player, dismissing these fantasy type approaches. I only had interest in versions which adhered to historical reality. Then Warhammer happened. Again, I noted it's popularity and glowing reviews, but passed on it, as it wasn't historical, and therefore not appealing to me. Then.... Warhammer 2 happened. Immensely popular, fantastic critical reviews. So I decided what the hell, I'll give it a go and see what all the fuss is about.

And I absolutely loved it. It became my favorite Total War title of them all, which is saying something considering how highly I rate the series. It soon became evident to me why the fantasy based war game worked so well. It worked because it was not tethered so strictly to history. Designers are hamstrung in a sense when doing historical war games. The Prussians are the Prussians, and the French are the French, and how much different is one from the other really? OK, the Prussian infantry's slightly better, or France has better homelands, but the difference from one faction to another is slight. There's not much of a shift when you choose one over another.

But Warhammer 2 opened my eyes. Here was the sublime Total War formula re-imagined. Suddenly the designers were not constrained by the history and were free to imagine and create a diverse and compelling game, where the factions are wildly unique. Each and every faction gives a singular experience and the replay value is off the charts, especially compared to historical titles. So yeah, I support this idea, I've seen it work, and know that if creative people are given free license to re-imagine a proven standard, they can craft a fantastic experience, one that breaks free of the inherent constraints of replicating history.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't Steven say in an interview that he'd like to make a science fiction game? Maybe one day we'll see a game with those robots from films of the '50s and '60s and human characters dressed like in Moonbase Alpha, Flash Gordon and other tv-shows that @Battlefront.com Steven used to enjoy as a little boy.

Edited by BornGinger
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given the very limited resources of BFC i most certainly hope they will never waste any time on a 'toy' like this....

Let other companies make stuff like that...BFC should continue to produce amazingly detailed and realistic historical-... and likely would-be scenarios for us to play...

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are tempting me to try something 'a bit barking' in the editor again.  :P

MV5BYzY5OGYzZjEtYmJmMi00MjhkLWFiZjktZTQw

How is the moon handled by the CM skybox? 

Would it be possible to replace it with the earth, possibly with a functioning terminator?

Would it be possible to drop CM WWII flags, faction names ,uniforms, weapons & voice files straight into CM:BS, CM:CW or CM:SF2 depending on when exactly it was set?

I think this one might actually be doable by the fans.....It's not that much madder than 'H&E'.

But it sure would be fun!  :D

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Glubokii Boy said:

Given the very limited resources of BFC i most certainly hope they will never waste any time on a 'toy' like this....

Read the OP.  This is fan based.  BFC would only be asked to get involved if there is something the fan's can't do and it would be minimal so they can concentrate on the historical DLC and CMIII.

26 minutes ago, Glubokii Boy said:

Let other companies make stuff like that...BFC should continue to produce amazingly detailed and realistic historical-... and likely would-be scenarios for us to play...

I'm guessing you really hated Cold War, CMSF2 and Black Sea since they are not strictly historical?  I would like to see the Combat Mission engine applied to any game genre's that can fit it since, in my opinion, Combat Mission is one of the best wargaming engines on the market.

 

This thread is for fun and stretching your imagination.  Historical only Grognards need not get worried or feel threatened.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

I'm no expert, but from what I've seen:

How is the moon handled by the CM skybox? 

I've seen fan based skyboxes. 

 

Would it be possible to replace it with the earth, possibly with a functioning terminator?

Ditto.  Should be the same as above.

Would it be possible to drop CM WWII flags, faction names ,uniforms, weapons & voice files straight into CM:BS, CM:CW or CM:SF2 depending on when exactly it was set?

I've seen it done with scenario tags.  Or something very similar.  Similar to [snow] or [polish] you could use [moon], [spaceLobsters] or [2050s].

 

26 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

I think this one might actually be doable by the fans.....It's not that much madder than 'H&E'.

But it sure would be fun!  :D

It would be fun, both to build and to play.  I'd put it right up there with an Arab-Israeli Conflict or Early WWII.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've just been messing with a very large swastika shaped structure in CM:SF2.....Moon MOUT for the use of.  ;)

Ditched the initial version as would have been a pig to make it interconnect properly and it didn't look sufficiently 'moon-basey'.....But it could definitely be done with a bit of planning & forethought.....CM:SF2 is probably the best best for something this mad, Uncons would greatly add to the fun..

 

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Probus said:

 

I'm guessing you really hated Cold War, CMSF2 and Black Sea since they are not strictly historical?  

 

 

1 hour ago, Glubokii Boy said:

 

BFC should continue to produce amazingly detailed and realistic historical-... and likely would-be scenarios for us to play...

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spoilsport here. I know next to nothing about the Ogre franchise but just looking at those AFVs, I think of some of the problems even the Maus would have had. Namely they would be unable to cross most bridges. Some of the bigger ones look like they'd be unable to use most roads, and if they did, they'd tear them up for every vehicle behind them. Do they fire some sort of laser canon? Are they nuclear powered? What's with the big tower with the ball on top? Is that to let everyone know here I am? The maintenance on those things must be a nightmare. Imagine breaking track. They also seem by design to make an air targeting easier. Are all the extra guns pointing up for AA?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Vergeltungswaffe said:

I've always wanted big stompy robots (ie Battletech) in the CM engine...

As a kid I found those MechWarrior 3 (1999) robots were pretty cool. They still look cool for sure. But later I began wondering how fragile and high-maintenance a thing on legs would be compared to a tracked vehicle. Also why some of these robots have complicated hinged arms, whilst the weapons seem to work just as well when fixed to the torso. Such questions are the downside of growing up I suppose ;)

I also liked the Battle Isle 2 (1994) units, which were futuristic though seemingly also inspired on real-world hardware:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePt782WFiJM

The Dune 2 (1992) Mentat unit artwork was pretty cool as well. With thick track pads and heavy armor.

http://sulfurzona.com/images/dune/install.gif

I also have this Warhammer 2004 catalogue, which has some interesting Warhammer 40.000 units. But I am not fond of the Space Marine unit design and all the tank designs.  

Edited by Kevin2k
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Sequoia said:

Spoilsport here. I know next to nothing about the Ogre franchise but just looking at those AFVs, I think of some of the problems even the Maus would have had. Namely they would be unable to cross most bridges. Some of the bigger ones look like they'd be unable to use most roads, and if they did, they'd tear them up for every vehicle behind them. Do they fire some sort of laser canon? Are they nuclear powered? What's with the big tower with the ball on top? Is that to let everyone know here I am? The maintenance on those things must be a nightmare. Imagine breaking track. They also seem by design to make an air targeting easier. Are all the extra guns pointing up for AA?

OGREs sneer at such puny concepts as "bridges" and "roads". They churn across the terrain, oblivious to what is ground beneath their mighty tracks... :)

The "vehicles behind" (if there even are any) are GEV, and don't mind a bit of track print.

Laser cannon? Some of them, aye.

Nuclear powered? Check.

The rest... well, OGRE's universe isn't entirely simulationist... :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogre_(board_game)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

However it is owned by the (notoriously litigous) Steve Jackson Games IIRC.  ;)

'Tis true. But they might be open to a commercial partnership if someone wanted to pay them a share of sales of an OGRE-universe computer game of the quality of CW. Just don't go a-pirating! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heinlein's Starship Troopers wouldn't work without nukes, or underground combat. Verhoeven one would work, and I think Slitherine has the rights to it.

Virtually any well-thought-out table-top tactics game would fit well. Star Wars is literally WW2 in space, and that would sell well.

Something like Stargate, XCom or Man in High Castle could already use a lot of the existing CM assets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...