sogard Posted September 25, 2002 Share Posted September 25, 2002 An exchange of emails will Bill Macon got me to thinking about HOW we play STRATEGIC COMMAND (SC) might very well affect how we react to various issues in the game. All my games are now either pbem or hotseat. I suspect that if I was playing SC solo; I might have less of a problem with the low Western Allied production or unlimited Air Fleets or cashing in units for MPPs and building different units. Somehow, when a real person is getting a benefit or a terribly unrealistic advantage, it just rubs me wrong more. When Hubert gets tcp/ip implemented, I suspect that this might be even more noticeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck_para Posted September 25, 2002 Share Posted September 25, 2002 I still play a lot of solo games, due to lack of oponents. I am in one PBEM game now. I have not played hotseat but am looking forward to that and TCP/IP for quicker games than PBEM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzgndr Posted September 25, 2002 Share Posted September 25, 2002 Just as interesting as HOW people play is WHAT they play. Since Hubert has defined his default game settings that people should be using for optimum play balance (still being verified via the ongoing PBEM challenge), it would be interesting to know how much of an unbalancing effect alternate game settings actually create. And how about the later-year scenarios, are they any better? In my first PBEM game as Allies (prior to Hubert's challenge), Immer Etwas and I decided to not use the Free French option and keep US entry historical, since our impression was that those selections were appropriate. However, they both provide a decided disadvantage for the Allies. I ended up getting my butt kicked in Russia and we ended the game around Oct 42 after Moscow got overrun and the rest of my defensive line was in shambles. Through it all, we didn't see any outrageous tech advances or force pool discrepancies, but were playing with a house rule of 3 points max in any research area so perhaps that helped. Obviously, if you're playing a game that's not balanced because of the options you've selected and you observe extreme results, it may not necessarily be a game problem that needs fixing. Luck currently plays a huge role with some rapid research advances which will hopefully be resolved soon, but the rest of the game still plays fairly well. One of these days it would be nice to have some sort of value assigned to each game option so you have some idea of what to expect. Then players can choose how to deviate from the default settings and still maintain play balance. Like making US entry historic (2?) may require making Italy (1?) and axis minor entries (1?) historic to even things out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzgndr Posted September 25, 2002 Share Posted September 25, 2002 My friend has held off loading the patch because he isn't sure that he wants to upgrade to v1.04 (and I had no intention of doing so, either--we were both happy with v1.02, except for the pbem crash problem). Here's something else to consider from a recent post over on the support forum. WHAT VERSION are people playing? It's kinda difficult to debate ideas for improving the game and play balance issues if comments are based on some old version of the game. There ought to be a rule ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicKhan Posted September 25, 2002 Share Posted September 25, 2002 The opponent i currently play by Email just surrendered as the allies in Oct. 42. Germany invaded Russia the turn after "Russia Prepares for War". While the Italians were busy Making the Med an Italian Lake. Greece, Yugo, Spain, Portugal, Vichy, Egypt, Iraq all eventual Italian Conquests. Tech wise the Axis powers Were doing Great, 10 scientists for Germany, 8 for Italy working round the clock. I let the Allies land in France, Then pounded them unmercifully, unleashed the Navy into the Atlantic, all the while Grinding away in the East with level 13 tanks, Infantry and Rockets. 7 German HQ's and all Italian HQ. The Allled player fought himself unable to reinforce exsisting formations as quickly as the axis. But more impotantly unable to buy new units. After a while as the Axis, i just stopped buying units for Germany. It all seems like a Axis Dream Scenario. We have switched sides, with 1 change, USA random instead of Historical. The rest Random. We agree that the Axis are overpowered. We are planing some House Rules to Play with, Like Boardgames have. The Aggessor gets loot, The Liberator gets Squat. Maybe some loot for the Liberator could be implemented. And a Mulberry type Unit for the Allies to place a port on some Atlantic coastal area. Still a nice Game to play if you are the Axis, and feeling depressed. Or the Allies and what to be Humbled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts