Edwin P. Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 Looking at the date field on the screen and the large rectangular empty box that appears to the left of it (before a player has clicked on a unit or a hex) it seems to me that it would be neat to allow users to create their own news events that are tied to the date that shows on the screen. Example: When the date Dec 15,1941 arrives in the rectangular box a user created news item could appear: December 8, 1941 President Roosevelt’s Speech to the US Congress "Yesterday, December 7,1941 - a date which will live in infamy -- The United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." Each news item text file would be stored in a single folder in SC Directory. Each item text file would be named with a valid SC Date: 19420405.txt Users could easily create and share their own language specific news items and delete ones they did not want to use without affecting the rest of the program. Naturally the news item would vanish if the user clicked anywhere on the map, although it could be recalled by pressing the F1 key. If there is no news item for that date in the News Folder then the box would remain empty. If the news item text file was not in the proper format the box would remain empty. If there was a news item for that date then it would appear in a white text box within the large grey rectangular box at the bottom of the screen. The news text box would vanish if the user clicked anywhere on the screen. I can think of 10+ news events that would be independent of the war in Europe - Nov 1939 Russia declares war on Finland - March 1941 the U.S. Congress passes the Lend-Lease Act - April 1941, the Japanese signed a neutrality treaty with the USSR - July 23 Japan occupied southern Indochina - Dec 1941 Pearl Harbor - June 1942 Battle of Midway - Nov 1943 Tehrān Conference (Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt) - Feb 1945 - Yalta Conference - Death of Roosevelt - A Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima You could even have a button to the right of the news text box for playing related Audio Files. Day of Infamy Speech - US National Archives [ September 22, 2003, 02:56 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzgndr Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 I like the idea of using that blank space for something useful. A rolling game log of all the current event messages would be good, like HOI has, assuming SC2 has the same basic screenshot. Those messages could be updated with a little more historical flavor. Maybe an editable script file for messages could be provided so we can tweak them ourselves? :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJohn Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 A promising idea. I'd like it if the news flash could be written without a date and when the triggering event occurs you'd read, for example, "Yesterday, March 9th, 1942, a day that will Live in Infamy . . .." But in a game that already seems to have memory problems, wouldn't something like this further tax things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt88 Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 What about consequences regarding game play? I like what you're getting at Edwin,but I think the pop-ups should be events with their effects on the game itself,not just informative or flavor adding. I really liked your event-tree idea,this seems like a teaser. Right now if I want see events,I play HOI.If I wanna have a good,well paced,and great game,I play SC. Paradox,Battlefront and Hubert should team up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuniworth Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 This idea is like a blumgerodgeon...its spumliokilack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin P. Posted September 22, 2003 Author Share Posted September 22, 2003 My observations, 1. I too like the idea of events that affect gameplay; however, such a major change to the engine would probably have to wait for SC2. The news item feature I sugguested is simple enough to find its way into a patch and does not need a lot of playtesting (QC) to verify that it works as intended. 2. Adding triggers to the news events makes it more complex to implement as you would have to define the triggering events. When the event occurs the AI looks for a related event. There should not be a memory problem with doing this. Hubert, correct me if I am wrong. The key issue with triggers is that it raises the concept to another level of complexity. 3. Back to Events, might be able to add a few events that effect gameplay using this concept if the events were kept simple; however, this also raises the programming to another level of complexity. Example: Trigger: Germany DOW Switzerland Effect: 50% for Norway and Sweden Join Allies, Customizable News Item announces this if the event occurs. Trigger: Allies DOW Low Countries Effect: News Item that says - The Government of Norway is extremely displeased about Allied actions involving the Low Countries. Newspaper editorials call for Norway to sign a defense treaty with Germany. Then Trigger: Allies DOW Ireland and Low Countries Effect: 50% Independent Norway Joins Axis. Customizable News item announces this if the event occurs. [ September 23, 2003, 08:59 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin P. Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 Just wishing on a star for news events to be included in SC2 as they would remind players of the historical context in which the war was fought. Nine news events that would be independent of the war in Europe: - March 1941, the U.S. Congress passes the Lend-Lease Act - April 1941, the Japanese signed a neutrality treaty with the USSR - July 23 1941, Japan occupied southern Indochina - Dec 1941, Pearl Harbor - June 1942, Battle of Midway - Nov 1943, Tehrān Conference (Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt) (Only if Russia and the UK and the US have not surrendered) - Feb 1945, Yalta Conference (Only if Russia and the UK and the US have not surrendered) - Death of Roosevelt - A Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima (Only 4 in 1941, 1 in 1942, 1 in 1943) [ April 06, 2004, 07:51 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaMonkey Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Come on Edwin, we're making our own new news events. I like to send a little intelligence twist, maybe a take on conditions in the Axis/Allies countries I'm playing, narrate a replay of some of the military, research or other rumors of actions I might take(n) in the email I send to my opponent before he loads the turn. This can all be done in reflection of historical figures, events that actually took place with a "Hollywood" perspective. We debate history in these forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian (the semi-wise) Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 This seems right on target! You don't want it as a pop up of general given input. that where you want to do your AAR report. Everyone loves a good AAR, if it's not to windy, right. That's where you type it, while watching the game, instead of having to toggle. I don't know much code, but you set up an SCemail address (Hubert can do this stuff. I know he can, a series of SC2 AAR addresses), reserve an AAR address for example of the game your going to play. Then while it proceeds, you can, if you want, type in oh, say about fifty words or so onto the screen, and have it be both talk (to the bad guy your playing) and the eager reader. I love this idea, or I completely missed it's point. In which case, I love my idea instead. Brian, the semi wise }}}}}}}signing off smile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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