tiborhead Posted July 10, 2001 Share Posted July 10, 2001 Hey there. I'm pretty good at designing scenarios, but I suck at operations. My question is this. Is there any kind of formula when deciding the dimentions of the map? Like if I want a op to be, let's say, 9 turns long, night every 5th battle, NML of 400 meters, and starting force size of roughly a company. This is just a quick example, not really what I have in mind, but it should give you an idea of what I'm asking. My ops either end up ending too quickly, or not quickly enough. Any help would be.... well, helpful. BTW please ignore any spelling, punctuation, or gramatical errors in this post as I'm just getting off work and am in a hurry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiborhead Posted July 13, 2001 Author Share Posted July 13, 2001 BUMP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 Hi, tiborhead. I've designed a number of operations in the past, and I don't think that you can use a simple formula like this to calculate the right map size. Problem is that operations contain way too many variables about how they will play out, and sometimes the very same operation can be a great experience for the player, sometimes it can end too quickly or too unspectacular. Part of the "problem" is that as a scenario designer, you have relatively little influence on battles 2+ and I found that only extensive playtesting can help you to balance operations (and that includes map size, too). The only hint I could give would be to use historical front widths for units in attack and defense as a guideline, e.g. platoon 220 to 550 yards, company 440 to 1100 yards, battalion 880 to 2200 yards. Then the map should by probably at least twice as long as it is wide to allow for some manuevers, but this again depends on the type of ops (destroy ops don't really need to move at all) and if there are fortifications, mines etc. Generally, I find it good to design ops maps rather too small than too big. With too big maps, I found that you often tend to add more and more forces to both sides to balance the game, leaving the whole thing almost unplayable, whereas small maps can be easier balanced by "less is more". Hope this helps somewhat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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