Mission Briefings

[Michael Dorosh]

Don't know if this has been brought up in this new forum yet or not - will mission briefings now have graphics in them - maps, overlays, photos, other images, and will scenario designers be able to add them in (perhaps even do HTML)?

Ditto "map overlays" in the 3D world?

I used to love MacGowan and Kibler's artwork on the Squad Leader/ASL scenario cards. It kind of set the tone for each game. A neat, consistent look to the mission briefings would be cool too. And, maybe, give something for mod artists to sink their teeth in. If we have Tarkus et al and 1000 different interface mods, well, scenario graphics might be another one.

Who can forget pulling out PAW OF THE TIGER and seeing the German tank commander in his turret on the scenario card? Or the Stuka on BREAKOUT FROM BORISOV? Would love to see something similar possible with briefing screens.

[ August 25, 2005, 06:10 PM: Message edited by: Michael Dorosh ]

[SgtMuhammed]

I'll second that. It would be nice to be able to add a sketch map to give intel to one side without giving it to the other.

[Michael Dorosh]

Would also let the various design groups (Der Kessel, HSDG, etc.) put their "stamp" on the scenario by way of a small logo or something on the briefing page.

[Battlefront.com]

There are various designs on paper about this. What will make it in remains to be seen. This is also an area that could be easily improved over time.

Steve

[Philippe]

And if you aren't already thinking about it, try to add a new section to the briefing called historical outcome, that you only get to read after the end of the battle.

[Bogdan]

Originally posted by Michael Dorosh:

Don't know if this has been brought up in this new forum yet or not - will mission briefings now have graphics in them - maps, overlays, photos, other images...

I was just remembering about the old "Panzer Elite" briefings : the player, before starting his mission, was briefed with a dynamic map, showing main objectives, axis of advance, etc. This "dynamic" aspect might not be very interesting and/or usefull, but there was an interesting aspect about these maps : they were based on the real 3D map (the map player had ingame), via the scenario editor. So, it may be not so difficult to add an accurate map in the briefing as it was automatically generated by the computer.

Another solution would be to upload a map manually by the designer : scans of topo or historical maps could be really great too...

[Michael Dorosh]

Originally posted by Philippe:

And if you aren't already thinking about it, try to add a new section to the briefing called historical outcome, that you only get to read after the end of the battle.

Yes! The designer could even put in tips and tricks or designer's notes there for reading after completion of the scen.

[SgtMuhammed]

Definitly more elegant than requesting that people come back to read the spoiler section of the general briefing.

[BloodyBucket]

The ability to print out/screenshot a topo map of the battle area before starting a game would be great.

[Philippe]

I would like to see each side provided with a schematic rough sketch map of the battlefield that can be called up at any time. This would be a bit like the notes the commander took on the back of an envelope at the briefing a few hours before the battle. It could (and should) contain mistakes, and not have a whole lot of detail.

You don't need this kind of thing on a small map, but on really big maps I would rather have a simple line drawing of the road and river net, prominent buildings and woods, real and imagined fortifications, and pre-game intelligence. And it would most certainly not get updated as the game progressed -- it would be there to consult at all times, mistakes and all.

[Cpl Steiner]

This is definitely an area for improvement over CMx1. Having to provide text files to import into the scenario designer, in the correct order etc., definitely lacks polish and looks like an afterthought.

I would like the Scenario Designer to be a proper windows tool that builds briefings that follow the same template.

Assuming the setting for the first game is WWII, the Scenario Designer could include a sketch map (generated from the map designer) with graphics that can be added for pen-written symbols (like in "Operation Flashpoint"), a black and white action photo generated from the in-game graphics (would be better than archive photos in my opinion, as it would be more consistent between scenarios and you could stage your own photo), and text describing set briefing sections (again for consistency between scenarios).

[Zalgiris 1410]

A few good ideas here, especially IMO the concept of having somekind of after battle briefing or an historical outcomes page as Philippe suggested.

[a-lamer]

Definetly something devs should look into. This is small feature, but ever so important in creating mood and feeling of being there. Hopefully we have a better briefing than in CMx1

[Kilroy Lurking]

Hi!

It would be nice if briefing map (printable!) could be auto-generated (from the game map) as a a line drawing with contours and showing salient landmarks. Even better would be a random accuracey factor to simulate degrees of intel.

Or is this asking way to much?

David

[Philippe]

For Quick Battles I suppose it would be useful to have some sort of crude map. But what does or does not go onto a briefing map should really be at the whim of the scenario designer.