Hawk Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Very good! Fun to read the same AAR from a different point of view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich12545 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Question, on random maps will there be wrapping east to west and/or north to south? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawk Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 Question, on random maps will there be wrapping east to west and/or north to south? Yes. Brit said in the "Map sizes" thread: 'Wrapping is optional. You can specify "no wrap", "left-right wrap", "top-bottom wrap", or "left-right + top-bottom wrap".' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 The last part, Part 3, has been posted! [ Empires of Steel Developer Blogfront ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumrox Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Thanks. I'm licking my chops at the chance to push my brother's-in-law around the map. Any chance the video of the AAR game will be posted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Thanks. I'm licking my chops at the chance to push my brother's-in-law around the map. Any chance the video of the AAR game will be posted? Yes, just rolling it out right now actually. Check www.youtube.com/battlefrontcom now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Balaban Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Kool Just watched the first 3 min Dinner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRO,JD Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Game looks cool. I'll admit I lost some faith in y'all when another computer game company came out with a game I'd been eyeing for a while, but after playing that game for a couple of weeks, it didn't grab me. So I'm hankering for a good game and this looks like it might be it! One question about the random maps -- is it possible to have a mixed map of continents and islands? I mean, look at the US in WWII -- one theater was a continental battle, the other was a naval island-hopping campaign. It would be cool not to have the random maps be just islands/archipelagos or just continents -- instead have a mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wengart Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 BRO,JD, that other game wouldn't happen to be Hearts of Iron 3, would it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 One question about the random maps -- is it possible to have a mixed map of continents and islands? I mean, look at the US in WWII -- one theater was a continental battle, the other was a naval island-hopping campaign. It would be cool not to have the random maps be just islands/archipelagos or just continents -- instead have a mix. The random map generator now has five settings: sparse islands (small islands, lots of water), small islands, medium islands, large islands, and continents. All of the maps have a variety of island sizes, but the setting determines the largest island-size on that map (e.g. the "medium islands" setting creates small and medium islands, but no large islands or continents). I have thought about giving users more control over the random-map settings (like slider-bars to determine the mix of different island types), but haven't implemented that. I also want random-maps to have a certain amount of uniformity to them because I don't want one player to have a big advantage simply because he happened to start near a large, valuable continent while another player starts out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Here's a few random maps on a 1600x1600 map. You can see a variety of island sizes on the "continents" map, but it's not really comparable to a Pacific island-hopping campaign. http://www.empiresofsteel.com/assets/images/Screenshot-RandomMapIslands2.png It's also possible for people to create and upload their own custom-created maps to the server. Maybe a good mix of large and small islands could work well in someone's custom-created maps, where the creator can be careful about not giving any players a big advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich12545 Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 I'm a big fan of random maps. I'm also wondering if the game will ship with historical scenarios. And will it be possible to add units from different times, like the civil war? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 I'm a big fan of random maps. I'm also wondering if the game will ship with historical scenarios. And will it be possible to add units from different times, like the civil war? No, no historical scenarios. There are currently no images for other historical periods. The unit images/animations are stored in directories, and the format is not locked-down. So, it's possible to add additional units; but the uploading/downloading is not automated, like it is for maps, scenarios, and rules. It would be nice in the future to add features so that artists can upload their own units to the game, and people can download them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meh Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Great AARs! Though the video was a bit confusing to get a good grasp. Any plans to release other goodies before beta? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich12545 Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 I just read the review that's on the BFC front page. It talks about the tech tree and made me wonder if this will be another game where battles will be decided by tech advancement. Where getting one tech level ahead or behind will make all the difference in the game. I hope you've developed whatever that will avoid that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 I just read the review that's on the BFC front page. It talks about the tech tree and made me wonder if this will be another game where battles will be decided by tech advancement. Where getting one tech level ahead or behind will make all the difference in the game. I hope you've developed whatever that will avoid that. The tech-levels do help, but one tech level isn't going to determine the game. In the case of tanks, a better technology tank fights about 25-30% better than the previous version. This means that a player with 13 [Class 2 Tanks] is roughly as powerful as another player with 10 [Class 3 Tanks]. A player who is behind one-technology level in all technologies can compensate for the power difference with more cities or other advantages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Research is important by and large (as it is in the real world, look at the current global military situation), but by no means decisive 100% of the time. That would indicate a game that is way too one-dimensional and has little replay value. I don't think you'll find even one such game here at Battlefront One good example of this is actually the AAR posted on the Developer Blogfront. I mention in the conclusion of the last part that research played a very limited role overall, since the game was over before any decisive developments had taken place. And unless the research levels are HUGELY different you'll find that they make relatively little difference, certainly less than many of the other deciding factors (resources, production, diplomacy, and even pure tactics) that you need to get right in order to "win". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 PS. Heh, cross-posted with Brit... looks like we essentially said the same thing though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich12545 Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Ok, that all sounds pretty good. And probably the larger the map the more tech differences will matter. I was wondering about one other thing. How easy will it be to set up operational level battles/scenarios? And will those battles be set up without resources and tech advances? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I was wondering about one other thing. How easy will it be to set up operational level battles/scenarios? Are you asking how easy it is to setup scenarios inside the map-editor? It's pretty easy to do that. And will those battles be set up without resources and tech advances? The scenario-editor let's you set control of resources on the map, and the initial resource pools for each player. For example, you can setup one player with initial resource reserves of 1000 oil, 500 food, 200 Iron, and $1000 money, and something completely different for another player. The scenario editor also let's you setup the technologies owned by each player. So, if you wanted to, you could give one player a lot of advanced technologies, and another player none at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik81 Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 The AAR, the Review, etc. make it "seem" like this game is ready to go. However, it obviously isn't or you would release it (show me the money). Do you have any estimates of when? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich12545 Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 The open beta should be out in a week or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meh Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 I just wanted to know that we're planning on having the open-beta next month. It should start sometime around September 13-15. Beta today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Beta today? Yes, we're hoping to have it out tonight. [Correction: Looks like things will be delayed a few days. Sorry. ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumrox Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Great news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martok Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Yes, we're hoping to have it out tonight. Sweet. I've already registered my email address, so I'll be looking forward to my notification. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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