Game suggestions

[Big Al]

A couple game suggestions that might be options in the game or in the editor. I do not know of any game that has these features out there and because of the SC2 Engine these are able to be done.

#1 port suppression: Just like in SC2G there are ship icons to where you can supress a port for supply. I was thinking about this and really it might be done to any port without scripting each one. Either you can get ships through or you can't. You could also add weather to lowering port suppression just like the few critical days of D-Day 1944. But this depends on scale. Could be an option or in the editor

#2 City supply for surrounded units. If Warsaw has a german unit in there and there are no other hexes around it that are german then there those units should not be able to refill with strength points. Since we have supply sources now it should be based on range to those supply sources, HQ, or a port in supply. It could simply reduce the city by 2 every turn.

#3 Option to have planes also fly in range @ 1/2 strength capacity instead of completely grounding them.

#4 Have a Max button when building a unit so you can place all the techs with one click or a max button for each tech for that unit. Or at the very least when you buy a unit for the turn it holds the previous tech levels you set so if you buy more than one its just 1 click.

[Syagrius]

Also representing armor into armoured corps is unrealistic; tanks werent used into formations bigger than battalions or a regiment at the best (The Royal Tank Regiment as an exemple). When I saw that pic with British Infantry Corps along 3 "Armored Corps" of Mark 1 tanks I was thinking we have a little problem there. I realize however that the scale of the game is at the corps level and that an easy way to represent tanks in the game can be problematic.

[Bill101]

Hi Syagrius

I think the screenshot you're referring to might be from one of the mini-campaigns, as the scale varies from scenario to scenario and in those where you've seen more than one Tank, a Tank unit won't represent a Corps but either a Battalion or a Brigade.

Bill

[SeaMonkey]

As I stated, not a big fan of WW1, but allowing for these new feature incorporations, wouldn't it be a good idea to update the old SC1 European original with this edition.

I'd imagine that sales would likely pay for the additional time needed for the development, and either Bill(101 or pzgndr), I'm sure, would be the proper candidate for the creator of such a scenario. The map is already there with some minor tweaks it could be our old European Theater, or ATR with the SC twist.

I for one will vote with my money, but if you want me to buy, I'll need the WW2 theater, how about Nupremal or Big Al, what say you?

[Syagrius]

Hi Syagrius

I think the screenshot you're referring to might be from one of the mini-campaigns, as the scale varies from scenario to scenario and in those where you've seen more than one Tank, a Tank unit won't represent a Corps but either a Battalion or a Brigade.

Bill

Oh ok I see, sorry I didnt know. So how in the big campaign will the tank be represented?

[Bill101]

That's ok. It's honestly too early to say in the big campaign, because we need to balance out giving players the opportunity to develop strategies that are slightly different from those historically pursued, with what was historically possible. We shall see!

[Big Al]

I will be converting my mod to the 8 powers of WWI. I am play testing the base game now for Hubert and company. I actually just finished a moderate improvement to my mod just after the WWI came out. I followed some of the suggestions given but it isnt up yet for download. AI vs AI tests are needed. I got 2 PCs. The slower one I run the AI vs AI tests to make sure their scripts are running. The faster PC Im testing the WWI game. Hubert also has to adjust the new game to import the SC2G mods correctly so Nup and I dont have to spend tons of hours adjusting them.

I am not a big fan of WWI because its slow and boring but with the ships, planes, and tanks all included with this engine.... I find it fun. Well worth the buy. The guys did an excellent improvement on the engine taking suggestions and seeing what the buyers want. SC2 is closer to being the end all be all game for WWI and WWII. Like Civilization or Galactic Civ which are #1 in their respective categories.

I am playing the central powers 1st and I am having a blast. I am finding it challenging. But I am not a genius at this just creative.

[SeaMonkey]

If you're converting, Big Al, then I'm, buying!

[Snowstorm]

Here's an idea:

Now that we have a WWI version of the game in developement, how about creating a campaign that begins with WWI, but continues into WWII? Seems like a doable what-if scenario.

:cool:

[Big Al]

That would be unbelieveably difficult. ADG made Days of Decision to link with World in Flames and it never works right. By the time you get to WW2 the winner is already decided.

[Peter Palchinsky]

Beta testers: WWI is a very interesting topic to me, so I'm jealous of you; and hats off to a wonderful series I've been playing since SC1. Anyway, since battles/wars are typically reported by historians in terms of casualties suffered, would it be possible to add a feature under the Report tracker that keeps tally of the total strength points suffered by each nation according to unit type (this would be in addition to the report on total units destroyed), and perhaps chart it too (as is done for convoys)? I believe this would add a flavor deserving of this titanic struggle. Just my two cents.

[SeaMonkey]

I've been thinking about what would be the final straw that would break my back and I would actually buy this SC WW1.

Now since I don't do WW1 and as a matter of fact, level bombers were used quite often to bomb naval vessels in WW2, with devastating effects I might add. And now that naval vessels will be able to upgrade anti-air, how about that final research slot in the Bomber unit be used for naval warfare?:cool:

[abukede]

I agree with Al.

[Big Al]

Brute Force 1939 - Conversion is 1/3 done for SC2WWI. I added some more scripts for game variance, nothing that seriously impacts whats up for SC2GC.

Left to do:

populate the maps with units

set country specifications

convert scripts

I am very excited to test my AI scripts with the improved AI in the WWI engine. There were some issues in SC2GC I addressed and Hubert improved. BTW one issue I have a bug with many other companies is the usability of a game. I have to say Hubert has improved the interface really well over the last years. The game is a 1 screen game now with all the buttons you need on the right side. Any button you press will bring you into its sub-menu which is exactly what you want. I would say you can play this game without fully reading the instructions and learning. Its intuitive which is = well designed product. Now if it could only babysit my kid while I played.

I hope Nup will do the same for his mod. SC2WWI will is an excellent product and for its price you will get WWI and WWII on 2 scales.

[CSS]

My 2 bits- We need sea ares VS sea hexes, with randomness to find enamy ships

[SeaMonkey]

How about our deselect feature for units that still have APs to reselect later and finish their move? Hubert, Bill?

[Big Al]

Brute Force 1939 - Progressing as planned. Looooots of work. Should be an improvement over global.

I am populating the countries and filling in unit names, I think I have over 1000 UGH!.

Map is done. Im excited to have 8 major powers. Thinking of some new features to add to the game.

[Big Al]

Ok I took the whole day and I am 90% close to finishing it. All I have to do is convert the scripts because the text and country IDs are a little different. 8 major powers look awesome.

[John DiFool the 2nd]

That would be unbelieveably difficult. ADG made Days of Decision to link with World in Flames and it never works right. By the time you get to WW2 the winner is already decided.

Elaborate. I know Totaler Krieg has "Dice of Decision" which basically rolls up a hypothetical setup to WWII, and that can be unbalancing, but if the players are making the decisions...? As the German player I'd love the chance to get an early start on Plan Z.

[Big Al]

Dicing the decisions is different than planning it.

Hindsight is 20/20 and if you can plan WW2 how on earth can balance it? They have never been able to do it. They came out with 3 versions of the game. I'll give you a bunch of things that will through off the game.

Russia takes Manchuria

Germany doesnt take Chec

Germany doesnt align Rom/Hun/Bul

Italy loses Libya

French stack Maginot to coast or worse convinse Neth/Bel to stack it in front of their country

Allies bring Bel/Neth on their side before WW2 starts

No Soviet/German pact

The list goes on. If you did it for SC2 I think "dice of decision" would be much more interesting. Or you keep it simple with choices. With choices it would be a complicated system to design but if you limit what can change with a give and take then it might work. Players give up something somewhere for something else and its limited but not throwing off the balance.

This scenario would have to be completely hypthetical ignoring all the real reasons of things that happened. Like Turkey didnt want to get involved in WW2 at all for example. It should also be a country and can't target to come on your side because its a game breaker. Germans line up on the Causcaus for a 1941 barb. Game over!

[VonBrecht]

I'll start by saying that while I don't write in the forum, I have bought and played many hours of every game since SC1. Unlike many here, I have been looking forward to a WWI game. While the battles were static there is much broader room for diplomacy in this era. There should scripts reflecting the nature of warfare at this time including things like support for territorial concessions or armistice with specific countries that don't offer a complete victory but accomplish some of your objectives and separate peace with major powers.

There were no good guys or bad guys per se in this war and things could have gone very differently. If Germany didn't invade Belgium, Britain would have probably declared war anyway and had plans to invade Belgium but what would that have done to internal moral or US participation. What is Germany decided to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare at the cost of a stronger Britain but potentially longer US neutrality?

This should be about options as much as military and I'm not talking about a % chance something happens. Let the player decide and live with the consequences.

[Bill101]

Good points von Brecht and some ideas like you outline are already being tested out by the beta team.

[Ludi1867]

I would like to endorse VonBrecht’s general point and suggest that many ‘western’ views of the First World War have a rather distorted perspective on the war – there were significantly greater diplomatic aspects in the Great War than is often realized, and much of this occurred in the eastern and Balkan areas of the war. Any understanding of the war that suggests that the war was only “slow and boring” is almost certainly excessively coloured by the western front experience, which certainly managed to achieve a snail like pace for far too many years. But a war of movement was more the case than a static front in the east, and the remarkable shifts of fortune and unexpected country entries in the Balkans and Middle East were anything but slow and boring – they were just a long way from the western front. In fact, the great challenge of a WW I game is going to be encompassing not only the grinding attrition of the western front but the occasionally rapid movement found in the east. Earlier game engines have tried some innovative command point options, but there were no real connections to the many diplomatic actions that often either completely or dramatically affected operational actions (VonBrecht has mentioned some of the most critical diplomatic options in the west, but the entry of Turkey, the entry of Romania, even the Austro-Hungarian versus Serbian opening to the war – dramatically affected by incredibly incompetent coordination between the German and Austro-Hungarian High Command – all make potential diplomatic decision points for this game). So it is good to hear from Bill101 that there is some recognition of the challenge – I am REALLY hoping that there is a lot of the remarkably varied diplomatic activity that took place in this very complex war available to players, so that those who come to the war with a ‘slow and boring’ perspective are enlightened a bit. Now before I am labelled as a complete ‘Easterner’, I would also like to suggest that the very real costs of operating along distant lines of communication – as David Lloyd George frequently tried to recommend – are captured properly. As the old saying goes, amateurs discuss strategy, while professionals argue about logistics – and logistics were a very real constraint on many of Lloyd George’s enthusiasms.

[lettowvorbeck]

Ludi1867,

I am an eastern/middle east/balkans guy, too. I just finished a new book about the Berlin to Bagdad railway and the German plans to launch an anti-Entente Jihad in Libya, Sudan, Arabia, Afghanistan, Persia, etc. They invested a huge amount of money for little historical result, but I hope the option is in the game. The Sussumi tribesmen actually launched a fairly serious attack on Egypt from the west.

[xwormwood]

Don't worry, gentlemen, this game will rock.

Be it in the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire, Lybia, Morrocco, Russia, France, Italy, in the Naval war - it's already (even though still in the beta phase) a hell of a game.

And it is a unique WW1 game too, and not a WW2 game disguised as WW1 game.