carlo.remino
Posts: 23
Joined: 8/22/2007 Status: offline
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Capn, Your positive attitude encourages me to continue, so today I've performed an intense brainstorming session. "1. I really like this one. More of a reverse LOS/LOF. Perhaps an option right click and select a square and get a list of weapons that "could" fire on the location." The numeric map overlay gives the overall field of fire, while the right click option shows the information concerning the square. The latter is a very useful source of information. I think it should give the number of weapons (not units, for taking into account the posture), accuracy (or better, the mean chance of hitting targets in the square, if available) and the rate of fire (if of concern). There should be two number for each data: one for the actual value, the other for the best one (for example, no. of weapons that can hit the target given the actual conditions / no. of weapons that could hit the target if all the conditions were at the best). A lot of data, I agree, but I think that, in general, each information should not only inform about a specific issue (LOS, ammo, fatigue, morale, SOP, ...), but also provide insight into the unit's/formation's condition. This because the decisional process is a complex task that requires a lot of different information, so for the player getting most of them together in a concise and effective way is not an option, but a need. A player should notice that something is going wrong mainly by an analysis of the battle (not only its outcome but, better, its expected outcome), rather than scrolling UDPs and cycling through the information displays. For example, if 20 platforms are in range for hitting a target, but only a few of them can fire at it with a poor chance of hit, the player could realize that there is a problem that needs attention (posture, ammo, morale, fatigue, rules of engagement, ...). "2. I sorta understand this one. You are looking to see where units will be in the future based on the path they are following. Would this replace the preview move? I think we dumped preview in the new game but this would be a replacement of sorts. Would need to be unit selectable or by HQ to see groups in motion. Coupled with item 4 this could be a cool tool." The preview move is a useful tool, but it shoul be more flexible (pause, rewind, number of units observed in preview mode), last more turns, and give more information (showing a dynamic overlay of LOS, spottable range or field of fire). A player should be allowed to pause it and change the waypoints "on the fly", and see immediately the effect of each change. Yes, a challenging task for the programmers, but a very powerful planning tool for the players. New inputs: 5. A warning overlay Units in trouble are highlighted. A unit is "in trouble" when ammo, morale or fatigue is below the threshold value set by the player, or it is out of the command range. 6. More than 3 waypoints 7. A SOP overlay 8. An incremental overlay For displaying the increase/decrease of ammo, morale and fatigue occured during the last turn. 9. An entry list for the vehicles database 10. SOP with conditional statements («If … then …») For example: - If unit/formation XX retreat, then retreat (or keep relative position) - If enemy tank, then retreat - If hit chance below 20%, then hold fire - … Do you need more imputs ? "On the play side have you played the White Star/Red Star Scenarios one of testers made? A good beating in those." I'll play them, sure ! Steel Rat
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