Telumar
Posts: 2236
Joined: 1/3/2006 From: niflheim Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: ColinWright quote:
ORIGINAL: Telumar +1 I think what most people want to see is a hierarchical OOB with assigning/reassigning units between formations. And volume based supply. Quite a task for Ralph time wise, i know... Yeah. Hierarchical OOB's would be nice. As it is, one winds up with independent combat formations on the same plane as 'support formations' consisting of army artillery, construction units, miscellaneous-brigades-that-actually-moved-around-a-lot, and so on. It's not a crippling problem, but it's also not particularly good simulation. Jarek the Pole once had a lovely idea about specifying what was in all the potential subdivided units. So you could have your panzer division -- and its panzer regiment, its panzergrenadier regiment, etc. Or tailored kampfgruppes. Conversely, task forces could be assembled from components. Like, you could reinforce an infantry regiment with a tank company. Whatever you wanted. That'll keep Ralph busy. Less ambitiously, it would be nice if the subdivision penalty could be adjusted by the designer. In some contexts, it's quite inappropriate. Yes i remember Jarek's idea, was a good one. .. a bit like in WitE now. Agree on the subdivision proficiency penalty. I think it's all already in the wishlist. quote:
I have no problem with any of your suggestions -- in particular, being able to reassign units would be nice -- but in general, I'd add a few caveats. First, the system shouldn't grow so complex and arcane that it's inaccessible to new users. From some of the comments I've seen, it already pushes the envelope in that respect. I got into this because I could sit down and start playing without undue suffering. That aspect needs to be kept. Else we become the secret cell of the twelve players of TOAW. Second, the improvements have to actually be good ones. One of the worst moments in this game's history was when ACOW replaced WGOTY -- and added a whole suite of weapons going back to the Napoleonic era without doing anything to actually allow for the differences in combat in different eras. As (and here I once again risk the wrath of the awful Curtis) several people have found, even if one does have the cannon and infantry types, this game still can't do the American Civil War very well. It irritates me to have weapons that don't actually simulate anything -- since they are essentially 'what if Johnny Reb was fighting in 1943?' Well, he wasn't, and that 'musket squad' in TOAW is a meaningless superfluity in a sense. Third, particularly as more refinements are made, changes have a cost. That is to say, something is lost as well as something gained. Like, the 'new supply rules' may be fine 'n dandy -- but you can't use sea roads with them. Some bars to cheating were imposed -- and wrecked Ben's 'Grand Strategy,' which depended on being able to load ongoing PBEM games into the editor. I tend to like changes that are elegant -- that produce a lot of improvement while adding a minimum of additional complexity. That are actually based on military fact. That address major flaws or holes in the system. I dislike changes that actually move away from valid simulation. That add material that doesn't simulate anything that actually existed. That involve inordinate work and complexity for minimal gain. That leave the fundamental problem untouched. Like, AA has been fiddled with three times now. Until the essential problem -- that AA's primary impact isn't how many planes it shoots down -- is addressed, we really won't get very far. When i first started COW it was very intuitive, you move this unit and this unit, all very accessible. And this it is still. For comparison: When i opened a HPS/PzC game for the first time it's been a nightmare... It took me quite a while until i found out how to move a unit... So which comments do you mean? There have been a lot of questions regarding game options and the new menue. Also note that the tutorial(s) explain GUI things with the old options. Regarding complexity, you're somehow painting it black with your 12 disciples of TOAW. I don't want to play Panzer General.. so a bit complexity is required. Also, look at WitE (again..). This is complex, but you can leave a lot of micromangement to the computer. That's the way it should be. And the quintessence of your post i would say.
< Message edited by Telumar -- 4/28/2011 10:53:30 PM >
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