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Beeblebrox -> RE: Campaign Style? (2/6/2007 11:28:16 PM)
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"More Slots" - A common enough cry from the CC Community, but be careful you may get what you ask for... and a note of caution:
How many slots is enough? Consider this very carefully. If you use the current game model, then there is I believe a limit beyond which the quality of the game will actually degrade. Why? The Human Condition. For example, the USMC uses the rule of 3, because that has been evaluated to be the OPTIMUM number of "things" that an individual can control effectively. More than that, and performance starts to degrade.
So the consequence of this is that if there are too many things to control, your abilities to stay in control will be seriously compromised, and I think that would become a big turn off for this kind of game player. Just too much to do. Where's the 'fun' in that?
But, there is no doubting the appeal of the prospect of being able to play with more Teams and Units, so the question is more about how the game can deliver this, and that I believe would mean some changes to the game engine. As it happens, we have been and are looking into this with future production(s), so you may yet get what you ask for!
The real life solution to this issue is to delegate. It appears superficially to be a simple concept, but I think that to make it work in a game like this is not going to be so easy. The road to disaster is paved with good intentions, but that should only caution us against ill-considered production, not prevent us from trying! (which we have every intention of doing). Assuming we can find the resourcing needed for such an ambitious enterprise, we intend to crack open a few surprises for you. It has my support...
On the subject of the 'Strategic Layer' (for want of a better description), this is also a much sought after feature, but is also something that appears on the surface to be something simple enough, but is it? Close Combat is ruthlessly Real Time Tactical. The implementation of any Strategic Layer involves integrating a game clock, so how do these issues co-exist? There is the 'Total War' approach - the Strategic Game Play level which can be optionally foight as real time battles. Is this the way CC should go? I think it could be made to work, but I am not convinced that this is necessarily the best way, as I am always looking for something better, and I certainly do have my own ideas about this.
We welcome any comments and suggestions on this (or any other) CC issue, trying to keep in mind that it should deliver good game play, and the term 'game' is very important. We have already been involved with producing Military Sims based on CC (in this case using CCM), but I would not offer it to you as a game. It's a fascinating balance, and one that can be got very very wrong, but by the same token, could open up tremendous possibilities for compelling and absorbing game play. I hope we have the opportunity to get there! :) We are going to try, but Rome was not built in a day as they say, so it will be step by step; but then, I don't have a problem with that [:)]
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