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ralphtricky -> RE: Chance of Norm Koger doing a sequel? (12/26/2007 6:11:59 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DeadInThrench
Just my opinion but....
Games that simulate conflicts where the commanders could essentially see the whole battlefield (like Gettysburg, Waterloo, etc) are best with figurines and 3D graphics, but games that simulate conflicts where the commanders were looking at maps, are best played on maps, in other words 2D graphics and unit counters like TOAW has now.
In other words, I have looked at the 3D graphics in TOAW and kinda neat but, I wouldn't consider actually playing the game with those.
To be honest, I was kinda surprised to see improved graphics mentioned. IMO the graphics are fine.... it's various details in the systems that exist now, and other things like the need for a production system, a better (but not overly complicated) naval system, things like a chain-of-command and the ability to re-assign units to other formations, etc, is where the opportunity is for a TOAW4 IMO.
Sheesh... I saw this happen with another Matrix project... Horse and Musket. The graphics and interface and the basic design are great, but the AI is horrible and the game systems need improvement. So, what are they gonna do?? Well, they are gonna improve the graphics (good grief). The fact that it may never see the light of day and if it does it ain't gonna sell.... seem to be minor points.
If all's Matrix can do is sponser graphics improvements, maybe they should stick to the XBOX and adventure game fields.
DiT
P.S. Sorry for being negative, but what can I say? Well, WE DON'T NEED ANY SIGNIFICANT GRAPHICS IMPROVEMENTS.
Trust me, you do need the graphic improvement, you just don't know it. [:-]
When I'm talking about graphics, I'm also talking about the entire UI. The dialogs now are 1990's style, the entire experience is very out-dated. I'm not putting Norm down, he did a great job, but there are different standards with scroll-bars, draggable dialog boxes, dockable panels, etc. The whole thing was also built for 640x480. If you want a terrain effects panel, you should be able to dock it to the bottom, drag it to the side, that kind of thing. I think that some people would kill for a scrollbar on the event panel.
I'm not talking about a full 3D immersion like Combat Mission and a number of other games, I'm talking about making the icons vector graphics so they can be zoomed in and out all the way without losing fidelity. It's about being able to zoom in/out at any angle, and there may be some speed improvements by letting the graphics card do more work. If you want to play on the current flat map, that will definitely be possible, although the 'counters' will have depth even if you can't see it, if you want to play on one that has the elevations contoured slightly with icons, that's also possible, if you want to play in Panzer General/Steel Panthers mode, that will be possible too. If the cat jumps on the keyboard, the counters will bounce realistically off the floor.[X(] Someone else will be doing the icons and the models, so it won't detract much from what I'm doing.
BTW, I haven't ruled out XNA yet. There are a number of issues with it, so I'll probably go with something else, but I'm still looking into it. I mention it because using XNA, it's possible to develop a game that's used by the PC and the XBox 360[;)] The biggest problems with the XBOX are fitting into a small screen, and how the heck you'd use the controllers to control the game??? I'll see where XNA is in a year or so, and how much XBOX 360 certification would cost. I definitely don't want to dumb down the game from where it is, although I do want to simplify the UI. The XBOX sounds attractive, although it probably won't happen.
Ralph
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