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henius -> Ideas for PC4 (10/10/2010 9:04:06 AM)
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We’re allowed to dream of the future, right? I have been waiting for the release of the map maker since Stridor starting his wandswinging a long time ago, and while waiting for the patch to be released, I seem to have had a lot of time left to dream of things to come. Here are a couple of ideas for PC4:
1. Make it possible to link several phases together to make a movie of the whole battle. I haven’t seen this done since Myth ages ago, but user- made films could be a hoot to watch. Modern comps do not have problems with linking massive files together, and if the files get huge, find a way to simplify and restrict the viewing options. Great for the community.
2. Emphasise the planning stage before the battle commences. This is really not done well in PC-K and OWS - we get thrown into a battle without much preparations and hardly have any options for alternative placements and such. What if we have a 2D map view of the battle to plan our tactics, and what if we could draw simple symbols from templates on that map - advance from this place to this, defend here, watch for baddies from that direction, that kind of stuff. Battlefield Academy have some excellent examples of this. Now, imagine if these simple symbols could be added as an overlay to the actual battle map so you could see it during the battle via pressing a hotkey. No more loosing sight of your original plan, no more getting lost and changing plans constantly. And perhaps an incentive to do better planning before the battle start.
This should not be too difficult to implement. But later on, you could make it possible for the program to interpret the symbols from such a 2D map so the sketched plan could act as a script for the opposing forces. This would make it really easy to develop interesting “scripted AI” for any scenario. Given an easy method for exporting and importing such sketched script, this could open up for endless replayability for any scenario, as all would scramble to make their own brilliant master plan and post it on the internet for others to admire. No more attacks on static defenses and “best played as attacker” scenarios. A bi- product of this is that it could in fact also ease a little bit up on the AI programming, as higher level AI (think colonel) would not be needed - unit and platoon AI are of cause still important. And also great for the community, of cause.
3. I am rather pleased to hear that you are starting to tinkle with the phase structure. I never could get the hang of the orders phase - reaction phase in the original system, and now it seems that I could try some different setups out for myself in PCO. As everybody else I think that the WeGo system with replay is the best system for thoughtful tactical games, but the RTS’ do have tension and the player feeling in control because he can change orders for units as fast as he can click. For WeGo systems it is a different kind of tension: You plan out your moves, and then wait with your fingers crossed for 40 to 80 seconds; for these long seconds there is nothing you can do except biting nails and wait for the next opportunity to direct the forces. This may be realistic for a commander perspective IRL, but can be frustrating to play out. Sometimes you get this “Uh- huh - this can’t be good” feeling about some of the orders you have issued just when the phase replay starts, but have to wait it out for some long seconds before you reach the end of the phase and are able to correct. At the phase end you can then replay the action and watch your mistakes from every conceivable angle... Plus the fact that at the orders phase you can suddenly change all orders for all units and all changes takes effect before next phase starts. This is simply not very realistic, and shows me that the WeGo system is not the game system to end all game systems. So I propose a little tweaking. What if you only could issue only one order every 20 or 30 seconds of game time? You have unlimited orders at game setup, but during the game a timer counts up the game time and the number of orders issued to units. To issue an order IRL takes time even with radios, so this might even be more “realistic” than the current “unlimited orders every orders phase“ setup. It would also reward solid pre- battle planning. This is easy to test out using house rules on the existing engine. Expanding this idea, what if the phases could have variable length, and the gamer could influence same length? It would be like this: The order and reaction phases - would work out as it is done today, but during the first replay of a phase the gamer could stop the replay if he so wishes. Doing so, he would end up in a new orders phase and could use the orders earned by the game time running as described above. It is of cause important that the aborting of the phase replay could only be done in the first replay and further replays is limited to only show the action before the abort. I think this could add an extra layer of tension, where the gamer needs to add just the right amount of micromanagement, while all the time looking for the right moment to step in and make corrections to the plan. And, perhaps, to plan for the unexpected.
The phases of variable length idea is harder - a lot harder - to implement, but as MR remarks in his latest AAR, PC doesn’t have problems moving from one phase to the next (the tracers hanging in the air while doing the orders phase). But given some file juggling it should be doable. Perhaps the abort points should be preset to every 10 seconds and the “abort” keypress should just stop the phase at the nearest preset point, I don’t know. The possibillity to interact during the phase is the key IMHO.
That’s it. I know that Ideas are cheap and implementation expensive, so take what you need and leave the rest. I just want to guide you in on the fact that pretty graphics and extra equipment are fine but not all- important. You can never compete with the multi - man developments out there. But you can in game play and feel. And, please do not throw PCO into another improvement cycle - we have waited enough already. But you could reread this thread before starting up on number four.
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