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GeneralClausewitz -> RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks (7/11/2014 5:29:47 PM)
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I realize I'm arriving a bit late to this conversation, however it's an important topic to me so I hope you forgive my tardiness. First and foremost, I would like to state that I would absolutely pay top dollar for a remake of SPWAW. While I play a great many games, I ALWAYS find myself returning to SPWAW. It is absolutely unsurpassed in its ability to realistically portray combat during World War II. Literally any conflict that took place during that War can be recreated quite accurately in SPWAW. It's a true gem of a game, and still holds my attention decades after it was first released. I will add, however, that any remake of the game must be done correctly. So many reboots of older games recently have used the name of the previous game, but for reasons that I cannot fathom, they discard the things that made the original so great. I hope this would not be the case for any SPWAW remake. In fact, I would only be interested in a remake if it improved upon, rather than changed, the original mechanics of the game. The following are some ways that I believe it could do that:
1. DO NOT TINKER TOO MUCH WITH THE CORE MECHANICS! As I've already stated, SPWAW is already a great game and the mechanics are sound. As the saying goes, if it's not broke, don't fix it.
2. FOCUS ON IMPROVING GRAPHICS! For all the reasons to remake SPWAW, this one stands head and shoulders above the rest. If only one thing is done to the game, it should be this. While I think the graphics have aged marvelously, it would certainly not hurt to spruce them up, and allow higher resolutions.
3. ADD MORE OPTIONS! I believe this would be the safest way to bring in new content without offending fans of the game. The original SPWAW does a great job of providing options for you to alter the game to your liking, but also allows you to forgo those options if you choose. Any additional content should be created in this manner, so that a purist can enjoy the original game they loved so much, while those who like additional features can enjoy them as well.
4. SOME IDEAS FOR NEW OPTIONS! When playing SPWAW, there are times where I wish the game would allow greater depth on certain issues. Listed below are those options that appeal to me (but in no shape or form is my list exhaustive; merely a jumping off point).
-Add corpses to the game. One of my favorite things after fighting a tough battle in SPWAW is to survey the map and marvel at the destruction the battle has caused. Destroyed tanks litter the battlefield, a smoky haze hangs over the field, houses and buildings reduced to rubble, fires rage in forests and cities. However there is one thing missing, and that is the human cost. While I might be accused of being bloodthirsty, I believe that the lack of corpses makes it difficult to pinpoint where the heaviest infantry fighting occurred, and censors the cost of war. Just as knocked out tanks leave burning wreckage, soldiers that have been killed should also be displayed.
-Add a medic/hospital system. While some might argue this is outside the scope of SPWAW, I disagree. Medics were present on the frontlines, and omitting them fails to do justice to those that actually performed this grisly task. Including medics/ambulances would add even more depth to a game that already has noteworthy amounts of it. While medics should obviously not be able to magically heal soldiers, it would make sense that their presence would convert soldiers that might have died into soldiers that were critically wounded, and the critically wounded could be converted into walking wounded, and walking wounded could be allowed to immediately return to the fighting. If a medic is present near a unit that has suffered casualties, it should be able to convert a fraction of those wounded into a lesser degree of wounding. Additionally the medic should give a morale boost to units that have taken casualties. Finally, medics should be able to allow a percentage of wounded veteran soldiers to return to their units if a campaign is being played.
-Add more RPG elements! By RPG elements I do not mean paladins and orcs and magic, but rather anything that makes your digital soldiers feel more human. More than anything else, this is the one thing I feel that the original SPWAW somewhat fails to deliver. While you can name your unit commanders and have your units gain experience during a campaign, the RPG elements available in the original SPWAW pretty much ends there. The result is that a player can be fairly wreckless with the lives of their digital soldiers, and not suffer any emotional cost when they are wounded or killed. By bringing the individual soldiers under your command to life, it can do a much better job of simulating the the hesitancy a commander should feel when sending their soldiers into harm's way. Imagine having a veteran and blooded squad of soldiers that are very experienced, but are not utilized as much because the player does not wish to risk losing them. It would be a very welcome and neat mechanic. Additionally, imagine getting the following messages during battle or in between battles during campaigns:
"Lieutenant Jennings has received a Distinguished Service Cross! +10 to morale!" (or whatever increase to stats makes sense)
"Private Smith has received a dear John letter! -10 to morale!"
"Sergeant Johnson has been killed in action! His squad is enraged and will fight viciously for the remainder of the battle, but will also refuse to take prisoners!"
"Private Mason has been killed in action! His best friend Private Allen suffers a nervous breakdown, and is escorted off the battlefield!"
Naturally these are just examples, however I think the game would benefit greatly from increasing the human element. How neat would it be to see your highly-decorated squad safely survive the war? How gut-wrenching would it be to see them slaughtered days before the end of the war?
-Add historically accurate medals to the game. I love seeing my soldiers accumulate decorations in those few games that provide it (Close Combat is an almost perfect example of it being done well). It's just really neat to see your soldiers become hardened veterans. However historical accuracy is very important. Sometimes wargames include medals, but make it very clear they did not bother taking the fifteen minutes necessary to properly research them and award them in a way that makes sense. I'll use American medals as an example since those are the ones I am most familiar with. If your soldiers are shot at during a battle, they should be awarded a Combat Infantry Badge. Any soldier that is wounded in battle should be awarded a Purple Heart. For decorations like the Medal of Honor, [Distinguished Service/Navy] Cross, Silver Star, or Bronze Star, there should be a formula for determining if it happens, along with some degree of chance included. A variety of factors should be included in the formula, including things like how much enemy fire a unit took, how many casualties they took/inflicted, how many objectives they secured, and how much terrain they covered (among other things). If a squad took fire from artillery, tanks, machine guns, and infantry, inflicted 20 casualties upon the enemy, and had half of their squad killed in a battle, the formula would take all these things into account, as well as roll a few virtual dice, and them come up with a result. Maybe a General was watching, and all survivors were awarded Silver Stars. Or no one noticed and so no one is awarded anything. Or the game calculates that one member of the squad has earned a DSC (maybe even allowing you to choose the soldier it is awarded to). This would be my dream system. :)
Anyways, I've rambled long enough. In short, I would love to see SPWAW get remade, and would absolutely be willing to pay for a good remake. Thanks for listening! :)
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