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EricLarsen -> From the Testing Trench (3/5/2004 6:19:29 PM)
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We are working on build .15 and the game is progressing nicely. The CLGA game will indeed be put out before the WW1 game as it was actually released over a year ago by Adanac, but only a few of us got that release at a great price. [:D]
We're actually in pre-beta testing as the WW1 game evolves from Frank's original concepts written up on his website long ago to now. We were making great progress going through a build a week or better but this last build had a problem with the retreat routine that kind of brought testing to a temporary halt. Frank is also reworking the AI to record what we do to it better so it will learn how to play the game better. Plus Frank is hunting down a hex ownership bug or bugs that are causing some problems in many different areas of the game. That has given us pre-beta testers a little break and has finally given me some time to write up a little blurb to let those interested in the game know what's happening.
After all 4 of us pre-beta testers agreed that airpower was needed for recon purposes Frank had that in his next build in a rough form and it is coming along nicely. It allows players to sneak a peek at enemy hexes to see what's in the hex, rather than having no clue as to whether that hex has just an HQ or arty unit in it or has a full stack of corps. Frank has even added a nice recon touch by modeling radio interception which will reveal Russian HQ's and what's stacked with them for about a year. One big reason why the Germans were able to trap and annihilate a Russian army at Tannenberg was the fact that they intercepted the Russian attack orders over the radio which were sent in the clear with no encryption allowing the Germans to set up the trap.
The naval game is just starting to come into testing as the first priority has been to get the ground game working fairly well before taking on the naval system. It too has gone through an evolution from Frank's first concepts and it will be a gas to play.
One of the fun things we're working on is getting the 1914 scenarios set and balanced. That scenario will undoubtedly be everyone's favorite, especially with free-deployment for the setup. Two humans playing each other are going to have loads of fun thinking through the initial setup and what particular strategy they wish to employ and then watching those plans collide. Central Power players will be able to try out attacking Russia first while defending against France, or even attacking France in the south while not attacking through the low countries.
Getting combat to have the proper feel has been challenging as well. Combat is bloody, especially when attacking well entrenched positions. In my last test game on the first impulse of the first turn I was playing the Entente side and lost about 300,000 troops to almost 500,000 for the AI CP player. But as the retreats unfolded the AI CP side lost another 900,000 troops to my 50,000 as a retreat bug caused units to disappear rather than retreat back to where they came from! While frustrating it was actually kind of funny to watch how the bug affected retreats and the irony was that Frank had actually tried to fix retreats so that units would retreat back to where they came from first before picking alternate retreat routes.
It has been a lot of fun getting a game at the .00 build and being able to help influence it to make it a better game. WW1 has not been gamed to death so this game has the novelty of breaking new ground in the computer gaming realm. Granted there have been boardgames done in the past, but never have any covered the ground, sea and air the way Frank's game will.
The research and development part of the game is a gas as well as you can research your way to better trenches and artillery while also researching poison gas, assault infantry, tanks, and airplanes. I really like the poison gas and love that "phosgene green" glow my artillery units get when they get gassed up. [X(] The other excellent aspect of R&D is that it has historically reasonable limitations on how much can be spent on R&D, one R&D point per R&D project per turn. That way players can't gimmick the game by cranking up R&D to ahistorically unrealistic levels as some games have unfortunately allowed.
Economics will also play a key role as you get to produce what you want but you'll also be looking hard at enemy resource hexes as prime targets to dampen down your enemy's economic capability and to increase your own. As you conquer countries, especially major ones, you'll not only get some territorial gains but an economic shakedown as well as you collect your "reparations" turn by turn. You'll also want to engage in trade as resource rich countries send resources to resource poor countries or countries with a big production capacity that chews up raw materials in ever increasing quantities.
I have no idea when the game will be ready, but when it is it will be well debugged as any that know me know I hate buggy games upon release. One thing I like about Frank's games are that I spend more time thinking about what I want to do than actually clicking the mouse to get it done. My only advice is to have patience as this game will be worth the wait. Even in it's unfinished state it is a gas to play and I for one can't wait to play it when it's done so I can truly enjoy the fruits of my labors as well as the labors of those who are helping make it come to life.
Eric
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