squatter
Posts: 1033
Joined: 6/24/2006 Status: offline
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I've got to say I have serious issues with the way the game handles weather. The start point for our understanding of the weather in the game is that we don't get a weather table, nor do we get an in-game forecast. So we are left to follow our gut, and hopefully expect the weather in the game more or less corresponds to reality. However, it really doesn't in many cases, to a rather absurd and immersion-breaking level. My main issues fall in North Africa/Med, and Western Europe. The weather in French North Africa seems more like Scotland. I'm in a game and it's April 11, and I've had I think two turns of rain followed by a turn of heavy rain in Morocco, more or less shutting down military operations (weather which includes Casablanca on the coast). A quick peek at Wikipedia shows Casablanca in March/April experiences less rain than Rome in June. Yet here I am experiencing conditions there as if it was central Russia in November. The same turn I have heavy rain in Athens. Athens in April experiences less rain than Rome in June or August. When you are trying to execute plans according to how you understand what the reality of the weather probably should be in a region like this, and then absurd weather thwarts them, it's rather frustrating, and breaks immersion. Western Europe is my other issue (to a lesser extent), where the winter/spring/autumn weather feels more like Norway than W Europe. I'm talking UK/France/Benelux and Germany to lesser extent. There seems to regularly be weeks of snow across these regions in winter, and incessant rain and heavy rain through spring and autumn. Last game I had snow across the UK in April. I live in the UK. I've seen maybe 12 days of serious snow in the last four years. Thoughts on solutions: - French N Africa - seriously take a look at the weather model here. It should be massively toned down at least in Spring/Autumn - Western Europe - heavy rain should be very rare. Snow even rarer. Rain in developed countries such as France/UK shouldn't have the same impact on movement as it does in rural Russia, at least when in friendly terrain (rain doesn't really reduce marching speed when you are marching on roads). There could be an intermediate weather condition (perhaps 'overcast') that impedes air operations but not really ground operations that could replace some of the rain/heavy rain turns in Spring/Autumn) - Weather table/weather forecast. Either publish the weather table, or give players some kind of weather forecast. Such a forecast wouldn't have to be 100% accurate, but give you a sense of whether bad weather is on the way.
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