COG Expansion Is Officially Under Way

[Spechtmeise]

I don't find the economy to be overly complicated. It takes some time to figure out cause and effect. The economy aspect, among other things, is what sets CoG apart from other Napoleonic games. So, please leave the economy in. One aspect that I do find difficult to understand is how the advisors tick. Their decisions can be very...quirky.

[Marshall Thomas]

I think that CoG's economic model is perhaps the best economic model I've seen in any historical game, not just Napoleonic. It's quite realistic in many ways and certainly gives you plenty to think about and do when you're not at war. I hope that it's expanded in the Emporer's Edition, but not made any less detailed.

My biggest hopes for the expansion would be: more map view/zoom levels for both the strategic and tactical maps, A.I. improvements, more detailed colony rules, and graphical improvements. I've heard that a lot of fans hope for a simply economic model so that they can focus more on their military. Personally, I enjoy the economic, diplomatic, and military aspects of CoG in equal measure. Hopefully options/settings will allow both sides to be pleased. Again, I can't say how pleased I am that an expansion/sequel is being made. Thanks

[ericbabe]

The current economic rules won't go away -- the plan is to make them an "advanced option."  We may tinker with the "advanced" economy some more.

It is possibly largely to automate the economy via the advisors.  Watching the advisors operate gives you a sense of how the AI operates... it's basically trying to find maxima for a series of equations.  So it does do things that might seem quirky, but it's just trying to keep heading toward a maximal state.

Presently the program does tally the effects of your economic changes for you, so if you make economic changes then these will be reflected in the changes in the income numbers.  However, there are so many things that can affect the economy during the turn (movement of merchant ships and armies, weather, trade routes, treaties, destruction of depots, etc.) that the prediction is almost never accurate and sometimes it's very far off.  I personally enjoy this mechanism, but I completely sympathize with people who either wish the predictions would be more accurate or that the mechanism were simpler.

[Marshall Thomas]

I also enjoy this mechanism of a not entirely predictable economic forecast. It's much more realistic than the economic model for most strategy games. In reality, even the best economist encounter at least a small degree of unexpected circumstances. I'm looking foward to the tinkering of the current economic model.

Thanks for your response.