twitter updates on SoP

[Plainian]

Yes unfortunately for the sailors involved there was no contest betwen a WWII cruiser and a modern submarine.

I'm not enamoured with sprites either. If land units are shown as a 2D counter style then naval units should lo be shown counter style s well. I'm not sure what is wrong with a double length counter for naval units with a nice silhouette or possibly top down drawing as in the counters from Avalanche Press.

[gwgardner]

You all totally miss my point. I could care less about the name, really. I want to know if that ship icon represents one ship or a task force? There's no way to know, other than in a previous answer the dev said the icons represent task forces. HOWEVER, is that a real task force, with multiple named ships? Or a ToW ship 'group' named by one ship.

We need task forces, with multiple BBs/CVs/CLs etc in them, acting purposefully as a unit. In ToW we have groups of ships, but it's really a random process to determine which ships will take part in a battle. In SoP we ought to get task forces with task orders, such as escort, search and destroy, patrol, etc.

In ToW, if you put a transport out on the water, included in a group of other ships, it is willy-nilly whether or not those other ships perform any escort. We can't really have that in SoP.

[cpdeyoung]

True, I had assumed there would be TFs and a much more sophisticated naval battle model in SoP. I cannot even imagine anything like the ToW naval battle model working - at all.

I am betting these considerations have occured to our friends in Poland too.

Chuck

[Anraz]

I want to know if that ship icon represents one ship or a task force?

A TF.

Further screens will show more

[SeaMonkey]

Simmer gwg we got the point, we were all being a bit presumptuous, of course it would be a task force, it obvious the game of this scale wouldn't include every single ship that was present in the theater.  It would be unmanageable, besides Matrix has that game already.
 
You're exactly right, the name doesn't matter, its the functions the icon represents.  The name could be a TF or a single ship, the flag, representing the TF.  What would be nice is if you could organize that TF into different divisions based on individual ships or groups of ships to perform certain actions.
 
Let's say there is a destroyer division, you left click and a menu describing a list of possible actions, say you choose "escort" so that your transport group(also in the TF) is given first priority of protection by this DD division.  Now you've got a couple of BBs in the TF and you set them to "engage surface" or "support", one being to fire on any approaching enemy naval surface forces(1st priority) or just provide general support to the TF.  The group of CA/CL in your TF are tasked with anti-air support as their primary mission.  Then of course your sub group could be sent on a recon mission giving you a better disclosure of enemy activities in the future direction your TF is headed.
 
Anyway, I think you get the picture of a multi-tasked grouping of ships all represented by a single icon, sans any name importance.

[SeaMonkey]

Since you guys have been adjusting unit production parameters I was wondering if you could comment on the build Q?  Like for instance, can a unit in the Q be delayed to allow a more important unit to take precedence?  Could you suspend the building of a unit and recover some of its costs?  Are the costs for a unit spread across its production cycle?  Is there a build limit for each unit type dependent upon the realistic historical production/manpower capabilities of the owning country?
 
IMO the build scenario available in Grigsby's World at War game was the most realistic and simple of all the strategic games I've ever played.  How does SoP's compare to that one?

[Anraz]

We are under instant temptation to make the game much more complex, but the main idea of it is to keep it with moderate level of complexity. Now whole production is obligatory delayed, but it can be modded. Much more complex production management will fit better to other production, I mean Bitter Glory. Also deploying of units in SoP have a few additional rules.

***

Two maps from SoP:

Tinian






Guam

[Anraz]

Japanese counters 




More counters can be seen at http://forum.wastelands-interactive.com ... 2553#22553

[Tomokatu]

Excellent counters. Attractive and informative.

[SeaMonkey]

Moderate complexity is good, inconjunction with that intuitive interface and development seems to following that path.

The art is utterly beautiful, I'm excited, but apprehensive, I prefer inner beauty.

Is Wastelands going to release a small scenario for a community beta (later it could be the demo)? Might be a good idea to test the stability, seeing the pitfalls that ToW has had.

[SeaMonkey]

Been checking twitter link, nothing new on SotP for awhile, you Wastelands guys on vacation?[8D]

[doomtrader]

No we are not (but probably some of us would like to go to some warmer places).
Currently we are finishing Polish version of Time of Wrath and gathering SOP together, which might be compared to post alpha patching.

[SeaMonkey]

thanks for the reply doom, but you guys just stay up there in that freezing EuroAsian continent, you work harder staying indoors, and don't fret.....Global Norming...err Warming is coming, soon...a few hundred thousand years, maybe the Climate Strange effect will make everything tropical where your at, like when the Dinosaurs were around.[8|]

Until then, I pulling my surfboard out the back of my truck and paddling out....walking between those ever present bikini clad women congregating under umbrellas to stay out of that hot old Sun, sand burning the bottoms of my feet...ouch...ouch...I'm running now...to the water's edge......nice ...warm ...Gulf waters...where my friends, "Zeek the Peak" and "Mell the Swell" reside.......see ya later...
[8D]
Now get back to work![:@][:'(]

[Anraz]

you guys just stay up there in that freezing EuroAsian continent

Have you checked weather in Poland ?

[micheljq]

Nah, not really, what's special about it? It's better than here in Quebec though. Snowstorm expected this afternoon, 15-30 cm of snow expected.

[Anraz]

Japanese forces invading Australia (overview):

[micheljq]

I like this map a lot, it reminds me of the kind of maps in ToW, which I like a lot, with ten thousands of hexes.

As for the representation of ships I saw in other posts in 3D, personally it is secondary to me, 2D ships representations would be just fine. When playing ToW, I use the NATO symbols instead of the 3D representations of units for land armies.

Will Bitter Glory be a mix kind of mix of ToW and SoP all together? I guess so? With maybe an improved combat system for the fleets and naval air planes? At least this is what I would want.

[doomtrader]

Will Bitter Glory be a mix kind of mix of ToW and SoP all together? I guess so? With maybe an improved combat system for the fleets and naval air planes? At least this is what I would want.

Bitter Glory is a completely different project made with completely different engine.

[micheljq]

Ah thanks for the information Doom. [:)]

[doomtrader]

No problem, that is why we are here.