Some Questions

[Jorm]

I spent ages typing in scenarios from RUN5 magazines, all of which i still have. The most fun was Operation Pedestal.

- will there be a map editor / game editor or better still will the Operation Pedestal scenario be included. Please dont waste time and effort on the "final countdown" scenario.

- Will there be better reporting, i always was annoyed at the lack of a quick reference screen to see how many of my CAP a/c were actually in the air.

- will the surface combat resolution be more sophisticated, it was very 'dry and clinically dull' in CAW, the screenshot suggest its the same.

- whats new other than the graphics ?

- will the AI still use the "warcard" system as per the original game. Its one of the few games i ever bothered to try to learn how to program in new scenarios.

- i cant recall how it worked now but i remember always wanting an "intercept TF" command. Rather than having to try to micro manage interceptions.

anyways, im really looking forward to this one
cheers
Paul

[alexs]

Hi Jorm,

In answer to your questions

- Yes, we plan to include the full editor which we use to create scenarios.

- The surface combat hasn't changed significantly. It's a minor part of the game, and the results it produces are reasonably historical, so at this stage we arent planning on making any changes.

- We've made a few significant changes to the game's user interface, and our orders idiom. We have shifted from a 'per carrier' style of giving orders to a more steamlined 'per taskgroup' style which makes assigning strikes and CAP a lot easier. We will be including a multiplayer game, which is shaping up to be a fun game, with plenty of action and, depending on the players, shouldnt take too long (maybe 1/2 an hour to an hour). We will give more details of the game's features closer to release.

- We haven't found any system that rivals the warcard system in terms of making our AI do the right things, at the right time whilst including enough variation so that a human player doesnt know what the computer will be doing. In fact, we've taken a significant amount of time upgrading our DB engine to use a similar system!

- Do you mean that you wanted to be able to tell one of your taskgroups to sail towards an enemy sighting (and update it's move order whenever the sighting moves)? If so then yes, I can confirm that will be one of the Taskgroup Movement Options.

[Prince of Eckmühl]

ORIGINAL: alexs

- We've made a few significant changes to the game's user interface, and our orders idiom. We have shifted from a 'per carrier' style of giving orders to a more steamlined 'per taskgroup' style which makes assigning strikes and CAP a lot easier. W

This might be something that you'll want to be careful with. An enormous problem with most games that focus on carrier combat is that they abstract air operations to the point that opposing TF may as well be throwing virtual darts at each other. PLEASE don't throw out the baby with the bathwater!!! [:-]

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

[Gregor_SSG]

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

ORIGINAL: alexs

- We've made a few significant changes to the game's user interface, and our orders idiom. We have shifted from a 'per carrier' style of giving orders to a more steamlined 'per taskgroup' style which makes assigning strikes and CAP a lot easier. W

This might be something that you'll want to be careful with. An enormous problem with most games that focus on carrier combat is that they abstract air operations to the point that opposing TF may as well be throwing virtual darts at each other. PLEASE don't throw out the baby with the bathwater!!! [:-]

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

We haven't abstracted anything about air operations when compared to our original game. We've just made some interface changes and added some higher level orders so that ordering strikes can be done really quickly compared to the old game. You'll thank us for this if you play a multiplayer game, and you'll probably appreciate the convenience even in a single player game.

Gregor

[Prince of Eckmühl]

Hi Gregor_SSG,

A lot of older games that are being ported up from DOSx.x are really 16-bit programs at heart and suffer all sorts of ills when operating in the Win9x or WinNT environments. For instance, they are often unstable or can't make full use of the menuing options that DirectX provides for in the form of mouse inputs, right-click, scroll wheel, etc.,. Apart from the GUI art depicted in the screenshots, can you tell us how the game may have been recoded to make it more at home in Windows?

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

[JSS]

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

Hi Gregor_SSG,

A lot of older games that are being ported up from DOSx.x are really 16-bit programs at heart and suffer all sorts of ills when operating in the Win9x or WinNT environments. For instance, they are often unstable or can't make full use of the menuing options that DirectX provides for in the form of mouse inputs, right-click, scroll wheel, etc.,. Apart from the GUI art depicted in the screenshots, can you tell us how the game may have been recoded to make it more at home in Windows?

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

While Alex & Gregor will have to give you an official answer; I think the game is moved in and living large in Windows [:D] A picture is worth a thousand words here I think:

[Jorm]

Ah

some more

- can subs now move ? or will they have pseudo "patrol zones" like the original ?


- have you gotten rid of the a/c and ship number restrcitions so a full " marianas turkey shoot" scenario can be made?

- i am with the "Prince of Eckmuhl", the fun of this game was ALL about the individual carrier operations, and didnt seem to need 'stream lining ", still as lon gas there is the ability to manage each individual carrrier then this sounds like a good move. Given the time scale of the game, ie a few days at most the carriers are the main focus of the game and the most fun to manage.

- i cant recall how it worked in the old version, but will carriers have limitations to the rate they can launch aircraft. if i recall correctly the english mode of carrier aircraft launch using trolleys restricted the rate they could launch a/c.


cheers
Paul

[Prince of Eckmühl]

The game plays in a window?

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

ORIGINAL: JSS

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

Hi Gregor_SSG,

A lot of older games that are being ported up from DOSx.x are really 16-bit programs at heart and suffer all sorts of ills when operating in the Win9x or WinNT environments. For instance, they are often unstable or can't make full use of the menuing options that DirectX provides for in the form of mouse inputs, right-click, scroll wheel, etc.,. Apart from the GUI art depicted in the screenshots, can you tell us how the game may have been recoded to make it more at home in Windows?

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

While Alex & Gregor will have to give you an official answer; I think the game is moved in and living large in Windows [:D] A picture is worth a thousand words here I think:

Can the game be played in full-screen mode, or is it windowed-only, as in the screenshot?

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

[JSS]

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

The game plays in a window?

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

Its fully sizeable in this mode...

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

Can the game be played in full-screen mode, or is it windowed-only, as in the screenshot?

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

You can play in full-screen mode...

[rich12545]

This is being advertised in the MG games section as IGO-UGO turn based.  This is a mistake, right?

[Gregor_SSG]

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

Hi Gregor_SSG,

A lot of older games that are being ported up from DOSx.x are really 16-bit programs at heart and suffer all sorts of ills when operating in the Win9x or WinNT environments. For instance, they are often unstable or can't make full use of the menuing options that DirectX provides for in the form of mouse inputs, right-click, scroll wheel, etc.,. Apart from the GUI art depicted in the screenshots, can you tell us how the game may have been recoded to make it more at home in Windows?

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

This is a full windows game. You can right click, have moveable windows, play the game full screen or windowed. Its much more than just a dodgy DOS port.

Gregor

[Gregor_SSG]

ORIGINAL: rich12545

This is being advertised in the MG games section as IGO-UGO turn based. This is a mistake, right?

It's a mistake. It's a continous time game, with the clock stoppable in single player and the game speed negotiable in multiplayer.

Gregor

[Gregor_SSG]

ORIGINAL: Jorm

Ah

some more

- can subs now move ? or will they have pseudo "patrol zones" like the original ?


- have you gotten rid of the a/c and ship number restrcitions so a full " marianas turkey shoot" scenario can be made?

- i am with the "Prince of Eckmuhl", the fun of this game was ALL about the individual carrier operations, and didnt seem to need 'stream lining ", still as lon gas there is the ability to manage each individual carrrier then this sounds like a good move. Given the time scale of the game, ie a few days at most the carriers are the main focus of the game and the most fun to manage.

- i cant recall how it worked in the old version, but will carriers have limitations to the rate they can launch aircraft. if i recall correctly the english mode of carrier aircraft launch using trolleys restricted the rate they could launch a/c.


cheers
Paul

Subs are still not under your control, they wouldn't have been historically and the human player would always exploit the subs in ahistorical ways if we let them.

I'm not sure about the numbers of planes and ships, will have to ask.

You guys should just trust us with the game. As I said, we added stuff to make it easy to do big strikes, but we didn't take away anything. You can still go to each individual carrier and order each individual squadron if you wish.

As in the original game, all bases (carrier and land), have a spot number which restricts how quickly they can get planes into the air.

Gregor