Things we want in wargames

[Kuokkanen]

There can be more than one ideal.
So we should share our ideals...
Pool our ideals under one giant tree...

Or in this case, under one giant thread. The kind of things and ideals that makes game developers say: "We could use that."

Many operational scale wargames have units with some special abilities, like reconnaissance in TOAW serie. But TOAW and many other historical operational scale wargames seem to be missing some special abilities that - in my opinion - should be in there but aren't. More precisely, special abilities not part of just units, but nationality. What is first thing that comes to mind? That's right: Blitzkrieg. Operational scale wargame, Operation Barbarossa, we open status window of german panzer division, we see Reconnaissance #, Anti-armor #, but we don't see Blitzkrieg. Could someone make a game that includes Blitzkrieg in there?

What about other nations? Finnish Defense Forces learned Blitzkrieg from Germany and used it in counter attacks with great success. Furthermore by 1944 Finland had developed most advanced artillery fire control system that lands every shell from every weapon within range at the same time with good accuracy under 5 minutes. That special ability for finnish artillery. Though we could substitute it with better experience for finnish artillery units... Partisans of Red Army had one trick up their sleeve to break through encriclements: partisans form 2 columns and charge while shooting suppressive fire. Finnish guerrilla forces adopted that with some delay. USA Army had Tank Destroyer Doctrine, which is perfect fit for USA's tank destroyer battalions.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

There can be more than one ideal.
So we should share our ideals...
Pool our ideals under one giant tree...

Or in this case, under one giant thread. The kind of things and ideals that makes game developers say: "We could use that."

Many operational scale wargames have units with some special abilities, like reconnaissance in TOAW serie. But TOAW and many other historical operational scale wargames seem to be missing some special abilities that - in my opinion - should be in there but aren't. More precisely, special abilities not part of just units, but nationality. What is first thing that comes to mind? That's right: Blitzkrieg. Operational scale wargame, Operation Barbarossa, we open status window of german panzer division, we see Reconnaissance #, Anti-armor #, but we don't see Blitzkrieg. Could someone make a game that includes Blitzkrieg in there?

What about other nations? Finnish Defense Forces learned Blitzkrieg from Germany and used it in counter attacks with great success. Furthermore by 1944 Finland had developed most advanced artillery fire control system that lands every shell from every weapon within range at the same time with good accuracy under 5 minutes. That special ability for finnish artillery. Though we could substitute it with better experience for finnish artillery units... Partisans of Red Army had one trick up their sleeve to break through encriclements: partisans form 2 columns and charge while shooting suppressive fire. Finnish guerrilla forces adopted that with some delay. USA Army had Tank Destroyer Doctrine, which is perfect fit for USA's tank destroyer battalions.

warspite1

1. Whatever the game - please pay attention to aesthetics. Maps and counters are VITAL.
2. Don't clutter the interface and overwhelm players.
3. NATO counter style preferable
4. Easy to read - PON is a classic example of making the script just too damn difficult to read.
5. And above all, remember mr programmer, I am a member of the General Discussion forum - I DON'T UNDERSTAND COMPLEX GAMES. Please keep it real simple for me...[:D]

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: warspite1
5. And above all, remember mr programmer, I am a member of the General Discussion forum - I DON'T UNDERSTAND COMPLEX GAMES. Please keep it real simple for me...[:D]

He's right. [:D]

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

5. And above all, remember mr programmer, I am a member of the General Discussion forum - I DON'T UNDERSTAND COMPLEX GAMES. Please keep it real simple for me...[:D]

There are simple games like Panzer Corps. Please don't make make this thread a joke [:-]

On otherhand, I'd like to play realistic wargame that has tons of different weapons and statistics in many scenarios, but is still easy to play. TOAW3 is closest thing for that I have found, but I'd like to have some more variables for the units, more realism in general, but with equally simple gameplay. And done it right: in TOAW3 PT-76 Light Amphibious Tank isn't amphibious by default [:@]

[Jim D Burns]

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen
but we don't see Blitzkrieg.

Blitzkrieg isn’t really a trait an individual unit should get when you are talking about an operational level wargame. A strategic level wargame makes sense, due to the fact unit scales are so large, but an operational game of division or smaller scale wouldn’t make sense due to the fact units needed help from other unit types to perform a blitzkrieg. After all a blitzkrieg was a combined arms cooperative strategy that saw many different elements of a Corp along with air assets used in the operation.

So I don’t see how giving individual units a blitzkrieg bonus makes sense at operational level as most of the needed unit types are their own separate unit and would have been unable to perform the tactic on their own. I think the ability for units to cooperate is the best way to model blitzkrieg at operational levels, and giving units that are attacking together a blitzkrieg bonus based on nationality and year would make a lot more sense. Of course all needed elements would have to be present for the bonus to apply, but if present it should be a very large bonus in the early years of the war.


Jim

[aaatoysandmore]

Need to get away from historical and more whatif's. That leads to lots of random maps and random army groups made up. But, allow for more than one commander per side so I can take a company or platoon or squad instead of control the whole army. That's why I like Norbsoft's games so much I can be just about any commander I feel like. Be it full army or right down to an artillery detachment, even just a single regiment would be fun to play sometimes. Sometimes I just want to be part of a game/battle not control every aspect of it.

Keep real time real time not 1 sec equals 1 minute or 1 hour or 1 day of real time. If it's going to be an RTS game.

[Twotribes]

I want to be able to build my own units. Decide what is in each at all levels. ATG allows that to a degree.

[aaatoysandmore]

ORIGINAL: Twotribes

I want to be able to build my own units. Decide what is in each at all levels. ATG allows that to a degree.

On that thought I want to be able to do that and name my units and build my squads.

[Max 86]

1. More squad to company level games i.e. squad leader type (before you say COH and LnL, read #4)

2. Release games in better condition. No more 'release and wait for the patch' BS

3. More naval games from all eras, sail, steam and nuclear

4. Make tactical games with a larger focus instead of punishing players with limited OOBs from only two countries (its always Russia and Germany [8|] ) and a handful of scenarios (i.e. make games similar to Age of Rifles, Steel Panthers, etc.)

5. Make games moddable and make modding easier instead of the confusing fiasco most games are today. Include both map makers and OOB editors at a minimum.

6. Make games with campaigns where your force carry over from one battle to the next. I have no idea why developers say this is so hard since it was done back in the 1990s!

7. This is a biggie - include a music player in the game that allows you to play a string of song files that you chose instead of adding a music track that gets turned off after the first couple of hours of play.

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: aaatoysandmore

Need to get away from historical and more whatif's.

Exactly. For example what if Warhammer 40k was real?

ORIGINAL: aaatoysandmore

Keep real time real time not 1 sec equals 1 minute or 1 hour or 1 day of real time. If it's going to be an RTS game.

A RTS game with 1 sec = 1 sec scale would be incredibly frustrating with 1 minute of usual RTS game lasting 1 day or a week or something like that.
RTS are strategic games. That is stuff like Empire moved into *compressed* real time with *compressed* scale.

[Twotribes]

I do not support real time games. Well with limits. I like HOI and all its incarnations and I enjoy Total war where the strategic is turn based and the battles can be real time.

But most real time games are simply click fests where the game devolves into learning the cheapest reasonably powerful unit to build quickly to swamp the other guy.

[Rosseau]

Yes, that would be what we don't want in a wargame. There's nothing more frustrating than an RTS with all these stats and depth - and because of the pace, it all comes down to a tank rush. Codename Panzers Cold War - what an awesome TBS game that would have made.

Back on topic, I'd say the option to give orders while paused for RTS-type wargames. Also, an in-game editor like Distant Worlds has is nice. Advanced Tactics Gold probably comes closest to what the OP wants...so far. But its editor is a bit of a bear.

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: Twotribes

I do not support real time games. Well with limits. I like HOI and all its incarnations and I enjoy Total war where the strategic is turn based and the battles can be real time.

But most real time games are simply click fests where the game devolves into learning the cheapest reasonably powerful unit to build quickly to swamp the other guy.

The main problem with RTS is that the genre has degenerated into bizarre stuff like Dawn of War and Company of Heroes as a way of "increasing realism" (without understanding what RTS is in the first place) instead of moving towards more realism inside its scale - units being in specific size (for example divisions or brigades or even regiments) with known composition down to single squads (like in WiTE) and taking into account stuff like supply, reinforcements, planning, AI commanders, etc.
With time similarly representing some specific period of time.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

ORIGINAL: warspite1

5. And above all, remember mr programmer, I am a member of the General Discussion forum - I DON'T UNDERSTAND COMPLEX GAMES. Please keep it real simple for me...[:D]

There are simple games like Panzer Corps. Please don't make make this thread a joke [:-]

On otherhand, I'd like to play realistic wargame that has tons of different weapons and statistics in many scenarios, but is still easy to play. TOAW3 is closest thing for that I have found, but I'd like to have some more variables for the units, more realism in general, but with equally simple gameplay. And done it right: in TOAW3 PT-76 Light Amphibious Tank isn't amphibious by default [:@]

warspite1

I'm not making this thread a joke [8|]

I gave four examples that are important to me personally in answer to your question, and one, obviously lighthearted comment, in response to a certain person(s) pathetic self righteousness. I think you can sort out the latter from the former......[:-]

[aaatoysandmore]

ORIGINAL: Perturabo

ORIGINAL: aaatoysandmore

Need to get away from historical and more whatif's.

Exactly. For example what if Warhammer 40k was real?

ORIGINAL: aaatoysandmore

Keep real time real time not 1 sec equals 1 minute or 1 hour or 1 day of real time. If it's going to be an RTS game.

A RTS game with 1 sec = 1 sec scale would be incredibly frustrating with 1 minute of usual RTS game lasting 1 day or a week or something like that.
RTS are strategic games. That is stuff like Empire moved into *compressed* real time with *compressed* scale.

If Norbsoft can do it (scourge of war) then others can as well too. Everything doesn't have to be an empire builder or world war to be played out in a few hours instead of a few days. Besides lots of games take days and months to play anyways, especially empire builders and world war games.

[NikiAlex]

My perfect one would be:

Easy control of the units and equipment.
Customization, upgrades and experience are very nice features.
At least some basic RPG element for the commanders or key characters.
Intuitive UI.
Some freedom of camera movement.
Challenging AI.
Interesting story line!
Free of game breaking bugs!

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: aaatoysandmore

If Norbsoft can do it (scourge of war) then others can as well too. Everything doesn't have to be an empire builder or world war to be played out in a few hours instead of a few days. Besides lots of games take days and months to play anyways, especially empire builders and world war games.

Yeah, but Scourge of War a tactical real time simulation. RTS aren't real time simulations - they are real time strategy. They are strategic games. You know. Production, resources, fighting over production and resources. That kind of stuff. You can't have that sort of stuff happening in 1:1 second time. Otherwise a campaign could last months or years of playing time with nothing interesting happening for whole days of playing time.

By the way, some time ago, I wrote an AAR from my mod for an actual RTS that does some of the stuff (though nowhere near enough) that I was talking about:
http://www.armoredbrigade.com/forums/vi ... f=10&t=711

[DSWargamer]

KISS principle actually understood.

I didn't start wargaming with something looking like War in the East or Fire in the East. I began with Tactics II and Third Reich.

Insisting a new game look like a full set of ASL or a fully evolved Steel Panthers on launch is inherently stupid.

Insisting something looking simple makes it dummied down, well A. you are insulting the people responsible for giving the hobby a future and B. it is possible some of our ultra mega sophisticated games are actually the dumb ones.

I'd rather be playing a game of Panzer Corps or Battle Academy knowing I have a chance of finishing it, instead of trying to convince myself playing War in the East or World in Flames won't take so long I can barely expect to play through a game before the next update is released.

Just because you can get enough addicts like myself to buy a copy of the game, doesn't always mean it was a success. It's a success if people are still playing it in 10 years, and it is one of the greats if people are still playing it in 20 years. So until it is 2020 something, the verdict is going to be still out on which games were the better ones

[wodin]

Innovative and new game mechanics. Less of the reskinning the same engine over and over again.

[aaatoysandmore]

You know. Production, resources, fighting over production and resources. That kind of stuff.

Perhaps you missed this in my previous statement.

Everything doesn't have to be an empire builder or world war to be played out in a few hours

If you must be precise then take out strategy in RTS and make it simulated RTS.....no matter how you slice it it's still RTS. [:D]