New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Flashpoint Campaigns Southern Storm is a grand tactical wargame set at the height of the Cold War, with the action centered on the year 1989.

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CapnDarwin
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New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by CapnDarwin »

Player Selection
Player Selection
Screenshot 2022-09-18 145533.png (51.06 KiB) Viewed 2356 times
Game Start
Game Start
Screenshot 2022-09-18 145433.png (89.06 KiB) Viewed 2356 times
Game Settings
Game Settings
Screenshot 2022-09-18 145601.png (49.08 KiB) Viewed 2356 times
Scenario Overview
Scenario Overview
Screenshot 2022-09-18 145644.png (2.82 MiB) Viewed 2356 times
Scenario Scoring at Start
Scenario Scoring at Start
Screenshot 2022-09-18 145744.png (2.05 MiB) Viewed 2356 times
Mission Graphics
Mission Graphics
Screenshot 2022-09-18 145838.png (3.07 MiB) Viewed 2356 times
Force Information
Force Information
Screenshot 2022-09-18 145931.png (1.89 MiB) Viewed 2356 times
Enemy Intel
Enemy Intel
Screenshot 2022-09-18 150011.png (2.33 MiB) Viewed 2356 times
Unit Dashboard and Ammo
Unit Dashboard and Ammo
Screenshot 2022-09-18 150158.png (1.73 MiB) Viewed 2356 times
Subunit Inspector
Subunit Inspector
Screenshot 2022-09-18 150305.png (2.29 MiB) Viewed 2356 times
Line of Sight and Floating Panels
Line of Sight and Floating Panels
Screenshot 2022-09-18 150813.png (3.62 MiB) Viewed 2356 times
OTS is looking forward to Southern Storm getting released!

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CapnDarwin
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by CapnDarwin »

Comments and Questions Welcome!
OTS is looking forward to Southern Storm getting released!

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Tom_
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by Tom_ »

Pictures look great.
I see some units are classed as 'Main effort Role'.
In the context of this game is it the same as 'Core units' in the previous game?

I notice the word 'intel' is used..would it not be referred to as 'G2', 'j2' or 'intelligence'? - for the sake of realism..
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by cbelva »

No, Core units are different. They are in Southern Storm as they were in Red Storm. They were the units of the formation that a player fights with in all the scenarios of a campaign that are carried over from one scenario to the next.

In all the scenarios, units are classified with a role which does influence their behavior. There are "Main Effort", "Overwatch", and "Support" roles. Every unit is classified in one of these roles in every scenario.
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by CapnDarwin »

@Tom, Intel is short for Intelligence, and we try to keep names for things understandable so all levels of players can understand them.
OTS is looking forward to Southern Storm getting released!

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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by Phvpark »

Wow, the screens look beautiful wich is important to gatter interest of newcomers to wargames, when i see Campaign Series UI or other old wargames i was aways very discouraged (despite of me loving Command: MO :lol: ) but you guys nailed all the graphical parts.
i love the intel pages wich is very clear and chewed up for the player on a organized matter 1000% better than all wargames i played.
as DCS world veteran i started playing Steel Beasts some time ago and im eager to try this one :)

just out of curiosity, on this game a unit have a "facing direction" on a HEX thus affecting its spotting hability?
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by cbelva »

@Tom, As Capn Darwin said, Intel is short for Intelligence and in the US Army jargon it would be the equivalence to the S-2 at the level of command in the game (Battalion and Brigade).
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Tagüeña
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by Tagüeña »

The following is an automatic translation of a text in Spanish:

Hello,

A few tips regarding the user interface:

I'm throwing here a sketch of something you might like, it's very crude, but it gives an idea,

https://i.imgur.com/HVSxfND.mp4



A popup window when hovering over unit icons. This window would show the photograph of the unit inspector -where real images are usually placed-, so it would be something like this. Function? Increase the immersion in many points. Open a hole of reality in the dry and abstract interface.
The implementation of this floating window should provide options, such as an instant appearance of this window, or a few ms of delay, depending on the player's preference.
I also find it necessary to leave the option to the player to enable and disable this option. Just as there are players who disable sound effects, there may be those who prefer an experience closer to an abstract chess game, with minimal visual display. But this is not what a broad public demands.

Games that rely on flat maps and board tile-style icons often suffer from the penalty of imposing too much abstraction on the player. The original Flashpoint Campaigns mitigates this with a superb inclusion of sound effects, but visually it falls far behind, relegating the display of three-dimensional reality to an image in the unit inspector, not very directly accessible.

A game that solved this aspect masterfully, with little echo certainly, is Cossacks 2. Take a look. Look at the pop-ups, even the videos that intermittently appear, in an inconspicuous window, reinforcing an action that takes place.
Approaching something like this can be a qualitative leap in the gaming experience.

On the other hand, I see the separate GUI blocks. This reminds me of the evolution of the Command Ops GUI. While this addition may be greeted with glee by gamers with multiple screens on their desktops, the vast majority will prefer FC Red Storm's chunky spine - the same has happened with Command Ops. Separate blocks create shadows, irregularities, overlaps. The user has to adjust them. Many of us prefer a clean presentation, without protruding corners. I insist that it should be optional: decomposed GUI, suitable for a multi-screen mode, and a unitary GUI, FS Red Storm style, in traditional mode.
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by CapnDarwin »

Tagüeña, thanks for the detailed information and suggestions. When you hover over a counter or stack, we produce a flyout panel that shows all of the units, markers, and the map part of the hex in question. The units are selectable from that flyout.

We have the ability in our Subunit Inspector for the player to add pictures of each subunit in the game. We do not deal with actual platform images for obvious Copywrite issues and leave that up to the players and modders as CMO does.

We have many options for what is shown and how it is shown. More of that will become clear as we do some Dev Blogs and eventually, some let's play videos of the action.
OTS is looking forward to Southern Storm getting released!

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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by Tom_ »

In the threat assessment screen the word 'likely' is used twice.
Is this just the narrators choice of words or is the language of likelihood actually being used?

The TOC looks like it has plenty of new tabs - very exciting!!
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by CapnDarwin »

Tom, for the "likely", it is both. The scenario designer is indicating two possible pieces of information.
OTS is looking forward to Southern Storm getting released!

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Tom_
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by Tom_ »

If you spelling out 'Intel', rather than using INT or the '2' abbreviation, then surely you will need to give the 'Yard Stick %? They are sometimes different between nations..
Hopefully what I'm saying makes sense..
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by wodin »

Phvpark wrote: Mon Sep 19, 2022 4:03 pm Wow, the screens look beautiful wich is important to gatter interest of newcomers to wargames, when i see Campaign Series UI or other old wargames i was aways very discouraged (despite of me loving Command: MO :lol: ) but you guys nailed all the graphical parts.
i love the intel pages wich is very clear and chewed up for the player on a organized matter 1000% better than all wargames i played.
as DCS world veteran i started playing Steel Beasts some time ago and im eager to try this one :)

just out of curiosity, on this game a unit have a "facing direction" on a HEX thus affecting its spotting hability?
Facing no, the scale isn't small enough for that.
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by CapnDarwin »

As Wodin notes there is no set facing at our scale, but we do take into account side, flank, and top attacks based on situation and terrain.
OTS is looking forward to Southern Storm getting released!

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Crossroads
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Re: New Screens for Southern Storm - 18Sep22

Post by Crossroads »

Oh wow, really (really!) looking towards playing this beauty.
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