Replay Value....

[Rattlehead2005]

My question is, how much replay value will this game have..Seeings that, there is no Game editor. Will it be like, the same outcome every game? I just dont want to throw down another 40+ dollars on a Game that will be uninstalled after 3-4 times of play.(Axis n Allies - by Atari). From what i have read about this Game, it deff looks fun and entertaining. Im just concerned about longevity.....

[Becket]

Take my comments for what they're worth. I've been playing (err..wait, is Joel reading? testing, I meant to say testing...) since last summer, and you'll see in my AARs that I've barely scratched the surface.

I have yet to perfect the German game, and I just love playing the Soviets and trying to beat my record time to Berlin. The Japanese are a completely different challenge that I'm just starting to appreciate. And then there's the WA...

Suffice it to say that I think there's a ton of replay value, but as with anything, your mileage may vary.

[Rattlehead2005]

So, is my question premature then.........I guess what i really want to know is, does the A.I. vary in its moves and tactics. That is, each time you start a new Game. I have played a few turn-based Games, that have resulted in same outcome everytime..

[Joel Billings]

There are several major strategy choices by some of the AI players that can drastically alter the course of a game. For example, Japan can go for China, Russia, or the US (or a combination). At higher difficulty levels, the AI adds more unusual strategies as well. Of course, the AI is not as unpredictable as a human player, but you do have 5 different World Powers to play so that in itself adds replayability. As Becket mentioned, it takes time to learn the best strategies for each of the World Powers. Also, research is something that can change the flow of different games. The AI has things it wants to research, but it also reacts to what other players are doing. So as you experiment with different research strategies, you will see different AI behavior. Eventually you will be able to beat the AI at the Hard level, but you will have gotten a lot of play time by then. I don't normally play games by email, but I have to say that I really enjoyed my PBEM games during the past few months. Even if you are not normally a PBEM player, you should consider it with this game, as it is really ideal for 2 or 4 player PBEM games.

[Barthheart]

ORIGINAL: Rattlehead2005

So, is my question premature then.........I guess what i really want to know is, does the A.I. vary in its moves and tactics. That is, each time you start a new Game. I have played a few turn-based Games, that have resulted in same outcome everytime..

The AI does vary it's moves from game to game. It also varies it's moves as you change the difficulty level. And you can modify each difficulty level. Also the outcome of each battle is never certain and that will force different moves by the AI.

Also, all the setup files for each scenario are text files, that I'm sure modders will get their hands on to add even more replay. I haven't had a chance to try this in our "testing" [;)].

Lots of replay value in this one. The most will come from playing other people by PBEM. [8D]

[Rubblestone]

Its good to here the AI varies its moves. One major problem with most games is that AI does the same thing over and over, so that by having no 'randomness' to their strategy they quickly become easy to conquer. But by the sounds of it this game trys to change this trend so I am very hopefull the AI in this game shall give me a good challenge.

[Paul Vebber]

Even when the AI tries to implement the same overall strategy, the outcomes have a lot of variability in them and lead to very different decision points.

Evetually folks will figure out a "game breaker" strategy that will pretty much always beat the AI in given situations, in a given scenario. That is pretty much true of all games like this, (board game-like) but its going to take you a good long time, and even when you figure it out, the dice can upset your applecart and you will have to start improvising at some point.

With the setup files that are open, there will eventually be some "tweaks" to the scenarios that will change things around and require you to rethink your strategy. These sort of things are:

The max supply help a region can amass through "free supply".

Each sides build strategy (only build this type unit in this area, or never build this unit in this area, max number of type unit, don't build until year Y, max in build queue), and build restrictions.

Each nation's research strategy (prioritize unit capabilities to research and target max levels.

You can set the national alliances, what nations are part of what player force, what side they join when attacked, who suffers partisan attacks, nation surrender criteria, cost to attack neutrals.

Baseline unit capabilities.

Factory multipliers

Frozen area behavior.

Setting what starts in the build queue for a scenario, free militia rules, victory conditions

Modding the art and sound.

That is from a cursory look through the text files. I'm not sure how any of that works, or how much flexibility you have changing it without breaking things, but it looks like its possible to mode the scenarios a fair bit.

[ravinhood]

The PBEM feature alone gives this game unlimited replay value. But, if you're just a soloist gamer, yeah, eventually it will get old and boring and repetitive. Playing against other human opponents with what I expect to be a quality game will give this one the longevity and replayability value it deserves.

[Paul Vebber]

Heck, once you got good at modding the scen files, you could almost have a competition for who can mod the scen files to win in "computer plays all sides" mode.

Who could come up with the "best strategy script" could be a VERY significant time sump for the solitair player. Then exchange scens and play the best variations yourself.

[ravinhood]

Heh Paul that's what I'm doing with the KOHAN II game AI. People create and AI and then put it up against another players AI. It's like playing that game back in the 80's where you got a tank and with an actual "basic computer program" you programmed your tank to beat other players tanks. O.G.R.E. or something like that I think it was called.

[mavraam]

Isn't there almost an unlimited amount of handicap you can give yourself or the AI?

[Hanal]

ORIGINAL: mavraam

Isn't there almost an unlimited amount of handicap you can give yourself or the AI?

After you play the game for awhile one of the first handicaps you can do is to have your AI partners suffer the same disadvantages that you do...when you play one country v. the AI, one thing you will notice at the advanced levels, is that your AI partners receive the same benefits as your AI opponents since the default difficulty levels affect all AI sides, and is not AXIS or ALLIES specific....for example, if you are playing the Western Allies at a higher difficulty level which grants extra supply to the "AI", you will notice that your AI partners, China and Russia, also receive this supply help besides of course the AXIS powers. Well, one thing you can eventually do is remove this supply help from your AI allies, forcing them to build their own supply just like you will eed to do....attack benefits that the AI may gain can be removed from your AI partners, as well as other benefits...once you get a handle playing at the default settings, you can increase the challenge by doing what I suggested, and then some...hope this helps..

[Rattlehead2005]

Well all that is nice to hear guys[;)] I'm just getting tired of buying games, just to trade them in 2-3 weeks later(or months after they have sat and collected dust)

Replayability value is a BIG concern for me, when buying games.....Now if the 15-16th would just get here quicker...[:D]

[Kampferzähn]

ORIGINAL: Rattlehead2005

Replayability value is a BIG concern for me, when buying games.....Now if the 15-16th would just get here quicker...[:D]

True for me as well, I don't buy a game unless I'm sure I can be enjoying it long after my computer has ceased to function (which isn't always the case; live and learn).

Right about now I wish I had a time machine to go to the 16th. [:D]