Branching a Campaign on Link scenario1

[PYROS]

Hi,

Here is a way to give a special flavor to your campaigns by using a special technique of branching the campaign by the use of campaign scenario No1.

In this scenario you will chose your core force and you will set the duration to 1 turn.

Then you will position all VP flags into two groups and you will instruct the player to chose one of the two in order to direct the scenario in a branch direction.

By calculating the points of the grouped VP you will be able to achieve in this kind of campaign a set of two levels of victory (in the project campaign we use a combination of Marginal victory - Decisive victory).

Then after the end of the 1-turn campaign scenario you will direct (in the campaign editor) one path for the "loss to marginal" level of victory and another path for the "Decisive" level of victory.

With this technique you may achieve different kinds of tactical aspects for your campaign.

Here is a picture of the "1-turn" selection branch that we use in the Vietnam project:

[Puukkoo]

Good thinking Pyros. No one has tried that so far, but as the possible scenarios in a campaign is 1000, there are possible uses for these 'bonus' missions. (Like in the good old Boulder Dash game)

[RockinHarry]

User selectable branching within a campaign already has been pioneered for MatrixGames Mega Campaigns in the past, but the idea should also be used more for user made campaigns!:) Basically you can choose from upto 5 branching directions, dependent upon available victory levels in the 1st campaign scenario which could be Decisive defeat, Marginal Defeat, Draw, Marginal Victory and Decisive Victory. One thing to consider if a branching is selected that is based upon Decisive or Marginal Defeat, is the overall force morale loss for the second "normal" campaign battle. So effectively usable for that branching technique would just be Draw, Marginal and Decisive deafeat, unless you include the worse victory levels for special purposes, in example providing the player with a bad start for that extra difficulty level.

[Puukkoo]

Thank you PYROS and RockinHarry and hello again!

I was just thinking that I will use this method in my new campaign project. Without Your ideas this might never had happened.

For this special mission I shall use 'map' that resembles the strategic position of my troops, that means using a larger scale map. This feature doesn't add anything new to the game itself but will perhaps add some colour and gives a hint to the player what's really happening on the larger scale.

Using a 'loss' to enter next mission can be used to represent a quick advance with exhausted troops. Using 'victory' means that you give your men a rest but perhaps risk a good opporturnity.

[Major Destruction]

Absolutely!

The branching scenario should use the campaign points system to benefit the campaign and also benefit the player. If a player needs time to regroup then accepting the branching scenario defeat could permit him to gain a larger number of rebuild points. Accepting the branching scenario victory woulsd give the player fewer rebuild points but access to a more advatageous strategical situation.