The sequel of the legendary wargame with a complete graphics and interface overhaul, major new gameplay and design features such as full naval combat modelling, improved supply handling, numerous increases to scenario parameters to better support large scenarios, and integrated PBEM++.
So, almost a year after this was announced, I'd like to know if all of these features are being implemented or whether some were discarded, and if there are some new ones in work.
Well, since we are entering in the beta phase, perhaps is a good time to address this question.
It's still a moving target. We're still coding - and will be practically till the shipping date. One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned yet is that there is a Jump Map now.
It's still a moving target. We're still coding - and will be practically till the shipping date. One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned yet is that there is a Jump Map now.
• There will be additional map zoom levels between the current ones.
Is this already implemented?, and in that case, how many zoom levels are?
Yes. There are 10 steps. But note that while Huge, Large, and Small views are effected with separate graphics, these incremental steps are effected by scaling.
Tool tips have always been player adjustable. You can either make them pop up quickly or so slowly they might as well be turned off. You could also always adjust the length of time they are visible.
ne nothi tere te deorsum (don't let the bastards grind you down)
If duct tape doesn't fix it then you are not using enough duct tape.
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity and I’m not sure about the universe-Einstein.
Tool tips have always been player adjustable. You can either make them pop up quickly or so slowly they might as well be turned off. You could also always adjust the length of time they are visible.
I know that is true for TOAW III, just wondering if is still available for IV. (hopefully with a hotkey to toggle on and off )
I've been trying to use TOAW III for modeling campaigns where I suspect there was the potential for improved Operational Art, and I started with Operation Cobra. To be more realistic I want to let Elmo handle the tactical employment of both sides while I limit my input to assigning objectives and loss tolerance. Would be helpful if Elmo could manage Corps or Numbered Armies, but I can work around that. The far bigger limitation is the lack of a realistic interface between the joint force and the air component at an operational level. This has generally be called "allocation & apportionment". The process [in the real world] is very simple. The air component commander proposes daily to the joint force commander the ratio planned for various air power missions [e.g. air defense/air superiority, Close Air Support [combat support]. interdiction, etc]; and the Force Commander approves or provides direction. The Force Commander then directs how to apply these missions across the AOR, either by geographical area(s) or by which formations should receive the bulk of the effort. The air component commander's CAOC then builds the Air Tasking Order for the next day.
In TOAW III, whenever I use ELMO to move ground formations he also assigns air unit missions even though I have already turned the "air assistant" off. And the only way I have found to recover is to rebuild/edit the ATO. Is there any improvement in TOAW IV to improve the air power employment at the operational level?
Everything I have seen for TOAW IV looks great and I understand that better is the enemy og good enough, but just asking....
Yup, I'm replying to myself, but at least after some time for reflection.
In TOAW III we can enable Elmo and select ground units and give mission commands, e.g. Attack or Advance. Wouldn't it be good to also select air formations and have a set of air-relevant commands available? And wouldn't it be useful if we command "combat support" to then click the HQ of a friendly formation and Elmo interpret this as concentrate on this formations' battles? And if we command "interdiction" and then click a hex for Elmo to interpret as "search starting with this hex and whack any enemy unit we find"? And of course it would be great if you could kindly accomplish and still release soonest....
Using Formation Cooperation features will have some effect on influencing Air Units to support specific formations. Assigning specific hexes for Interdiction would be a nice feature. At this point I think we can assume that no more features will be added to IV, so suggest that you save up your new wishes for V [8D]
At this point I think we can assume that no more features will be added to IV, so suggest that you save up your new wishes for V [8D]
Whoa there, Steve. I certainly expect IV to get some further mods. How many I can't guess, but every new release should expect a significant period of support and such - just like III got.
Great! Could we plan chain of command, dynamic formation changes and OOB tree representation in a TOAW IV update?
Please, I am too old now to wait for TOAW V........
Chancellor Gorkon to Captain James T. Kirk:
You don't trust me, do you? I don't blame you. If there is to be a brave new world, our generation is going to have the hardest time living in it.
So this is how it looks in the editor, the in game oob screen is pretty much the same? I see that there's a new "unit info" row, are there any new buttons in the bottom, or the ability to sort units clicking at the top of the rows? (guess not).
Oh, and there is a scroll bar now.
When I speak about "OOB tree representation", I am looking for something like this: fb.asp?m=3896981
Cheers
Chancellor Gorkon to Captain James T. Kirk:
You don't trust me, do you? I don't blame you. If there is to be a brave new world, our generation is going to have the hardest time living in it.
Just thought that would be nice that if the "unit report" panel could be set to always be open, so in that way as you select one unit after another the info is there at first glance. What do you think?
I did see from the posted pics that opponent's unit strengths won't be known (presumably before contact), but it appears that unit sizes may be seen. But more generally, how will that work?
I assume that you will start to get information based on units within a certain range, but I am curious, for example, if different armies have different intelligence gathering capabilities. I would also be interested in whether intelligence can be wrong. Limited/poor intelligence was a defining feature of many armies, so it could add another layer of realism to the game.
"What do you mean that battalion is actually a brigade...?" has a nice feel to it. What can I say, I am a masochist?
)
