Matrix Games Forums

Hi,

I'm Cameron, the Developer for the new DC title. Vic's role is that of Producer and he is providing oversight on the whole project.

I'll be posting a series of Blogs on the forthcoming game which are found on the VR Designs site but to make it easy I'll put links to the articles here as they appear.

At this stage it'll probably be a weekly post.

I'll be talking about the game in detail as time goes on but, in short, the DC engine has been extended and the next game in the series, while having much in common with the previous two, will have significant differences.

The upcoming posts will be focusing on these differences.

Cheers,

Cameron

[Reserved]

Post 1: Introduction
Post 2: Why the heck won't my Panzer's Move?
Post 3: Let's Talk Tires
Post 4: Russia on Ten Barrels a Day
Post 5: How to make Logistics Fun
Post 6: Information Flow - A Torrent or a Trickle
Post 7: Trucking our way to an Early Retirement
Post 8: Head Up, Shoulders Back!
Post 9: Focus, Man, FOCUS!
Post 10: Down But Not Out
Post 11: The Proving Grounds
Post 12: The Dark Side of the Moon
Post 13: A Night on the Town with Ms. Logistics
Post 14: I Swore it Worked when I Last Looked at it!

New Series (easing back to once a fortnight)

Post 15: What is Command?
AI Post 1: The Soviets need to hold the line
Post 16: Box Art Revealed
Post 17: Where are the Vital Organs - we'll be operating tomorrow
AI Post 2: The Soviets hold the line!
AI Post 3: Missing some je-ne-sais-Guderian
Post 18: Who Is Going To Make My Cup Of Coffee In The Morning?
AI Post 4 : Ready for Balancing
Post 4: Zen and the Art of Knowing who to Salute
Barbarossa Manual Sneakpeek!
Post 5: It Would Help If I Wasn't Surrounded by Idiots
Post 6: My Boss is a Psychopath
The long evolution of the Decisive Campaigns series
Post 7: The Ends Justify the Means
Post 8: Ethics and Morals
Post 9: The Fiddly Bits
Post 10: The Low Down
Decisive Campaigns: Community Project now Available!
The Monthly Metrics: December 2015
The Barbarossa Original Soundtrack
We Are Watching You... Metrics Part 2
Lets Play Advanced Tactics Gold

Next Game

DC: Next Game Post 1: Taking in the Wider View
Next Game Post 2: Pushing Noodles Uphill

Hi Cameron

A few questions.

Is the game covering just Barbarossa or the entire 41 to 45 campaign?

What is the hex and time scale?

What is the unit scale?

Is DC3 essentially an upgraded DC2 or something significantly different?

In your blog you said the game needed to be something 'new' to sell. I disagree. I think it just needs to work properly. I spent a lot of time with WITE. But in the end I gave up, it just doesn't work. I think what the historcial gaming community would like is a East Front game that actually works. That is it does not need to be something 'new' just for the sake of being different.

ORIGINAL: Michael T

In your blog you said the game needed to be something 'new' to sell. I disagree. I think it just needs to work properly. I spent a lot of time with WITE. But in the end I gave up, it just doesn't work. I think what the historcial gaming community would like is a East Front game that actually works. That is it does not need to be something 'new' just for the sake of being different.

+1 to that. Let WitE stand as a cautionary tale. Please take a conservative approach in your design.

Sorry, I do not understand what is meant by WitE? ( War in the East??)

Wish someone would do an expansion that follows an Army through a series of linked scenarios. The linked scenarios where my favourite part of DC CB.
Any chance you could do something similar with this game?

Hi,

Some quick answers.

1. Scale is 30 km / hex, Divisions.

2. Time Period is '41 and early '42 (the initial drive to the Gates of Moscow and the winter counter attack)

3. An effort has gone into keeping the game manageable (play over two or three evenings). Unit count is deliberately kept as low as possible.

4. The 'New' builds onto the existing game rather than tearing it apart and putting it all back together in a different manner. The next blog post will give an idea of what this entails.

Cheers,
Cameron

So a bigger scale. Like the time period but bot keen on the scale. Still wish you luck mate:)

What period of time is each turn in length? Week? Month?

The game sounds very interesting. I would hope if it succeeds that a future installment would complete the period from 42 to 45.

I will be getting this game

ORIGINAL: Michael T
What period of time is each turn in length? Week? Month?

Blog says game turns represent 4 days.

4 days, nice [:)]

Good luck. I'll be excited to see a DC3. This one is very close to being a great game.

The blog on this game says that the designer is looking for the 'sweet spot' in gaming the Eastern Front. The spot between being unrealistic and over-simplistic, or being mega complicated and bogged down in detail. I really hope that this can be done, as my shelves and HDD are filled with games that don't quite make it.

The key here is the role the game has for the player and how closely this equates to historical world command positions, whilst producing a game that doesn't take your whole life to play.

So far the information coming from the DC3 blog is encouraging.[:)]

As Michael T said, please focus your energies on making it work correctly. I'd much prefer a convincing 'Battle of Smolensk' that works well and which has an effective AI that (at a minimum) doesn't simply run away over a '41-45 Grand Campaign' that doesn't work!

So I just read all of the blog posts about DCIII...

And I sure hope you can pull it off! It looks like you have some great ideas and concepts. I personally don't like the micromanagement. I love the staff/command system where commanders can issue a few commands and then have the staff bring in issues (and maybe recommendations). And if there is some level of micromanagement, I at least want it presented in an easy-to-issue manner.

I just don't want it to be a game where you rubber, oil, breakdown issues make it a choose-your-own adventure type game. I still want to focus on the operational handling of the armies.

Good luck and keep updating!


It looks like this might scratch an itch or two of mine.
tm.asp?m=3629205

Hi BROJD,

The prime focus of the game is the 'Player as Operational Commander'. This is combined with a micro-management free approach.

While you have the option of delegating any decisions that arise you are still required to provide hands on operational management.

This is a large part of the game, one that differs from the traditional approach and one that I haven't covered yet in a blog post.

But I will.

Cheers,
Cameron

Well this is looking superb. Finally a game doing something different that will add so much to immersion and decision process rather than just pushing counters.

One thing that seems to be becoming apparent is that it looks like it will have all the mechanics need to do a fantastic WW1 game.

Infact once out I'd be more than willing to give it shot a Vic.

ORIGINAL: wodin

Well this is looking superb. Finally a game doing something different that will add so much to immersion and decision process rather than just pushing counters.

One thing that seems to be becoming apparent is that it looks like it will have all the mechanics need to do a fantastic WW1 game.

Infact once out I'd be more than willing to give it shot a Vic.

Look here: tm.asp?m=3684595
[X(] [8D]

Thanks for the heads up..though it's DC3 new features to do with commanders and a logistics that will suit WW1. I see the mod struggling with certain aspects like EAW has.

It would be a shame if a good game was spoilt by an assumption that "bigger is better". Gary Grigsby made a similar error in thinking a more complex game would by definition be "better" - its not, its just more (too?) complex -in a spreadsheet management type of way - I doubt anyone but accountants & people alone in a sealed room ever actually play WiTE for more than a few turns.

The great thing about DC1 & DC2 for me was the ability to manipulate sub division units to gain advantage - using armour, infantry, air & artillery in a combined op dependent on terrain/weather/opposition etc - the sub units allowed this subtlety. I fear a big east front division slugging match will be just as dull as all the other big east front division slugging match games (both PC & board) that exist out there.
Why not use the existing system to do North African scenarios or some other interesting theatre at the existing scale rather than just trying to create something that will be just another monster game - as unplayed as it is unplayable.