Status update
Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 12:45 am
Just kind of letting everyone know what is going on. We've finished the scenario testing and OOB, now primarily we are just waiting for the pipline to clear (Stupi Starships!!! [;)]) and we are waiting on Mike to reapply some new WitP bug fixes to WPO. Still no release date yet, but we are in the home stretch.
I'd like to also advise those that have been following WPO ever since it started out as a mod. Forget all your conceptions of it. Originally (as a mod) the primary focus was to be on naval combat. However, WPO has grown far larger and greater than I had dreamed. WPO focuses heavily on all aspects of warfare. Air squadrons of the time, complete with aircraft are accurately represented. And every division, battalion, regiment, etc from the period has been accurately represented, down to as accurate an OOB as is possible. All the problems facing a commander in the 1920s are there, but all the tools, ships, guns, tanks, and planes are there too.
While WPO may have started out as a naval oriented mod, now in its present state, it is a very accurate representation of the military of the US, Japan, Britain, and Austrlia (complete with French and Dutch posestions, and Canada too) in the 1920's. The emphases now is on every branch. No one branch has been left out. Whereas a mod, or in some instances an expansion we were content to leave things as they were in WitP with regard to actual units, the truth of the matter is we have researched everything to the best of our abilities, and given you a very accurate representation of equipment.
I won't lie to you. the game is not balanced. It was my goal, and the goal of the testers that the game should accurately represent the situation of the 1920s. So, you will find US outlying posessions fairly easy to take. In a PBEM game, Hawaii early on is a very definate target. However, this poses a very historic problem. The PI is besieged. As the Allies, do I send a reinforcement convoy, or hold Pearl Habor? Originally, we left the Marine Defense Bns in as a game balancer, so that Japan would have a rough time taking Wake and Midway, as a prelude to PH. But, not any longer. These bases do have base forces, so are not unoccupied, but they have no combat troops.
The question was asked in the FAQ many months ago "Will WPO boil down to a series of maneuvers, until one side wins the Jutland naval battle?" Well, not hardly. If PBEM players wish to confine themselves to a battle of maneuver they can. Or, they can slog it out in the PI and DEI. Or they can turn Hawaii into a WWI esque trench warfare battle. Or they can fight soley a Sino-Japanese war, and leave everything elso out of the game. My goal with WPO is to present a sandbox of 1920's era situations, but not confine the player to any single one.
There is no autovictory. The testers and I decided that this was unecessary. The way WPO works, you will know who won. For instance, if Japan takes Manila, they will have a huge number of VPs. The only way America can even the odds is by retaking it, or by invading Japan. If the Allied player cannot accomplish this, then the Japanese player has won. Since starting VPs are equal, I would rather let players play at their own pace, with their own strategies, in thir own way, than create an artificial condition where players develop a single VP winning strategy that really crimps replayability.
I'd like to also advise those that have been following WPO ever since it started out as a mod. Forget all your conceptions of it. Originally (as a mod) the primary focus was to be on naval combat. However, WPO has grown far larger and greater than I had dreamed. WPO focuses heavily on all aspects of warfare. Air squadrons of the time, complete with aircraft are accurately represented. And every division, battalion, regiment, etc from the period has been accurately represented, down to as accurate an OOB as is possible. All the problems facing a commander in the 1920s are there, but all the tools, ships, guns, tanks, and planes are there too.
While WPO may have started out as a naval oriented mod, now in its present state, it is a very accurate representation of the military of the US, Japan, Britain, and Austrlia (complete with French and Dutch posestions, and Canada too) in the 1920's. The emphases now is on every branch. No one branch has been left out. Whereas a mod, or in some instances an expansion we were content to leave things as they were in WitP with regard to actual units, the truth of the matter is we have researched everything to the best of our abilities, and given you a very accurate representation of equipment.
I won't lie to you. the game is not balanced. It was my goal, and the goal of the testers that the game should accurately represent the situation of the 1920s. So, you will find US outlying posessions fairly easy to take. In a PBEM game, Hawaii early on is a very definate target. However, this poses a very historic problem. The PI is besieged. As the Allies, do I send a reinforcement convoy, or hold Pearl Habor? Originally, we left the Marine Defense Bns in as a game balancer, so that Japan would have a rough time taking Wake and Midway, as a prelude to PH. But, not any longer. These bases do have base forces, so are not unoccupied, but they have no combat troops.
The question was asked in the FAQ many months ago "Will WPO boil down to a series of maneuvers, until one side wins the Jutland naval battle?" Well, not hardly. If PBEM players wish to confine themselves to a battle of maneuver they can. Or, they can slog it out in the PI and DEI. Or they can turn Hawaii into a WWI esque trench warfare battle. Or they can fight soley a Sino-Japanese war, and leave everything elso out of the game. My goal with WPO is to present a sandbox of 1920's era situations, but not confine the player to any single one.
There is no autovictory. The testers and I decided that this was unecessary. The way WPO works, you will know who won. For instance, if Japan takes Manila, they will have a huge number of VPs. The only way America can even the odds is by retaking it, or by invading Japan. If the Allied player cannot accomplish this, then the Japanese player has won. Since starting VPs are equal, I would rather let players play at their own pace, with their own strategies, in thir own way, than create an artificial condition where players develop a single VP winning strategy that really crimps replayability.