Replay value

[demyansk]

How is the replay value of this game? Is it just a weekend or longer?

Are mods being developed for this game?

Thanks

[pzgndr]

I give replay value a thumbs up. The computer opponent surprised the heck out of me several times and prompted me to restart the scenario I was playing. So I tried something different and the AI responded differently, usually presenting me with a new surprise. Even after winning a scenario, even if it was a brilliant victory despite what I thought wasn't all that great, I'm motivated to play the scenarios again to try a different strategy or to study the historical situation a bit more. I mean, that's why we play these games, not just to 'beat the game' once and discard it, right?

IMHO, some difficulty settings should be provided to enhance replay value over time. Once you do figure out a decent winning strategy there's no way to make the computer opponent tougher. How about +1 or +2 randomly selected theater assets? Maybe +10% or +20% extra reinforcement steps in the Force Pool? Maybe some extra specialist steps. Something like this should be considered for a future update.

[Rosseau]

All you gotta do is edit the scenario file and you can do just about anything - replay value is almost unlimited for even a novice modder like me. I'm sure someone more skilled will come up with some stuff. They certainly did for WitE.

[2xTom]

ORIGINAL: pzgndr
IMHO, some difficulty settings should be provided to enhance replay value over time. Once you do figure out a decent winning strategy there's no way to make the computer opponent tougher. How about +1 or +2 randomly selected theater assets? Maybe +10% or +20% extra reinforcement steps in the Force Pool? Maybe some extra specialist steps. Something like this should be considered for a future update.

There might be some clever ways to enhance replayability like that, but we wouldn't like to "overcook" this game by adding too many options. The way this should work I think is that we first look at a bunch of replays and AARs from the community, and then sort of "distill" something that is clean and simple to use as an option for this.

Modding may actually be a part of the solution here. If there is a particularly succesful mod (e.g. a "super-hard" scenario variant or whatever) we may look at how that was done and promote it to an official option. I'm actually eager to see what people come up with.

[cherryfunk]

I figure you'll get at least 20-30 hours of play out of the game, not counting multiplayer and before any DLC or new scenarios.  You have 2 campaigns (Axis and Russian) and each will take many hours to master, plus they are branching, so you can play each at least twice.

There's a lot of game here -- like chess, it's deceptively simple but very complex once you start to figure it out.  I've been playing the Stalingrad scenario this evening and it's unlike any of the preceding maps, focused on logistics and supply and battering your way into the city... before the inevitable Russian counterstrike. 

Just a beautifully designed game, and a real joy to play.  You will get your $30 worth, have no fear of that!
 
 

[pzgndr]

ORIGINAL: 2xTom
There might be some clever ways to enhance replayability like that... Modding may actually be a part of the solution here.

I understand we can mod, but my point is that having some difficulty level setting that could randomly assign bonuses such as an extra theater asset or two might be a nice enhancement to the game. Just a suggestion. [:)]

[2xTom]

ORIGINAL: pzgndr

ORIGINAL: 2xTom
There might be some clever ways to enhance replayability like that... Modding may actually be a part of the solution here.

I understand we can mod, but my point is that having some difficulty level setting that could randomly assign bonuses such as an extra theater asset or two might be a nice enhancement to the game. Just a suggestion. [:)]

Well yes, but which bonuses and which assets exactly? [:)]

I was sort of asking the modders to figure that one for me here, really. For example: let's say someone makes a "Terek Extra Scharf" modded scenario and everyone likes it... in that case it's only a matter of implementation for me to add similar bonuses/assets/etc as options.

If I have to sort of divine that by myself, it's going to take longer, and the main reason is that I'm consistently bad at assesing scenario difficulty. Just to illustrate, scenario difficulty ratings (easy/medium/hard) had to be decided by voting in the beta test. I just didn't have a clue [8D]

[mllange]

ORIGINAL: rosseau

All you gotta do is edit the scenario file and you can do just about anything - replay value is almost unlimited for even a novice modder like me. I'm sure someone more skilled will come up with some stuff. They certainly did for WitE.

Is there a scenario editor included with the game? If not, how do you go about editing the scenario file? What other mod/edit options are available for the game? (i.e., is there a map editor?)

[Rosseau]

I did a quick how-to but can't find it on the forum at the moment. If you know how to use WinRAR, PM me if you want.