Ideas for next Release

Here is where we discuss the official add-on packs for Scourge Of War: Gettysburg.
Zeke
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Re: Ideas for next Release

Post by Zeke »

Brandy Station is going to be the next release - which I'm really excited about as this was a really important battle it would also be great if other smaller cavalry engagements were covered - maybe Hartwood Church, Middleburg or Aldie.

Personally I'd love to see a way of detaching a company as forward pickets that would be something - but I'd most like to see horse holders being introduced instead of the horses just vanishing when they dismount or the ability for the cavalry to fire while mounted. However the last two would take a fair bit of doing...would be cool though!!! B)

Zeke
I only know two tunes...One's "Yankee Doodle" and the other one isn't!

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IronBMike
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Re: Ideas for next Release

Post by IronBMike »

The next release I believe is the cavalry battle of Brandy Station (maybe even with the other cavalry skirmishes as a bonus).

When the team does do a campaign, I hope they do a fantastic job of it. I myself would look forward to a condensed time (aka real time at speed, not turn or step based) on a gigantic map with ability to train troops, call up reinforcements, squabble with politicians, gain/remove generals, create supply depots, trains, boats... you get the idea. And make fortifications! Battles/skirmishes would take place when opposing troops came within 1 mile of each other. There would be some troop and commander based formulas to resolve the battles with a hint of randomness, and units would take unequal casualties (ex. some units in a hard fought division might have 30% casualties, others might have 0 in a reserve brigade). Only battles in which you yourself were present would a map load and you lead your troops around in the actual game.

It might be cool if it looked like CWPTs new battle videos: Antietam Map

So 3D terrain but birds eye view.

Oh, and the ability to detach pickets and skirmishers and the like so you have some idea of where the enemy is.
I don't think that grand strategy is the way to go, and I doubt the team would go there. I think a real-time operational game would be a huge step forward in gaming - it's never really been done, at least for for the ACW.
CWGII -> SMG -> SMA -> WNLB -> ANGV -> TC -> TC2M -> SOW
Saddletank
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Re: Ideas for next Release

Post by Saddletank »

I think a campaign though is what grabs all wargamer's attention. The ability to fight battles with meaning and consequence. It adds so much to the experience of single unattached battles.
HITS & Couriers - a different and realistic way to play SoW MP.
Chonaman
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Re: Ideas for next Release

Post by Chonaman »

I think a campaign though is what grabs all wargamer's attention. The ability to fight battles with meaning and consequence. It adds so much to the experience of single unattached battles.
I think that's right, which is why the carryover scenarios are important to the campaign aspect of the game. If you play a scenario poorly, and you lose tons of troops gaining a victory, there should be some consequences going forward, and vice versa - if you completely rule a scenario, you should have a much better opportunity in the next, and so-on.

As best I know, there are ways to support this in the game engine, so it doesn't seem an unreasonable request. Seems like a very fun idea to me.
IronBMike
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Re: Ideas for next Release

Post by IronBMike »

I think a campaign though is what grabs all wargamer's attention. The ability to fight battles with meaning and consequence. It adds so much to the experience of single unattached battles.
Well that's what I mean, an operational campaign.

Even a turn-based separate map to then use the SoW engine for battles would be great. Just need to generate the OOB and map for the battle on the fly when you load in. Seems fairly simple.
CWGII -> SMG -> SMA -> WNLB -> ANGV -> TC -> TC2M -> SOW
Saddletank
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Re: Ideas for next Release

Post by Saddletank »

Just need to generate the ... map for the battle on the fly when you load in.
That would require an entirely new game engine or a whole new utility bolted onto the game for that purpose and I think that's impractical. The way the game currently uses a greyscale map graphic that sits beneath the 3D terrain map so as to identify types of ground and the cover/movement/tiredness bonuses/penalties they impart isn't something that can be built on teh fly I don't think. Not without a pretty impressive utility built for that purpose.

Total War maps can be built on the fly easily because their AI completely ignores all terrain, cover, hills, etc. Its a flat open plain in effect for their troops. Their maps are pretty much 100% eye-candy apart from a few buildings and some walls and user-placed earthworks. I would hate to play SoW on such maps.

I think SoW in its current form can only use pre-made maps so any campaign would have to use some form of generic terrain selected from a library of available maps with some randomisation but mostly the map used bing selected from a short list of suitable types "farmland", "wilderness", "mountain gap", "river crossing", "city" and so on.

Its this kind of large library of generic maps that someone like Garnier could produce in fairly short timeframes (compared to the usual hand-made map technique in the official add-ons). Garniers process needs a bit of refinement (fences, some dominating features, farm buildings, towns, railroad lines if needed) but essentially his map producing tools could really be a key part of the success of an SoW campaign add-on which is why its so exciting that he recently began making maps for NSD.
HITS & Couriers - a different and realistic way to play SoW MP.
rvc
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Re: Ideas for next Release

Post by rvc »

Yes, definately a Shenandoah Valley campaign. :)
Col. Manning
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Re: Ideas for next Release

Post by Col. Manning »

I'll cast my vote for the Valley Campaign, as well, but I'm a bit biased, since I lived in the Valley for a time. As Saddletank says, terrain accuracy would have to be sacrificed for somewhat generic maps. It would be a monumental task to get accurate maps for the whole Valley. I'm sure this will never happen, but a guy can dream....
the reb
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Re: Ideas for next Release

Post by the reb »

I would of like to have seen a release from Fredericksburg to the Wilderness, including Spotsyvania. (Did I spell that correctly?) However, this would of consisited of what, 4 to 5 major battles, a 15 mile map, the effort to complete, and the cost would exceed $129.99.

But it would be grand? Do you take PAYPAL?

the reb,
Mazikainen
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Re: Ideas for next Release

Post by Mazikainen »

A campaign would be nice, but a rethinking of the objective system is needed. It wouldn't be nice to lose scenarios just because you tried to keep your men alive and gave ground 10 minutes too early and lost a 1000 victory points as a penalty..
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