Imperial Glory : Napoleonic "Total War" clone ?
Eddy Sterckx
The combination of a grand-strategic overhead map with battles fought out
in real-time i.e. the 'Total War' series may have sprung the first
noteworthy clone : Imperial Glory.
It's Napoleonic also known as Napoleon's antics :)
The RTS genre is changing fast :
- Resource management is getting thrown out
- RTS becomes pausable real time strategy
- Strategic maps for unit movement, Tactical map for battles
I may start to like these new kind of RTS games :)
Preview at : http://pc.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=5155
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx
HR
continuity of gameplay. If RT needs to be paused then there is too much to
manage within the context of the reatime speed. You become reduced to
playing pause,issue orders,watch them go ala CM which is boring.
If a game is going to be RT then it should continue (for the most part) in
RT. Close Combat series is an example of RT that does not need pausing. I'd
rather see turn base or true real time. Pausable realtime is really just a
cheap fix for a game that requires too much management within the realtime.
"Eddy Sterckx" <eddys...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94EC7BA5EE95ed...@195.238.3.190...
JP
handles it best that I've seen.
HR <H...@horizon.net> wrote in message
news:iNeqc.27687$6f5.2645334@attbi_s54...
Eddy Sterckx
> continuity of gameplay. If RT needs to be paused then there is too much to
> manage within the context of the reatime speed. You become reduced to
> playing pause,issue orders,watch them go ala CM which is boring.
It think the word you were looking for is immersion. The first PC game
I really good hooked on was Silent Service 1 - it has multiple
slowdown/speedup steps and I loved it because you could just sit back
and consider your options. Does this detract from the immersion and
the gameplay rush ? probably yes, but I don't care because I love it
when a carefully thought out plan comes together.
RTS games for the most part hide their lack of depth and inept AI by
making sure the player is overwhelmed with handling every minute
detail. I find that frustrating.
> If a game is going to be RT then it should continue (for the most part) in
> RT. Close Combat series is an example of RT that does not need pausing. I'd
> rather see turn base or true real time. Pausable realtime is really just a
> cheap fix for a game that requires too much management within the realtime.
Well, to each his own :) - the point about pausable realtime programs
is that you don't have to use the pause button if you don't want to.
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx
Giftzwerg
> The only thing I don't like about pausible RT is they are boring with no
> continuity of gameplay. If RT needs to be paused then there is too much to
> manage within the context of the reatime speed. You become reduced to
> playing pause,issue orders,watch them go ala CM which is boring.
Usually, if RT needs to be paused, it's because it's *not* real time at
all - but vastly accelerated time.
--
Giftzwerg
***
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- Giftzwerg
Giftzwerg
> That, and its very easy for them to turn into clickfests. HTTR et al
> handles it best that I've seen.
Agreed.
Even 1:1 time games like HARPOON can produce troubles given that the
player is forced to take the role of more than one person.
Peter Ford
groundbreaking as it is, can do justice to Napoleonic warfare. For
example, can it simulate squares or skirmishers? Additionally, due to
computer restraints, the battles in Medieval, for example, suffer
drastic miniaturization in manpower; 10K per side, IIRC, is the
maximum. And barely manageable at that. The battles of this period
tended to be massive affairs, viz. Waterloo or Leipzig.
Eddy Sterckx
news:7c5d6111.04051...@posting.google.com:
> It seems doubtful to me that the Total War engine, as excellent and
> groundbreaking as it is, can do justice to Napoleonic warfare.
It's not the Total War engine, it's a lookalike by the guys behind IL2-
Sturmovik who have a good reputation in the realism and quality
department.
> For
> example, can it simulate squares or skirmishers?
We'll have to wait for the details - it's just an announcement so far.
> Additionally, due to
> computer restraints, the battles in Medieval, for example, suffer
> drastic miniaturization in manpower; 10K per side, IIRC, is the
> maximum. And barely manageable at that. The battles of this period
> tended to be massive affairs, viz. Waterloo or Leipzig.
Are you suggesting that there should be 100k soldiers modeled on each
side for it to be a good simulation ? With a few exceptions, most
wargames tend to not go for the 1/1 scale.
I also don't get your point about the "battles in Medieval suffering
drastic miniturization in manpower" - most medieval battles were 10K per
side or less and the Total War engine can handle those pretty well.
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx
Eddy Sterckx
> It's not the Total War engine, it's a lookalike by the guys behind IL2-
> Sturmovik who have a good reputation in the realism and quality
> department.
Goofed up here - it's Wartime Command that is being coded by Maddox - the
guys behind IL2-Sturmovik
Peter Ford
> Sturmovik who have a good reputation in the realism and quality
> department.
Interesting. There exists somewhere a Napoleonic mod developed for
Total War:Medievsal.
>
> Are you suggesting that there should be 100k soldiers modeled on each
> side for it to be a good simulation ? With a few exceptions, most
> wargames tend to not go for the 1/1 scale.
I'm unaware of any wargame, that aspires to realism, which doesn't
depict authentic numbers of engaged troops. Limiting the number of
sprites or objects on the tactical map is a design choice by CA that
doesn't much impair the game's intrinsic interest.
> I also don't get your point about the "battles in Medieval suffering
> drastic miniturization in manpower" - most medieval battles were 10K per
> side or less and the Total War engine can handle those pretty well.
You're probaly right about Med battles being smallish affairs.
However, CA will be porting over the Med engine into Rome: Total War.
Some of the major ancient battles WERE huge; 70K per side at Cannae,
for example. RTW will only be able to simulate these kinds battles
impressionistically.
Eddy Sterckx
>> It's not the Total War engine, it's a lookalike by the guys behind
>> IL2- Sturmovik who have a good reputation in the realism and quality
>> department.
>
>
> Interesting. There exists somewhere a Napoleonic mod developed for
> Total War:Medievsal.
Correct, from what I heard it's pretty good too.
>>
>> Are you suggesting that there should be 100k soldiers modeled on each
>> side for it to be a good simulation ? With a few exceptions, most
>> wargames tend to not go for the 1/1 scale.
>
> I'm unaware of any wargame, that aspires to realism, which doesn't
> depict authentic numbers of engaged troops.
There's your mistake : there's plenty of very realistic wargames which
substite a counter for a platoon/squad/whatever. I can't see what's
unrealistic about a soldier in RTW representing a dozen as long as the
units behave in a realistic fashion.
> Limiting the number of
> sprites or objects on the tactical map is a design choice by CA that
> doesn't much impair the game's intrinsic interest.
Glad you agree - but aren't you disagreeing with yourself here :)
>> I also don't get your point about the "battles in Medieval suffering
>> drastic miniturization in manpower" - most medieval battles were 10K
>> per side or less and the Total War engine can handle those pretty
>> well.
>
> You're probaly right about Med battles being smallish affairs.
> However, CA will be porting over the Med engine into Rome: Total War.
> Some of the major ancient battles WERE huge; 70K per side at Cannae,
> for example. RTW will only be able to simulate these kinds battles
> impressionistically.
Again : why ? - A Canae with a visible 10K soldiers on each side would be
called the pinnacle of realism in a tabletop miniature battle, but somehow
if you put it on a computer you need 100k for it to be realistic ? -
doesn't make sense.
Anyway : the make or break of RTW will not be the amount of units on screen
The real question is : can they capture the battle tactics of the era while
making a fun, varied game.
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx