FoW

[jimcrowley]

Is there any FoW in UoC and, if so, how does it work?

Also, would it be possible to have a list of the scenarios that will be available, perhaps with unit counts?

Looks intriguing; lovely graphics.

Jim

[Tomislav Uzelac]

Hi Jim,

there's no fog of war. We felt it wouldn't work without presenting some sort of intelligence briefing to the player, and we couldn't find a nice and easy way to do that.

The scenario list... I'd rather skip that for now, generate some suspense, eh? You can get some hints from the screenshots on the main page.

[jimcrowley]

Hi Tomislav

Does that mean that selecting an enemy unit will allow full access to all of that units attributes, irrespective of it's location?

If so, that seems a little counter-intuitive to me. While supply was obviously a primary factor on the Eastern front, the unknown nature and location of the enemy, in such a huge area of land, was very important as well, IMHO.

Also, I can't see any obvious reference to Command & Control, i.e. HQ's. Do these play a role in UoC?

[Tomislav Uzelac]

Right, there's no hidden unit state in UoC, nor partially hidden state for that matter. We dropped this mechanic for the same reason as FoW above.

I agree with you that commanders on the EF often didn't know where the enemy units are. A lot of times they didn't even know where their own units are! Well, "easy to learn" comes at a price... actually commanding on the EF was even more unnerving than playing a computer game

HQs: I did have them in the initial prototype, but then we came up with this theater level supply system which works quite well. It left the HQs with not much to do, and they ended up being dropped.

We had some graphical prototypes for the HQ unit, I must ask Nenad if he can dig them out somewhere. Looked pretty good actually.

[Tomislav Uzelac]

Heh, I managed to dig out an even earlier prototype.

1. There are HQ units on both sides
2. You can place small detachments within a certain range from HQ. They worked like a sort of beefed up zone-of-control.
3. The front line was a much more complicated affair, more like in the SSG system (Accross the Dneper etc.)

In the end, all of that got dropped. We'll see if I regret it, I hope not. The game works just fine without them I think.

[jimcrowley]

Well, irrespective of anything to do with HQs, the 'new' look is 100% better than the Panzer General lookalike!

I still have my reservations about the lack of FoW or C&C but I guess we will have to see how the game plays before passing judgement.

[Bullman]

Heh, I managed to dig out an even earlier prototype.

OMG! You mean you went from the Panzer General/Panzer Corps look-a-like to what you have now!!!!??? You mean you actually considered the going with a Panzer General/Panzer Corps look-a-like?

It would have been a TRAGEDY had you NOT designed the game the way you have have which is LIGHT YEARS away from the boring, same-old Panzer General/Panzer Corps way to represent this kind of game that most every other game designer seems to follow. Your current innovative game design I think deserves some kind of award.

[Tomislav Uzelac]

Gee, thanks for the kudos.

Graphically, full credit goes to Nenad Jalšovec who did the entire art direction thing. Check out his other stuff at 16x16.org too, it's all pretty amazing.

Note that game design (gameplay etc) was UoC-ish from the start, I just have zero talent for graphics. So I ripped these of for prototype purposes... it was easier on the eyes than looking at just the numbers or whatever.

[Bullman]

Gee, thanks for the kudos.

Graphically, full credit goes to Nenad Jalšovec who did the entire art direction thing. Check out his other stuff at 16x16.org too, it's all pretty amazing.

Note that game design (gameplay etc) was UoC-ish from the start, I just have zero talent for graphics. So I ripped these of for prototype purposes... it was easier on the eyes than looking at just the numbers or whatever.

Tomislav, I don't know exactly WHEN or WHAT prompted you to change the graphics from the prototype but as far as I am concerned, that decision alone makes this game standout so dramatically. The total graphics/animation/visual package of this game makes it so easy and an absolute pleasure to play (compared to other similar games). The player can effortlessly focus on playing the game without obstruction because the graphics presents all the information need to play the game to the player so effectively, efficiently and tastefully.

Having "zero talent" for graphics is no big deal, that's what people like Nenad are there for. But having "zero appreciation for what is good graphics" or "zero understanding for the need for an effective GUI" or "zero appreciation for what is BAD graphics/GUI" is a big deal.

[Nenad Jalsovec]

Bullman, I'm glad you appreciate the effort. Thanks.