One thing strikes me as I mentally speculate what battlefield this is , the more well known the battlefield, the more scrutiny the maps will be subjected to. For example, if at some point NSD decides to make a game based on...ummm, let's pick at random Gettysburg, so many people are intimately familiar with the field, they are likely to verify, for example, that the McPherson barn is on the east side of the crest of the ridge. However, based on the screen shots to date, it appears the team is tackling the smallest practical detail making the maps.
Good job guys and I'm looking forward to more screen shots as soon as possible.
You can get farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.
I can assure you that we have the attention to detail down pat. I went out and got the most accurate height data that I could find. I download it and converted it to our heightmap format and shipped it off to Eric. Now since sattelite were not around then, it is today's data, but he takes that as the blueprint and works from there. When you start with the height data, then lay a terrain across it, all of the sudden the photos become real. You can find the dips, the creeks, the streams. You can see the LOS and why decisions were made. Then you looks the the photos and read the accounts and start adding the shrubbery The buildings. It's a very cool process. MMG did very good maps, as we started with terrain data as well, but Eric goes well beyond what MMG did. Not to mention that this new version of PR allows us to do much more with much more control.
Thanks Norb for the insight on the process. I'm sure many of us are interested (at a layman's level) in the various processes of designing the game. Anytime you want to give us a progress report on what's going on with the various aspects of the game I know it would be interesting and appreciated.
Looking back at TC2M, I remember the people who were able to make first hand comparisons between the actual field and the game were highly impressed with the similarity. The proof was in the comparisons that were posted by way of pictures of the field and in-game shots of the same area.
You can get farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.
I can assure you that we have the attention to detail down pat. ... but Eric goes well beyond what MMG did. Not to mention that this new version of PR allows us to do much more with much more control.
and A.John does bring up a good point about the more popular maps will be more highly scrutinized; and i'm up for the challenge, as i'm one of those people whould be doing the scrutinizing if i was on the other side of the fence. this map WILL be one of those that is picked over.
Luckily, i have access to the same period photos that the nit-pickers have to judge by... but i also have a couple more points in our favor: recent first-hand memories of the field in question, and Norb has signed on a very competent QA resource about 3 weeks ago... one i like to call my 'weapon of choice';). nothing escapes him and if he says a particular slope, a stone wall, or a field looks right, then it IS right and i move on.
right now he's currently counting the amount of boards i'm using on landmark barns to ensure what we're representing portrays fact.
I'm getting a warm fuzzy feeling about the level of detail based on NSD's responses to this subject. Sounds like you guys are taking map accuracy very seriously.
Last edited by Amish John on Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
You can get farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.
The looks are really awesome. I have 4 wishes for this game as the natural evolution of of TC2M.
1) Ability to play with 1 man = x men. Switch option to play with more than 20 visible soldiers on a brigade of 600 undred (X=3 means u see 200 soldiers in that regiment).
2) Don't make the officers detached from their regiment run straight into the enemy when trying to rally them and don't make the couriers go close to the enemy when going to give orders.
3) Make the officers be a target by sharpshooters and ordinary soldiers. Casualties among officers were 15% higher than regular infantry. This also means make the AI put the officers in a safe place.
4) Make the arty work.
, the more well known the battlefield, the more scrutiny the maps will be subjected to. For example, if at some point NSD decides to make a game based on...ummm, let's pick at random Gettysburg, so many people are intimately familiar with the field, they are likely to verify, for example, that the McPherson barn is on the east side of the crest of the ridge. However, based on the screen shots to date, it appears the team is tackling the smallest practical detail making the maps.
