1:1 Sprite Ratio

[ironsight]

I think we'll be dead and buried before that futuristic display of technical knowhow emerges.

I don't know about that! RPG/FPS games have been out for quite a while now and are a dime a dozen these days. The technology definitely exists already.
The problems however as i see it are whether the 3D engine would support this and interfacing a specific FPS scenario into the main battle. I don't know what language Norb is using but having programmed in C, for example the 'SPAWN/(with variables,parameters)' or similar instruction could make the battle simulator map to RPG environment transition relatively painless assuming the FPS scenarios are modular.

The way i envision all this coming down is not all unit or objective flags would be FPS capable just a tempting select few which might possibly have to be stumbled upon during the course of the battle. It would be up to the player whether to go into that mode of play. AI would also be available during this for all except the player. If the player gets killed, captured or routes, its over, back to the main battle.

The only downside and i don't think it'd be a real downside is the main battle might have to be paused due to processor crunching, memory concerns, etc. to allow the FPS scenario to play out with full processor horse power and memory resources. Memory could be the real potential issue but there are ways to get around that such as saving the paused main battle temporarily to the HD until the FPS scenario plays out. Basically the main battle map would be paused, saved to HD, unloaded from memory except for a control kernal and finally the FPS module loaded into memory and executed. For PCs with 6 Gigs of memory all this probably wouldn't even be necessary.

Far as i know and i'm probably wrong on this, there is no grand battle simulator like TC2M which has imbedded RPG/FPS capability. It would be a first best of both worlds maybe?

I gotta say, i personally find playing that History Channel's Civil War FPS game a hoot and a half. Its great to command an Army or Division during a big battle but its also something else to be an ordinary grunt in the middle of that battle with explosions going off near you, structures burning around you, your comrads at your side for support, people shooting at you and the best part you shooting back!

[RebBugler]

norb wrote:

I believe that we will have the ability to adjust much more in this engine. You will be able to define how many "units" make a yard, when we open the maps you will be able to do different size maps, and I think that you will be able to define whatever sprite ratio you want.

This is exactly my wish, making sprite ratio options available...with all the numbers on the toolbar adjusting to the various ratios...and defining the scale properly for map coordinates.

And Ironsight, keep pushing those ideas, you're talking a 'next generation' game, maybe norb will see something in your ideas...and build it.

[RebBugler]

Amish John wrote:

Since we're doing some wishing here, I'd like a scenario designer. Something where I could open a drop down list of the OOB and drag and drop a unit onto the map, select a formation for them, and select a direction to face them. Can you NSD guys have that completed by the weekend? :ohmy:

My app WarTool is going that way, I'm still working on some major bugs but have the units and unitlocs working without a hitch, making for seamless data exchange. I have a problem with map placements, can't rely on the Pakfront app...too shakey. Once I make WarTool ready for download again, maybe some map placement ideas will emerge.

Since the new game uses .csv files, my app should work fine, I'll just dress it up to look 'new gamish'.B) and include the new functions or whatever.

[Hancock the Superb]

Definitly a 1:1 ratio, I am tired of this non-actual play.

Now, I will have to get a new computer, but, I will do it for a 1 to 1. 10:1 is too much.

And, also, a scenario designer!

That would be great.

[ironsight]

Definitly a 1:1 ratio, I am tired of this non-actual play.

OH i don't know about that. 10:1 is ideal for a birdseye view of the battle especially if its a big battle. Myself, i almost always play the commanding general which means having knowledge of what going on with the entire battlefield. Because of this, i seldom play out a battle from less than fifety to a hundred foot elevation.

A hard coded 1:1 from a high aerial view with a 1000 troops/regiment might and i don't know this for sure, would probably morph into solid mass of blue or gray which some might find acceptable and others not with lower resolution capable, laptops, small monitors or older less powerful PCs.

I still think as i mentioned earlier in this here thread, that a kick-ass 1:1 FPS option and/or an option to have the ratio change (morph) on the fly when the map is either zoomed in-out and/or let the user have an option to choose the sprite ratio in the Advanced Setup Menu might be some compromises. Don't know how much more coding baggage and headaches this would present for Norb or for that matter, if even some of these things are possible at all.

Another related thing that might settle some of these PC resolution vs. game performance issues that keep coming up is in the Setup Menu ask the user what type monitor, graphics card, PC, OS, etc. they're gonna play the game on. This way the game parameters could be 'ball park tuned' or optimized by NSD for specific PC systems with the trade off being hi-res, sprite ratios, structures, etc, drawing distances, birds chirping, etc.

I'am a big believer in giving the end user of SW as many options as humanly practical in an effort to satisfy most of the people most of the time albeit...knowing out of the gate, all of the people all of the time will never be satisfied.
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[chantilly]

Hancock - imagine what the memory hit would be on our PC's if a 1:1 sprite ratio was used in a large battle. Our damn video cards would melt.

[JC Edwards]

I would have to agree with my fellow officer chantilly on this. At Brigade level I was thinking this may have worked......but now I'm not so sure. I'm planning on adding 2 more Gigs of Ram to my rig, but I want everything to go nice and smooth in-game.
A 1:1 sprite ratio I do believe would be too taxing.

[GShock]

i think the same but as already stated, it could be used for testing the weapons mods. Its the only way to count really how many die...with the bodies. Then anyone can use the ratio he likes. I think on 600 men a good compromise could be 1/5

[ironsight]

Chantilly wrote:
..imagine what the memory hit would be on our PC's if a 1:1 sprite ratio was used in a large battle. Our damn video cards would melt.

Yeah, but look at the bright side, it'd be a dang good excuse to upgrade that there video card!:P
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