Scourge of War Boards

I've been thinking long and hard about this :blink: - Firstly Gettysburg has been a great success - Partly due to the fact that the game covered the most famous battle of the war - TC2M on release never got the credit it deserved partly I suspect because 2nd Manassas was not one of the 'headline grabbers' of the Civil War which is a shame as it was probably Lee's greatest achievement.

Therefore Chancellorsville or Shiloh may be the best choice for a one off new release. However maybe the best way forward would be to look not at a single battle but at a campaign. Last year I released a TC2M Vicksburg OOB pack and to date this has been the most downloaded mods I have done also the Atlanta campaign and Shermans March to the sea pack got significant attention. Another way of increasing interest would be to maybe add new gameplay options like Gunboats and fortifications for seiges (although I appreciate that would mean a heavy investment in additional development).

My final idea would be to look at releasing a map editor and a scenario creator - I'd certainly pay this and I suspect others would do as well.

Just a few idea's - Hell whatever you release I'll buy it - I'm a loyal fan and devotee

Zeke

Well, I’ll go with the campaign and with more advanced AI maneuvers .

I’ll like to see that the AI has the ability to disengage and seek out better ground at times.

I’ll also like to see some feints \ demonstrations , but that is more of a wish-list-type-of-thing!

davinci

Well, I’ll go with the campaign and with more advanced AI maneuvers .

I’ll like to see that the AI has the ability to disengage and seek out better ground at times.

I’ll also like to see some feints \ demonstrations , but that is more of a wish-list-type-of-thing!

davinci

Hmm like the AI Maneuvers idea, that would be cool!

I love the forward-thinking aspect of the NorbSoft team. I am also really impressed by the array of talent supporting game development. The future looks very bright, IMHO. SOWG was a fantastic start. Pipe Creek and Antietam expanded the base. The latest release (Chancellorsville) is a fantastic example of how this game has tons of room to grow and excite the gaming community. There is nothing that comes close in portraying the look and feel of ACW gaming, AFAIC.

In his interview with that French Magazine before Chancellorsville came out didn't Norb say the next job they would have after the most recent release is some engine upgrades to link the battles already covered together? IE start to a campaign game...

What about the Shenandoah Valley campaign?

Without question. . . I'd love to see 7 days next. All the AI tweaks and such would be great, but NSD needs to make money.

And a 7 days stand alone game with a campaign aspect would be awesome.

Operational campaign. Real rivers. Smoother gameplay.

That's it

I'm guessing it will be a new Eastern battle that ties in with the ones they have already done so they can take advantage of the work done on the prior battles for linking them somehow. Fredricksburg would be logical as it links Antietam and Chancellorsville but the battle itself might not sell that way as it wouldn't be the most fun gameplay wise, still I think the key feature of the next game is not going to be the battle but the campaign feature so the Battle might be secondary depending how they market it.

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.