Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

A new story begins...
The sequel to a real classic: Panzer Corps is back!

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AlbertoC
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Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by AlbertoC »

Content and play modes

Big branching campaigns with lots of interconnected scenarios and unit carry over have always been a signature feature of this genre, and they will remain the key feature of Panzer Corps 2. The initial release will feature a brand new Wehrmacht campaign that will be a middle ground between Panzer Corps vanilla and the Grand Campaigns in terms of size, and will feature both the European and African theatres in a single interconnected tree of scenarios. Our design goal is to make various historical and fictional branches well balanced in terms of length and interest, in order to improve campaign replayability. We hope that the new campaign will offer a sufficiently fresh and different gameplay experience.

Besides this classic mode, we also want to give our players new experiences to try, and they will be based on our new random map generator. The generator is able to generate maps of different size and type (continent, island, archipelago etc.) with up to 8 players struggling for control, various mission objectives, starting conditions and play options. So, the number of combinations to try is virtually endless.

With such a random generator in place, the next logical step will be to generate full-blown random campaigns, based on date range, number of scenarios and opposing factions selected by the player. Another possibility is to integrate a few random scenarios into a classic, human-designed campaign.


Image


Factions and units

The list of factions in Panzer Corps 2 is, of course, very similar to its predecessor and includes most of the nations which fought in WW2. But the list of units will be more extensive. The initial list of units is based directly on Panzer Corps with all its patches, DLCs and expansions. So we start where the prequel finished, and we are adding a few things on top. Firstly, we are adding a lot of historical ships instead of generic “battleships”, “destroyers” and “submarines”. Together with new naval rules mentioned above, we felt this was important for more interesting and authentic naval experience.





Secondly, we are trying to give smaller factions some more substance, so that they are better represented in the game. It does not mean that these factions will be able to fight the “big four” (Germany, USA, Great Britain and USSR) on equal terms, but we hope that they will become interesting enough to get their own content (scenarios and campaigns) as the series progresses.



Multiplayer

The classic PBEM++ multiplayer in Panzer Corps was very popular, and we will of course keep this option in the sequel. At the same time, some players felt that PBEM++ was not interactive enough and in fact “too old school”, compared to a “true” online multiplayer experience offered in many modern games. For these players we are adding a new Multiplayer mode which allows the players to be online at the same time, connect directly, and see each other’s moves in real time.

Most importantly, PBEM++ and online modes are not separated. All games are still kept on the server, and you don’t need to commit to a single play mode when creating a new MP game. You can play a few turns of a game in online mode, then revert to PBEM++ for several more turns, then play online again etc. We hope that this new system will make multiplayer even more popular in Panzer Corps 2.

Other changes in Multiplayer result directly from supporting up to 8 players on the same map. This gives us a lot of options to create competitive and cooperative games between several human and/or AI opponents.
GabeKnight
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by GabeKnight »

Did I see a K5 and a Gustav model? Sweet. 8)
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by RandomAttack »

Sounds great! While I personally am a Single Player guy, the MP described sounds quite innovative. Happy to hear about all the plans for campaigns, and a random map generator sounds outstanding. Sounds like you guys have upped your game! :D :D
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by proline »

Nice to see the dev diaries continue. Shame the front of the units must always be in darkness but this is a game obsessed with shadows.
peabird
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by peabird »

Sounds pretty cool but everything looks like a tabletop simulator... :shock:
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Aerologue »

The map looks really cool but please don't lose the option to display hex sides.
Rudankort
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Rudankort »

Aerologue wrote: Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:00 pm The map looks really cool but please don't lose the option to display hex sides.
This option is already implemented.
peabird wrote: Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:59 am Sounds pretty cool but everything looks like a tabletop simulator... :shock:
Hmm... Is this good or bad? :)
proline wrote: Thu Aug 09, 2018 7:08 am Nice to see the dev diaries continue. Shame the front of the units must always be in darkness but this is a game obsessed with shadows.
For you personally, I'm going to create an option to move the light source any way you want. ;)
RandomAttack wrote: Wed Aug 08, 2018 8:32 pm Sounds great! While I personally am a Single Player guy, the MP described sounds quite innovative. Happy to hear about all the plans for campaigns, and a random map generator sounds outstanding. Sounds like you guys have upped your game! :D :D
Upping the game is what sequels are about. :) But this has made the project really monstrous to be sure, and that is exactly the reason why it is taking so long. :oops:
Resolute
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Resolute »

Any chance getting a bit more information about the the display at the very top? Especially that little train sign intrigues me. And btw I think the units look really good.
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Kerensky »

Resolute wrote: Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:42 pm Any chance getting a bit more information about the the display at the very top? Especially that little train sign intrigues me. And btw I think the units look really good.
Transport availability. Same as PzC had, limited trains, ships, and air transports per scenario.
Rudankort
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Rudankort »

Resolute wrote: Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:42 pm Any chance getting a bit more information about the the display at the very top? Especially that little train sign intrigues me. And btw I think the units look really good.
You can find the description of all icons shown in the screenshot here:
viewtopic.php?p=740270#p740270
Resolute
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Resolute »

Rudankort wrote: Mon Aug 13, 2018 12:56 pm
Resolute wrote: Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:42 pm Any chance getting a bit more information about the the display at the very top? Especially that little train sign intrigues me. And btw I think the units look really good.
You can find the description of all icons shown in the screenshot here:
viewtopic.php?p=740270#p740270
Thanks! Looks I missed that topic *cough*
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Erasermarek »

Models looks too plastic for me... but i hope its just alpha version and will be improved. I just ask and i think we are now in year 2018... in PG3 we have from smoked to burned model (based on damage) of units. I realy miss this feature in PzC.... can you make it? For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoLaNDv5M7Q 45:20
Rudankort
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Rudankort »

Erasermarek wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:56 am Models looks too plastic for me...
Yes, there is a problem with the game which causes it (I believe the game is not showing the right LOD at this zoom distance). This will be addressed.
Erasermarek wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:56 am but i hope its just alpha version and will be improved. I just ask and i think we are now in year 2018... in PG3 we have from smoked to burned model (based on damage) of units. I realy miss this feature in PzC.... can you make it? For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoLaNDv5M7Q 45:20
You are talking about smoke coming from the unit right? Yes, this is on our list.
Erasermarek
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Erasermarek »

Yup smoke (or fire for even more damaged unit)... thx for answer.
RVallant
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by RVallant »

AlbertoC wrote: Wed Aug 08, 2018 2:09 pm Content and play modes

Big branching campaigns with lots of interconnected scenarios and unit carry over have always been a signature feature of this genre, and they will remain the key feature of Panzer Corps 2. The initial release will feature a brand new Wehrmacht campaign that will be a middle ground between Panzer Corps vanilla and the Grand Campaigns in terms of size, and will feature both the European and African theatres in a single interconnected tree of scenarios. Our design goal is to make various historical and fictional branches well balanced in terms of length and interest, in order to improve campaign replayability. We hope that the new campaign will offer a sufficiently fresh and different gameplay experience.

Besides this classic mode, we also want to give our players new experiences to try, and they will be based on our new random map generator. The generator is able to generate maps of different size and type (continent, island, archipelago etc.) with up to 8 players struggling for control, various mission objectives, starting conditions and play options. So, the number of combinations to try is virtually endless.

With such a random generator in place, the next logical step will be to generate full-blown random campaigns, based on date range, number of scenarios and opposing factions selected by the player. Another possibility is to integrate a few random scenarios into a classic, human-designed campaign.
Do you get a choice on the path you take? You say the theatres will be inter-connected, but I wonder if players will get the choice to pick their theatre and to stay there? For example, after the initial conflict kicks off - sort of the like the West/East of the Grand Campaign.

On that note, I take it the GC will not be back at all then?

Fictional branches, I presume means we might conceivably manage to change the course of the war? Or failing that, the course of the theatre?

The random campaign generator (of sorts) sounds interesting. I have no interest in the multiplayer though, I just hope for quality in the single player experience. ^_^
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Rudankort »

RVallant wrote: Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:56 pm Do you get a choice on the path you take? You say the theatres will be inter-connected, but I wonder if players will get the choice to pick their theatre and to stay there? For example, after the initial conflict kicks off - sort of the like the West/East of the Grand Campaign.
Yes, in some cases you will explicitly choose your campaign path.
RVallant wrote: Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:56 pm On that note, I take it the GC will not be back at all then?
The truth is, nothing is set in stone beyond 1.0. We plan to produce a lot of additional content, but will it be something similar to GC, or something even better? I cannot tell at this point.
RVallant wrote: Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:56 pm Fictional branches, I presume means we might conceivably manage to change the course of the war? Or failing that, the course of the theatre?
Yes, changing history is a long standing tradition of this series, so we wanted to keep it.
RVallant wrote: Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:56 pm The random campaign generator (of sorts) sounds interesting. I have no interest in the multiplayer though, I just hope for quality in the single player experience. ^_^
A majority of our users plays SP exclusively, but MP community is also very active and important for us. We will have to do both aspects well. :)
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #2

Post by Ballacraine »

Rudankort wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:00 am
RVallant wrote: Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:56 pm Do you get a choice on the path you take? You say the theatres will be inter-connected, but I wonder if players will get the choice to pick their theatre and to stay there? For example, after the initial conflict kicks off - sort of the like the West/East of the Grand Campaign.


Yes, in some cases you will explicitly choose your campaign path.
Very late to the party here, but very pleased to see another iteration of this series.

One thing I would have liked at the start of the Afrika Korps DLC would have been the option to import a core from a chronologically earlier Grand Campaign DLC

:)
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