Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Field of Glory II is a turn-based tactical game set during the Rise of Rome from 280 BC to 25 BC.
JaM2013
Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
Posts: 595
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:02 pm

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by JaM2013 »

i see, so i guess later units are bigger than earlier units? i noticed that Roman units in Rise of Rome is usually 400-500 men strong, but in Caesar's campaign it is 1500 men strong.. can you explain what is behind it? (if you dont mind)
Image
rbodleyscott
Field of Glory 2
Field of Glory 2
Posts: 28014
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:25 pm

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by rbodleyscott »

JaM2013 wrote:i see, so i guess later units are bigger than earlier units? i noticed that Roman units in Rise of Rome is usually 400-500 men strong, but in Caesar's campaign it is 1500 men strong.. can you explain what is behind it? (if you dont mind)
No. Later units are not bigger than earlier units. There are just more of them in the bigger battles.

The historically-based campaigns have a simple force multiplier to make the overall numbers approximately match the numbers in the historical campaigns without having to have vast number of units on the map. Apart from the reported numbers of men, and reported casualties, the units behave exactly the same as if they were standard size (460-500 men).

While not entirely satisfactory, this is a simple solution that tabletop wargamers often use when they don't have enough figures or space to play out a historical battle at the standard representational scale. It requires a certain "suspension of disbelief" because obviously the ground scale, ranges, move distances etc. are designed for units of 400-500 men.

Some purists may hate this idea, but when all is said and done it is a game, and most people are happy to simply ignore the inconsistency in the interest of a playable game.

The game can in fact handle a lot more units per side (somebody reported making a scenario with 300 units a side), but this will put a strain on many machines' processing capability, and not everyone has time to play out such mammoth battles. Nevertheless, I expect we will see some appearing as user created content in due course.

The force multiplier allows the campaign battles to stay manageable, but still reports numbers in the right ranges for the historical events. As I say, it's a compromise, in the interest of a playable game.
Richard Bodley Scott

Image
JaM2013
Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
Posts: 595
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:02 pm

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by JaM2013 »

i understand, is that force multiplayer adjustable, or hardcoded? ( i mean for historical campaigns)
Image
rbodleyscott
Field of Glory 2
Field of Glory 2
Posts: 28014
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:25 pm

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by rbodleyscott »

JaM2013 wrote:i understand, is that force multiplayer adjustable, or hardcoded? ( i mean for historical campaigns)
Each historically-based campaign has its own text file defining such things. The force multiplier can be defined for the whole campaign, or for each individual battle of the campaign.

The system is designed to make it easy for modders to create their own historically-based campaigns. You only need to edit text files, not program code. One of the beta testers has already created a campaign around one famous historical king, with 10-battle and epic 15-battle versions.

We can then host the campaign on our user content FTP, which will allow it to be selected from a list and downloaded in-game.
Richard Bodley Scott

Image
JaM2013
Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
Sergeant Major - Armoured Train
Posts: 595
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:02 pm

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by JaM2013 »

great, thanks for all answers! cant wait for this game to be released already :)
Image
athineos
Senior Corporal - Ju 87G
Senior Corporal - Ju 87G
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2016 7:00 pm

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by athineos »

I undesrstand that at present, the Random map generator produces an infinite variety of historically realistic battlefield maps for custom battles and campaigns. Is the Dev team planning to enhance and add more choices and make the Battle generator more robust? The reason I am asking is that there are people that don't have time to create their own scenarios from scratch because it is too time consuming.
rbodleyscott
Field of Glory 2
Field of Glory 2
Posts: 28014
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:25 pm

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by rbodleyscott »

athineos wrote:I undesrstand that at present, the Random map generator produces an infinite variety of historically realistic battlefield maps for custom battles and campaigns. Is the Dev team planning to enhance and add more choices and make the Battle generator more robust? The reason I am asking is that there are people that don't have time to create their own scenarios from scratch because it is too time consuming.
We are indeed working on adding more choices, and enhancing the battlefield maps - although (if we do say so ourselves) they are already very good.

We are also currently testing major improvements to the campaign system. (No, not a strategic map).

The game is intended to provide infinite replay value by generating a wide variety of scenarios automatically. There is certainly no need to create your own scenarios from scratch unless you want to represent a particular historical battle that has not so far been covered.

However, in addition to the historical scenarios in the game, an increasing number of user-created historical scenarios (and campaigns) are available for free in-game download.
Richard Bodley Scott

Image
athineos
Senior Corporal - Ju 87G
Senior Corporal - Ju 87G
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2016 7:00 pm

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by athineos »

Thanks for the reply. I do believe this game is one of the best to come out in 2017! keep up the good work!
michaelguth
Lance Corporal - SdKfz 222
Lance Corporal - SdKfz 222
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 11:33 am

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by michaelguth »

What I would like the game to do is allow me to play EQUAL POINTS against the AI, with me choosing my army list; and the AI either choosing their own points or playing against a 1200 point army of my design. That is how I would practice against humans. I would like to use the highest AI level.

As I understand it, the AI gets more points, or the human gets less, as you turn up the AI ability towards deity.

Any way I can get high level AI with 1200 points a side?
rbodleyscott
Field of Glory 2
Field of Glory 2
Posts: 28014
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 6:25 pm

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by rbodleyscott »

michaelguth wrote:What I would like the game to do is allow me to play EQUAL POINTS against the AI, with me choosing my army list; and the AI either choosing their own points or playing against a 1200 point army of my design. That is how I would practice against humans. I would like to use the highest AI level.

As I understand it, the AI gets more points, or the human gets less, as you turn up the AI ability towards deity.

Any way I can get high level AI with 1200 points a side?
There is only one level of AI. The AI does not get cleverer at higher difficulty levels, you just get less points of troops.

So if you set up an open battle game on level 2 (Tribune), with Default troops selection, the armies will be almost equal in points (1197 vs 1200) and you will be playing against the "highest level AI". However, if that difficulty level does not give you enough of a challenge, you can increase the difficulty and you will get less points worth of troops.

We made a decision that the AI should play by exactly the same rules as the player, so that interactions between units of a certain quality and type would always be the same whatever the difficulty level, and whether they belong to the player, the AI, or another player.

We cannot make the AI cleverer than the cleverest we can make it, so the only way to tie the quality of the AI to the difficulty level would be to nobble the AI for all difficulty levels except the highest. That would mean that everyone playing at lower than the highest difficulty level would be playing against deliberately nobbled AI.

We did not want to do this, so we did it on points. Historical battles were not between "equal points" armies, so this method of dealing with difficulty levels is realistic.
Richard Bodley Scott

Image
athineos
Senior Corporal - Ju 87G
Senior Corporal - Ju 87G
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2016 7:00 pm

Re: Field of Glory II Dev Diary - Game Modes

Post by athineos »

It makes perfect sense
Post Reply

Return to “Field of Glory II”