New Generation

mosborne · #1 October 18th, 2009, 10:01 AM

Hi All:
I would like to throw out a suggestion.

Since many of us have been tossing in a wish list of features for the next update on one side, and on the other side, recognizing that patching or modifying software is a very time consuming job, plus with new vehicles and technology always on the horizon, why don't we start a project to build a new game. If we break it down into small components, perhaps spreading it around among programmers would not make the job seem so big. Plus, if nothing is done, the game will become obe by technology in several different ways.

I would guess that there is a lot of data in the current game is readily reusable. Also, many of the algorithms for hitting and firing should be transportable, as well as the AI concepts. Plus we have loads of graphics to start off with too! There may even be some more advance game engines to employ to speed up development.

I would suggest first forming up a group to develop a concept document which describes the features the game should have.

The next group should then be a requirements development group that takes these concepts and converts them into software requirements.

Next group would be an architecture group to help establish the various teams needed to build and how to build the various modules as well as control interfaces between the teams.

Followed by the teams themselves which will do the module construction and testing and integration.

Any thoughts.

EJ · #2 October 19th, 2009, 09:59 PM

Sounds great! If I had software programing skill I would be one of the 1st to volunteer. Hopefully Andy or Don will consider your suggestion and maybe do it....

Mobhack · #3 October 20th, 2009, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EJ

Sounds great! If I had software programing skill I would be one of the 1st to volunteer. Hopefully Andy or Don will consider your suggestion and maybe do it....

Err - no we won't, sorry.

Should we ever decide to do a ground-up remake, it will just be us. Maybe one or two people we know personally and can trust might be involved.

However we have zip-zero use for hippy-happy fluffy-bunny volunteers. Been there done that and got the T-shirt and gift mug. Never, ever, again. Herding cats is much more fun.

Andy

hoplitis · #4 October 20th, 2009, 10:17 AM

Andy,
miaao....prrrrr.....
can I join the herd?

Seriously now,
I totally agree with you on this.
The level of commitement required to fullfil such a kind of project is very high indeed. And rarely seen on a simple "buddy" basis......

DRG · #5 October 20th, 2009, 11:22 AM

As Andy said, we have "been there, done that" and hearding cats IS much more fun. If I had a choice between NOT developing another game and the "group hug" route I'd pick NOT developing in a heartbeat. The fact that Andy and I have worked together for 11 years without conflict is amazing all by itself.

That said there is nothing stopping you from trying it yourself. Lord knows there are enough people around who think they could do better than we did. That's how WaW got produced and why their post war version went nowhere.

Don't get me wrong. We DO appreciate the help we have had along the way. We just wouldn't want to walk that road again

Don

mosborne · #6 October 24th, 2009, 01:34 PM

Thanks, just testing the waters so to speak.

Skirmisher · #7 October 24th, 2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EJ

If I had software programing skill I would be one of the 1st to volunteer.

Heh , If I had a million dollars I'd be a millionare. lol

If you had programming skill you'd also need about 18 hours a day, everyday to get anywhere.

hawk66 · #8 December 25th, 2009, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mobhack

Should we ever decide to do a ground-up remake, it will just be us.

Uh, than there seems at least the possibilty that there might be a new version in the far future

(That does not mean that I am unhappy with the current one).

I've always thought about if there will every be a similar game/sim with such a big scope and variety. I think from a financial point of view this is suboptimal since today's business model seems to be to build core games and then offer expansions.
So, I would not expect such a game from any mainstream publisher.

EJ · #9 December 30th, 2009, 09:21 AM

Don and Andy,
You tried the idea before and the volunteers involved created a fiasco? What was WaW? It was a flop? I imagine it takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to stick with continuously improving the game where avg "hip-happy" volunteers would probably butcher it. As a 90-91 Desert Storm vet I know something about intestinal fortitude. Living in a hot *** warehouse and taking "cowboy" showers for 6 months was rough. Eating chow while fighting off "Kamikaze" horse flies was also fun. You guys have done an outstanding job as a 2 man team over an 11 year period. If you ever decide to do a remake I will gladly buy it. I'm a loyal fan of the series. I already have both winspmbt and winspww2 on cd.

@Skirmisher,
Dude no need to rain on my wishful thinking...LOL!

DRG · #10 December 31st, 2009, 11:46 AM

We had nothing to do with WaW.

The problems we have had in the past working with multiple contributors revolved around not having any really effective way to ensure the weapon and unit databases for each nation matched what other nations used and that's how we ended up with weapons and units that should have been the same all across the board having different values because so many people were working on them. ( and there will always be simple typos ) We now have software that allows us to check across all the OOB's and since only two of us are making any changes now we ensure that in the event a major change is done we try to ensure it's done for all units concerned but there's still the problem with the same weapon or vehicle being named different ways in different OOB's and knowing what problems to ask the software to look for.

The main problem we inherited with SP was each nation having it's own weapons database instead of one central weapons database that every OOB could draw from. That would eliminate the need to have 10 of the same weapon that may have two of three different stats becasue different OOB designers had their own ideas on what they should have been.

For MBT especially we rarely have the time to look for specific problems as the to-do list of reported problems ends up at 80+ pages but we are making headway in that regard as every release we end up focusing on various problem reported in one OOB then start cross checking other units or weapons that are similar

Don