Scenario designers- how much research do you do?

[hoplitis]

Mustang,
find a book which seems good for you and CONVINCE your parents to buy it. You can find alot of interesting stuff on the web but nothing beats a good book! And always keep an open mind and a reasonable amount of doubt about what you read!

[wulfir]

Mustang said:
I was wondering how much research that the scenario designers do and put into their battle.

Well it differs, the research part is part of the fun IMO. I tend to do more hypotetical stuff with MBT (compared to SPWW2) but I try to make the scenarios beliveable and usually the map and forces are based on the real deal - BUT at the same time there is pretty much always some level of artistic licence (at some point you gotta say "ok, enough research, let's roll" and get to work).

If you've been thinking of making the plunge, there is really only one rule I think is relevant:

...and that is be sure to make the scenario you yourself would like to play.

[Mustang]

Thanks, everyone. I'm just really interested in really obscure battles, like the ones in Afghanistan and the third world, and it's extremely hard to find details on them. But thanks for the advice anyway, and I'm sure it'll be of use.

[markgame]

I know this might sound like heresy, but I like to see unusual weapons, platforms and situations, even if they are hypothetical. winSPMBT has such an incredible variety of units it's fun to see something unusual, even if it is unlikely.

[Double_Deuce]

markgame said:
I know this might sound like heresy, but I like to see unusual weapons, platforms and situations, even if they are hypothetical.

Well, I doubt that its heresy.

IMHO its the best way to push the game to its limits as well as the designer's creativity. I always wanted to be a writer so that is probably why I prefer to design campaigns rather than scenario's. Campaigns are a way to tell a story, be it historically based or pure fiction. The main objective is to get the player to feel they are part of story and have fun in the process.

[Mustang]

I'm thinking of doing a remake of the battle of Wadi Al Batin ("Fright Night") from the Iraqi point of view. One of my videogames (M1 Tank Platoon II, a really old Mindscape real-time tactics game) has the battle in it, so I can use that to get the map and force compositions for both sides. Won't take very long, if I remember to get around to it. There aren't enough WinSPMBT scenarios from the bad guy's point of view, so I think this will be interesting.

[Double_Deuce]

Mustang said:
There aren't enough WinSPMBT scenarios from the bad guy's point of view, so I think this will be interesting.

I'd like to see more of these as well keeping in mind that the "other side" for anyone is always gonna be the "Bad Guy".

I would really like to see more using the nations who don't get much design coverage like those in Africa (Ethiopia/Eritrea) and even some of the Middle East (Gulf States border/oil field disputes).

[Artur]

Mustang said:
... There aren't enough WinSPMBT scenarios from the bad guy's point of view, so I think this will be interesting.

Absolutely

Artur.