Hex Based WC Universe strategy game (in the panzer general style)

Ron B

Master Chief Petty Officer
Hi All,

I am in the process of creating a Hex based Turn based WC Universe war game in the style of the venerable Panzer General. Imagine Panzer General in the WC world.

I am making good progress and hopefully will be able to show the first versions. Will need help testing, gameplay and WC universe know how.

Any other feedback suggestions welcome as I am new to this.

Cheers,
Ron
 
Hey, it's hard to give much feedback without knowing more details. I think everyone would be interested in seeing more of what you're working on though.
 
I'm with Chris; I would like to know a few of the details of what you're working on. Let's start with the scope - are you doing ground battles, space battles, or a combination (ala Star General, one of the sequels of Panzer General). Another good question - how closely are you following Panzer General's combat and movement mechanics?

I myself have been thinking about doing a strategic game in the WC universe that would involve both a strategic map and a set of tactical maps, though in my case the inspiration was Nobunaga's Ambition (crossed with WC Armada), and mine would've been a tabletop game. Sounds similar to what you're planning at least, so I'd definitely be willing to offer advice and feedback. I've never played Panzer General, but I'd be willing to in order to get a feel for it.
 
A Hex-based WC strategy game. Something like "Wing Commander TacOps" or different?
Anyways I look forward to see what you have in store. :)
 
Hey, it's hard to give much feedback without knowing more details. I think everyone would be interested in seeing more of what you're working on though.

Thanks for the response. Am working whenever I get time to have something to show you guys. Will update this thread soon.
 
I'm with Chris; I would like to know a few of the details of what you're working on. Let's start with the scope - are you doing ground battles, space battles, or a combination (ala Star General, one of the sequels of Panzer General). Another good question - how closely are you following Panzer General's combat and movement mechanics?

I myself have been thinking about doing a strategic game in the WC universe that would involve both a strategic map and a set of tactical maps, though in my case the inspiration was Nobunaga's Ambition (crossed with WC Armada), and mine would've been a tabletop game. Sounds similar to what you're planning at least, so I'd definitely be willing to offer advice and feedback. I've never played Panzer General, but I'd be willing to in order to get a feel for it.

Its going to be initially only space battles but its going to have multiple star systems to jump in and out off. This game is a result of my frustration with Star General which has terrible gameplay and even crappier graphics. Besides I wanted to recreate it in the WC universe.

I am taking guidance from Panzer General's combat and movement dynamics but modifying them for space battles. But PG values such as experience, suppression, hard attack, soft attack all are part of the calculations. Panzer General is my absolute favorite game of all time and combining its idea with WC is really exciting for me. Do give it PG a shot if you get a chance, its too good.

Will put up some screenshots soon for you to review.
 
A Hex-based WC strategy game. Something like "Wing Commander TacOps" or different?
Anyways I look forward to see what you have in store. :)

I checked out TacOps and its a bit like TacOps but I want to create a bit of depth in it and much deeper fleet and campaign management. I know its a tall order but i am making good progress. Can't wait to share it with you guys.
 
Its going to be initially only space battles but its going to have multiple star systems to jump in and out off. This game is a result of my frustration with Star General which has terrible gameplay and even crappier graphics. Besides I wanted to recreate it in the WC universe.

I am taking guidance from Panzer General's combat and movement dynamics but modifying them for space battles. But PG values such as experience, suppression, hard attack, soft attack all are part of the calculations. Panzer General is my absolute favorite game of all time and combining its idea with WC is really exciting for me. Do give it PG a shot if you get a chance, its too good.

Will put up some screenshots soon for you to review.

How similar is PG2 to the original; I've seen it on GOG lately (ten bucks, though). The original I've only been able to find on abandonware sites so far, though it's my understanding that there's a free and open-source clone of it called LGeneral. Should I check that out instead?

From the screenies at abandonia.com...well, hell, PG looks like a game I would enjoy (historical hasn't been my cup of tea so far as far as hex-and-counter games go, but I've been meaning to get into it).

How big is your overall strategic map going to be? What kind of algorithms have you come up with in order to generate individual battlefields?
 
How similar is PG2 to the original; I've seen it on GOG lately (ten bucks, though). The original I've only been able to find on abandonware sites so far, though it's my understanding that there's a free and open-source clone of it called LGeneral. Should I check that out instead?

From the screenies at abandonia.com...well, hell, PG looks like a game I would enjoy (historical hasn't been my cup of tea so far as far as hex-and-counter games go, but I've been meaning to get into it).

How big is your overall strategic map going to be? What kind of algorithms have you come up with in order to generate individual battlefields?

PG2 is very diffeent from the originl PG. The original is any day better. You can download it from abandonia and play it with the D-fend dos emulator. PG2 is also available on free download so dont pay for it. Havent tried LGgeneral yet.

I am a WW2 buff so i love the historical accuracy of PG. But even without the historical baggage its briliant.

I am initially planning 1 sector and 5-10 systems like Troy etc. Am currently working on ship combat and ship graphics and am using a single map for testing. Havent got around to generating the entire set yet but will use an auto script to generate elements such as asteroids and connect jump points between systems.

Whats bothering me rigt now is how to plan the turnbased system. I dont want a scenario based system, but a free flowing game. But thats still a way off.
 
Yeah, Abandonia is where I found it. Found out that LGeneral is strictly Linux; been too long since I tried to use Cygwin, so that route's out.

I feel I should mention that I have algorithms for generating Sectors and Privateer-style Nav Maps in WCRPG (Chapters 10.2.1 and 10.2.2, respectively). If they can help you out as far as planning out your maps, feel free to make use of them. Granted that the procedure in 10.2.2 uses an orthogonal grid but I imagine it could be readily adapted to a hex map given some kind of offset.

There's a question: which programming language are you using?

What ideas have you had so far as far the turn-based system goes?
 
Pretty cool idea with the "WC General" Project :)

This puts the dozens of WC models around here into good use.
 
Yeah, Abandonia is where I found it. Found out that LGeneral is strictly Linux; been too long since I tried to use Cygwin, so that route's out.

I feel I should mention that I have algorithms for generating Sectors and Privateer-style Nav Maps in WCRPG (Chapters 10.2.1 and 10.2.2, respectively). If they can help you out as far as planning out your maps, feel free to make use of them. Granted that the procedure in 10.2.2 uses an orthogonal grid but I imagine it could be readily adapted to a hex map given some kind of offset.

There's a question: which programming language are you using?

What ideas have you had so far as far the turn-based system goes?

Thanks. I had actually gone through those sections when I was researching this project. I will try and reference them as much as possible. I am going to program the jump connections coordinate once I have entered the system to system pairs (which will be quite a bit of data entry) into a database. Location of jump points in each system map will be random (although under certain prerequisites like minimum distance from neighboring jump points etc). At least thats my plan in theory. Currently working on single system dynamics which can later be replicated to all systems.

I am using PHP-MySQL with HTML5/Jquery/Ajax frontend. Thats the only language I know for online programming.

The place i am getting stuck (although mental model only so far) is if 20 players are in the game we cannot wait for 20 to finish their turns before the first one moves/attacks again. But since combat is dependent on each players response to another we cannot skip anyone's turn either. I hope I am making sense. Let me know if you have any ideas on how to handle multiple user tactical combat without long turn based delays.

As always thanks for your thoughts. Cheers.
 
If something is available legally for a few dollars, don't be a cheapskate. Also, don't talk about warez here.

Yup, that's true. Although most of what we are talking about is abandoned ware with no company to pay. We usually end up paying to archive sites who charge only for the download and not the software itself. Thanks for the advise though.
 
Pretty cool idea with the "WC General" Project :)

This puts the dozens of WC models around here into good use.

Thanks. I am hoping to pull it off and create something workable. Still a long way to go but am enjoying the creation process. Been a while since I worked on an interesting personal project.
 
The place i am getting stuck (although mental model only so far) is if 20 players are in the game we cannot wait for 20 to finish their turns before the first one moves/attacks again. But since combat is dependent on each players response to another we cannot skip anyone's turn either. I hope I am making sense. Let me know if you have any ideas on how to handle multiple user tactical combat without long turn based delays.

Yeah, that's a tough one. TacOps had that difficulty; my suggestion to those folks was to either set a time limit for movement or boot a player from the game. That didn't happen; to my knowledge Game 6 has been stuck on the current turn for the past two years as a result.

I would suggest everybody inputing their orders simultaneously and then working them out turn-by-turn, but that defeats the point of the PG mechanic. So bad suggestion.

Time limit penalties aren't exactly satisfactory...I'll give the matter some thought and see if I can come up with a better solution.
 
Hi, Here are some preview shots of the game progress.
battle1-jpg.7050



battle2.jpg


Ship Selection and purchase
ship_management.jpg
 

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Its going to be initially only space battles but its going to have multiple star systems to jump in and out off. This game is a result of my frustration with Star General which has terrible gameplay and even crappier graphics. Besides I wanted to recreate it in the WC universe.

I quite liked Star General to be honest, I never had any problems with the game play, I'd be interested to hear what your opinion was on it.

Your game looks to be shaping up pretty well, I am liking the look of it, would be great to seize space above a planet and the land your troops
 
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