Combat in Clash, etc.

[Ekmek]

Mark:

I just started reading al of your stuff on Clash and it almost sounds like you guys were reading my mind (or better yet there is a general consensus on that kind of game being made).

I like the combat ideas. I saw that Dupuy was the source, granted the military has pretty much debunked his mathematical equation for winning wars but we are workingg with computers so it has to be mathematical so no problem there.

Supply is great, I've long be an advocate of supply but depending on how technical you want to be there are different classes of supply and different modes of supply/logistics. The best books are:
Van Crevald, Supplying War and
Engels, te ogistics of the Macedonian Army. If interested I could give you a synopsis 9plus what I've read in ARmy Logistician on the supposed "revolution in military logistics"

When you mean simultaneous combat does that mean "real-time"? I prefer real time for combat it makes synchronization better but it has to be possible at both tactical and strategic levels (esp. in the later game) so you could apply reserves both in the attack and i the attempts for counterattack and plugging the gaps in the line when on defense. I would love to see real-time tactical battles through a city (Simcity3000 with Tanks rolling through!) that would be a first as far as I've seen. My real time models are AoE and Cmd and Cnqr but they didn't fit the Civ tye (because they wouldn't let you operate globally).

Will there be customizable features (like a series of *.bmps to animate combat moves etc?)


Other than that great work, when can I get my hands on a copy?




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"No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."
- Jim Morrison

[Mark_Everson]

Hi E:

Sure, I'd like to hear a synopsis of the sources on logistics that you cite. I've read some stuff by van Creveld, but not that one.

Simultaneous / real time:
Simultaneous doesn't mean real time in this context, at least for the first versions of Clash. Simultaneous turn-based (like Diplomacy) will be our first shot at it. If real-time is achievable we are going to try making that an option. So we're keeping RT in mind as we work things out and start coding. There has been a lot of discussion on the RTS option a ways back. If you're interested in it you can search the forum for 'RTS' etc.

We're trying to stay out of the animation business on the graphics. I, personally, would just prefer to have those clock cycles go to good AI instead!

When you can get Clash depends on how many hours everyone (soon especially the coders) is willing to put in. Right now the target is to have a decent beta early in the new year, but no promises... If you want to be on the alpha/beta testing send me an email and I'll put you on the list.

-Mark