Future of Ultimate General

[Clinch]

Nick, whats your general business plan for the game? Are you going to release new maps as dlc? Are you going to provide tools for modders? I fully understand that primarily you are trying to make money, I have no problem with that (provided you produce a great product). Will you be branching off into different eras? Will you do this before you provide us with all the major acw battles? Just curious.

[Daergar]

What gave me great hope for the future of the franchise was that once UGG works as desired, it opens up (might be a quote on the front page) for other similar eras. Good Times ahead!

[Paul_KT]

I'd love to see more ACW battles.  After that Napoleonic seems the next logical step, introducing infantry squares and attack columns, plus european cavalry.  That added complexity would be a challenge to get working well in the game but with a few ACW battles under their belt it should be possible.

[Lannes]

I don't think that Nick T. and the team are in it for the money. (As a motive I regard this as a crass motive.) I think their primary objective is making a flawless wargame. What I am gathering from all these forums is that the ACW, if kept to historical parameters, will quickly exhaust one's enthusiasm for it, especially if the game stays at the size it is, both as a map and as size of figures (do you call them 'sprites'?) and does not expand to continental size, including many varieties of troops with various uniforms and various capabilities, some historical and some possible but not normally used in that war itself. Paul-Kingtiger has the right idea: "infantry squares and attack columns, plus european cavalry", etc. In other words, a development and an upgrade of the scope of the game. (If there is money to be made, it could be in this.)

In my humble opinion, now is the time to expand the game some of the way to Stage 2. Then, get some funds, and expand to Stage 3; get more funds, and perhaps get to the bigger picture by Stage 4. At that point, it will be a game that challenges the Total War games.

[Zelekendel]

Lannes, I agree.  It's good to take Ultimate General in steps.

 

And given Darth's pedigree in Total War, it's reasonable to assume that given time, a campaign system is possible.

 

However, given that the title is "Ultimate General", it might be possible that the campaign game on the continental map is focused on military maneuvers and perfected for that - at least I hope we'll see a dedicated strategy game without "town management and building construction" that really have nothing to do with Generalship and in my opinion just create a gamey feel rather than a historical one. More of the "work with what you're given" type of strategy game, maybe with limited opportunities to affect training doctrine.

[Tormidal]

And given Darth's pedigree in Total War. . .

 

Personally, I'd be much more interested in his implementation of modification support, given his experience with DarthMod.(The Total War games were not entirely mod-friendly, up until Shogun 2/Rome 2.)

[Lannes]

Lannes, I agree.  It's good to take Ultimate General in steps.

 

And given Darth's pedigree in Total War, it's reasonable to assume that given time, a campaign system is possible.

 

However, given that the title is "Ultimate General", it might be possible that the campaign game on the continental map is focused on military maneuvers and perfected for that - at least I hope we'll see a dedicated strategy game without "town management and building construction" that really have nothing to do with Generalship and in my opinion just create a gamey feel rather than a historical one. More of the "work with what you're given" type of strategy game, maybe with limited opportunities to affect training doctrine.

Yep, I concur.

[thekev506]

I'd rather this game follow the 'Scourge of War' model and have standalone DLC of other ACW battles.  Manassas would be a good start because you essentially get twice as much bang for your buck with two historic battles happening there.  Antietam would be really great, too.

[Paul_KT]

Manassas would be great, because you get to see the difference in the armies due to battle experience. 1st Manassas would also offer some very interesting battle choices as the Union player decides to attack head on or launch a flank attack as they did historically.  The down side is that it's only a 1 day battle so you don't have the build up of Gettysburg. 

 

The Waterloo campaign could work really well with Quatre Bras, Ligny, Wavre and Waterloo.

[R.E.B.Blunt]

Hopefully the Developers allow Modding to the game and everything you guys ask for can be implemented.

[thekev506]

Hopefully the Developers allow Modding to the game and everything you guys ask for can be implemented.

Considering the dev's history I'd be very surprised if being mod-friendly wasn't a part of the game's design.  Hopefully a modding scene takes off - we've got way too many people asking for completely different things right now and there's no way the team can implement everything and please everyone.

[Lannes]

Considering the dev's history I'd be very surprised if being mod-friendly wasn't a part of the game's design.  Hopefully a modding scene takes off - we've got way too many people asking for completely different things right now and there's no way the team can implement everything and please everyone.

But first, the game has to be finished and out there. Then, the modders have to get to it. (Perhaps, Darth Vader will be one of the modders.) That'll take some time, unfortunately. Since my disillusionment with Rome II, I have had a reaction to all computer games, even my old favourites, the Darth Vader modded Empire, Napoleon and Shogun 2. Perhaps, I need a good 25mm miniatures game, but there are none in the area of Italy in which I live, and my 1,500 Napoleonic figures are in Australia, anyway. (Does anyone know a cheap way to ship them?)

[Zelekendel]

If you have 1500 painted miniatures then surely a hundred dollars or something for postage to access them is not too bad if you can start your hobby in Italy. 

It's enough to miniatures for you to recreate an near-endless amount of scenarios by yourself, and invite friends over to play.

 

It's so much easier to run historical scenarios for friends and whoever's interested than to try and start a "competitive" army building minis game from scratch, anyway. And more rewarding (depending on your preferences of course).

[Lannes]

The first shipping quote I got was for A$2,000. Obviously, they didn't want to do it. I'll have to reasearch it next time I'm in Aus. My army is totally French and French Coalition units: 1,841 figures.

 

1 Emperor

1 Viceroy

6 Marshals

38 Generals

24 Ad’Cs.

IMPERIAL GUARD CORPS

Guard Cavalry:                8 Regts.          100 figs. (French, Polish, Dutch & de Berg)

Guard Infantry:              10 Bns.             200 figs. (French, Italians, Dutch)

IV CORPS

1 Division:                      9 Bns.             196 figs. (French)

2 Division:                      8 Bns.             186 figs. (French & Spanish)

Cavalry Bde.                  2 Regts.          30 figs.  (French)

V CORPS

3 Division:                     8 Bns.             192 figs. (French & Swiss)

4 Division:                     8 Bns.             180 figs. (Istrians, Croatians, Dalmatians & Italians)

Cavalry Bde.                 2 Regts.          30 figs.  (French)

VI CORPS

5 Division:                    11 Bns.             244 figs. (French, Saxons & Bavarians)

Cavalry Bde.                  2 Regts.          30 figs. (French)

CAVALRY CORPS

Line Cavalry:               12 Regts.          180 figs. (French, Italians, Dutch, Saxons & Bavarians)

TOTALS:

26 Regts.             370 figs.

54 Bns.             1,198 figs.

1 Genie Bn.           12 figs.

4 Horse Artillery Companies       64 figs. (12 guns)

6 Foot Artillery Companies         96 figs. (18 guns)

Regimental Guns                       30 figs. (6 guns)

Artillery caisson                            1 fig.

1,841 figures in Total.

[SPARTAN5809]

Does anyone else think it would be interesting to see a World War 1 battle in this game?

[tornsage]

Perfect the game as Gettysburg then move to add more battles and then a campaign - awesome game I am loving it now

[R.E.B.Blunt]

Perfect the game as Gettysburg then move to add more battles and then a campaign - awesome game I am loving it now

 

Thats why we are hoping to have Modding available so people can create an endless amount of different Battles. Even mod it so you could have American Revolutionary War or War of 1812, Napoleonic wars even. Hell we could create a mod for the Indian wars in American Western theater. Custer's last stand anyone???

[Zelekendel]

Yes, Sid Meier's Gettysburg had a great many new battles made by the community and some of them were very good. Hopefully that's in the future for UG as well. The game plays so smoothly (Despite the remaining LOS problems) that I don't feel like playing SMG anymore.

 

A Hundred Days campaign for next year would of course be nice, but naturally that might be a tall order given the time available, with Gettysburg still in the development stage.