Unit Size Option?(For visual representation and otherwise)

[Tormidal]

In the full game, will there be a way to change how many units are used to represent a regiment. As shown in the some of the pictures, when a corps or regiment says 1000+, only a few hundred are visually represented. A slider for this, for the higher-end machines would be great.

 

An overall unit number slider would be awesome too, for people who want to have huge, epic battles.

[Monkstar]

I think too large units might get you in trouble with the overall mapsize because you might be unable to - for example - surround your enemy since he could just make a line from one end of the map to the other. And there might be similar issues like this just limiting the tactical gameplay if there are too many troops on the field. But then again, DarthMod has also allowed ultralarge unit sizes in the past, so who knows?

[Nick Thomadis]

I think too large units might get you in trouble with the overall mapsize because you might be unable to - for example - surround your enemy since he could just make a line from one end of the map to the other. And there might be similar issues like this just limiting the tactical gameplay if there are too many troops on the field. But then again, DarthMod has also allowed ultralarge unit sizes in the past, so who knows?

This is indeed correct. Although in large battles you will have many soldiers with our current scale, we cannot just simply allow more because many more parameters need to be fine tuned for the gameplay and visuals. The most important is this, that units can take over the whole map so no room for tactics.

[Tormidal]

This is indeed correct. Although in large battles you will have many soldiers with our current scale, we cannot just simply allow more because many more parameters need to be fine tuned for the gameplay and visuals. The most important is this, that units can take over the whole map so no room for tactics.

 

So its a safe assumption to say that increasing size wont be a vanilla-included option?

Will it be able to be modded?

[TheCenturion]

People's desire to see ridiculously large battlefields with quadrillions of soldiers and zero strategy has always baffled me. I think what Darth's saying is; they won't include options that damage the strategic side of the game. It's more complex than simply whether or not your computer can handle it. 

Modders find their way into anything. Yet to be seen which parts, if any, can be effectively modded though.

[Nick Thomadis]

So its a safe assumption to say that increasing size wont be a vanilla-included option?

Will it be able to be modded?

We may have setting to decrease soldier nbrs (useful for tablets and low-end PC) but we are not sure yet if it will be needed. About moddability we are thinking to offer it in various ways in the final version of the game so this can be an option.

 

People's desire to see ridiculously large battlefields with quadrillions of soldiers and zero strategy has always baffled me. I think what Darth's saying is; they won't include options that damage the strategic side of the game. It's more complex than simply whether or not your computer can handle it. 

Modders find their way into anything. Yet to be seen which parts, if any, can be effectively modded though.

Yes especially in our game the soldier nbr defines a lot the space they occupy in the map and significantly affects strategy so it is difficult to allow a simple tweak of size because gameplay experience is affected significantly.

[DaveWoodchuck]

Well, if you scaled the units up to depict every single man in them, you would also have to adjust the scale of the terrain and the granularity with which it is represented as well in order to make up for that.  Then your overhead views from any practically usable distance would likely appear to be a series of tiny dots forming undulating lines,  I imagine that would look too abstract to appeal to many (despite being the opposite of an abstraction in this particular case), plus having even more little men on the map would make it taxing for the player to recognize and process information.  That would make for a sharp learning curve, changing the game from looking like it is "fun/challenging to play and difficult to master" to "oh-dear-there-are-too-many-people-let-me-clutch-my-fainting-pearls" for those less familiar with the project.

As for modability, I have no clue, but Mister Nick here got his reputation through modding games and successfully communicating his vision to thousands of people who love the improvements he made.  If someone mods it, I doubt he will track you down and attack you.  Heck, he would probably track you down to bounce future ideas off you if the effort was good enough.

[David Fair]

The great thing about the scale of UGG is that the battle is manageable in terms of time, learning curve, and strategy. The goal is to experiment with variants on the historical outcome and still have a life.

I couldn't afford to devote four score and seven years of life to play a game with 167,000 sprites, 600 guns, and 90,000 horses and mules. What a nightmare.