Re: A patch

[Jens Granseuer <jensgr@xxxxxxx>]

On 04.05.2007 16:52, haruspex wrote:
> > A couple of thoughts.  Uncertainty is part of war.  I agree that you should
> > not have the exact XP.
> 
> Indeed uncertainty is. Yet where did you find it? Everything that is
> needed to remove this "uncertainty" is paper and pencil or a good
> memory. And I believe a strategy game should challenge player's
> strategical thinking, ability to analyze situation and choose the best
> way to act rather than ability to memorize a dozen of numbers.

Apart from the fact that on any moderately complex map, the amount
of work required to keep track of every single unit is going to be,
erm, let's say threatening your sanity, I think that advantage you
are talking of is largely a thing of your imagination.

It's not like xp are going to get lost (unless you're already maxed
out, which is a corner case I'm going to ignore). It just means your
other unit is going to reach the next level more quickly. Additionally,
the bonus you get from a single rank is rather tiny, it's the
cumulative effect that makes the difference.

>> A compromise could be that you are only allowed to see enemy unit stats if 
>> you
>> have units of that type. This would allow for quick overview of stats, but
>> would still retain the element of surprise.
>
> I would agree with you. But not at the current state of the game. What
> element of surprise are you speaking of, when the player can just save
> the game and restart the map choosing the other side?

That's not a good reason at all. What keeps someone who would like to
cheat from looking at the source?

>> ... Second, not
>> knowing exactly what is going to happen adds to the game in the same way 
>> that
>> not knowing exact XP does.
>
> But should "not knowing what is going to happen" be enforced with
> artificial limits to the ease of obtaining knowledge?
> Look at The Battle for Wesnoth. It provides you with all the possibly
> obtainable information, include possible outcomes of battles with the
> exact percentage of probabilities, and despite this it is definitely
> not a game which is not a challening or interesting one.

BfW (last time I looked, anyway) doesn't show you all the underlying
numbers either. The percentage you're presented is actually very similar
to the rank we display, since the exact number of xp you have doesn't
have any effect at all on the outcome of a battle. BfW's rules also
include a much larger amount of randomness, so the numbers you do get
are actually much less accurate than the same thing for CF would be.

Jens