Why so few scenarios? How about AGEOD develop a simple tool for scenario variations?

[Taillebois]

I was reading a AAR in which someone suggested modifying a WiA scenario. But then I went to the wiki about scenario making and my brain fused.

I went to the Combat Mission forum and read a thread about scenario making ("Sheriff of Oosterbeek" I think) - and my brain fused.

I have ever more respect for people who make scenarios; and for those who program random scenario generators that give at least half decent results.

Is there a way to make a halfway house that is easy enough for those of us with small brains to tinker - perhaps just alter starting locations of units - or add or delete ready made units?

The nearest I was able to do this was in Battles for The Bulge where I could load a scenario into an editor, change the objectives, save it under a new name - and it worked. Sure it wasn't balanced but it was satisfying - in this case I made Monshau the sole objective of an assault rather than somewhere to be by-passed.

Perhaps in AGEOD games you could just have a screen in which you change the objective points?

[Hobbes]

I could post a few screenshots over the weekend showing how to change objective points etc - it would involve downloading the DB and splitter programs.
But it seems you are asking for a simpler method.

Cheers,
Chris

[Taillebois]

Hi Hobbes,

I think it was a thread with you and Narwhal that I was referring to in my post!

I looked at bits on cvs files and splitters and yes realised I would need something much easier and idiot proof. In fact I just noticed I typed cvs instead of csv so you can see how easily mistakes occur - could be the all too clever spell checker though.

If you compare Birth of America - lots of small scenarios, a couple of longer ones of about 100 turns - to PON with a monster 1600 turns and only a couple of short ones - I see a sort of bloat, a Vainglory of Programming maybe.

[Hobbes]

Well if you ever get the urge I can help out. It can seem too much if you try to understand it all too quickly. A good start is just to download the latest DB and the splitter program. Run the splitter exe to make sure a screen appears and then do nothing further for a few days

Cheers,
Chris

[Hobbes]

Having said that if the latest DB posted on the forum is not as up to date as the latest patch you could run into problems. The game to learn scenario design is really WiA. Just by making simple changes to an existing scenario. If anyone would like to learn I'm always happy to help out. It's much easier to get started than it appears!

Cheers,
Chris
P.S. scenario design is not difficult but it is very time consuming. To make even a small scenario will take hundreds of hours (if done well - this includes research). Time and the will to see it through to completion is what is needed rather than brainpower. To make small changes to an existing scenario will only take an hour or two though, even from a staring point of zero knowledge. Before making WiA scenarios I made a few for the Campaign Series games. These games have an editor which makes life a lot easier - but there is still quite a lot to learn. With those games you also had to design the map which is something that is already in place for AGEOD games.

[Taillebois]

Hi Hobbes,

Thanks for your kind offer but having just failed to win the Pequot War scenario five times in a row I think I've got a more fundamental problem!

A cheat to double my combat power in all scenarios would be useful. (I was shown how to do this in Hearts of Iron 3 - who says you can't take Moscow now).