vaalen
AGEod Guard of Honor
Posts: 1229
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:48 pm

Are the revelations in the interview with the Wargamer good news, or not?

Thu Mar 24, 2016 2:55 am

The News From Ageod section of this forum linked to an interview of Ageod, which sounded like Philippe Thibaut, that was posted on the Wargamer web site.

At first I was thirilled to see the interview, but the information presented left me uneasy, and somewhat worried for the future of my favorite developers. I thought it would be helpful to post issues hear, and to see what the people on this best of forums had to say.

1.The issue arose as to whether older games would be updated to include some of the new features, like decision cards, that have appeared in more recent games. The answer was that Ageod had no plans to update older games, though they invited modders to do so.

That is understandable, especially since Ageod is ruled from England, and the Phils have only so much time. But it is disappointing to those of us who had hoped for years that certain features would be added. I am in awe of some of the great modders we have on this forum, yet it seems like there are some things that only Pocus can do.

2. It turns out that Ageod, in conjunction with some Slitherine developers, is developing a brand new engine, that is supposed to combine modern graphics while keeping the innovative gameplay of Ageod.

I own a number of Slitherine games, and they are good games, but the graphics are quite drab and hard to read, especially when compared to the beauty of Ageod games, and the enhanced beauty and clarity of Thirty Years War and Wars of Napoleon. Some Slitherine games, like the Panzer corps series and its off shoots, have units that are hared to find on the bland, beige terrain, and which do not stand out from the map like the units in Ageod games. The differences in terrain, which can be important, are hard to spot. In other words, at least to the eyes of this grognard, is both far less attractive, and harder to use. Of course, I can hope that the new graphics will be as good or even better than the old graphics. But I am concerned.

3. The interviewer made the statement that the wargaming community is graying. are you considering optins for larger fonts?

The answer seemed to be that the size of fonts have already been increased as much as is practical, considering the amount of information that they are trying to provide. Advice was give to adjust the resolution. However, I have noticed that many of the popups and displsys feature a light color on a light color which is not easy for everyone to read, and the size of some of those fonts in the displsays are relatively small.

I would like Ageod and Slitherineto consider making the games easier to see, maybe even consulting with an expert in the area. That would be very nice for the grognards, and others. There is a great deal that can be done in this area, and addressing this issue could increase sales.

On the good side, I like the switch to youtube tutorials, as they do seem to be more effective than the old style tutorials.

And I am very curious to hear what new games on the current Ageod system might be coming down the pipeline this year, and would like to get a good hint, or even a revelations, from the Phils.

I am most interested in the opinions of others on this best of forums.

Thanks, Vaalen

Taillebois
General of the Army
Posts: 601
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 8:09 pm
Location: Nr GCHQ Cheltenham

Wed Apr 06, 2016 7:42 pm

Re graying. Too late - I've grayed. Alternative color schemes like some forums allow might make readability better. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri had an alternative color patch available for those who wanted it.

Manuals - wiki or pdf but the AGEOD games end up with so many rules and variations an updating system should be used.

More variation in difficulty levels. Perhaps a historical accuracy scale and a combat level scale.

Editor for scenario making. Just look how some games e.g. Tigers on the Hunt get an immediate scenario uplift.

vaalen
AGEod Guard of Honor
Posts: 1229
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:48 pm

Thu Apr 07, 2016 4:08 pm

Taillebois wrote:Re graying. Too late - I've grayed. Alternative color schemes like some forums allow might make readability better. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri had an alternative color patch available for those who wanted it.

Manuals - wiki or pdf but the AGEOD games end up with so many rules and variations an updating system should be used.

More variation in difficulty levels. Perhaps a historical accuracy scale and a combat level scale.

Editor for scenario making. Just look how some games e.g. Tigers on the Hunt get an immediate scenario uplift.


Actually, the alternati9ve color choice for this forum is very easy to read. I always use it.

Some games present information an a much easier to read format than current Ageod games. For example, Endless Space presents a huge amount of information in a format that is always easy to read, with a good contrast between the lettering and the background, and large, clear fonts.

I really like your idea of an alternate scheme such as in Alpha Centauri. Perhaps Ageod will consider its grognards in this issue.

I also like the idea of manual updates, something that is sorely lacking. There were some games that updated the manuyal whenever significant changes were made in a patch. That would make it so much easier to learn and relearn the games. P know the Phils are short of time, but perhaps Slitherine could help out here, as they have people involved in the design of the new system.

Having a greater variety of difficulty levels, as you suggest, could be invaluable to someone who is trying to learn the system.
I
I have never used the scenario editor, but I like your idea about ti.

Thank you for sharing your very interesting and helpful ideas.

Vaalen

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