Quote:
Originally Posted by PL_Harpoon
I don't think so. A casual CW player still has to learn the basics of thermal layers, surface ducts, differences between active/passive sonars, effective use of countermeasures etc. Now, people who aren't willing to do that won't be interested in the game anyway. Those who do will probably welcome this as adding more depth to the game.
Anyway, let's break down Destex's points fom strictly gameplay perspective:
1. TMA on Active Sonar intercept contacts.
You hear a ping -> you get a new contact. Without adding any complexity you increase player's situational awareness.
2. Immediate classification for ESM and Active Intercept contacts for military targets.
Adds a very good reason to use ECM instead of current vague "increase TMA rate".
3. No TMA for ESM only contacts.
The effect of ESM on TMA is currently so small, that I wouldn't be surprised that some players don't even know it's there. Also it reduces the urge to stay at PD for too long.
4. Much slower decay for TMA contacts that have lost contact, let them keep the last solution when contact had been lost.
Another feature that increases situational awareness without adding complexity.
5. Have TMA much more responsive to own-ship maneuvering. Currently, there's not enough own ship contribution of own-ship maneuvering for solution build-up.
AFAIK this feature is already in the game. Destex only wants it to be more effective (and I agree). This also adds to the gameplay because then instead of sitting around and waiting for the % to go up you can manoeuvre to get it faster.
As you can see, realism is not always the opposite of gameplay. Sometimes it can enhance it and this is such case.
PS. As for your previous post that "It's hardcore players why this genre is dead", I think you're wrong. The reason it's almost dead (CW and upcoming Uboot proves it doesn't) is because it's such a niche subject that even if you were to create a perfect subsim you will not get the attention of a typical casual gamer.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PL_Harpoon
I don't consider myself to be part of the elite in anything. But that's not the point. The point is, you can play any Silent Hunter game with the right settings without reading the manual at all. And still they didn't sell well enough to justify a successor (at least in Ubisoft's eyes).
The cost of developing a game (especially by a big studio) has risen substantially. At the same time, the target audience hasn't while the number of casual (I do not mean that as a negative) gamers increased. Making a sim more accessible does not guarantee more sales but simplifying it can guarantee alienating some of the existing audience. There is a room for them though and it is on an indie market and that where games like CW and Uboot come in. The only problem is, those lite-sims are still harder to develop that typical games.
Let's look at the Naval War: AC. If you look at it's Steam reviews ( http://store.steampowered.com/app/20...p_reviews_hash) most negative ones are not about realism, but poor performance/bugs/crashes/bad interface etc. Poor realism seem to be only one of the reasons it failed.
Let's also take a look at another lite-sim on Steam: Combat Air Patrol 2 ( http://store.steampowered.com/app/34...p_reviews_hash)
Again, most of it's negative reviews aren't about poor realism, but poor gameplay/lack of progress.
If you compare them to CW (which is also a lite-sim) you can see the difference.
My point is, complains about "not being realistic enough" might turn off some players, but on the whole have very little effect on sales. |
Read this again:
"I posted this on the steam forum awhile back but before anyone ask for more realism (unless it's optional). read this thread:"
Did you miss the "(unless it's optional)". I have no problem with adding realism options and giving player a more accurate sim. But I want to keep the core sim simple enough for causal player.
I actually did not target this set of message. I was just posting the link as a cautionary tale of what might happen if we continue to add complex elements to some lite sims.