Largest Game map I have ever seen!

[eddie]

How do you play single player with no AI? I followed along in their forums and guys are playing single player but have no clue as to how you can with no AI?

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by eddie

How do you play single player with no AI? I followed along in their forums and guys are playing single player but have no clue as to how you can with no AI?

There are people who play war games solitaire, against themselves. I suppose the object is to see how the battle would turn out rather than to achieve victory against an opponent, though I've never had much interest in playing so myself.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Raptor1

There are people who play war games solitaire, against themselves. I suppose the object is to see how the battle would turn out rather than to achieve victory against an opponent, though I've never had much interest in playing so myself.

One has to remember that cosims have very trict and complex rules that decide how to determine a battle outcome. You are always submitted to the probability tables, no matter which outcome you desire. With some discipline you can indeed learn to act in conformity with for example the expected strategic doctrine of Soviet forces rolling into Western Europe. The solitaire experience is much different with cosims, than with other kind of games.

There is no point in playing chess against yourself. With cosims, that is very different. And you can get surprised by the going of the action, yes, although you believe you know your planes for the other side.

[eddie]

I understand what you are saying as to how yould play like that, but agree with Raptor, doesn't sound like something i would like to do either.

[Skybird]

It was another time. However, for computers, there are good cosims both with traditional hexes and without (vector-based, and simulation based) today, with AI and all you can desire. Even my beloved Steel Beasts can be played from map view, as a cosim, exclusively. Regarding classical cosims, there also were some titles that were specially designed to be played alone. Ambush! on my mind, or Tokyo Express, which I have reviewed here at subsim some years ago. You can find it in the reviews section, I assume. Very elegant game design, imo: simple, but allowing surprising depth. In that game, single play was the rule. Playing against another player was the option that required "modded" extra rules.

Always liked that kind of games. Playing these wargames in Germany of that time, however, earned you critical views and angry comments. Difficult to find opponents and coordinating time and space options with them.

[eddie]

I agree Skybird, there has been some great single player sims in the past, but seem's like its getting harder all the time to find one with a good AI now days.

[Skybird]

You play against yourself, switching sides.

Actually, with paper-on-table cosims in the 80s and 90s, that was nothing unusual. I did that myself a lot. With many cosims, it worked not bad that way.

It's just that I do not need an expensive computer interface for that, at least if I have a free table left. Even less so when there are alternative titles. War in the East, a monster-sized cosim, can be had in Germany for 5 Euros. The game is more complex than War in the Pacific, they say.

I recall that when I visited their forums occasionally, years ago, they indicated that the problems with creating a competent AI in this title were far more complex and difficult to solve than expected. I seem to recall now that they announced back then already to release the game without AI first, and focussing on the AI later.