Got an idea to a non-combatant WW2 game

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by captainadccdacaptain

I would imagine that it could be done in a similar fashion of Sonalyst’s “Fleet Command”. Switch between rescue units in 3rd and 1st person. It could work and be fun. I would play it. Ill see if I can make something like that

As in real life you have not an eternity to safe those souls.

The only weapon you will have to your (forgot the word) will be some handguns for self defense (Like the real Red Cross or similar)

During the Battle of Britain campaign, you will have a lot of jobs to do, so here you shall have the possibility to give order to your crew(AI)

Edit
Have made some search to find something on British Search And Rescue during WWII.
From what I understand there wasn't really a Search And Rescue. They began slowly in 1940 but here it was the RAF who was in charge.
On the other hand Germany had a Search And Rescue which began in 1935.
End edit

Markus

[Platapus]

Another idea to consider would be a WWII merchant Marine simulator.


Give a taste for the other side of the war.


A game where you have to make decisions concerning whether to use convoys or single ships and if so, how to structure convoys with limited resources all the while being faced with demands from both suppliers and delivery forces for more and more.


As the war progresses, these decisions may need to be modified.... or not depending on the player.



How to plan what the escorts will do if the convoy is attacked (there are some really good books that describe the various techniques for escorts and how it evolved in the war)



Figuring out the courses and speeds to enable efficient shipping while still avoiding being too predictable.



Just the logistics of forming a large convoy is pretty complex. The player would have to weigh any advantage of a convoy with the vulnerabilities of forming and disbanding convoys.



If using a convoy how to implement OPSEC. And if attacked, what will the convoy do and how will that effect crew morale?


I would be interested in playing that sort of game. Be nice to do some historical "what ifs" concerning the decision to use convoys and when to use them.



That sort of game might be a good break from the killing type games.

[mapuc]

WOW that would indeed be a great sim-game.

Never been thinking on such a non-combat game.

(Well the Merchant was equipped with weapons somewhere in the war)

Markus

[captainadccdacaptain]

That would be very enjoyable!

How about a game where you are an RAF reconnaissance plane that scans the English Channel for enemy presence and report any contacts, while discerning which is german (UBoats, Bf109s, etc) and allied (fishing trawlers, British planes and ships, etc...) and if you report too many false enemy contacts or not enough enemy contacts, you get fired and subsequently lose the game. You yourself would not engage, but be able to watch the conflicts and provide updates to base

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by captainadccdacaptain

That would be very enjoyable!

How about a game where you are an RAF reconnaissance plane that scans the English Channel for enemy presence and report any contacts...

I like that idea.


However, having spent the majority of my military career conducting reconnaissance, I can attest that it is BORING. Mind numbing boring, tedious, and dull and that's on a good day.



Think of playing SH4 in real time... from Pearl



But the planning of reconnaissance would be, in my opinion, a more enjoyable game. If I missdisremember correctly, one of the Task Force games had a pretty clever use of integrating reconnaissance aircraft in to the fleet game play. The player had to made decisions on when and where to deploy the aircraft.



Do you completely cover one small area so that you catch every thing in that one area, but completely miss anything in the other areas. Or do you use sampling theory and partially cover multiple areas, accepting missing more but covering more.



Then there is the temporal aspect of reconnaissance. Do you cover one area multiple times during the day or multiple areas once a day?


I think that a logistics of reconnaissance game might be interesting. Balancing the resources with the mission requirements. Receiving intelligence information that may or may not be accurate and revising collection based on this, nor not based on this information could be challenging.


I wonder how a game designer could incorporate the difficulties in finding ships in the ocean from an aircraft? It really would be blobs and smears. That would be an interesting design for a First Person viewpoint. No pausing during the First Person portions and incorporating aircraft shaking and how it affects optics.



This type of video game will have low graphic requirements (think Action Stations if anyone remembers that) for the planning and operations portion. This would make developing this game easier but might not have the appeal for today's customers who want the fancy graphics. But low graphics also means that more work can be applied to the programming of the game elements.

[mapuc]

There you have it. There's no limits when it comes to ideas on non-combatant game in the WWII era.

The question is-How popular would it be.
As mentioned earlier. Player want games where there's action from start to end and where the player have to kill as many Fritz s/he can.
That's the impression I have.

Markus

[captainadccdacaptain]

The question is-How popular would it be.
As mentioned earlier. Player want games where there's action from start to end and where the player have to kill as many Fritz s/he can.
That's the impression I have.

Markus[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately I would have to agree, seeing as most of the people I have known would not even LOOK in the same direction of a game if had anything other than mindless violence.