Burden of Command Announced

Started by Mad Russian, June 30, 2017, 09:49:05 AM

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lhughes42

Nice example. We do somewhat similar things. For example, in the march out from the initial landings in Morocco there were logistical issues getting supplies etc forward. The US Army was pretty new to it all (when doing for real).  So I believe we start all units with some fatigue effects (lowered morale).  I can't recall specifics right now but in the spirit of your example.
  Unfortunately novel rules outside of existing mechanics are hard to pull off in software.. So normally we need to translate a given scenario effect or event into a change say in: experience, morale (which changes effectiveness across the board), action points, orders, casualties, Trust, etc. Boardgames have an advantage in this regard.

Luke

p.s. I wrote this guest blog at ThePlayersAid on the heavy boardgame influences on Burden of Command for those interested. I hope it is ok to post a link? Please advise if not: https://theplayersaid.com/2018/10/29/guest-blog-tactical-board-games-on-your-computer-screen-a-look-at-burden-of-command-by-luke-hughes/

Burden of Command lead
Steam: http://bit.ly/BoCSteam

Michael Dorosh

Great stuff, Luke, thanks for posting here and interacting with us.

lhughes42

Thanks Michael. You guys are great. We all share a passion for military history and getting it right. Which means we disagree a lot LOL.
Burden of Command lead
Steam: http://bit.ly/BoCSteam

lhughes42

45 seconds of tactical. Rip me to shred Grogheads LOL

https://twitter.com/gamerguyinasuit/status/1167850595568406528?s=21


  Slightly terrified,
     Luke
Burden of Command lead
Steam: http://bit.ly/BoCSteam

JasonPratt

No complaints from me!  :bd:

...sigh, okay I'll try to come up with something.... um....... was there supposed to be sound? Because I turned on the sound and there was no sound.
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lhughes42

Hi Jason,

Wow I made it to the first foxhole ;-) Thanks Jason.  No no sound yet. That is in the works and will include on the battlefield Voice Overs for about 70% of "barks."   Not for narration.  We are also working very hard on credible sfx for the period. A former US  Army Captain Rob Mathis (plus other vets) is also being Subject Matter Expert in terms of feel of a firefight etc (he was in Iraq).

    We hope we're doing some interesting things around a dynamic battle sfx track too.  But all waving hands till you hear it.
Oh wait almost forget you might enjoy these SFX sound sample from this "guess the tank by the sound tweet:"
http://bit.ly/2KeQveJ
And then this on the actual complexity of tank engine sounds then:
http://bit.ly/2MBnCL9

  Luke
Burden of Command lead
Steam: http://bit.ly/BoCSteam

Michael Dorosh

Quote from: BradS62 on August 03, 2019, 10:18:10 PM
That was quite a peek. Why do I sense we're at least a year away.

You are 40% correct so far.

lhughes42

Hi Michael!
Hope you're doing well. Thought I would give an informal update. Here's where we are right now:
-- narrative and unit art and terrain art -- these are basically done. Obviously revisions will be needed based on playtesting.
-- playtesting --we've started bringing in "Phase 1" playtesters, meaning those with software or game dev experience so they can tolerate the bugs and lack of AI ;-) (see below).
-- tactical combat model- alpha (meaning we have the main lineaments done but there will be of course many refinements). That is a big step and what I've been focused on over last year especially.
-- AI -- this is the next big step. I hope to start on that in January. IT WILL BE HARD.  So God knows when I'll return from those trenches  LOL.
-- Campaign -after that we start stringing individual scenarios into a "campaign." meaning we handle things like replacements, balancing experience gain and other lite RPG element across those. Balancing can take a long time.
-- audio -- Barks (on tactical map voice overs) are recorded and being processed. Similarly SFXs.

So when will be done? I don't make predictions any more having failed so miserably in the past. But I do give process updates like above. Hope that helps, Thanks for keeping the faith and interest.

  happy new year everyone!
  Luke

p.s. we'll give updates via Newsletter when we have significant milestones passed.  The link for that: http://bit.ly/BoC_newsletter_signup
Burden of Command lead
Steam: http://bit.ly/BoCSteam

The_Admiral

Thanks Luke!
Happy New Year to you and the rest of the team. Find some good blankets and watch out for trenchfoot! :coolsmiley:

Tripoli

#174
Quote from: The_Admiral on December 27, 2019, 12:23:55 AM
Thanks Luke!
Happy New Year to you and the rest of the team. Find some good blankets and watch out for trenchfoot! :coolsmiley:

Admiral-Just to follow up a bit on Luke's response:  Interesting you should bring up trench foot.  On the Burden of Command team, we leave no stone unturned in our quest for historical realism, including incorporating the leadership challenges of dealing with trench foot into the game design.   ;)  These snippets from some of our internal discussions show just how seriously we take the challenge of dealing with trench foot.  First, we have team members do a march through water, and photograph their feet afterwards (and yes, those are the feet of one of our team members.....)




We then do additional historical research, relying on stories from veterans about their experiences with trench foot:
 


Finally, we integrate all of this research into the game design, in particular working closely with the scenario designers and writers  to (as one of our writers put it) "make the "trenchfoot" section integrate more smoothly with the rest of the narrative."

All kidding aside, the challenges of leading infantry in the  Italian and Colmar operations included addressing trench foot, as illustrated humorously by Bill Mauldin the the cartoon below.  Because of the importance of the issue to soldiers in WWII,  it will be one  of the leadership issues the player will have to address in the game:






Quote from: Michael Dorosh on December 26, 2019, 05:00:26 PM
Quote from: BradS62 on August 03, 2019, 10:18:10 PM
That was quite a peek. Why do I sense we're at least a year away.

You are 40% correct so far.

As far as when will BoC be published?  Well, this is a question above my paygrade, as I'm just a historical researcher for BoC.   But we are starting to put up weekly updates on our Steam page:  https://steamcommunity.com/app/88749 and on Twitter  (@BurdenOfCommand)   These will give the community an idea of where we are in the process.  One hint: When we start putting up the informational equivalent of steak and eggs for breakfast, you will know that BoC's D-day is near.....

"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

Tripoli

Here is a short little video on some of the work the historical research team is doing on Burden of Command:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1213509775482245120
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

Tripoli

Here's another short video on some of the work being done by the historical team on Burden of Command:


https://twitter.com/i/status/1216412021073182720
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

Tripoli

"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

Tripoli

"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln

Tripoli

"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln