RPS interview with John Tiller

MengJiao · July 18, 2014, 10:55:40 AM

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/07/18/the-flare-path-john-tiller-interview/#more-220775

Capn Darwin · July 18, 2014, 11:11:34 AM

A good read. Thanks for the link.

mirth · July 18, 2014, 03:25:03 PM

Quote from: Capn Darwin on July 18, 2014, 11:11:34 AM
A good read. Thanks for the link.

+1 Good stuff. Thanks.

Al · July 19, 2014, 01:04:32 PM

Nice article. Thanks!

Bison · July 19, 2014, 11:08:13 PM

I love Tiller designed games, but they are increasingly becoming more and more niche. I think this is truly due to the UI and graphics. Comparing a Tiller game to some of the newer hex and counter style games published by Slitherine/Matrix; it's just sad to see that Tiller and crew have not jumped to a newer engine. I've also never bought the "small" developer line. Vic designs some beautiful looking games and he is certainly a small developer too.

Nefaro · July 20, 2014, 12:21:34 AM

Quote from: Bison on July 19, 2014, 11:08:13 PM
I love Tiller designed games, but they are increasingly becoming more and more niche. I think this is truly due to the UI and graphics. Comparing a Tiller game to some of the newer hex and counter style games published by Slitherine/Matrix; it's just sad to see that Tiller and crew have not jumped to a newer engine. I've also never bought the "small" developer line. Vic designs some beautiful looking games and he is certainly a small developer too.

Just adding the map and counter mods for the Panzer & Modern Campaigns series has made a huge difference in my enjoyment of them. Before, they looked like big eyesores with overly bright and saturated colors everywhere. Now it's much easier on the eyes.

Jison's MapMod and VolcanoMan graphics ...

They should pay these guys a bit and add them by default.

I've since started using VolcanoMan's modded unit info box backgrounds that contain uniform pics by nation instead of Jison's flag backgrounds as shown in this shot. You can see the massive difference from vanilla either way.

Rizik6 · July 20, 2014, 02:47:51 AM

Since Tiller upgrades all his games to the same level, going back about 15 years now and including maybe (I'm just guessing) 40 or 50 games, upgrading the graphics would be a pretty big job. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but unless he changed his policy and left the previous games behind, it would be a lot of work.

Grim.Reaper · July 20, 2014, 06:07:35 AM

Quote from: Rizik6 on July 20, 2014, 02:47:51 AM
Since Tiller upgrades all his games to the same level, going back about 15 years now and including maybe (I'm just guessing) 40 or 50 games, upgrading the graphics would be a pretty big job. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but unless he changed his policy and left the previous games behind, it would be a lot of work.

If that was his only reason for not becoming modern, then he should leave the old games behind:). Certainly sounded like he was more claiming costs to improve graphics was his main block. It's hard to know if his model works or not since I don't think I have ever seen any published reports on his game sales. It must at least to his liking or you think he would take a different approach.

I know people say his ai is no good but it is good enough to provide a decent experience to a bad commander like myself and like the area he simulates, just find it difficult to enjoy when you can barely make out the unit types.

Nefaro · July 20, 2014, 08:35:03 AM

Quote from: Rizik6 on July 20, 2014, 02:47:51 AM
Since Tiller upgrades all his games to the same level, going back about 15 years now and including maybe (I'm just guessing) 40 or 50 games, upgrading the graphics would be a pretty big job. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but unless he changed his policy and left the previous games behind, it would be a lot of work.

Tiller was talking about not making something with 3D graphics in that interview. We dont' need 3D graphics. Hell, I think it's overrated in some genres. Just better looking 2D art, like those in the mods shown above. We can get those for free right now, so it's all good.

I would just think that they'd want to improve their default 2D art to this level in this day and age. They've certainly made some attempt with their latest titles, but there is still much room to improve.

Grim.Reaper · July 20, 2014, 08:38:43 AM

Quote from: Nefaro on July 20, 2014, 08:35:03 AM
Quote from: Rizik6 on July 20, 2014, 02:47:51 AM
Since Tiller upgrades all his games to the same level, going back about 15 years now and including maybe (I'm just guessing) 40 or 50 games, upgrading the graphics would be a pretty big job. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but unless he changed his policy and left the previous games behind, it would be a lot of work.

Tiller was talking about not making something with 3D graphics in that interview. We dont' need 3D graphics. Hell, I think it's overrated in some genres. Just better looking 2D art, like those in the mods shown above. We can get those for free right now, so it's all good.

I would just think that they'd want to improve their default 2D art to this level in this day and age. They've certainly made some attempt with their latest titles, but there is still much room to improve.

+1...not looking for fancy 3D stuff, just looking for readable and improved 2D graphics.....I would own a lot more of these games IF they had this simple improvement.....

Staggerwing · July 20, 2014, 08:59:04 AM

I want to know more about the Panzer Battles games he's working on. I'm very interested in the details of the scale and how it will affect gameplay. Has anyone gotten the first one, Battles of Kursk - Southern Flank, yet? how is it?

Nefaro · July 20, 2014, 10:09:56 AM

Quote from: Staggerwing on July 20, 2014, 08:59:04 AM
I want to know more about the Panzer Battles games he's working on. I'm very interested in the details of the scale and how it will affect gameplay. Has anyone gotten the first one, Battles of Kursk - Southern Flank, yet? how is it?

I've not picked up anything from the new store due to the DRM. There are still plenty of the older titles I can get from the HPS Sims site that doesn't require online activation.

Al · July 20, 2014, 10:53:28 AM

Quote from: Staggerwing on July 20, 2014, 08:59:04 AM
I want to know more about the Panzer Battles games he's working on. I'm very interested in the details of the scale and how it will affect gameplay. Has anyone gotten the first one, Battles of Kursk - Southern Flank, yet? how is it?

There's some good discussion here... http://www.theblitz.org/message_boards/forumdisplay.php?fid=280

Some of the discussions about the formulas are over my head but there's other useful stuff there.

Hard to disagree about the graphics discussion but Jison's mods are really nice and add a lot. The thing about JT's stuff is that his games cover a lot of battles/campaigns that can't be found or is hard to find elsewhere. I still think the First World Campaign France '14 is the best of the bunch although the modern battles are fun to play.

panzerde · July 20, 2014, 11:11:42 AM

Quote from: Staggerwing on July 20, 2014, 08:59:04 AM
I want to know more about the Panzer Battles games he's working on. I'm very interested in the details of the scale and how it will affect gameplay. Has anyone gotten the first one, Battles of Kursk - Southern Flank, yet? how is it?

I have it and have played it a fair amount. It's an interesting intersection between Squad Battles and Panzer Campaigns. Graphically, it certainly is better "out of the box" than the PzC games. I honestly like the older Talonsoft Campaign Series better than Kursk - Southern Front, however. At least some of that is due to the diversity of scenarios available for JTCS and the fact that Kursk is not my favorite battle to game. Trying to reduce Soviet bunkers and minefields turn after turn is just a grinding slog.

To be fair, I really haven't tried any of the scenarios that are set later in the battle when things became more maneuver oriented.

Tiller is also converting all of the PzC maps to the same map graphics used in Panzer Battles and in the mobile apps. These are definitely better than the original maps. Unfortunately this also means that Jison's MapMod doesn't work with the newer games at all. I'm hoping that Jison comes out with a version for the JTS titles, but until he does if you want to use MapMod stick with the HPS versions.

Judging by the activity on sites like The Blitz and the NWC, I don't agree that these games are any more niche than they've always been. Which isn't to say that they aren't niche - they are, just like games from SSG and any other hex-based complex, chit shuffler is. I played a relatively small Napoleonic engagement last week, lasting for about 40 turns, and it probably took me something like 8-10 hours. I'm kicking off a PBEM game with someone that lasts around 50 turns, and I expect we'll be at that for at least three weeks or so. These just aren't casual games. You have to be really interested in the subject matter to even bother with them, I think.

But I have to agree with Nef - if you apply the various mods that are out there from modders like Volcano Man, Jison, and Philippe (http://forums.gamesquad.com/showthread.php?111328-A-complete-list-of-the-links-to-Philippe-s-Napoleonic-mods) you can address the graphical issues and are left with some very deep games. In the past couple of years I've gone from being fairly put off by these to spending maybe half my gaming time with them.

Nefaro · July 20, 2014, 01:30:49 PM

Quote from: panzerde on July 20, 2014, 11:11:42 AM

But I have to agree with Nef - if you apply the various mods that are out there from modders like Volcano Man, Jison, and Philippe (http://forums.gamesquad.com/showthread.php?111328-A-complete-list-of-the-links-to-Philippe-s-Napoleonic-mods) you can address the graphical issues and are left with some very deep games. In the past couple of years I've gone from being fairly put off by these to spending maybe half my gaming time with them.

Same.

After using the graphical mods for the series, it's like all new non-retina-burning games. It has surprised me, how much more I can enjoy them now.

Sad to hear that the latest ones aren't compatible with those great mods. Perhaps someone will address that in the future, although the newer graphics are a step in the right direction; better than the old stuff.