7. You’ve clearly invested a lot of time and effort to this game, both as a long time player and now as the leader of the TOAD Coding Team. What is it about TOAW which elicits such dedication from you over all these years?
If I had to give a one-word answer, I’d have to say “flexibility.” Of course, it should be pretty obvious by now that such brevity in not in my nature!
I’m an old board gamer. You know…cardboard counters, maps, charts, tables, and 100 page manuals, all strewn across your buddy’s ping-pong table in the spare room for months on end. I love sitting down at a table, bantering with my opponent, and watching him squirm as I execute a brilliant set of attacks, or fine-tune a defense with which to crush his last, dying hopes of victory. TOAW, when played against another wily human opponent is like having an entire closet full of board games, in a single program. The TOAW online community is like having a whole room full of willing opponents, ready, willing and able to satisfy that craving for victory, or to hand you your head in a bucket.
8. Obviously TOAW 3 is going to be a work in progress, as the first release comes along there are certainly going to be future tweaks and modifications to the game via patches; can you share some of your thoughts on what you would like to see in the game over the course of the next few months and years? Will it ever be "done?"
There are obviously some limitations when working within the constraints of a previously coded program. However, there is still a lot of room for improvements. The two major design elements that we will be addressing in the near future are eliminating the player one vs. player two asymmetries that are in the game, and reworking the combat/supply model. This will take substantial testing, in order to not break the system, but Ralph and I have some pretty good thoughts on how to implement these changes and yet keep all the existing scenarios playable. Beyond that, we will try to sift through some of the ideas that have made it into the many “wish lists” over the course of the years, and to incorporate those we can, that still fit within the design scope of the original game. Whenever possible, we will try to make these features available as “switch-able” options, so that people (players and designers) have the ability to more fully customize the game to their liking.
We may eventually hit a wall, in terms of what we can integrate into the existing framework that Norm spent years in creating, and when we do, maybe the community will be ready for a TOAW 4. However, until that time, I don’t see a need to steal anybody’s pizza money, since I see plenty of work ahead in continuing the job of fine-tuning this enduring classic of a game.
9. You seemed to take a personal interest in updating the manual for the release of TOAW 3. Can you explain what types of changes were needed in the documentation to make them easier to digest than the previous manual? Similarly, your interest in tutorials is something that had been lacking in TOAW; Is it safe to say you are aiming not only at the Grognards out there, but also some new players as well?
Though I’ve spent the last few years patiently answering online TOAW questions to the best of my ability, you should probably know that kind of patient, gentle behavior is not always my first instinct. Often, my first instinct is to ask “Have you RTFM?" I’m a very RTFM (Read The Freakin’ Manual) kind of guy. Fortunately, I’m pretty good at suppressing that in public! Especially so, since in this case, reading the freaking manual has been a source of some problems the community faces regarding rules questions, false bug reports, and just general confusion. Admittedly, much of the manual that shipped with Century of Warfare was, in my opinion, quite well written. Unfortunately, there were many sections that weren’t. Several sections were poorly laid out. Others contained misleading or wrong information, left uncorrected from previous versions of TOAW. Finally, the manual suffered from information overload. That, by itself, wasn’t too much of a problem, but since the printed manual did not lend itself to easy searching by terms, this was a final determining factor toward doing a substantial revision of the manual, and putting it into electronic form. Those old-timer’s who have thumbed through their manuals until the pages have turned brown, will see a lot of the same familiar passages that they saw before. However, if they read carefully, they should also spot quite a few changes and clarifications. Those coming into the game for the first time will hopefully find a better organized and indexed manual that will help, and not hinder, their understanding of this complex, and rewarding game.
The tutorials that we included in the game should go a long way toward helping new, and returning, players to overcome the dreaded learning curve that has long been associated with the TOAW series. The main problem of TOAW is that since it is such a rich, challenging, and complex game, it is sometimes intimidating for new players. Particularly, to those who are new to the genre. We have included four tutorials with the game. These will each consist of a scenario file, and an accompanying document, so that you can either print a hard copy of the document to read it side by side with the game, or you can open the file on your computer, and alt-tab between the document and the game.
One of the documents is the original TOAW I tutorial, which was painstakingly recreated by Bob Cross. Though the look of the GUI and terrain tiles have changed a bit, the basic game design concepts that this tutorial illustrates, have not changed, and it remains, though aged, still an excellent primer for understanding what the TOAW series has always been about. It uses Norm’s Korea 50-51 scenario. Two other tutorials were originally written for TOAW – Century of Warfare, and demonstrate movement and attacks. These were both composed by “General Staff”, and are wonderful examples of his typically astute analysis, and his engaging writing style. They use the Kasserine 43 and Tannenberg 1914 scenarios. The fourth tutorial is one that I wrote specifically for TOAW 3. It will probably put everyone to sleep. It’s a walkthrough of the first couple of turns of my tournament scenario, Anonymous Heroics. The time that it would take me to actually play what is described in the walkthrough would probably not exceed ten minutes. However, the document is just over 15 pages long, and it is all text! In it, I lead the new player through the interface, from loading a game, playing it and saving it. I also demonstrate how to set up a defensive line, manage reserves, and then, through a set of actual saved game files, how to launch counterattacks to restore and preserve your lines against a strong enemy attack. Much of the verbiage is explanations of the “why” behind the “how” so that new players will have some basic idea of what concepts are important enough to learn well enough that they eventually become second nature.
10. Given the lack of agreement within the community on such issues as "soak off attacks", using small units to encircle and trap bigger units, the abstraction of the air and sea models, etc. what would you say to players who will see these unchanged in the new version of the game?
You’re just not letting me off easy, are you? What players need to realize about TOAW 3, as per all of the TOAW series, it was written with a particular design intent in mind, and that is to be a playable simulation of operational warfare. Though it utilizes a sophisticated system of probabilistic functions to approximate the direct and ranged fire of a vast range of specific weapons systems at each other, it is not, and will never be a tactical level game. Though it has a robust event engine, a wide range of playable scales, and a versatile scenario editor, it will exceed the original design intent to recreate warfare at the grand strategic level. Likewise, players expecting a very detailed air, or naval combat model will likely be somewhat disappointed. Those arms were intended to be supplemental to the action on the ground, in this game, as indeed they generally have been, in the last century and a half of operational warfare.
With respect to what some consider the more “gamey” aspects of play, players often fail to understand the level of abstraction inherent in the game regarding elements of time, space, and recreating the effects of continuous movement and combat, through a turn based system, comprised of alternating, sets of discrete time-periods, as represented by tactical rounds.
Encirclements of forces, while represented by the hexes, and time frame of the system, do not necessarily correspond to a precise time-space positioning of forces at the moment of combat. The abstraction should be understood to include the breakthrough of recon elements, or other attacking units, through the lines, and into the rear, causing a general condition of engagement where retreat is temporarily made difficult or impossible during the abstracted period of time that the attacking player is moving. If he fails to destroy the encircled units during his turn, and they are weakly cordoned, then the local initiative shifts to the opposing player who, again abstractly, is able to organize the attempt to break free, or destroy the infiltrating units.
As far as “soak-off” attacks, there will be some thought given to this aspect when we begin our major revision work, later this year. The combat and supply model of the game will be changed quite a bit when we do this. We believe that these changes will lead to an even more realistic simulation, where players can focus more on sound operational principles, rather than try to eek every last tactical advantage out of the game engine.
When it comes right down to it, operational warfare is ultimately represented by where the lines are drawn on a map, at the beginning, during, and at the end of the campaign, as well as by the forces used, and the respective casualties that the antagonists have suffered. We want players to keep that focus in mind while playing TOAW 3, and to enjoy playing it. Not to be frightened away by a feeling of inadequacy for not learning “the secrets of the priesthood.”
11. We all have our reasons for being anxious to see the new car roll out of the garage…but when you finally get your release copy in hand and you settle down with your first cup of coffee and open the game for the "first" time, what scenario are you most anxious to play in TOAW 3 with all the new bells and whistles? Why?
Without a doubt, Daniel McBride’s Tobruk 1941, using an MRPB of 3, “High Supply,” and the “No Borders” options. You care for a game? You’ve been sitting still for so long on the ladder, that you’re starting to get rung marks on your butt. Back into the trenches, comrade!
12. Will TOAW 3 wash my windows and scrub my toilets?
Over the course of the years, I’ve seen some pretty ingenious extensions of the TOAW engine, so I wouldn’t rule that out. However, I still think you’d find it a better use of your money to use a squeegee, and a rolled up pizza box…
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