Number of turns?

[Fisherking]

Unfortunately, the last game (M2TW) had one turn for 2 years, with summer and winter alternating. A hold over from RTW, obviously.

This game most likely goes back to the turn pattern of RTW.

I think the way some of the moders got around the summer winter default was to have three summers before a winter, which is when character ageing takes place.

If someone plans on moding for four turns, this is what they will need to look at. However, I seriously doubt that this or the next game will have a 4 turn per year sequence.

More likely, they may, if they think it is what the fans really want, try to integrate it into the next engine, when and if work starts on that.

I don’t mean to sound pessimistic but a game with 400 turns is something I think they are more likely to leave to mods.

[Sol Invictus]

Yeah, it seems that CA has settled on around 200 turns as the limit that most of the ADD adled younger set that they are going after can handle. It should be rather easy to double the turns and make a seasonal progression for us older types, so no worries.

[Sir Beane]

It's a shame CA feels it has to try and make a smaller, more compact campaign to cater to more casual gamers. It would be nice if veteran and hardcore gamers like those of us on the Org (I asume most of us count as non-casual gamers) got an option to extend the campaign.

It can sometimes feel a little annoying that the long term fans (who bought every game and sank hours into the series) don't get the game we want because CA has to worry about little things like 'the general public' and 'actually making money and selling more than a couple hundred games'.

[Mikhal]

It's a shame CA feels it has to try and make a smaller, more compact campaign to cater to more casual gamers. It would be nice if veteran and hardcore gamers like those of us on the Org (I asume most of us count as non-casual gamers) got an option to extend the campaign.

It can sometimes feel a little annoying that the long term fans (who bought every game and sank hours into the series) don't get the game we want because CA has to worry about little things like 'the general public' and 'actually making money and selling more than a couple hundred games'.

Actually, I would say that a game spanning over a shorter period of time (like the 100 years in ETW) with shorter turns is the more hardcore as opposed to a game like M2TW with a long campaign including loads of different content which I think feels as if they are just trying to attract the casual mainstreamers with catch phrases like "In our game you can use knights in full plate AND gunpowder muskeeters AND colonize the Americas!"

I consider myself hardcore and I look forward to the 100-year Empires campaign which will allow the devs to be more elaborate on the 18th century as a historic period and not just cram 500 years of history into one game like in M2TW.

[Sol Invictus]

Actually, I would say that a game spanning over a shorter period of time (like the 100 years in ETW) with shorter turns is the more hardcore as opposed to a game like M2TW with a long campaign including loads of different content which I think feels as if they are just trying to attract the casual mainstreamers with catch phrases like "In our game you can use knights in full plate AND gunpowder muskeeters AND colonize the Americas!"

I consider myself hardcore and I look forward to the 100-year Empires campaign which will allow the devs to be more elaborate on the 18th century as a historic period and not just cram 500 years of history into one game like in M2TW.

I agree. I am hoping that in the future, CA will tackle smaller timespans while decreasing the length of turns and thus we could have monthly turns. My ideal TW game would be a Thirty Years War or Seven Years War game with monthly turns. I realize that CA wants to cover a long timespan in order to allow Tech progression, but I would gladly give up that mechanic in order to gain a deeper game overall.

[Fisherking]

I agree. I am hoping that in the future, CA will tackle smaller timespans while decreasing the length of turns and thus we could have monthly turns. My ideal TW game would be a Thirty Years War or Seven Years War game with monthly turns. I realize that CA wants to cover a long timespan in order to allow Tech progression, but I would gladly give up that mechanic in order to gain a deeper game overall.

When they get down to just a few years I will want weekly turns!
ROFLOL

[Sir Beane]

When they get down to just a few years I will want weekly turns!
ROFLOL

The next game, set over the course of a one week border skirmish between two tiny german states, features 24 turns a day. Both factions get the same units, no units are unlockable, and no buildings can be built.

How's that for a balanced, focused game? (This might actually be a fun idea for a unique mini-campaign, maybe a mod or something)

[Sir Beane]

Actually, I would say that a game spanning over a shorter period of time (like the 100 years in ETW) with shorter turns is the more hardcore as opposed to a game like M2TW with a long campaign including loads of different content which I think feels as if they are just trying to attract the casual mainstreamers with catch phrases like "In our game you can use knights in full plate AND gunpowder muskeeters AND colonize the Americas!"

I consider myself hardcore and I look forward to the 100-year Empires campaign which will allow the devs to be more elaborate on the 18th century as a historic period and not just cram 500 years of history into one game like in M2TW.

I'm all for shorter, more focused timescales, so long as they extend the number of turns per year. I agree that the curent games have a lot of things which have clearly been added so they can be mentioned on the box and in game previews.

I want a campaign that has at least four seasons a year, and if they include fancy features, I would like them to be fleshed out and properly balanced.

But I do also think it would be possible to make a hardcore game which has a long timespan. CA just need to focus on polish and balance. There's nothing wron gwith ahving fancy knights and gunpowder, so long as the two work well within the frame of the game.

@Sol Invictus

I think tech progression is a very good way of making the game deeper without making it overly complex. It also has the bonus of being something that appeals to the casual games market as well as hardcore fans.