Peninsula Campaign DLC?

[Yun Dog]

My question is where does the line get drawn as far as what get included in the game and whats gets sold as DLC. Napoleon was given a low (7) by Australian PC gamer because it was too lite on. The temptation is going to be for the game company to sell the minimum with the game and as much as possible as DLC thus maximizing profits. How are gamers going to judge when they are getting a poor deal, having already purchased, and also having already purchased they get squeezed to buy the DLC to get the most of their game. A game which without DLC they may have gotten alot more included with and enjoyment from. So we pay for a game that is a cut down version, and then pay more to get the complete game we should have gotten in the first place. Im sorry but CA is starting to sicken me to my stomach. I havent bought into their latest NTW con and it looks like I wont be buying into their games ever again.

I know the whole DLC is here to stay argument, Dragon age was a much more complete game out of the box than ETW or NTW - and theres the difference
But will the punters be discerning enough - its tough when really youve goto buy the game to find out - a fool and their money - and it looks like gamers to a large extent are fools - sorry

I guess what Im saying is: surely the pennisular campaign should have been included in the game - shame on them

[gollum]

Originally posted by Lord Yunson
So we pay for a game that is a cut down version, and then pay more to get the complete game we should have gotten in the first place. Im sorry but CA is starting to sicken me to my stomach. I havent bought into their latest NTW con and it looks like I wont be buying into their games ever again.

Now ca has started to sicken you in the stomach? heh - a little late for that...

[Yun Dog]

Now ca has started to sicken you in the stomach? heh - a little late for that...

Hope dies last

[Graphic]

Like it or not, DLC is a part of the industry from now on and it's not going anywhere. "It's not about right or wrong, General. At this point, it simply is." - Metalocalypse. So boycotting on principal is a bit pointless at this stage. It's done...enjoy the new content or don't.

How moddable ETW and NTW are is a separate issue entirely. If CA wanted to crush the modding community to boost sales of their DLC unit packs, I don't think they would have allowed it so that custom unit creation is at least one of the areas where modders have total freedom. Think about it. If CA really did want to destroy modding, it could be done. There are so many PC games out there that are absolutely, 100% unmoddable. Even ones on engines like Unreal that can be extremely moddable. If they wanted to kill mods all they had to do was push the proverbial red button. When ETW came out no one thought it possible that custom unit models could be added to the game, that it was totally "locked out" because of CA's hideous new business practices, but look at things now.

Fact of the matter is CA never supported the modding community to begin with (except for some 3dmax script for RTW that everyone already had, I hear) but never hindered it either. What we're seeing with the new games is just growing pains associated with figuring out an entirely new engine and file structure; nothing's really changed with regards to CA's stance on modding. I suspect they simply didn't give moddability consideration when designing the new engine, but that's not the same thing as locking it out and trying to destroy it. TW modders are smart kids, they just need time to figure things out.

Anyway, if they do come out with a Peninsular campaign DLC, I'll get it if it has enough new content and isn't just a zoomed in Spanish map with all the same old units.

[gollum]

Pretty much on the spot. CA lightly supported the modding community and gossip has it that in various instances it benefited from it, like say from napoleonic tw 2 made by the Lordz.

[Fisherking]

I was giving some thought today on the map. It seems to be THE THING that they have been unable to mod.

Since they used actual earth topography for the map, it was likely not developed in house. I have worked on converting satellite mapping data into maps and it is not a breeze. The amount of clutter that has to be taken out is unbelievable. You can’t just take google earth and put it into a usable format for games.

Unless someone has access to compatible files or the whole world is actually contained in the map data, there is not going to be any new areas added. Trade theaters maybe but battle ready terrain, you had best think again.

I could be wrong. Someone may know better and if they do I look forward to their maps. But I am not holding my breath.


More on topic, if CA is still mod neutral we are lucky. I don’t think their business model looks any more like Robber Barons than just about anyone else’s. They could be middle of the road in that regard, I don’t know. But I don’t see them as the worst.

DLC seems to be the strategy of the month for most game developers and I don’t see it as evil or usury.

I will buy what I like and pass on the rest.

What happened with ETW was disappointing. They fixed it to a usable state and I can live with that, not love it but live with it.

They moved on to NTW.

It is time for us to move on too. Either we like what they have done or not but it won’t do any good to dwell on the past.

[Jolt]

At last Portugal gets some deserved love.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I was giving some thought today on the map. It seems to be THE THING that they have been unable to mod.

Since they used actual earth topography for the map, it was likely not developed in house. I have worked on converting satellite mapping data into maps and it is not a breeze. The amount of clutter that has to be taken out is unbelievable. You can’t just take google earth and put it into a usable format for games.

Unless someone has access to compatible files or the whole world is actually contained in the map data, there is not going to be any new areas added. Trade theaters maybe but battle ready terrain, you had best think again.

I could be wrong. Someone may know better and if they do I look forward to their maps. But I am not holding my breath.

IIRC, the first empire earth had a feature whereby you could download elevation data to use in the map editor and generate a map from that. And that game was released November 2001. Not to say it's easy, just doable.

CR

[Graphic]

What happened with ETW was disappointing. They fixed it to a usable state and I can live with that, not love it but live with it.

I guess I'm still in the minority of people who like ETW. It was ROUGH at release, but by 1.3 most of the huge problems were gone. With the patches (and Luntik's AI mod) I think it's quite nice. Hopefully 1.6 removes the need for the AI mod.

But NTW does show how stripped down ETW was in terms of the little things. It was suspected before, but NTW confirmed that ETW was rushed. It seems obvious to me that SEGA was really hounding them to release something, so they shoved ETW out. The patches and the the beauty of NTW (I think it might be my favorite TW) make up for that mostly in my eyes, and the discount price of NTW doesn't hurt either. I can live with ETW's faults since I think it gave them the space they needed to really dote on NTW.