Ageod's Upcoming Napoleonic Game

[bbmike]

It's past time for AGEOD to either create a new engine or really, really update the current one. And I say this as a big fan of the current engine.

[spelk]

First Tutorial

[Johnnie]

I really do not understand calls for a "new engine."  If the present engine "works" why need it be replaced?  Doesn't it make sense to improve same with each new game that uses the engine?  Then one gets the benefit of a tried and true and mature engine along with not having to learn a new one with each subject.  And new engines come without a guarantee.

[Nefaro]

I really do not understand calls for a "new engine."  If the present engine "works" why need it be replaced?  Doesn't it make sense to improve same with each new game that uses the engine?  Then one gets the benefit of a tried and true and mature engine along with not having to learn a new one with each subject.  And new engines come without a guarantee.

I think the old engine has had a lot of extra features and such stuffed in over the years & sequels. 

That can make it rather sluggish and turn processing pretty slow since the engine only uses one CPU.  Pride Of Nations really demonstrated that the game engine hit it's ideal limits years ago due to this, which is sad because having all those aspects in an AGE game would be amazing - if it didn't take so to resolve turns.  It's just not able to keep pace with newer hardware's multi-core processing power, which has moved to a multi-core focus over the past decade.

After becoming familiar with the AGE engine, I've come to enjoy the drag & drop UI and how much of the system works.  It's just obvious that the old engine needs a sequel so the developers can continue to expand features at the pace they intend without being so limited.  That may be out of the question regarding time/income investment at the moment, but those of us who've enjoyed them can keep hoping a new evolution comes.  :)

[tgb]

I'm pretty sick and tired of the AGE engine, which I never cared for a lot in the first place.  I'm much more excited about Slitherine's upcoming Victory and Glory, and the start of the  Beta.

[Queeg]

I think AGEOD's engine cane still work just fine if they stick the right era.  ACW is about as late as the game can model reasonably.

The one thing I do hate, and that I suspect won't change anytime soon, is the laborious process of creating Corps and Armies.  There's just way too much dumping of units into "containers," which gets old fast. 

[Bison]

The biggest issue I have with the Ageod engine is that same issue I have will many older engines.  They do not scale well with higher resolution monitors.  So the text and other UI features become near impossible to read, which is a huge turn off when I sit down to play a game.  Do I play a game where I can actually read the text and make out the counter information or the one where I cannot? 

[Toonces]

Damn, if Ageod does anything right, it's make a sexy looking boardgame.  Everytime I see screenshots of their games it makes me wish I knew how to play them.

[WallysWorld]

First AAR of the game: http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?41286-AAR-from-the-Beta

[mikeck]

Dammit. Saw this thread pop back up and thought the game had been released in time for my 4 day weekend

[Rayfer]

Is this game going to do to Ageod's Napoleon's Campaigns what their American Civil War 2 did the ACW 1...?

[Slick Wilhelm]

Is this game going to do to Ageod's Napoleon's Campaigns what their American Civil War 2 did the ACW 1...?

I certainly hope so.  :)

[Rayfer]

Is this game going to do to Ageod's Napoleon's Campaigns what their American Civil War 2 did the ACW 1...?

I certainly hope so.  :)

LOL...me too!

[dinsdale]

I love the AGE engine, think it plays well, looks good, and allows you to jump straight into almost any game once you've learned one of them.

I am a little pessimistic about the Napoleonic game though. I love Kevin Zucker's operational board games, but I've never come across any computer game which has been as compelling. It's all a bit railroaded, and combined with expectations that Napoleon always wins battles until he develops piles, very predictable.

Early years; Napoleon and his Panzers crush everything. One line of advance through the Danube, through Germany or through Italy punctuated by Nappy winning battles.

Late years; What's wrong with Napoleon. Cold and hungry, run away from the Russians... Oh no, the Prussians and Austrians have joined in. Shit, we're outside Paris.

Waterloo; hope the British and Prussians leave a huge gap for me to march through or I'm screwed.

I can't put my finger on why the boardgames work better, it may come down to die rolling and the decisions around moving center of operations or supply, but when it's automated and abstracted the games lose their appeal to me.

I really, really hope AGEOD nails it, but I think it's a very tough game to get right.

[panzerde]

I can't put my finger on why the boardgames work better, it may come down to die rolling and the decisions around moving center of operations or supply, but when it's automated and abstracted the games lose their appeal to me.

I really, really hope AGEOD nails it, but I think it's a very tough game to get right.

Agreed. Having said that, if AGEOD's Thirty Years War is an indicator, this will be pretty good. You might also give this a look. Aging a bit, but it has had some recent updates and it more like what you're looking for, I think. I'm a big fan of the Zucker games, myself.


If you haven't tried Tiller's Napoleonic Campaigns games HTH, particularly a large campaign scenario, you may find those very compelling, too.