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Post by dublish on Jun 28, 2015 10:09:00 GMT -6
Australia would be a decent minor to add, so might Portugal or the Netherlands given their empires.
I'm curious about the limit of one minor per game. Was that an engine limitation?
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Post by ccip on Jun 28, 2015 10:30:45 GMT -6
Australia would be a decent minor to add, so might Portugal or the Netherlands given their empires. I'm curious about the limit of one minor per game. Was that an engine limitation? I think the real issue is the AI side of things, where the game's whole strategic system seems to be geared towards playing a global empire. It might be easier to justify for a player, but to play in an AI world where small nations behave the same as global empires might take it into a realm of science fiction. Now, I'm sure it's totally doable and RTW could have 20 nations behaving realistically in it instead of 8, but probably not without adding another year to development time. I suspect that's the answer you'll hear from NWS I'm very hopeful for the future of RTW/SAI though, because this is a very promising direction to go in! One of the things that I think attracts me most here is that this is NOT shaping up to be a ship-building sandbox, but instead a game with a very big political and economic dimension that reflects the thinking of the time period. Even if you're the most radically anti-Mahanian sea lord, good luck keeping your job and satisfying tonnage-on-station requirements and political tasks without a battle fleet! More than fighting hostile ships, I'm just really interested in grappling with the strategic aspects of building ships, because I know this game will force me to think about that period in a different way (being the armchair critic of the naval arms races of that period that I am). And that's something I'm excited for!
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Post by Fredrik W on Jun 28, 2015 14:25:31 GMT -6
We now have a definite release date for RTW. It will be July 9th.
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Post by gornik on Jun 28, 2015 14:50:15 GMT -6
Hurrah!!!
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Post by ccip on Jun 28, 2015 14:59:43 GMT -6
Huzzah! Great news I know part of me is really impatient and wants it NOW but hey, at least I've still got an SAI campaign to finish
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swl295
Junior Member
Posts: 94
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Post by swl295 on Jun 28, 2015 15:14:13 GMT -6
Great news on the release date...wish it were before the 4 July weekend, but whatever. Still much better than September!
On the issue of minors...well, Australia and New Zealand are really not minor powers in this area, but rather British Dominions...and the Dominion status was interpreted a bit more in terms of a subordinated status in this era than it is today under the Commonwealth. Remember, King George V declared war on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zeland, and well, the rest of the British Empire for that matter in 1914. In naval terms, these Dominion nations actually gifted ships to the Royal Navy... BC Australia from Australia, BC New Zealand from New Zealand and BB Malaya from the Malay States (who were colonies, I believe or even Protectorates, not Dominions). They were not really independent entities and I think it would be weird to conceive of them as such in this era.
Portugal and the Netherlands...well, it would be hard to conceive of a circumstance in the era covered by the game where either of these countries would have been in a position to build capital ships. Portugal was pretty much bust and there was lots of discussion in the era of them selling parts of their empire to other states. The Netherlands as well, I believe, never built or purchased a battleship in this battleship era.
I find myself once again in violent agreement with ccip regarding the strategic aspects of RTW. They are the most intriguing to me as well. Figuring out where your national interests lie--and hopefully some of that will be shaped by random events--and then designing fleets to counter the capabilities of potential protagonists--will be the central task of the game. Am really looking forward to this aspect as well.
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swl295
Junior Member
Posts: 94
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Post by swl295 on Jun 28, 2015 15:17:06 GMT -6
Any chance we can get an advanced peak at the manual...since recently one of you all mentioned it was undergoing final revision...? Just post the current "state of play"?
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Post by williammiller on Jun 28, 2015 15:46:40 GMT -6
I intend to post links to the 'Rule the Waves' and the updated 'Steam and Iron' manuals either tonight (Sunday) or tomorrow (Monday), depending upon when I get the last few minor changes completed :-)
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jma286
Junior Member
Posts: 97
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Post by jma286 on Jun 28, 2015 16:30:45 GMT -6
Great to have a hard date. As far as minor powers, the only one not included in the game that would be historically accurate to put in would probably be the Ottoman Empire, and even then the Ottoman Navy in 1900 was pathetic(an unprotected cruiser and about 15 torpedo boats).
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swl295
Junior Member
Posts: 94
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Post by swl295 on Jun 28, 2015 17:03:39 GMT -6
I intend to post links to the 'Rule the Waves' and the updated 'Steam and Iron' manuals either tonight (Sunday) or tomorrow (Monday), depending upon when I get the last few minor changes completed :-) Thanks for that. Gives us here in the US something to study over the long July 4 weekend!
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swl295
Junior Member
Posts: 94
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Post by swl295 on Jun 28, 2015 17:09:37 GMT -6
Great to have a hard date. As far as minor powers, the only one not included in the game that would be historically accurate to put in would probably be the Ottoman Empire, and even then the Ottoman Navy in 1900 was pathetic(an unprotected cruiser and about 15 torpedo boats). Agree, though with the Ottomans, an historical variant could be a Young Turk revival leading to increased naval expenditures to counter the Franco-Russian alliance. Also, they did attempt to procure two dreadnoughts from the UK and, of course, ultimately "acquired" the Goeben. I am sure it's not lost on anyone on this forum that today is the 101st anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, setting off the greatest (mainly potential--apart from Jutland) battleship war in naval history. Having examined his personal paper collection in the Vienna Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, he certainly was an interesting man and would have made a controversial emperor.
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Post by williammiller on Jun 28, 2015 18:59:35 GMT -6
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swl295
Junior Member
Posts: 94
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Post by swl295 on Jun 28, 2015 19:55:33 GMT -6
Thanks for posting these!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 20:49:52 GMT -6
Wow. Thanks!
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Post by ccip on Jun 28, 2015 21:07:19 GMT -6
Thanks very much! That was indeed a read that I enjoyed As for minors and battle fleets (or lack thereof), let's not forget the other side of the equation here, which I'm also really happy about in the manual - gunboat diplomacy, commerce war and colonial fleets, the weapon of which was the cruiser. It's great to see that the game pays as much attention to these as to the battleships. For some potential minor powers in particular, maybe cruisers would be all they really need. Anyway, really excited for this either way!
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