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George @ BattleGoat

BattleGoat Studios
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May 20, 2005
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www.battlegoat.com
  • Hearts of Iron III
  • Supreme Ruler 2020
  • Supreme Ruler: Cold War
  • 500k Club
As we mentioned in the first developer diary, the main focus of this title is going to be on NATO vs the Warsaw Pact and how the United States and Russia provided aid to other nations, did their best to undermine unfriendly governments, and even used their militaries to attract and bully other nations into their "Sphere of Influence".

Right away one of the concerns we've had from our existing fan base has been, "Is that it? I can only play as Russia or the United States?" To set minds at ease, the answer to that is a definite "No". At the moment it is intended that there will only be two Campaigns included with the game on release, one of which will place the player in the role of the United States, and the other will have them playing as the USSR. However, in Sandbox mode, you will still be able to choose to play as any nation that existed in 1949. And like our previous games, you will then be able to customize many of the settings of the game - especially the Victory Condition!

"So I can still start a sandbox game as the Czech Republic?" Well unfortunately the Czech Republic did not exist in 1949. It was part of Czechoslovakia and was held firmly within the Warsaw Pact by Russia, at times through Russia's less than subtle use of force. In a sandbox game though, you could still decide to play as Czechoslovakia.

"I'm looking for a challenge, so I'm going to start a sandbox game as Jamaica!" In 1949 Jamaica was a Colony. It did not gain its independence from the United Kingdom until 1962, so it also is not available as a starting nation in this game. But colonies are perhaps the key to successfully surviving the Cold War!

The Cold War period saw a great many "Colonies" gaining their independence to become sovereign nations in their own right. Many of these colonies were aided in their desires for independence by actions of the Super Powers. In return, the Super Powers hoped to bring the emerging nations into their Sphere of Influence. Sometimes this worked... and sometimes it backfired. As players lead whichever side they choose, they will frequently see nations gaining their independence through the course of the game and quickly have to decide how best to deal with this new nation or risk losing any influence over it whatsoever.

Although players will not be able to have direct diplomatic contact with a colony while it is still under another nation's rule, there will be Espionage and Diplomatic missions that can be attempted as a way of either encouraging or discouraging independence. Help support an insurgency that causes a Colony to successfully gain its independence and they may land in your sphere!

"Everyone is either Red or Blue?" No! Another movement that was popular during the Cold War was the desire by many nations to remain "Non Aligned" to either the USSR or to NATO. Many of the African, South American, and Southeast Asian countries were members of this group. Many of the members of the "Non Aligned Nations" were newly independent, so they were naturally protective of their new found sovereignty and didn't wish to be considered under another nation's influence. While this may make it difficult to attract new members to your sphere, sometimes circumstances can force the issue, or you can use your tools of "persuasion"...

As with our previous Supreme Ruler games, one of our goals is to give players many different ways to play, with a lot of flexibility, options and gameplay variety available.

- David Thompson, Lead Designer
 
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Sounds interesting enough. :) How engaging will this struggle for influence be? What kind of mechanics are utilized?
Is it a get-together of military, diplomacy, politics and economics? Or a more simple SOI system like in Vicky 2?

Also, to what degree can the scenario be modded? Is it possible to add more factions? (In addition to US and USSR)
 
I really enjoy their screenshots, every time they upload it you can find geographical mistakes. On this screenshots you can see independent Ukraine ( the flag of this country appears on the first screenshot ) and Pakistan ( which one was founded in 1956 and simple didn't exist in 1949 ). Any way, I still think it's just little silly geographical mistakes which one ( hopefully ) will be fixed before their addon will be out.

The only concern I have is very ugly military system in SR2020. I really enjoy SR2020 economical system, it's just perfect ( easy in interface, easy to use, everything is clear, logical and works great ) but as much as I love SR20 economic as much I hate military. It's just impossible to enjoy this game if you need to control ( and I'm not saying about effective use! I'm saying about simple control ) of 1000 units or more if you play one of superpowers. If BG will improve their military in the upcoming addon and it will be as lovely, simple to use and realistic as SR2020 economy I promise I buy two copies !!!! Unfortunately, SR20 is very much copy of SR10 and nothing was improved in military interface before ...
 
As for the military it might be better to make battalion size units, and make it possible to add to them company size units for which you could choose tanks, ifvs etc.
a then you even could make it possible to add rifles and military equipment for research which would be possible to give to infantry companys.
 
Oh yes, and please let us define the size of the Bullets, the color of their Socks and the appearance of our soldier`s Girlfriends (although I would prefer green-eyed redheads).
 
I really enjoy their screenshots, every time they upload it you can find geographical mistakes. On this screenshots you can see independent Ukraine ( the flag of this country appears on the first screenshot ) and Pakistan ( which one was founded in 1956 and simple didn't exist in 1949 ). Any way, I still think it's just little silly geographical mistakes which one ( hopefully ) will be fixed before their addon will be out.

The only concern I have is very ugly military system in SR2020. I really enjoy SR2020 economical system, it's just perfect ( easy in interface, easy to use, everything is clear, logical and works great ) but as much as I love SR20 economic as much I hate military. It's just impossible to enjoy this game if you need to control ( and I'm not saying about effective use! I'm saying about simple control ) of 1000 units or more if you play one of superpowers. If BG will improve their military in the upcoming addon and it will be as lovely, simple to use and realistic as SR2020 economy I promise I buy two copies !!!! Unfortunately, SR20 is very much copy of SR10 and nothing was improved in military interface before ...
Pakistan gained independence in 1947, alongside India.
 
I'm in the same boat - I would love the ability to group together more effectively into divisions. And yes, I know as stack of 7 could be considered a division, but it would be nice if I could actually turn that stack into a single entity to make it easier to manage.

I will be the first to admit, however, that I'm still newish to the SR system (owned it for several years, but only played it a bit) and so don't really understand it all that well...and I'm pretty heavily influenced by how I manage my military in the HOI system, while in SR I still just click away until something happens.