Ask Paradox France (almost) anything!

[Susana]

Since many of you expressed that you were able to get to know the Paradox team a bit better through the "Ask Paradox (almost) anything" thread I thought it could be a great idea to extend the idea to our French Paradox branch - namely the two Phil's behind AGEOD.

You can also ask the Paradox team questions related to AGEOD, their titles etc.

Go nuts!

Kind regards
Susana Meza

 

[Darth Tracid]

hmm goody i know a lot about Paradox, but AGEOD is still a mystery!

1) What do you think are the main similarities and differences betwenn Paradox and your own games?

2) Do you play Paradox games?

3) Which of your titles do you think would most broadly appeal to the "traditional" paradox player?


might have more in the future

 

[unmerged(116710)]

hmm goody i know a lot about Paradox, but AGEOD is still a mystery!

1) What do you think are the main similarities and differences betwenn Paradox and your own games?

2) Do you play Paradox games?

3) Which of your titles do you think would most broadly appeal to the "traditional" paradox player?


might have more in the future

Hiya!
I'm a volunteer AGEOD worker bee beta tester, script-writer and DB cleaner-upper, concentrating on WIA and RoP.

1. Both publish strategic scale games for thinking people, that usually include more than 'hack-and-kill-I-love-a-tank'. I think the numero-uno difference is that Paradox engines are usually Real-time, and AGOD is Turn-based.

2. I played HOI & EU2 a lot, but now I'm so busy supporting WIA and RoP that play-time is limited to testing. Plus now that Spring is here, I do a lot of outdoor stuff [I'm retired, living at a beautiful lake in upstate NY-USA]

3. I'm not sure what 'traditional' is, given the wide spectrum of Paradox games. AACW is most complex, BoA [the 1st] is simplest. NCP is Napoleon. RoP is Frederich. ...and WIA is my favorite because I put so much into it.
Oh yes, World War One, while not using the AGEOD engine, is a fantastic simulation of that conflict, with excellent treatment of the political and economic aspects.

Welcome to my world!

 

[Pocus]

1. the main similitaries: the shared interest into historical themed games. That the games we do (Paradox and Ageod) are 'simulations' without too much abstract mechanisms (example: I believe that both team try to emulate in their respective battle module what really happen during a battle, i.e opponents closing in, support troops protected by main lines units, etc.) A more boardgamish approach would be to have a CRT (Combat Result Table) with a dice rolled etc. (perfectly valid concept too, but not our way of doing things).

The main difference: In a nut shell, that Paradox games are 'continuous-time' whereas ours is 'Simultaneous turn based'. That we started by having our games much focused on the military and not on the rest is more because we had to start small and work our way up... But the next game, Vainglory, will encompass all aspects of the life of a nation, and will be played on a huge world map.

2. Sure. Personally I have played more or less EU1, EU2, EU3, HOI1 and HOI2 Both serie of games have their unique appeal to me.

3. Perhaps American Civil War, has it is the closer in concept so far to 'Lead a nation to its destiny' which is the basis of most (of not all) of the Paradox games. Lead either the Union or the Confederate during 4+ years of conflict, while managing production, industrialization, blockade, historical choices and events... Vainglory of Nation will definitively appeal to the Paradox fans also, but we still are some months before release

 

[Devildread]

- I am a french unemployed developer, can you hire me ?

 

[Wildy]

For who did most of the Ageod staff vote during les régionales?

 

[Marcus]

1) Was Thierry Henry's hands ball intentional or 'shot-on' (and therefore not a foul) ?

2) Who will win the World Cup?

 

[Jayavarman]

What is your sales history? Rise of Prussia?

 

[Generalisimo]

1) Was Thierry Henry's hands ball intentional or 'shot-on' (and therefore not a foul) ?

You mean this hand?

Not foul...

2) Who will win the World Cup?

Messi!

 

[GREG 42]

ww1

Any plans to give your WW1 game a makeover now you have the HOI team with you

 

[Pocus]

- I am a french unemployed developer, can you hire me ?

Not enough bucks right now to hire someone else, but there is always room for volunteer-ship, at first.. Some of us started like that (no promises either it can lead to a paid position, don't put words in my mouth)

 

[Pocus]

Any plans to give your WW1 game a makeover now you have the HOI team with you

WW1 is not developed internally but is a third party product, although the developer has ties with some of the team members. WW1 is published by Ageod, not developed within Ageod.

 

[Pocus]

What is your sales history? Rise of Prussia?

Overall? We did Birth of America, then American Civil War, then Napoleon's Campaigns, then Wars in America, then Rise of Prussia.

Vainglory of Nation is the current game in the making.

Our biggest sells are American Civil War with a rough estimate of 100.000 sells overall, if you count bundle and retails sells. Sold in 6 languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian) and quite a number of countries (for the English speaking world, most if not all of the Commonwealth countries )

 

[Spacehusky]

That's pretty impressive for a single niche strategy title

How has Paradox's purchase of AGEOD affected your development plans? Have you experienced any unwelcome micromanaging from your new boss?

 

[FrEDa]

1. Any plans for a game around the Battle of Sekigahara (say Japan 1590-1601)? I would love that with the engine you have

2. Any plans for other non-European/non-US titles (China, Korea, India, Mongol/Mughal empire)?

3. 30-year war? Great Nordic War?

4. When will we get AGEOD icons on the forum (for Susana)?

Edit: Just noticed that some have a RoP icon, that's good.. BoA/ACW coming?

/F

 

[Generalisimo]

1. Any plans for a game around the Battle of Sekigahara (say Japan 1590-1601)? I would love that with the engine you have

2. Any plans for other non-European/non-US titles (China, Korea, India, Mongol/Mughal empire)?

3. 30-year war? Great Nordic War?

/F

I will talk "generically", for more details about upcoming games, wait for the Phils.

The truth is that the AGE (Adaptive Game Engine) is very flexible to manage different time periods and conflicts thanks to the design philosophy behind it.
But, many parts of the already released game could only be made thanks to the huge effort of some volunteers that helped a lot to find the actual data needed to fill in the blanks.
That includes help with the construction of the game map (the board on which you will play the game), OOBs, military leaders stats and a huge list of etc.

So, if we find the right group of volunteers to help with a certain war/period/timeframe, any conflict can be depicted with this engine in the future.

As an example, in the future, you could see a WWII game with the AGE engine... of course, some "adaptation" (AGE = Adaptive... ) will need to be done first to include "Strategic Bombing" for example, that for obvious reasons, is not available on ROP, nor WIA, nor AACW.

So, if you want to help with a certain period that you like... be my guest.

 

[FrEDa]

So, if we find the right group of volunteers to help with a certain war/period/timeframe, any conflict can be depicted with this engine in the future.

So, if you want to help with a certain period that you like... be my guest.

Yes I suspected that was the case, I'll go hunting for history professors then, I know we have some on this forum

 

[Generalisimo]

Yes I suspected that was the case, I'll go hunting for history professors then, I know we have some on this forum

You really do not need to be a history professor... beleive me.
If you like the subject and you are familiar with the period, you may be able to find a lot of interesting info about that conflict.

For example, someone from Russia may be able to find a lot of accurate information about the Russo–Japanese War of 1904. Not because he is an history professor (he may be or not), but mostly because he can read russian... that's a huge plus with something like this.

So, with a combination of passion for games and a bit of dedication, you can help a lot.

 

[beatoangelico]

why you have decided to allocate additional resources to make the map so "painted" and good looking? I think the choice has paid off, at least for me it has (since I have to stare for hours at a map it's better be easy on the eyes), but initially maybe it was a bit of a gamble since wargames usually don't use graphics as a selling point.

 

[unmerged(7597)]

Is the patch ready soon? :rofl: :wacko:

But seriously...for both or either of the Phils - what was the first wargame you ever played, whether board, tabletop/minatures, or computer?

(Mine: Avalon Hill's 1776 - and while I think I can detect some trace of that game in Wars in America, the later is a much better design).