Realism Features

[piratefish]

Would it be too difficult to add some realism features when it comes to production?

For instance, the location and security of shipyards and manufacturing plants for guns, tanks, trucks, etc.

The idea of simply queueing up serial runs of guns and equipment and sitting back while they complete and then conveniently placing them wherever they are most needed within one's home provinces is so simplistic it is almost childish.

Building secret/hardened locations for R&D and production was an absolute must during WW 2 for most nations.

If you are a dev reading this, could you please consider adding features to the game that would require the identification of manufacturing and R&D centers? Give us something of true strategic value to protect just like in real warfare. Perhaps add new missions like "Installation Defense" where units are dedicated to the protection of high value locations/assets, and new spy/espionage missions like "Preserve Secrecy" or "Target Detection".

Force us to build hardened/secret locations to manufacture the materiel and equipment of war, or risk being strangled out by the enemy. Force us to commit to the location of shipbuilding, tank building, and airplane manufacture, and to protect the precious work in progress from enemy torpedoes and bombs (or even commando raids). Give us the excitement of real wartime perils to maintaining our war machines. Give us strategicly important targets to protect like the ball bearings factory in Schweinfurt, or the rocket research facility at Rostock. Force us to defend these and to seek out more clandestine ways to cripple the enemy's war efforts.

Would it really be that difficult to implement?

 

[unmerged(83496)]

Features such as those are probably best simulated by events. If major powers had to have a dozen or so different kinds of installations/production facilities rather than just factories, it would clog the game. I'm not sure that type of micromanagement would be feasible.

 

[piratefish]

I guess I do not see how the realistic simulation of ship, airplane, truck, and tank building would be micromanagement. Each nation had several (some more than others) key production faclities that, if taken out, would severely cripple that nation's war effort for many months or even years.

The production of trucks, tanks, and planes would be a little more difficult to pinpoint, but if I am building an aircraft carrier, a battleship, ,or a fleet of submarines or destroyers, there are only so many shipyards capable of such building.

I do not consider keeping key production projects protected and maintained "micromanagement". It is what war on a grand scale is truly about.

Right now, generically bombing a nation's IC or infrastructure has a very, well, generic effect. The damage can be spread like peanut butter by the player across all projects without truly affecting any one of them (especially if there happens to be an IC surplus at the time).

I think it is very important to be able to target key production; it's how wars are often won (or at least sped to a much more rapid close). For a lot of nations, choosing to build large ships was a true risk. If the enemy could blow your attempt to smithereens just before completion, it was a serious setback. With AoD, there is literally no risk element involved. I can guarantee the production and completion of major warships right on schedule and have the added luxury of deploying them where they are most needed many months after production begins. WTF? How is that even remotley close to anything in real life?

Further, if I manage to overrun the Brittish Island as Germany, it does absolutely nothing to cancel current shipbuilding projects (other than IC reduction). Really? So all ships were being built away from the home island? It starts to get very unrealistic when one considers the very real possibility of having France or the UK totally overrun. IC might be reduced, but projects continue as though there were no interruptions to production (even though the very factories ostensibly producing the equipment are within enemy hands now).

 

[RomanItalian]

Um, why don't you just mod it yourself? That's a bit much to ask for IMHO. Everyone has an opinion on this game but there's only so much the engine can do, not to mention I doubt this kind of intricate feature would please the majority of gamers. Try to mod it, if you make something great then create a thread so people can test it out, but this kind of feature is probably not going to be implemented in the vanilla game to be honest.

 

[Hister]

It's a good suggestion and I don't see any reasons why it wouldn't be included in vanilla if someone makes the code.

 

[unmerged(59604)]

I agree with the general idea, but separate "manufacturing" centres seems too micro. I think there should be a way to distinguish between production of tanks and planes (factories), and the production of ships (drydocks) though. Maybe the latter should depend on the level of naval bases. Perhaps shipbuilding could be 50 % IC and 50 % naval base value? This way it would be necessary to first improve naval bases before any large-scale fleet building is possible.

 

[piratefish]

First of all, I would just like to make it clear for the record that, if I were capable of modding and writing code, I would have already done so.

Unfortunately, I am not a techie of any kind and have to rely on the efforts of others, hence the post rather than the mod.

I don't know anything about how game engines work to know if what I envision is feasible or not. I simply had in mind the desire to see more realism in the game. I like to be able to immerse myself in the campaign and feel almost as though I truly am commanding a nation at war. That's why I have always felt a little let down with some of the current game mechanics related to research, development, and especially production.

Don't get me wrong, though, the game is very good as it is, and is FAR better than anything I have ever played before in the genre. However, I find it hard to resist the notion that fundamentals can be improved upon. Is it really that difficult to mimic real life by requiring the designation of locations for some of the more massive projects (e.g. shipbuilding)? We already have key instalation features (somewhat) incorporated into the game with rocket test sites and nuclear reactors, so why not take it a step further and add high value targets? It's how actual warfare is waged.

Each nation would have its unique set of high value targets that it would try to protect through secrecy, hardening, and other defenses like AA, dedicated air patrols, high security, etc. It's a fact of life that ignoring would be a disservice to the genere; a nation's ability to effectively wage war hinges greatly upon a rather small network of research, development, and production. While the game has some generic and rather watered down features to try to simulate targeting the enemy's infrastructure and industry, I believe it wouldn't take that much extra to go to the next level and nail it.

If I am building 2 or 3 carriers in my shipyards, why not make these massive, months-long projects a target for bombs and espionage (even commando raids)? You can seriously hurt a nation by pulling off carefully planned, timed, and executed missions and I think it would be a hell of a lot more fun for most players than one would think at first blush.

Who wouldn't enjoy the challenge and the extra level of richness in trying to defend your very ability to successfully wage war, while at the same time trying to set your enemy back in major ways, perhaps even forcing him out of the war? It just doesn't "feel right" being able to produce massive ships and huge quantities of tanks ands airplanes without ever having to (seriously) worry at all about real interference. Just queue it up, and presto! a few months later you have more fodder for the front lines!

But, I suppose most people attracted to this game are essentially unsophisticated simpletons that have no appreciation or understanding for what war really is, and would much rather crank out unit after unfettered unit and go charging headlong into the enemy in what amounts to little more than a slightly dressed up game of Risk or Axis and Allies. (Please insert proper amount of sarcasm here).

 

[Fürstbischof]

I'd be glad if the placement of newly built units would be limited to national provinces. Restricting naval builds to provinces with naval bases (which are accompanied by a naval yard building) would be a good idea - and was discussed several months ago. Although Balesir was also involved in that thread we haven't seen any changes since then. In theory you can add your own buildings but iirc there are some issues. If the devs would expand the stats of the various unit types with an additional line (required building = none or 'name') we could could easily realise your proposal but without such a moddable restriction ...