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[Urist McScoopbeard]

Speaking of strategy games.

I would really like an Operational-level game. There ARE several, most notably set in the Civil War, but they just don't really capture this thing I keep thinking about: Campaigns.

I feel like a campaign is a really good unit to quantize gameplay in. When I read military history, pretty much everything is in the context of campaigns, series of battles culminating in a critical moment concerning some strategic objective. The one itch that EUIV has never scratched is how wide-reaching a single campaign's effects can be, and in turn, how the strategic situation can affect a single campaign (from reinforcements, to supplies, to being forced to cut the campaign short). Ultimate General might come close if it had some kind of dynamism to it, but it's railroaded to the max.

I mean, EUIV frustrates me sometimes with it's imprecisions. It would just be nice to see a playable marriage between the grand strategy of Paradox and the tactics of Creative Assembly. To be able to create opportunities where amazing things can happen (like the profound impact of Hannibal marching over the Alps or the Greco-Persian Wars or the Battle of Stirling Bridge, ad infinitum) and really be able to define a period of warfare via your victories and defeats.

[RAM]

mixed orbital/interstellar ship to ship warfare with planetary invasions

The problem I see with that is timescale and abuse. Because each game-type influences the other, You can get an endless series of curbstomps with elite forces invading garrisons, or a massive edge in interplanetary by setting up a killing field with a couple of elite squads and artillery which exploit the A.I. into big wins for tiny costs. Players don't like to hold back, so you need, like, limiting factors to prevent the external influences from overwhelming the current scale, while also keeping the scales relevant to one another. It is worth noting that real life is very much like this. People always talk about the major turning-point battles, but there is a massive amount of territorial shifting going on between these battles and it is not as though the entire theatre is undefended but you never hear about what went on there because curbstomps are neither exciting nor comfortable conversation...

Meanwhile, you probably want to hit dozens, if not hundreds of planets, and if each one is a full game in itself... well, that is a lot of time spent on a very slow space conquest. Ground combat is typically simple because it is rushed. They explicitly want it to be over in a single space-turn. Not to mention that planets are big, and usually end up being reduced to a single objective on a 2-d map. If you want more than a single representative battle it is going to be a long slog.

So... Ideas...
"Heroes" that are pretty much unavoidably credible threats. Every planet has some bunker or elite squad or supertank that may not be enough to change the outcome of hundred to one odds, but will make it less methodical.
"Give the marines their own command structure" so that they are fighting for worlds while the space force is fighting for territory. If you are feeling particularly adventurous brave then you might include high-speed missions to drop in the midst of space combat to silence artillery installations or something, but generally it would be the marines organising their own invasion forces and hitting planets as they felt comfortable with their logistics and invasion forces, generally operating behind friendly lines while the space-force just finds planets being added(or not) to its economic base over time...

[LordBaal]

Ive kind of always wanted a game that mixed orbital/interstellar ship to ship warfare with planetary invasions including land, air and sea combat, at both a grand strategy and first person combat level. Like a 4x space game kinda like stellaris, but with better tactical options where you can give individual ships orders during combat, not just fleet wide, and ground warfare that is rendered and dependent on vehicles and infantry you brought with you. instead of just plopping armies down on the planet and watching their health go down you can actually make decisions on the battlefield, and take control of any one of your units. And where you could design your space and planetary units in depth and describe their desired behaviors

Its like a stupid tall order and probably nobodies ever gonna make a game like that, but its the sort of awesome i wish i could play.

I keep dreaming about this: Taros Campaign, The Game.

Blend Battlefleet Gothic Armada, Blitzkrieg, CoH, Total War/Paradox games, put it on the oven and let it rise till the space stategic map covers the whole system and the ground map covers the whole planet, cool it off with moldability and serve at taste with tons of money.

I imagine you get the call as Lord High Commander Otto Ivan Gustavus to prepare the attack, the first part of the game would be you spending a set amount of requisition (which varies with difficult) on selecting which regiments will compose your army and a bare minimum of space ships, also there could be "influence points" which could be used to request forces from other arms of the Imperium, extra Imperial Navy, SM, Mechanicus.... Random events in this stage could rise or low your requisition and influence, troops could be available immediately at the start of the game or not... and so forth.

After all that you make up the composition of your army and it's corps, and to strike the sand!

First the space strategic map, your ships arrive and you must do battle, (or not) until you reach Taros in the style of Armada if two fleets encounter. Then you land your troops and the land strategic map  unravels like those of paradox/total war. When armies collide you play it out with maps like Blitzkrieg and CoH.

Random events, enemy ships arriving, reinforcements arriving or not could make each gameplay different. You could try to emulate the campaign to the letter or you could try to do something way different. Choose another officers which would give other bonuses, other corps, more space marine companies, whatever you can....


Then you can play as the Tau too.

Finally add a scenario editor and introduce other races and factions and you got yourself the ultimate Warhammer 40k game that would put an end to all wars!

[Kagus]

A physics-powered skateboarding game, in the vein of Skate 3. Except it has blood and gore, and is set in ancient Rome.

Flee from angry legionaries in the crowded streets, grind along the aqueduct, be forced to SKVIII or Die in the coliseum, flee on four wheels from Pompeii's encroaching lava flow, hitch a ride by hanging on to the back of a chariot...

Say Caligu-later to the boring companions of other games as you meet and unlock exciting new characters like Bodacious Boudica, veteran skatesman Marc Antony Hawk, Pullatrix the Gaul, the massive gladiator Quadraginta, or possibly even Iesus Nazarenus- the only man rumored to have skated on water.


So, basically it's just sandboxy goofing around with your buddies, a story mode to fit more dumb jokes into, plus making the backdrop a bit more interesting by turning it Roman. Also, combining the forces of Latin and skater dude speak to create many awful plays on words... So, so many...

[Dunamisdeos]

That's some katamari-levels of what. I'd play it.

[PTTG??]

Instead of making ANOTHER walking dead game, Telltale could have made that.

[Sergius]

Instead of making ANOTHER walking dead game, Telltale could have made that.

Well, no chance of that now...

[JimboM12]

Mount and Blade 2 Bannerlord

ha ha ha ha, but nah, like for real. come on taleworlds.

actually, i'd love to see a competitor rise up and make a solid mount and blade like.
something where you can recruit and lead your army and future nation from the ground.

[AzyWng]

I'd say "Freeman: Gureilla Warfare" but...

Well, actually, no buts about it.

Their game is available for purchase and play.

That is an undeniable edge they have over Bannerlord.

FGW wins and M&B2:B loses.

[JimboM12]

yeah, freeman's a indie gem, regularly patched and everything. i like where they've gone with it so far, it shows they listen to their players. i have a fondness for playing as a sniper leader; i order my soldiers to surround enemies while in good cover while i find a convenient place to snipe from.

but its limited to squad levels tho. i want a nations worth. the only other game i felt that close was the X series. goddamn does it feel good to have fully independent supply lines feeding a HQ/shipyard (with mods), pumping out your own fleet of stolen xenon designs. those Qs were fuck annoying on the other side but when they're on your side? muahahahaha. whats great about them is xenon designs are cheaper than the other factions.

[Kagus]

Instead of making ANOTHER walking dead game, Telltale could have made that.

I'm not entirely sure I see a point-and-click adventure game company going over to making a physics-based skateboarding title... But hey, Relic made Space Marine, and that was pretty great, so... Who knows?

[AzyWng]

Concept that popped into my head just now:

A combat-oriented game of some kind (Dunno if action or turn-based would be best, or something else entirely) with procedurally generated lots of things (because every single game needs that) centered around one specific mechanic:

You have to authorize upgrades to the skills and equipment you use.

You have to authorize these upgrades by providing proof your enemies are getting stronger or by creating reports that state they are becoming so - reports that require evidence of some kind - Photos, eyewitness testimony, (from colleagues and other witnesses), samples, live targets, and the sort.While it is possible to support evidence through your word alone as you build up a reputation, if it turns out you're abusing this mechanic (providing evidence that is false, for instance) your reputation will take a severe hit.

I haven't fleshed the idea out too well in my head, but hey, the reputation system might lend itself to microtransactions, so if some unscrupulous company decides to make a game based on this idea...

[Parsely]

To spring off of that idea, maybe a thing where you have to decide who gets what assets based on intel they give you. And it's less about the actual outcome of the battles and more about learning that your job is to keep your job, by keeping people happy, rather than doing your job the best you can and putting things where they're needed. The outcome of the battles is more just to show the horrible consequences of playing the game to optimize your own survival.

[Imic]

A game where you build a giant Dwarven fortress.
... wait...

[JoshuaFH]

To spring off of that idea, maybe a thing where you have to decide who gets what assets based on intel they give you. And it's less about the actual outcome of the battles and more about learning that your job is to keep your job, by keeping people happy, rather than doing your job the best you can and putting things where they're needed. The outcome of the battles is more just to show the horrible consequences of playing the game to optimize your own survival.

That's basically Papers Please.