09.04.2008, 14:31
It has struck me with all these brilliant new maps coming out that we may need a new dynamic campaign generator, built from scratch to handle the endless possibilities that the mods offer.
I've been thinking about what the ECG (Enhanced Campaign Generator) should be and how it might improve on what is already available.
Why do we need an ECG when we already have a DCG and a DGen?
Both of these are great utilities but they also have some major flaws in relation to what is being done at AAA.
DCG for example requires an active ground war in order to operate. So that means it will be useless for Clockwatcher et al's stunning Battle of Britain map and not so friendly for The Slot or Malta either. If you play the DCG 'Britain 40' campaign, for instance, it's rather strange to see a mini-ground war going on on a tiny island in the middle of the map.
Another thing about DCG is that it lacks the narative briefings and debriefings from the early DGen campaigns and BoE that praised you or reprimanded you depending on your performance and kept a running total of your kills. DCG (and later Dgen) offline campaigns are a 'one size fits all' approach that merely points you toward an objective and then gives you some standard kill stats in the debrief.
As good as DCG is for online, I find the lack of colorful briefings an immersion killer in offline and DGen seems to be a closed system that new maps can't be added to.
So, let's make ECG! I'm sure that it wouldn't be difficult as long as it wasn't required to be backwards compatible.
Here are some ideas for the pot...
1. Ability to add new maps. I guess this will require the manual creation of a data file containing coords of all airstrips, bridges and settlements for any map added, but the process of adding the map to the system should be made as painless as possible.
2. Ability to script campaigns. Adding scripted events to a dynamic campaign could make them more immersive. Each campaign should have its own briefing and debriefing files so that each campaign gets its own briefing style.
3. Ability to transfer squadron at will during a campaign. Fancy switching from fighter to bomber ops during a dynamic campaign?
4. Use the Eventlog to its maximum. The eventlog produced during playing a dynamic mission gives tons of information that neither DGen nor DCG bother analysing. The ECG should be able to work out things like shared kills, assists, the condition of aircraft after landing, how well you protected your flight and other data that could be used directly to assess performance.
5. Optional and scalable ground war. Sometimes any kind of ground war is unnecessary and unhelpful e.g. Battle of Britain. It should be scalable. DCG's full settings for the ground war bring my computer to its knees while in DGen campaigns there always seems to be plenty of ground targets without the same framerate hit. The ECG should be able to emulate the ground war using static objects for all but the highest settings.
What say you?
I've been thinking about what the ECG (Enhanced Campaign Generator) should be and how it might improve on what is already available.
Why do we need an ECG when we already have a DCG and a DGen?
Both of these are great utilities but they also have some major flaws in relation to what is being done at AAA.
DCG for example requires an active ground war in order to operate. So that means it will be useless for Clockwatcher et al's stunning Battle of Britain map and not so friendly for The Slot or Malta either. If you play the DCG 'Britain 40' campaign, for instance, it's rather strange to see a mini-ground war going on on a tiny island in the middle of the map.
Another thing about DCG is that it lacks the narative briefings and debriefings from the early DGen campaigns and BoE that praised you or reprimanded you depending on your performance and kept a running total of your kills. DCG (and later Dgen) offline campaigns are a 'one size fits all' approach that merely points you toward an objective and then gives you some standard kill stats in the debrief.
As good as DCG is for online, I find the lack of colorful briefings an immersion killer in offline and DGen seems to be a closed system that new maps can't be added to.
So, let's make ECG! I'm sure that it wouldn't be difficult as long as it wasn't required to be backwards compatible.
Here are some ideas for the pot...
1. Ability to add new maps. I guess this will require the manual creation of a data file containing coords of all airstrips, bridges and settlements for any map added, but the process of adding the map to the system should be made as painless as possible.
2. Ability to script campaigns. Adding scripted events to a dynamic campaign could make them more immersive. Each campaign should have its own briefing and debriefing files so that each campaign gets its own briefing style.
3. Ability to transfer squadron at will during a campaign. Fancy switching from fighter to bomber ops during a dynamic campaign?
4. Use the Eventlog to its maximum. The eventlog produced during playing a dynamic mission gives tons of information that neither DGen nor DCG bother analysing. The ECG should be able to work out things like shared kills, assists, the condition of aircraft after landing, how well you protected your flight and other data that could be used directly to assess performance.
5. Optional and scalable ground war. Sometimes any kind of ground war is unnecessary and unhelpful e.g. Battle of Britain. It should be scalable. DCG's full settings for the ground war bring my computer to its knees while in DGen campaigns there always seems to be plenty of ground targets without the same framerate hit. The ECG should be able to emulate the ground war using static objects for all but the highest settings.
What say you?