permadeath/ironman mode

[HackleStacker]

I think it would be great if there was an option for a "Ironman" mode (I think XCOM Enemy Unknown implemented this beautifully). Knowing if a unit dies or simply, things are going your way, that you can't lean on a revert to save option, ads a whole knew dimension and thought process to a game.

[BloodCat]

You can perfectly do this without an ingame option.

[timek28]

Too bad that would be frustrating as hell. Mind you computer can throw almost limitless resources at you, while if you lose one or two experienced core units - you are mostly done for from 43' and later. I'm sure it would be fun in some single scenarios or short campaigns but in long campaign (DLC East) loosing 1-2 experienced Tigers or Panthers means certain doom. Also there is the fact that DLC has around 70 scenarios, and each scenario averages say 3-4 hours of playing time. There is no way that you can play with same focus and intensity for 210 hours without major mistakes. Well maybe some players can but I can't and wouldn't like to.

On other hand in order to prevent losses one can start playing extremely conservative and slowly - micromanaging every move etc. But in certain scenarios that require real blitzkrieg that is not an option, and generally playing it safe all the time can render otherwise exciting game to become boring drag.

Also I wouldn't mind iron man mod if AI didn't have ridiculously replenishing resources.

[borsook79]

I think it would be great if there was an option for a "Ironman" mode (I think XCOM Enemy Unknown implemented this beautifully). Knowing if a unit dies or simply, things are going your way, that you can't lean on a revert to save option, ads a whole knew dimension and thought process to a game.

hmmm How about you just not use the load button when you lose a unit Not need for "ironman" mode.

[BloodCat]

BTW, I tried an ironman GC-playthrough recently. Initially it went well -- I lost some units, but overcame that. But during Dunkirk scenario I snapped and reloaded once to save my best Stuka from being shot down due to fighter cover being too obsessed with easy kills (you know those fighter pilots -- personal count sometimes overshadows the duty). And that was one time too many. By the end of Sevastopol Assault I realized I've S/L-cheated about a dozen times, so I said out loud a lot of bad words and started clean from DLC '39. And guess what? Had to replay two finishing turns in the very first Poznan scenario due to somehow being too slow for a DV (first time ever!).

[HackleStacker]

Too bad that would be frustrating as hell. Mind you computer can throw almost limitless resources at you, while if you lose one or two experienced core units - you are mostly done for from 43' and later. I'm sure it would be fun in some single scenarios or short campaigns but in long campaign (DLC East) loosing 1-2 experienced Tigers or Panthers means certain doom. Also there is the fact that DLC has around 70 scenarios, and each scenario averages say 3-4 hours of playing time. There is no way that you can play with same focus and intensity for 210 hours without major mistakes. Well maybe some players can but I can't and wouldn't like to.

On other hand in order to prevent losses one can start playing extremely conservative and slowly - micromanaging every move etc. But in certain scenarios that require real blitzkrieg that is not an option, and generally playing it safe all the time can render otherwise exciting game to become boring drag.

Also I wouldn't mind iron man mod if AI didn't have ridiculously replenishing resources.

Good point. I certainly would not like to see it as mandatory just, an option. I think it would be fun to see how far one could get (knowing you probably won't win). It could potentially make a cool leaderboard. I do understand I could provide this environment for myself by simply not reverting to save however, it really is not quite the same in my humble opinion. Thank you for your responses and happy gaming to everyone.

[borsook79]

Also I wouldn't mind iron man mod if AI didn't have ridiculously replenishing resources.

You can change AI prestige in the difficulty settings, personally I think it's fun giving AI 200% but you can set it to any value below 100 too.

[timek28]

You can change AI prestige in the difficulty settings, personally I think it's fun giving AI 200% but you can set it to any value below 100 too.

200% for DLC East scenarios after 44'? Is that equal to Manstein difficulty?? I see no fun in that

Like I said, I wouldn't like to micromanage every scenario parameters (AI prestige, experience etc)... I don't see the point in addition work eventual "no save" feature would bring. Game is time demanding as it is. Actually come to think of it AI prestige is not the problem per se. The problem is that AI replenishes (buys) it's units which are ALL of same experience. So if you kill 5 IS2s with 4 stars, 5 more come with same experience, and then 5 more... If AI would have to buy (at least some) green units once it looses experienced units then it would be maybe equal with player. I know now you will say, well reduce the AI experience, but that is also bad as it reduces experience of ALL AI units, and creates unbalanced scenarios again.

The bottom line is I never played any game without save game feature (nightmare difficulties or what not). Gaming should be fun after all. Not frustrating and feeling like work. Maybe some kind of checkpoint saving system that lot of games use would be a "in the middle" solution. I don't know...

[borsook79]

BTW- just throwing it out there - if really somebody just can't stop himself from clicking "load" then maybe playing with "reform units" is a good idea? So you won't lose your favourite units, just lose their experience, which seems fair.

You can change AI prestige in the difficulty settings, personally I think it's fun giving AI 200% but you can set it to any value below 100 too.

200% for DLC East scenarios after 44'? Is that equal to Manstein difficulty?? I see no fun in that

Like I said, I wouldn't like to micromanage every scenario parameters (AI prestige, experience etc)... I don't see the point in addition work eventual "no save" feature would bring. Game is time demanding as it is. Actually come to think of it AI prestige is not the problem per se. The problem is that AI replenishes (buys) it's units which are ALL of same experience. So if you kill 5 IS2s with 4 stars, 5 more come with same experience, and then 5 more... If AI would have to buy (at least some) green units once it looses experienced units then it would be maybe equal with player. I know now you will say, well reduce the AI experience, but that is also bad as it reduces experience of ALL AI units, and creates unbalanced scenarios again.

The bottom line is I never played any game without save game feature (nightmare difficulties or what not). Gaming should be fun after all. Not frustrating and feeling like work. Maybe some kind of checkpoint saving system that lot of games use would be a "in the middle" solution. I don't know...

with 200% in 44 there is no chance of my getting a DV, and that's nicely realistic.

[PantherII]

I always play ironman. What i lose, i learn from so i dont make the same mistake again.
And i think it makes me a better player.

But i do think Jagged Alliance 2 introduced it 15 years ago.

[PanzerTax]

I prefer to never reload a game. Amongst other things, it just bores me to death to replay scenarios straight away. Also for me it's much more excitingto play through the campaign taking the rough with the smooth, it's only more realistic after all? If I find the later parts of the grand campaign require constant reloading to get through then there's a big danger I will get bored

[borsook79]

I prefer to never reload a game. Amongst other things, it just bores me to death to replay scenarios straight away. Also for me it's much more excitingto play through the campaign taking the rough with the smooth, it's only more realistic after all? If I find the later parts of the grand campaign require constant reloading to get through then there's a big danger I will get bored

yeah, but now you can change the difficulty setting after each and every scenario, so if difficulty that was fine in '39 is too much in '45 then no problem and no need for save spamming!

[PanzerTax]

Good idea Borsook, that's a better option than not playing!