Slitherine

This looks exciting.

I enjoyed FoG but it fell short in many areas, particularly AI.

Is FoG II essentially the P&S system with much better graphics or are there some gameplay enhancements/improvements to look forward to?

Hello jimcrowley
We like to think that whilst you can trace FoG2 back to the P&S system, FoG2 is a major step (maybe even a leap!) forward with many gameplay enhancements/improvements

I for one am excited by it and I hope you will be as well

regards
Ben Wilkins

jimcrowley wrote:This looks exciting.

I enjoyed FoG but it fell short in many areas, particularly AI.

Is FoG II essentially the P&S system with much better graphics or are there some gameplay enhancements/improvements to look forward to?

There are many gameplay improvements - generals, group moves, undo, improved UI, streamlined shooting system, to name but a few.

We have addressed issues that some people had with the P&S system: For example there are far less infantry pursuits, infantry can charge cavalry, there is no tedious map movement in the campaigns (but there are still genuine strategic decisions to be made) and more.

We have built on our experience of writing AI for P&S. The FOG2 AI already works at least as well or better than the AI in P&S and we hope to improve it further.

I've been waiting a long time for this, and if the screenshots, and Mr. Scott's outstanding work on Pike and Shot are any indications,
my prayers are about to be answered. Thank you in advance for your hard work.

There have been games that came close to simulating ancient warfare with a degree of historical accuracy. Like many "serious", old-school wargames,
they were graphically..."meh".

And there have been games that were absolutely gorgeous...but treated history with about the same level of respect that say...the movie 300 did.

These screenshots look AWESOME...they achieve what I at least have always wanted: it looks like a tabletop miniatures wargame. Now I can only hope
that if the game mechanics are built upon the same rule system used in the original game (which I expect they will) that consideration will be given to
the pet peeves loyal players brought up with the original Field of Glory over the years. Minor details, in the grand scheme of things.

I have so many questions! LOL I think my initial ones are these:

Is there any notion at this point what the system requirements might be to run the game? There are a number of great games out there I cannot play...

Returning to this time period after creating Pike & Shot Campaigns, can we expect to see some sort of similar Campaign system available in this game? It doesn't have to be initially...I'd be content to know that there are plans to add it eventually! Because it would be something that has never been available for this era. And...personal request that I'm sure others will appreciate? The style of Campaign system in Pike & Shot seems like it would be fairly easy to set up for play against a human opponent.

There is a completely new campaign system which concentrates on the series of connected battles rather than pushing armies round a map. It has allowed us to add a lot more interesting variation to the campaign battles. The sandbox campaigns take into account the allies of each of the main protagonists, and these can take part in battles, depending on the strategic decisions made. The historically-based campaigns follow the lives of famous ancient generals and involve battles against the diverse opponents these guys fought historically.

Moreover the campaign system has been designed so that it is easy for user campaign designers to set up new historically-based campaigns just by editing text files.

Hi Richard
This is really good news. Will the campaign system allow for multi player as well as single player ?

Many thank
Ian

I was wondering how faithful you are being with the old tabletop and FoG1 Army lists? Besides the fact that Pike&Shot introduced so many more ways to categorize military units, time has gone by since these lists were made and new discoveries and interpretations have been made. Have you been able and are you willing to alter the old lists in the name of historical accuracy and/or playability?

I also would like to know whether missile units will be shooting over friendly units ala Sengoku Jidai or will they need LOS ala P&S and FOG1?

Looking at the screen shots, the pike formation is 4 deep, the hoplites are 2 deep, but what is this - a new formation? Warbands 3 deep? Nice!

This all sounds excellent!

If the gameplay improvements are at the same level as the graphic upgrade, this has all the hallmarks of an absolute classic.

Hopefully we will have access to an early AAR, even if all the features are not yet present.

Cheers
Jim

I saw the announcement for this earlier today on the main page of Matrix Games. Over the years I have owned and played a number of computer games on ancient warfare including Field of Glory. I also have The Great Battles of History, Alexander, Hannibal and Julius Caesar. In addition I have a number of the HPSSIMS ones such as Gallic Wars and Punic Wars. For various reasons I have been disappointed in all of them. In fact I still consider Great Battles of History the best of the bunch even though it is the oldest.
The screenshots for FoG II look great. I hope there is a PBEM option. The HPSSIMS games had a WEGO system where there was a simultaneous resolution of the turn after both players entered their orders. I prefer this to turn based but the replay of the turns, especially for larger battles took forever. What also surprises me is that of all the games I mentioned only Great Battles had any kind of animation for the units and the fighting albeit basic animation given that the games date back to the Windows 95 time period.
I was even thinking of applying for the beta test but I'm pretty busy during the golf season working part time at a local course and playing. Regardless I am really looking forward to this one and will be checking the forum for progress reports.

Hoplite1963 wrote: Will the campaign system allow for multi player as well as single player ?

Currently that isn't feasible, but maybe some time in the future.

ianiow wrote:I was wondering how faithful you are being with the old tabletop and FoG1 Army lists?

The old FOG tabletop and digital lists were unnecessarily complicated. They included lots of options that nobody in their right mind would ever use, and they often contain multiple lines that boiled down to identical troop classifications. Often some of the alternative options were based on outmoded historical analysis and only left in for compatibility with players' existing tabletop armies.

Hence the FOG2 lists have been streamlined for ease of play (similar to those in Pike and Shot) without adversely affecting historical accuracy or the flavour of the different armies.

I also would like to know whether missile units will be shooting over friendly units ala Sengoku Jidai or will they need LOS ala P&S and FOG1?

Archers will not, it isn't really historically realistic, but was allowed in SJ for flavour. (Yes I know that the Imperial Romans sometimes used 2 ranks of archers behind their legionary line, but that would not have much long-distance shooting effect. It will be taken into account at impact when we get to the Imperial Romans, at least for Late Roman units with integral archers).

However, artillery will. Without the ability to shoot overhead they are a liability, with the ability to shoot overhead become somewhat useful, especially Roman light artillery. I can see no logical reason why stone throwers and Roman carroballistae (mounted on carts) should not have been able to shoot overhead.

canuckgamer wrote: I hope there is a PBEM option.

There is.

What also surprises me is that of all the games I mentioned only Great Battles had any kind of animation for the units

The FOG2 units are fully animated, and the battlefield is littered with the corpses of those who die.

Great news. Looking forward to play this in the neAr future.

Great news! Waiting for the orders...

rbodleyscott wrote:There is a completely new campaign system which concentrates on the series of connected battles rather than pushing armies round a map. It has allowed us to add a lot more interesting variation to the campaign battles. The sandbox campaigns take into account the allies of each of the main protagonists, and these can take part in battles, depending on the strategic decisions made. The historically-based campaigns follow the lives of famous ancient generals and involve battles against the diverse opponents these guys fought historically.

Moreover the campaign system has been designed so that it is easy for user campaign designers to set up new historically-based campaigns just by editing text files.

So yesterday i dreamed. A campaign with Belisarius.Another one with Alexander, and one more with Khalid. Oh and with Heraclius. I love you rbodleyscott

Can I get it on iPad?

Not looking promising for iPAD:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4298964


Keep buzzing in their ears periodically and perhaps they'll see enough potential sales to warrant dealing with Apple.

I'm pretty pleased as i had mentioned in the past that that battle engine could be good for a new FOG game

Great news! What era/period will come with the base game?

Will it just be for Windows OS or include Mac OS?