Quote:
Originally Posted by FASTBOAT TOUGH
I can say all the usual things "We do the best we can." We have game limitations" "We will never really know all the true data results." etc. etc.
And unfortunately we'll never satisfy every developer, campaign/or scenario designer or player it just won't happen. We're from different countries, cultures, sexes and personal backgrounds/life experiences and up bringing. But that doesn't matter as we welcome everyone that comes along-regardless.
What we have all in common is generally we love to play wargames and to a lesser degree many of us have/had a military background. Some I suspect even had actual game design backgrounds either professionally or in consulting.
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This also points out one of the great strengths of the WinWW2/WinSPMBT games, they are user modifiable. If for whatever reason you don't agree with or like the default weapons/units/formations/game settings you can change them to your hearts desire.
When I first discovered the game I was thrilled, and disappointed. While the weapons represented in the USMC OOB were accurate (or at least game standard) and most of the units were pretty darn close (tho a few left me scratching my head) the formations were a complete mess (excuse me Andy/Don). It was obvious someone looked at the paper TO&Es and assumed that like most military organizations the TO&E represented the combat organizations used. Unfortunately the USMC is one of the odder ducks in the pond.
So as a personal project I rebuilt the OOB (not including picklists because at the time I had no clue how they worked) and decided to put my
PERSONAL OOB up on these forums for anyone else that wished to to use. With the standard, and necessary, disclaimer that they were not official. One thing led to another and now it is. But it was not because my alterations had any effect on basic game mechanics (and probably because they didn't). Those are, and should be, the perview of Andy and Don alone because only they have intimate knowledge of, and access to, the game code.
Yes, the game tends to incorporate accurate representations of real-life equipment capabilities/stats when possible. But as has been stated conflicting data is the norm not the exception. And there are as many personal interpretations of this data as there are people looking at it. Some people, for various personal/professional reasons, are use to dealing with this sort of thing.
But that is totally irrelevant. Andy and Don are the guys behind the game, if for whatever reason they disagree with, or feel something is to difficult to implement (in the ancient and not terribly well written/documented game code) it won't be, no matter how much data we present them.
Feel free to present whatever you wish here, and to make a personal version of any OOB(s) you want and post it. Hell, the game encourages that! But once the official foot has come down (and Don has stomped me into the dirt repeatedly over aircraft issues) don't beat a dead horse.
One thing many people proposing alterations to game mechanics often fail to appreciate is WinSPMBT is first and foremost a
game not a simulation.