Progress

1) Map - The map look is pretty far along. Here is the status of the textures:

A) Land - Land is solid. I like the canvassy look.

B) Water - Water is good also.

C) Mountains - Still need a little tweaking, want them a little 'rougher'

D) Forest - Forests are perfect, IMO. The Cicada principle worked very well here.

E) Rivers - I think the river technique of 'cutting' the land is working well.

F) Rail - Good but I think I'll need to do this as a separate post production layer.

G) Cities - Haven't really done much here

H) Desert - Need a new texture for this, looks crappy and has a funny green edge I need to get rid of.

I) Frozen - Haven't done yet but seems like a simple whitish blue overlay will suffice.

J) Marsh - Not addressed yet. Will use either a Cicada technique or global noise.

2) Units - The units are looking pretty good so far. Probably can't squeeze much more detail.

3) Base scenario - Spain needs to be finished, both the graphic level and the map level. This is the next big development push.

4) Editor - The editor is mostly laid out but just needs to be finished in terms of handling all layers. Right now, only land type is supported.

5) Game mechanics - Have implemented simple orders (Move and working on Attack). Pathfinding is complete. Need to add alliances and game phases.

Grand Strategy War In Europe Overview

Its hard to believe its been 5 years since my last attempt at this monster.

I've restarted from scratch using a new library, new mapping techniques and a smaller scale.

Here's a quick overview of the new game:

1) Mission based movement and combat.

All movement and combat is mission based. Missions can be either active or reactive. Active missions (move, transport, attack, etc.) are executed during player’s turn. Reactive missions (intercept, hold, delay, blockade, etc.) are performed during enemy’s turn.

2) Realistic navy model.

The mission based system allows for much more realistic naval interaction. No more floating divisions. Naval units have a port, mission and area of operation. Sighting, evasion and combat are handled realistically depending on missions of opposing units, combat capabilities and weather.

3) Realistic air model.

Air units perform realistic historic missions using the mission based system.

4) Stacking.

Both enemy and friendly units may occupy and even finish their turn in the same strategic hex. This allows for more realistic battles especially where land area is small (amphibious invasions, island hopping, etc.)

5) Detailed land battles.

In addition to mission based land movement, land units can engage in detailed combat (optional). In this case, a zoomed in view of the combat hex is loaded with operational level units available to maneuver on the operational map.

6) Learning AI.

The AI watches what you do game after game and attempts to learn from successful behaviour. Launch an especially effective Overloard as the Allies and you may find yourself facing a similar invasion the next time you play the Axis. This unique ability allows you to essentially ‘train’ the AI by beating it.

7) Global AI server.

Each customer will have the ability to enable the global AI server. This will cause your saved games to be uploaded to a global server where they can be analyzed. In exchange, your own AI will ‘learn’ from the AI server. This allows the accumulation of a great number of playing styles from different players around the world.