Jace11
Apr 3 2011, 14:31
Obviously the thought of anyone tackling a sequel / update of the Carrier Command franchise concerns fans of the original game. The 1988 game was a classic, timeless in its innovation of combining RTS / sandbox and sim-style gameplay in one tiny package. And yet there has never been a game like it since...(not that I can think of anyway).
Carrier had:
Strategy: Capturing islands and defending the network. Strategic placement of defence islands was important and severing the supply network of the enemy seemed to delay his expansion.
Sandbox: A massive map littered with 64 islands. Not sure on the exact time it would take you to sail across the map, but having to resupply and refuel meant that it usually took people several days to get near the enemy's base island in the strategic game mode.
1v1: One AI opponent. This 1v1 aspect of the game was important. You looked at messages to see where the enemy was, trying to predict where he will strike next etc. The enemy carrier was a tough opponent to take down, and elusive. I'm pretty sure that during my first playthrough I didn't see him till the very end, near his base island. The naval setting added to the isolation of the player. You were alone in your ship with a vast expanse of ocean to explore and conquer!! - this added significantly to the "immersion" of the game.
Economy: You had limited numbers of everything. 1 carrier, 4 planes, 4 tanks. Limited number of weapon types, carrier had 2, planes had 3, tanks had 2. Nothing ridiculously overcomplicated. In subsequent RTS games you could produce endless streams of units. Not so in carrier. You could only manage a small number at a time, and using them all simultaneously was difficult because it required a heavy workload and coordination.
Hands on control: For all friendly vehicles, there was no AI other than a simple autopilot which took you to your destination.
I really hope Gaia does not change these significantly:
Strategy: Gaia could easily dumb down this aspect to cater to modern gamers who just want action.
Sandbox: The islands look pretty good in the screenshots but we haven't seen any info on the game worlds overall scale and the number of islands. There is no way a mission based approach would work without harming the game significantly.
1v1: Maintaining the feeling of the original game should be relatively straight forward but I'm concerned about these droid things etc detracting from the sense of isolation the player got in the original. I also noticed in the trailer that Mantas had human pilots... oh dear.. I hope this was just for the trailer...
Economy: Please only limited numbers of droids / tanks / planes etc!!
Hands on control: I can't imagine the AI of your units will be as passive as in the original, would expect it to be able to fight. Maybe it could be upgradable, would expect multiple waypoints obviously (something the original needed badly).
Research: People have mentioned this already, it may not be in Gaia, but I think there is a decent chance it will be included. If so, it can't be overpowered. Again, the improvements gained should be limited.
Carrier had:
Strategy: Capturing islands and defending the network. Strategic placement of defence islands was important and severing the supply network of the enemy seemed to delay his expansion.
Sandbox: A massive map littered with 64 islands. Not sure on the exact time it would take you to sail across the map, but having to resupply and refuel meant that it usually took people several days to get near the enemy's base island in the strategic game mode.
1v1: One AI opponent. This 1v1 aspect of the game was important. You looked at messages to see where the enemy was, trying to predict where he will strike next etc. The enemy carrier was a tough opponent to take down, and elusive. I'm pretty sure that during my first playthrough I didn't see him till the very end, near his base island. The naval setting added to the isolation of the player. You were alone in your ship with a vast expanse of ocean to explore and conquer!! - this added significantly to the "immersion" of the game.
Economy: You had limited numbers of everything. 1 carrier, 4 planes, 4 tanks. Limited number of weapon types, carrier had 2, planes had 3, tanks had 2. Nothing ridiculously overcomplicated. In subsequent RTS games you could produce endless streams of units. Not so in carrier. You could only manage a small number at a time, and using them all simultaneously was difficult because it required a heavy workload and coordination.
Hands on control: For all friendly vehicles, there was no AI other than a simple autopilot which took you to your destination.
I really hope Gaia does not change these significantly:
Strategy: Gaia could easily dumb down this aspect to cater to modern gamers who just want action.
Sandbox: The islands look pretty good in the screenshots but we haven't seen any info on the game worlds overall scale and the number of islands. There is no way a mission based approach would work without harming the game significantly.
1v1: Maintaining the feeling of the original game should be relatively straight forward but I'm concerned about these droid things etc detracting from the sense of isolation the player got in the original. I also noticed in the trailer that Mantas had human pilots... oh dear.. I hope this was just for the trailer...
Economy: Please only limited numbers of droids / tanks / planes etc!!
Hands on control: I can't imagine the AI of your units will be as passive as in the original, would expect it to be able to fight. Maybe it could be upgradable, would expect multiple waypoints obviously (something the original needed badly).
Research: People have mentioned this already, it may not be in Gaia, but I think there is a decent chance it will be included. If so, it can't be overpowered. Again, the improvements gained should be limited.