By the way, those interested in "Armored Brigade" can check out the Matrix games developers' forum
here.
Two posts of general interest to FGM members are quoted below.
1) Here is a Developer post about PBEM and configurable "turns" of play -
Play-by-mail in a real-time game?*
To quote Ben Kuchera: "Making video games is hard. Making online multiplayer games is even harder. This is a fact of life that’s obvious to developers, but sadly is often lost on players and some members of the press.".
I don't know how many people realize how hard it is to integrate multiplayer, particularly so after you have based your whole architecture over the single-player mode. From the outside it seems magical: two or more players sharing a consistent experience across the network like they actually exist together in the same virtual world. But what is actually going on underneath is quite different from what you see on surface. However, those issues (latency, desynchronization, remote peer networking etc.) are solvable like any other obstacle with sufficient time on hand and possibly some more resources.
But the largest problem is client base itself: the silent majority of players in this gaming niche are single-player only, and the number of players we are likely to get with multiplayer simply isn't there to support it.
Since we are a very small indie team, imagine investing enormous amount of time and other extremely limited resources only to get a half-baked single-player and likely initially empty servers, that will only discourage others from jumping on, creating a self-perpetuating problem.
That is why we have concentrated all our forces on creating a dynamic and workable AI, core of which was developed and tested for years already. If this game sells well and there is sufficient demand, we will consider implementing multiplayer with pleasure, but until then we shall keep concentrating on more humble objectives.
*Armored Brigade can be played by using custom length ‘rounds’. The game still runs in real-time engine, but it is not possible to pause the game manually. Time stops automatically when a round ends, and the player can start the next round when he wants to. It’s not possible to save the game when a round is in progress. The round length is adjusted in the scenario launch options. It can be 30, 60, 90, 180 or 360 seconds. New orders can be issued anytime, during the round or between the rounds.
2) Also, here is a post I submitted and the Developer's response
MY POST:
This seems a complex game rich in depth and detail. I am impressed. Truth be told, I'm also a bit intimidated by it. It appears to have a steep learning curve. It is not a pick up and go / "run and gun" wargame.
While watching the first hour of the video just show force selection, I thought it would be nice to have a player aid checklist of some sort for doing that when I play this game myself. I also wondered what kinds of in-game tutorials would be available for new players. For me, it would be nice to see a selection of pre-canned (forces already selected) Company level training missions at the Fort Irwin Training Center for the 60's, 70's and 80's US Army TO&E's. A menu selection of multiple, introductory-to-increasingly complex training missions comprising pure infantry, pure armor, combined infantry/armor, combined arms infantry/armor/organic mortars, combined arms infantry/armor/artillery and so forth which build up to inclusion of organic air defense artillery and rotary wing / fixed wing air support. Players could then more easily pick and chose how they want to learn the game and grow their skills at their own pace. I think a Youtube channel with basic to advanced tutorial videos for learning such missions would be helpful as well.
DEV RESPONSE:
We have several so-called sample scenarios, those are similar to tutorial missions. There is also a hint system for most if not all buttons and we have prepared a hefty manual. Veteran tactical gamers should have little problem understanding the mechanics and adapting quickly.
We are planning to release a series of short videos covering some of the key features in the game, but we haven't yet decided all the topics to be covered; so a suggestion like this is helpful.
