Kickstarter Launch for 1936!

[George Geczy]

BattleGoat Studios is excited to announce the launch of its Kickstarter to support the development of Supreme Ruler 1936.

In particular, this Kickstarter will allow us to develop more content for SR1936 (additional Campaigns, Scenarios, and other elements). It will also allow us to launch a beta program in late November to allow everyone to help us make Supreme Ruler 1936 the best game possible. And it's a great way to get the game at an early-supporter discount!

The Kickstarter is now live: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/151 ... ruler-1936

Thank you everybody for your ongoing support of BattleGoat Studios and the Supreme Ruler games, and we hope you'll help us bring Supreme Ruler 1936 to the world.

-- The BattleGoat Team

[Balthagor]

So now that we're on the verge of launching the Kickstarter, you are all within sight not only of the first screenshots of the game, but actual in game footage! And, of course, that's going to bring a LOT of questions. And, as always, there is a bunch of stuff I'm not going to talk about

BUT! There is some stuff that should be covered. Everyone here knows how to play a Supreme Ruler game so the things you'll want to know are certainly different that what a new Kickstarter backer needs to learn. One of the things that we learned from Supreme Ruler Cold War is that sometimes it's the small changes that can trip up experienced users. Such as, for example, changing the primary mouse click function.

SO! I'm going to be working on a wiki page to help existing players transition and I'm going to give everyone here some of the first details on things in the game that have changed. Some are obvious, others subtle, but I believe everyone will agree that these are things that will enhance gameplay, regardless of the scenario, campaign, map or mod you choose to play.

NOW! I should stop exclaiming so much and get down to it…

Steam - I think we've let this one out of the bag already but it's worth mentioning again, we will have both Steam and non-Steam purchase options. How much we will take advantage of Steam features remains to be seen but we will certainly be adding Steam Achievements.

Beta - We will be having a limited beta through Steam, details will be included in the Kickstarter launch.

Rubber - This was proposed recently on the forum and I resisted immediately responding as done. Rubber replaces water, which was not significant in that era. Rubber is used in the production of Industrial and Military goods, making control of certain parts of the world strategically important.

Redesigned GUI - Well, sort of. The Fonts have been completely redone and everything has been adjusted to be based on 1080p scale (16:9 aspect). This will raise our minimum requirements for resolution of the game but everything is much more readable now. (Maybe I'm just getting old). The mechanics of the GUI are the same as for Cold War but various areas have been redesigned.

Land Ho! - Land returns as a department. In review, the system of pinning the panel was not as effective as we would have liked. Also, redesign of defense reduced that to two departments creating an opening. Land also provides a home for the Theatre and BattleZone controls so they can be open while interacting with the map, quickly changing to a new area to set priority levels.

Lists in Game - This is one of those more subtle changes. Previously you would select a line, the click on the control next to the list. Key controls now exist in the list line bypassing the need to select the line before acting. The start research button for example is found inside each line so you can quickly add the techs you want.

Alerts Bar - When the GUI size allows it, this is located on the left instead of the right. But, more importantly, controls are now located in the line to delete the message. You can click - click - click to remove three consecutive messages without ever moving your mouse. And most important of all, we now have a "delete all in category" button.

The Unit HUD - This was top of my personal list as we started SR1936 development. We have struggled with the unit Heads-Up-Display that identifies them on the map since our first project. I really believe we've nailed this one. At close zoom, you get individual health bars that resize based on damage with an identifying flag. At mid zoom, you get a nice framed flag with symbols for "many units" and a few different "problem" symbols as needed. At distant zoom you get squares of sizes proportionate to how many units are located there, tinted to region relation by default or player region colour if the player chooses. Watch the video, you'll see how well this works.

Show Empire Filter - Small but immensely useful. Shows you the parent and colonies of the empire that owns the selected hex. Touch Japan, see Japan and Manchuko highlight. Touch Belgium and see the Congo hight. Touch British East Africa and watch the entire British Empire highlight.

Region Relation colors - Minor and obscure, but could throw someone off. "My" region is now grey, "Allied" are green. Used to be Green/Blue. This is for the stars seen when zoomed out and other relationship indicators.

Garrisons - The Garrisons system is similar but has some key changes. Smaller cities, industrial complexes and those locations without military facilities are now limited in how many garrisons they can raise. Raising garrisons now takes longer for each Garrison. Garrison stats have been rebalanced.. Garrisons cannot be added while enemy units are in the ZoC of the hex.

The user interfaced for Garrisons has also changed, just click on the value you want or click "clear" to remove them all. You can even access that from the right click on the hex.

Diplomacy - Ah, now this is sure to spark some interest. At this stage 'what' you can trade has not changed. However, the balance of treaties has changed a lot. The "repeating" trades system has also been redesigned to be a maximum of 90 days. The biggest change here is that when you offer trades over something other than "lump sum", AI regions will take notice of you and initiate more product trades with you. This really makes the AI regions "talk to you" diplomatically and lays the groundwork for bigger and better changes.

The "Non-Aggression" treaty exploit no longer exists.

Blah, blah, blah, - On top of that, there are all the new techs, units, 3D models, leader pictures and orbats that make up the meat and bones of a Supreme Ruler game. Watch for the Kickstarter images to show you the following new 3D models;

• Me-109G
  Me-110C
  Lancaster
  Sd.Kfz 231
  Cruiser Tank
  T-26
  M3A1 Stuart
  VW Kubelwagen
  Spitfire VIII
  A6M Zero
  Tiger tank
  Ryujo light carrier

So that's it for now. We'll be discussing this and various game elements throughout the Kickstarter and the remaining development of the game.

[edit: and here's our first screenshot!]

11.jpg

See you on Kickstarter!

[number47]

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Fistalis]

Rubber - This was proposed recently on the forum and I resisted immediately responding as done. Rubber replaces water, which was not significant in that era. Rubber is used in the production of Industrial and Military goods, making control of certain parts of the world strategically important.

[

At first I was like aww man wtf.. then I thought about how much significance water has in 2020/CW (very little tbh) and was like eh okay. Synthetic rubber is primarily a petroleum product so theres always that. (very important in the allied war effort as I'm sure you know)

[barkhauer]

I note what appears to be a headphone and microphone jack in the upper left. Will the game support voice comm in multiplayer now?

[Zuikaku]

I'm a bit... in this stage seems only interface changes

What about diplomacy, combat system, unit trade, rebellions, AI, endless wars??

I'll wait for more news.... and hope..... not negative, just worried...

[George Geczy]

What about diplomacy, combat system, unit trade, rebellions, AI, endless wars??

Oh, there's lots more to say still. Chris wanted to focus in his post on things that long-time players would notice from the visuals and screen shots.

We'll be talking lots of "guts" and engine changes over the next couple of weeks

I note what appears to be a headphone and microphone jack in the upper left. Will the game support voice comm in multiplayer now?

I'll let Chris answer that one, but I would suggest not reading too much into that

-- George.

[George Geczy]

The Kickstarter is now live, and here is the link : http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/151 ... ruler-1936

[Balthagor]

I note what appears to be a headphone and microphone jack in the upper left. Will the game support voice comm in multiplayer now?

no, those are decoration, what we call widgets.

[Legend]

I note what appears to be a headphone and microphone jack in the upper left. Will the game support voice comm in multiplayer now?

no, those are decoration, what we call widgets.

And... Skpye calls in the background work quite well for voice chat while playing. (our game ALT-TABs quite very well.) To compare ... one of the most widely played games online, League of Legends, does not have voice. Some players set up a Skype call during the first few minutes of a match. Another element of comparison, World of Warcraft added in-game voice - but only after perhaps more than 5 years of monthly subscriptions and a dev team of 300 people.

[number47]

I truly hope the shorelines will be "cleaned" in the final release...

[Hullu Hevonen]

So no Linux support :/ will go support asap

[Zuikaku]

Oh, there's lots more to say still. Chris wanted to focus in his post on things that long-time players would notice from the visuals and screen shots.

We'll be talking lots of "guts" and engine changes over the next couple of weeks

OK, thanks

[tkobo]

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...and not a single one of these in any of the rewards packages.....



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[Legend]

tkobo, check out our "GOAT PACKAGE" and "DESIGNER LEVEL" (as Designer Level includes the Goat Package)

- Daxon

and, scroll to the bottom of the Kickstarter page to see a picture with some Goats!