I've got an idea for a game which will allow the player to fight a huge war that spans a number of years - it's based on an existing story, and is purely theoretical for an assignment at university - one day I'd like to write something similar but since I could never get rights to that IP I guess I'd have to re-write the story and I don't think it would work as well. Anyways, the problem I have is that I want to allow the player to start off as a squad member, but gain promotions up to higher ranks in the military, and eventually be able to control a much larger force. The main thrust of the game will ALWAYS be squad-based RTS but I'd like them to be able to issue certain commands to control the battle on a higher level. The reason for this is that in the stories the game is based around the commanders are always fighting in the front lines with the regular troops - all communication is done via radio. If I had the interface set up so that the commander could access a datapad that would give a VERY basic tactical overview of who was where, and had some voicebind type keys set up so that they could press a key to say what squad they wanted to order, then another key to say 'guard here' 'go here' or 'fall back' or 'follow this route' (then use the mouse to set up a route on the datapad) would that work? I know what I want to do, but I can't quite find a convenient, fast, realistic feeling way to do it. Any help appreciated.

Here's my approach (for an "RTS" that I'm thinking through):

Organizational hierarchy

<Company Commander="You" CompanyLt="Sergeant">  <Sergeant sign="Sergeant" />  <Squad sign="Alpha" leader="FTLeader-1">    <FireTeam sign="Alpha">      <Soldier sign="FTLeader-1" />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />    </FireTeam>    <FireTeam sign="Bravo" leader="FTLeader-2">      <Soldier sign="FTLeader-2" />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />    </FireTeam>    <FireTeam sign="Charlie" leader="FTLeader-3">      <Soldier sign="FTLeader-3" />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />    </FireTeam>    <FireTeam sign="Delta" leader="FTLeader-4">      <Soldier sign="FTLeader-4" />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />    </FireTeam>    <FireTeam sign="Echo" leader="FTLeader-5">      <Soldier sign="FTLeader-5" />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />    </FireTeam>  </Squad>  <Squad sign="Bravo" SquadLeader="FTLeader-6">    <FireTeam sign="Foxtrot" leader="FTLeader-6">      <Soldier sign="FTLeader-6" />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />    </FireTeam>    <FireTeam sign="Golf" leader="FTLeader-7">      <Soldier sign="FTLeader-7" />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />    </FireTeam>    <FireTeam sign="Hotel" leader="FTLeader-8">      <Soldier sign="FTLeader-8" />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />    </FireTeam>    <FireTeam sign="India" leader="FTLeader-9">      <Soldier sign="FTLeader-9" />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />    </FireTeam>    <FireTeam sign="Juliet" leader="FTLeader-0">      <Soldier sign="FTLeader-0" />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />      <Soldier />    </FireTeam>  </Squad></Company>

You can issue a command to any lesser unit by issuing it to the unit leader, and you can issue a command to the entire company by issuing it to the Sergeant. With this system, you have mini portraits of 11 soldiers organized in a linear hierarchy through which you can issue commands down to individual fire teams, like so:



'1' is the whole company, '2' are squads, '3'are fire teams.


Issuing Orders

For actually issuing orders, I intend to use mouse gestures. Click on the appropriate leader icon, middle click to bring up the "command circle," then left- or right-click and drag to draw the order icon. Middle click without releasing the left or right mouse button to cancel.


That's one approach.

Quote:

Original post by etali If I had the interface set up so that the commander could access a datapad that would give a VERY basic tactical overview of who was where, and had some voicebind type keys set up so that they could press a key to say what squad they wanted to order, then another key to say 'guard here' 'go here' or 'fall back' or 'follow this route' (then use the mouse to set up a route on the datapad) would that work?

I like this idea. It sounds like you'd basically be playing by the mini-map, but with iconic representations of situations rather than actual real-time units showing up. You'd be limited to the intelligence that your units relay to you.

This way, if your sentries get taken out by ninjas (or the equivalent of ninjas), you won't know about it until they fail to check in or there's a shift change and they don't make it back to the barracks. Your units can tell you that they're under heavy fire, which will manifest as an icon on the map, and you can issue orders to relocate troops and materiel to support them. I think that would be just terrific.

To be totally honest, I'd love to see something like this on the Nintendo DS. The dual screens and the touchpad seem ideal. Of course, there's nothing you can do there that you can't do on a PC with a mouse and a split screen.

So, from your command interface you'd be setting waypoints and moving your troops around, and they'd be giving you status reports throughout. It would slim the actual engine down, since the outcome of a contact could be decided by a series of skill tests, rather than requiring a real-time fight, like in most RTS games.

The possibilities for this sort of thing are terrific. Maybe you lose radio contact, and have to send a swift unit to convey a message or deliver replacement gear. A cunning player could take parts of the map and prevent the units from reporting their impending defeat, allowing for stealthy incursions. Nothing quite like trying to send back-up units and finding out your force is almost gone.

For actual squad tactics, there are all kinds of references out there. The different armed forces of the world use different systems, so you might want to go with U.S. platoons, or Roman legions, or something new you design. I'm sure a little hard work will solve that problem.