Posted by: Gyrfalcon
« on: October 06, 2022, 09:40:26 AM »I’m just waiting on the next release as the ground forces changes there are pretty substantial for QoL.
Posted by: Garfunkel
« on: October 06, 2022, 04:13:06 AM »Hope you start a new game soon, with the new version out as well. This was an interesting setup!
Posted by: Gyrfalcon
« on: August 09, 2022, 05:02:04 AM »After Action Report - OR - Why did this game die?
There were two major reasons why the game ended up dying. The first and major one was Wrath of the Righteous dropping and losing several months of gaming time to the siren call of Pathfinder. By the time I was fully done with the game, I had lost the thread and motivation to continue this one.
The second was that early game ground combat is far different in Aurora C# vs Aurora VB. In the old system, you would see surprise results that you could write your narrative around, like a Heavy Assault Battalion losing 23% effectiveness while mauling a Low Tech Infantry division. That provided opportunity to write a narrative around the division's desperate ploy to entrap and destroy a company of TN-equipped tanks.
Unfortunately, in C# you don't see that sort of behavior. Generally two armies grind against each other as individual blocks until one side fails. The result is always mathematically predictable once you know the inputs, down to the losses you can expect to receive.
Combat is also surprising - during the 5 Days War, I was expecting the mobs of PWL/Light Infantry Armor with no tech bonuses to die quickly against Personal Weapons, better armor and CAP weapons. Instead, they were tarpitting the Legions quite effectively. I had planned to deploy similar mobs in the battle between the Legions and the Sword, but reconsidered as I think they might very well have tipped the war in the Sword's favor.
Orbital bombardment was another disappointment. I was expecting a bit more oomph then I saw from the Mjolnir platforms - they rarely scored hits or even kills, and their attacks were less effective then the artillery formations. It taught me that if I want to make use of orbital fire support, to only bother using my biggest beam warships.
Finally, I also learned that C# ground combat really needs to be organized at a far higher level then Battalions - something that I was holding on to from VB Aurora. My next game will use Regiments/Brigades as the smallest tactical unit as there is too much busy work in organizing all the battalions in a division, particularly when dealing with replenishing damaged units.
There were two major reasons why the game ended up dying. The first and major one was Wrath of the Righteous dropping and losing several months of gaming time to the siren call of Pathfinder. By the time I was fully done with the game, I had lost the thread and motivation to continue this one.
The second was that early game ground combat is far different in Aurora C# vs Aurora VB. In the old system, you would see surprise results that you could write your narrative around, like a Heavy Assault Battalion losing 23% effectiveness while mauling a Low Tech Infantry division. That provided opportunity to write a narrative around the division's desperate ploy to entrap and destroy a company of TN-equipped tanks.
Unfortunately, in C# you don't see that sort of behavior. Generally two armies grind against each other as individual blocks until one side fails. The result is always mathematically predictable once you know the inputs, down to the losses you can expect to receive.
Combat is also surprising - during the 5 Days War, I was expecting the mobs of PWL/Light Infantry Armor with no tech bonuses to die quickly against Personal Weapons, better armor and CAP weapons. Instead, they were tarpitting the Legions quite effectively. I had planned to deploy similar mobs in the battle between the Legions and the Sword, but reconsidered as I think they might very well have tipped the war in the Sword's favor.
Orbital bombardment was another disappointment. I was expecting a bit more oomph then I saw from the Mjolnir platforms - they rarely scored hits or even kills, and their attacks were less effective then the artillery formations. It taught me that if I want to make use of orbital fire support, to only bother using my biggest beam warships.
Finally, I also learned that C# ground combat really needs to be organized at a far higher level then Battalions - something that I was holding on to from VB Aurora. My next game will use Regiments/Brigades as the smallest tactical unit as there is too much busy work in organizing all the battalions in a division, particularly when dealing with replenishing damaged units.
Posted by: El Pip
« on: July 14, 2021, 03:32:43 AM »Well, the good news for data analysis (no worries, I like doing it as well, I just don't want to spend forever on the process) is that I can find and export the information needed from the database. Where I'm currently struggling is how to take a line like below:As always there is an Excel formula to solve that. For once not a massively complicated one, link below explains it better than I can;
8x Chosen 6x Purified 6x Purified (Anti-tank Weapon) 5x Chosen (Anti-Tank Weapon) 5x Direct Combat Supplies 4x M808 Scorpion MBT 4x YGGDRASIL Mark IX Mantis Combat Walker 4x Chosen (Squad Support Weapon) 3x Purified (Squad Support Weapon) 1x M650 Mastodon APC
As one cell in Excel and getting it split into rows such as
8 Chosen 6 Purified etc...
And then get Excel to sort things so that I have one column for Chosen (with the correct values), one column for Purified. The problem is that the logging in the database sorts from highest to lowest number of kills, so one turn the first value might be Chosen, and the next it might be Chosen (Anti-Tank Weapon).
https://exceljet.net/formula/split-text-with-delimiter
Very fortunately the Aurora database puts a double space between each item, so " " can be used as the delimiter and the formula in the link above will split it all up.
If you then want to further split said bits up (so turn a single cell saying 8 Chosen into two cells, one say 8 the other saying Chosen) then this will do it;
https://exceljet.net/formula/split-text-and-numbers
Of course you doubtless could combine the two and produce a single super formula that will utterly baffle future-you when you look at it and have no idea what is going on. Depends how efficient you want to be.
Why yes I have had to manipulate wonky single string datasets and wrangle them into Excel, how ever did you guess?
Posted by: Gyrfalcon
« on: July 14, 2021, 02:05:19 AM »Well, the good news for data analysis (no worries, I like doing it as well, I just don't want to spend forever on the process) is that I can find and export the information needed from the database. Where I'm currently struggling is how to take a line like below:
8x Chosen 6x Purified 6x Purified (Anti-tank Weapon) 5x Chosen (Anti-Tank Weapon) 5x Direct Combat Supplies 4x M808 Scorpion MBT 4x YGGDRASIL Mark IX Mantis Combat Walker 4x Chosen (Squad Support Weapon) 3x Purified (Squad Support Weapon) 1x M650 Mastodon APC
As one cell in Excel and getting it split into rows such as
And then get Excel to sort things so that I have one column for Chosen (with the correct values), one column for Purified. The problem is that the logging in the database sorts from highest to lowest number of kills, so one turn the first value might be Chosen, and the next it might be Chosen (Anti-Tank Weapon).
8x Chosen 6x Purified 6x Purified (Anti-tank Weapon) 5x Chosen (Anti-Tank Weapon) 5x Direct Combat Supplies 4x M808 Scorpion MBT 4x YGGDRASIL Mark IX Mantis Combat Walker 4x Chosen (Squad Support Weapon) 3x Purified (Squad Support Weapon) 1x M650 Mastodon APC
As one cell in Excel and getting it split into rows such as
| 8 | Chosen | 6 | Purified | etc... |
And then get Excel to sort things so that I have one column for Chosen (with the correct values), one column for Purified. The problem is that the logging in the database sorts from highest to lowest number of kills, so one turn the first value might be Chosen, and the next it might be Chosen (Anti-Tank Weapon).
Posted by: nuclearslurpee
« on: July 13, 2021, 03:08:37 PM »As for more detail, is there anything specific you’re looking for? I’m afraid breakdowns by unit are difficult to add because of how many entries are involved right now. The Romans have 12 types of infantry alone involved in combat because of the different generations. Maybe one of the tools can provide automated analysis from the database?
I would never suggest taking such a burden on yourself or any author. Some people will do this anyways and have fun, mad though they may be, but for most this is too much grognarding I think. Again, it bears repeating that the current approach is entirely fine and good if that is how you prefer to approach it.
However from the narrative side, if you wanted to pursue it, highlighting a specific formation or commander and adding a narrative (which may or may not be closely tied to the actual game events) can be a fun way to add narrative depth. Highlighting a specific event (in-game or imagined) is another approach, for example the attack/counterattack which led to destruction of most of the Sword's remaining tank forces on Day 4 would be ripe for expansion, as a significant tank battle a la Prokhorovka for example.
Of course, I must emphasize that you should do absolutely nothing on my account.
As the author the story is entirely yours, and as readers we enjoy it in whatever form it takes. All I offer are ideas to stimulate the imagination. Also sometimes I make bad jokes.Posted by: El Pip
« on: July 13, 2021, 02:19:55 PM »While the presentation as it is works fine for me I would not say no to a more detailed report either.Of course you wouldn't.
I honestly don't think additional breakdowns would add anything at this stage, for the ongoing battle I think this level is entirely appropriate. For the post-war analysis I think a bit more detail about which units did well, what worked and what didn't, this could be either in-universe or meta- analysing the game. Or both! Even better if the two analyses reach different conclusions due to the difference between what the Romans 'see' and what we as players know about the game.
Posted by: Gyrfalcon
« on: July 13, 2021, 01:31:45 PM »The Romans are generating 3-5 breakthroughs a cycle currently, even from units not set to frontline assault. This is mostly an outgrowth of the fact that they’re 2-2.5x as large as the units they’re hitting. The combat mechanics favor the larger attacker pretty heavily.
I’ll be doing a meta analysis here when the war is over with my thoughts on the process.
As for more detail, is there anything specific you’re looking for? I’m afraid breakdowns by unit are difficult to add because of how many entries are involved right now. The Romans have 12 types of infantry alone involved in combat because of the different generations. Maybe one of the tools can provide automated analysis from the database?
I’ll be doing a meta analysis here when the war is over with my thoughts on the process.
As for more detail, is there anything specific you’re looking for? I’m afraid breakdowns by unit are difficult to add because of how many entries are involved right now. The Romans have 12 types of infantry alone involved in combat because of the different generations. Maybe one of the tools can provide automated analysis from the database?
Posted by: nuclearslurpee
« on: July 13, 2021, 12:28:31 PM »So far it is a pretty dominant war for the Romans. The advantage in losses is already a big deal, but it is likely that soon Sword morale will fail and many breakthroughs will occur. The loss of most of their heavy armor will also hurt the Sword badly.
While the presentation as it is works fine for me I would not say no to a more detailed report either.
While the presentation as it is works fine for me I would not say no to a more detailed report either.
Posted by: Warer
« on: July 13, 2021, 08:30:10 AM »This whole recent post feels like it needs to be like three times longer~ super cool can`t wait for more!~
Posted by: Gyrfalcon
« on: July 11, 2021, 06:34:34 AM »Well in Seraph's worldview, it is the most advanced creation of the most advanced society that Earth has ever seen. Its interactions with the Children have reinforced that the dominant culture is (deliberately) far less advanced then societies were just before the Collapse. The possibility that the Romans are just as advanced as Seraph are miniscule. The possibility that they are now far more advanced is laughable.
Its recovered information from the Five Days War reinforced that the basic Legionnaire was less well equipped then Seraph's forces. and they suffered extensive casualties in the fighting. Delaying too long would allow the Romans to recover and expand their numbers.
In a meta sense, the windows where Seraph has a chance has (probably) mostly closed at this point. While it isn't aware of the massive edge that TN technology gives the Romans, they also significantly expanded their unit production from 2 GFTC (when Seraph first began building up units) to eight. A few years at that level of production and the Legions would be impossible to crack.
Its recovered information from the Five Days War reinforced that the basic Legionnaire was less well equipped then Seraph's forces. and they suffered extensive casualties in the fighting. Delaying too long would allow the Romans to recover and expand their numbers.
In a meta sense, the windows where Seraph has a chance has (probably) mostly closed at this point. While it isn't aware of the massive edge that TN technology gives the Romans, they also significantly expanded their unit production from 2 GFTC (when Seraph first began building up units) to eight. A few years at that level of production and the Legions would be impossible to crack.
Posted by: El Pip
« on: July 11, 2021, 03:08:43 AM »You would think Seraph would be a bit more cautious, after all it has been a longer gap than usual between purges so its enemies will have had more time to advance.
Then again it is an insane rogue AI, if it could think properly then it wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
Then again it is an insane rogue AI, if it could think properly then it wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
Posted by: nuclearslurpee
« on: July 10, 2021, 11:12:19 AM »Exciting times on Terra.
I expect that the Seraph will be in for a nasty surprise upon learning that the recovered scraps it has analyzed were from the pre-TN Legionnaires, although the PWI will still pose a threat to the power armored soldiers. Overconfidence will get the best of this rogue AI, especially combined with a decision to delay another year and allow the Romans to further upgrade their Legions.
But now, the war is upon us, so we shall see how this all works out.
I expect that the Seraph will be in for a nasty surprise upon learning that the recovered scraps it has analyzed were from the pre-TN Legionnaires, although the PWI will still pose a threat to the power armored soldiers. Overconfidence will get the best of this rogue AI, especially combined with a decision to delay another year and allow the Romans to further upgrade their Legions.
But now, the war is upon us, so we shall see how this all works out.
Posted by: Garfunkel
« on: July 09, 2021, 06:36:55 AM »And so it begins 
Posted by: yourITguy
« on: July 08, 2021, 01:11:35 PM »More!
I really appreciate the scenes, for a lack of a better description, and the mystery of Seraph and its motives really hooked me. The building suspense has me on the edge of my seat.
I really appreciate the scenes, for a lack of a better description, and the mystery of Seraph and its motives really hooked me. The building suspense has me on the edge of my seat.
