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Notes -
Gaming subthread.
Dream video game subthread:
An XCOM-like, but one that eschews turns (even interleaved ones) in favor of real-time with pause. Small unit tactics, but with realistic weapons (scifi stuff allowed). More emphasis on training and hardware versus soldiers shooting enemies till they become Majors and develop not only better aim but a resistance to bullets. You can, by expending some kind of currency or skill point, manually seize control of a soldier and puppet them in first person. Otherwise they semi-autonomously follow your orders, think being a squad leader who tells Ramirez to hole up in a Burger King, as opposed to having to choose the exact toilet stall he needs to occupy like in XCOM. Land vehicles as special units, air units as call-ins or on rotation.
Civ/EU/CK/Total War hybrid: An ungodly behemoth where combat between armies is either resolved with Paradox-style stats, or you can manually fight the battle TW style. There is literally an existing mod that does that, you initiate a battle in CK2, and then the mod imports units and stats into a Total WR title and then the results back into CK2. Realistic AI, in the sense that other leaders or generals act like simulated characters, rather than generic optimizers or min-maxers (which is why I don't play multiplayer in these titles). This could be done today by having an LLM make overarching command decisions or RPing, while delegating the micromanagement to more real-time AI.
Imagine if you could negotiate with Julius Caesar about the petroleum in Sicily, and use your own wits to argue with him. Imagine if you could convince Roosevelt to support you to stave off the Commie menace. What if you could talk to your subordinates, every general or governor being simulated entities that have their own thoughts and feelings that aren't just thinly veiled stats?
Hell, have a hardcore mode with true fog of war. If you're Caesar, you might send several legions off to Germania and only get old, vague reports. They might vanish in Varrus's hands, and you need to find out the hard way. Are the taxes from Asia Minor having too much skimmed off the top? Do the plebian demands have a point? You have to vet and trust agents to find out, unless you absolutely must go there yourself.
I’m hoping Ascent of Ashes lives up to the hype I have for it. Getting another real time with pause colony sim would be a dream come true, especially if it’s more focused on exploration and combat than Rimworld
I've been keeping tabs on that one. Ex-Combat Extended modders from Rimworld, one of the mods I simply can't play without. It turns the combat in the game from two retards with bent muskets shooting each other in a greased room after sunset into something with a semblance of realism. Unfortunately, the game had had a very rocky development. The previous publisher went bankrupt, the new one was only able to provide partial funding. They were forced to release into EA in a very barebones state, and it's simply not a very good day circa today. I remain cautiously hopeful, the idea has great potential.
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