ManGodAi4x / AquaCoop, Comic, Cinematic…Terminal Dark.

[Rman Virgil]

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A mere parlor trick ? (I'm assuming you can pick it out from the screen caps, no prob.)

Nope. Much more than that. Serves a function. An important one. It's quite "tight" too.

The views in the snaps are looking on Charon's Cove and The Isthmus of Regret. You also get glimpse of a Velocity Air Lift Sandbar which if you use it as described on Page 17 you will dramatically improve your survival chances when on the offensive against the Last Redoubt.

Same holds for all the other sandbars scattered around the map - they are absolutely NOT mere window-dressing... they are part of a very effective and cool GPM that no one has ever made for use before this project. (Actually, I first created them for War School but since I never released that project no one was able to emulate the technique. Early Iterations of this project are out there with them so .... peeps can see just how they work and the "calculus" to making their functioning.)

NOTE:

The posts on Page 17 speak to everything about this project Game Play design-wise and Page 16 has a generous segment of my expanded Time Line as a Future History literary device. the Cinematic Shooting Script that sets the basis of ManGodAi 4x game play in a story context and a complete short story Mastan of the Scar which is built out of my reconstituted Time Line and dramatizes the ManGodAi / Scav perspective-objective.

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[Rman Virgil]

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Some more BOSS Base Stage Vistas as in:

I think there are a lot of Prequel & Sequel Campaign stories out there that folks are not ever gonna execute using the conventional campaign scripting and structure. But with this other approach it becomes more feasible and the heavy lifting then falls really to the creative imagination and mapping craft to make it.

Specifically following this concept:

A further conceptual refinement of how this build of SP Ski 4c-ManGodAi4X is proceeding.

Been a long time big fan of vid games in the brawler genre and their framework of BOSS stages.

This predilection has been influencing my current direction of development without my recognizing it at first - then, like an epiphany, it hit me. "Dude, your creating BOSS stages!"

Indeed, it is what I am doing.

With this additional proviso:

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I think those last stages of the original CAM are very instructive on what to do and what not to do when approaching a BOSS type design level map.

As you can see I operate from the ethical position that Free & Filch should in no way overlap & when they do it's a form of barbarism which eventually implodes and cannot self-sustain any more than cannibalism.

~ RV

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[new paradigm leader]

intriguing a boss level? is that even possible within an RTS? i mean within a shooter or platformer its easy, but a strategy game? thats another matter as you can always outmanoeuvre or adapt to an enemy on a tactical or strategic basis, even if your technology is less advanced (Spray with weapons and Pray they die) hence a rusher with many small weak units can do alot of damage and possibly even beat a player with fewer, larger and more powerful ones, adaptation by numbers, or else they can scout out with sensors and see how the other factions work and work in some adaptation by analysis. or am i missing the point?

[Rman Virgil]

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When I say "BOSS" stages I mean different areas of the map controlled by different A.I. that are dynamically in concert from the start of the game and their combined state is more advanced than your own beginning state. Just like in Cam you are mostly behind the eight ball for a long spell before you achieve the upper hand & throughout you will have to engage in a wide variety of fighting - much more than in typical SP skirmish or MP games. For one thing, unlike how most maps are designed, here you will have NO flank up against the edge of the map. Therefore, unlike most maps, you must thoughtfully execute on both defense and offense, by taking into account a full 360 degrees of potential threats while still moving forward with resource management and teching-up, etc...

What I am doing at present is balancing those 7 dynamic A.I. that are allied against you from the get go so that you have a fighting chance to conquer them all having to use tacs other than spamming or turtling - fresh tacs that I have provided for & which you will be delighted to discover and deploy.

Your initial opposition consists of a mix of Scav & ManGodAi (Nexus) mobile combat groups coming at you simultaneously from 4 different ground vectors and 1 Air Vector. If you can't handle the first 5 minutes, your dead in the water. However if you maintain your poise, your composure, and command with a general's vision, you can get through it and start conquering sector by sector in whatever order you choose to do it.

And while your dealing with getting that foothold secured, the "BOSS" stages are evolving, fortifying. digging in and sending countless mobile combat groups to nettle and eat at your growing sphere of conquest every step of the way.

Every piece of real estate, resource & position is calculated to present a variety of challenges & opportunities to exercise multi-vectored, canny & composed field command in the heat of battle. It will not be to everyones taste & as mentioned earlier it is also inspired by a particular form of Akido combat training.

The creating of all this is slow going but so far it's all working beautifully, the vision manifesting in reality, I'm happy to say..

Controlling the unfolding of both mobile & fixed fire-power, the balancing of those 7 dynamic A.I. is a procedure subject to much patience, subtle modifications, testing & retesting. (Then there is the total asymmetry of the virtual world to account for too.)

I am also deliberately violating a fundamental precept of the conventional Western mind set when it comes to these type fun pastimes. Namely - the level playing field from the start. I do this in order to create a variety of conditions that amount to a plethora of fun & different challenges for you to engage in a process of gradually leveling the playing field on the way to ultimate total domination.

I'm far enough along now to know I'll have it done in the time I have left before I will be setting aside all things WZ to work on 2 separate RL collaborative project commitments - one in music & the other in theater that I'm looking forward to and will occupy me at least six months.

- RV
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[Rman Virgil]

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Your initial opposition consists of a mix of Scav & ManGodAi (Nexus) mobile combat groups coming at you simultaneously from 4 different ground vectors and 1 Air Vector. If you can't handle the first 5 minutes, your dead in the water. However if you maintain your poise, your composure, and command with a general's vision, you can get through it and start conquering sector by sector in whatever order you choose to do it.

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That's slightly misleading.

You can prevail in this opening sequence if you duke it out. Far from being a cake walk but it can be done.

However, that is NOT the only way available to you to deal with this intense firefight from the get go.

There are other ways. I'm not gonna tell you directly how but I will give you a clue.

If you are starting to feel like Napoleon at Waterloo you can turn the tables. You can assume the role of Wellington leading up to Waterloo.

Both options require courage under fire. One deals with dangers in your face and known. The other deals with dangers unknown but within the unknown there are fresh opportunities - opportunities of a Wellington nature.

Or how about this clue: "Remember the Alamo !" - the war cry at the Battle of San Jacinto which was patiently pursued and set in motion by Gen. Sam Houston against General Antonio López de Santa Anna's army some time after they had wiped-out the Alamo. Sam was also a student of Waterloo.

How many games of WZ have you played that presented you with those type simultaneous options ?

And that's just the opening !
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[Rman Virgil]

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At the highest difficulty setting, this will NOT be for the faint of heart.

Obviously this game play is not for everybody. But it could be an acquired taste if you want to cross train towards cultivating a cool, calm demeanor under fire and execute effectively on multiple fronts. Can't survive an intense firefight bringing anything less to the table.

In Aikido we call this type training Taninsu Gake.... So, this is exactly the opening game play of ManGodAi4X... &, partly, explains the 4X in the name.

Final Advanced Base Balance to give you a fighting chance in dealing with the Taninsu Gake opening scenario.
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A Rambling Muse on Modeling this Rumble: Even though I've created every detail you'd think it would give me a clear advantage, a pronounced bias, in testing. But this thing is so complex I really can't even come any where near remembering everything in the heat of testing and I find myself slowing the whole thing down, studying it like I used to study Bobby Fisher's greatest chess games, figuring out all the layers of decision making and then executing the multiple tasks - combat and non-combat, dealing with the immediate tactical threats while simultaneously laying groundwork for an unfolding strategic path . Interesting.
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[Rman Virgil]

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Done. Royal Battling. Asymmetric tacs matter. GP is all I hoped for.

Dunno 'bout goin' any further here.

For now, I'll leave it at CYA l8r while I mull over if there is really any worthy upside that outweighs all the usual nada con nada of the prevailing culture.

Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

No más. TANSTAAFL !











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[Rman Virgil]

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Upon completion, a key summation of goals achieved in "ManGodAi4x":

~ The Fun Factor: Compelling, immersive with a sense of marvel & adventure, challenging, delightfully puzzling, comprised of endlessly varied, multi-vectored, combat engagement & nuanced decision-making.

~ Originality: From top to bottom, 100% original in every facet

~ Aesthetics: The artful craft used to create the map & it's inextricably integrated game play is 100 % non-derivative. It is also mostly achieved through undocumented techniques I discovered & evolved as an inter-locking whole.

~ Variety of Game Play: So far in my play-testing, at least a handful of entirely different strategic approaches to triumph. Each with its own set of distinct tactics that don't include one dimensional spamming or turtleing. Each approach amounting to hours of non-linear game play that will be well nigh impossible to create walk-thus for.

~ Re-play Value: As close to inexhaustible as possible within current binary constraints.

Some deeper insights into its creation:

The last few years I've had an active fascination with many of the scientific disciplines that comprise the Neuro-Cognitive Sciences including "Cognitive Task Analysis", "Flow States" and "Wrongology".

All the experimental work used from these scientific disciplines is on the cutting edge of discovery from just the last decade.

To my mind all this work has application to experiential engagements within the domains of "Play" & "Command Decision Making".

For an even longer period I've been actively studying military doctrine from B.C. to the 21st Century.

I've also had a long interest in the application of Game Theory to strategic thinking.

In ManGodAi4X I have melded all 3 of these deep & long standing interests into big time, WZ gaming fun.

As mentioned earlier, the opening sequence of ManGodAi4X is partly based on the Akido combat training method called Taninsu Gake.

It is also constructed taking into account work I've explored from the Neuro-Cognitive Sciences which comes under the heading of "Cognitive Traps", is formally called "Exposure Anxiety" and has a direct linkage to Military Command decision making.

There are a number of experiences constructed in ManGodAi4X that are explicitly designed around a host of other "Cognitive Traps", in conjunction with affording opportunities to employ principles from the aforementioned "33 Strategies of War" - all based on my design technique of reverse engineering. (Taking that all into account, you can infer I have also been influenced by the defined category that's been dubbed Serious Games)

These fascinations, and their application to a fresh new WZ 2100 game play construct-experience, are not only fully documented in this thread but also in the following 3-threads in chronological sequence:

~ 2007: "War Games: Trinity 1 & 2 - Maps + MO"

~ 2008: "The Future of RTS...& the 7 Deadly Sins"

~ 2009: "War School"









Release ? : The work is complete but I will not release until specific events take place and I'm doing this for a clear set of reasons. Why ? I'll answer if asked, otherwise, I be mum like a Cheshire Sphinx playing craps with an ace in the hole.

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[JDW]

Release ? : The work is complete but I will not release until specific events take place and I'm doing this for a clear set of reasons. Why ? I'll answer if asked, otherwise, I be mum like a Cheshire Sphinx playing craps with an ace in the hole.

I was thinking about hosting online games on this map. But I guess I can wait

[Rman Virgil]

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Release ? : The work is complete but I will not release until specific events take place and I'm doing this for a clear set of reasons. Why ? I'll answer if asked, otherwise, I be mum like a Cheshire Sphinx playing craps with an ace in the hole.

I was thinking about hosting online games on this map. But I guess I can wait

That would be cool. Won't be long, rest assured.

Basically, I need to distance myself to be completely objective and that is happening as i get deeper into 2 RL creative projects that will keep me preoccupied for the better part of a year. When I say "completely objective" I mean were it is as if someone else created these and not me. When that is my frame of mind, that is when I'll release 'em - no longer having any emotional attatchment to them. This being a core part of my modus-operandi of complete artistic freedom in whatever I choose to explore and make something of.

Also - let's remember there are 2 completely different projects here.

1.) 4c-AquaCoop Peep MP .... this is designed strictly for 4 Human Players - NO Ski A.I.s...and handicapped for Coop Team Play were each team is made up of 1 Vet & 1 Newbie

2.) SP SKI 8c-ManGodAi4X.... is entirely different & designed for just 1 Human Player working out of Position "0" as Team "A" vs. Players 1-7 Locked as Team "B". This one creates a dynamic, free-flowing, very powerful campaign-like experience. The map topography is also majorly altered from 4c-AquaCoop Peep MP to be able to create this type game play (plus there is a ton of stuff in this one that just does not exist in the MP version).

And now for some Taninsu Gake screen caps:







In passing: My relationship to the game has changed over the years (even more radically than it has to its community - though there is overlap, to be candid).

For some time now the game has served as a test bed for leveraging many interests, a few I have spoken to specifically in the last couple posts.

Would you have any curiosity about the full depth and breath of this active "test bed" stance and pivot, the following volume covers it comprehensively & with a pithy grace throughout its almost 500 pages:

"Expressive Processing: Digital Fictions, Computer Games, and Software Studies"

~ By Noah Wardrip-Fruin (Publisher: The MIT Press ~ September 30, 2009)


More visuals...







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[NEXUS]

These screenshots have me excited as to how this map will play, as it sure looks interesting.

You have a natural tallent at making these maps that are more like mini-campaign maps than the norm.

I look forward to the release of the ManGodAi map, as I recall the idea was first put together around the days of N.E.W.S.T, but correct me if I am wrong.

Keep up the good work.

[Rman Virgil]

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These screenshots have me excited as to how this map will play, as it sure looks interesting.

'Interesting" is the one word that captures it. I wanted every aspect of the experience to be at least interesting. Among many things to achieve that end, I have done tons of work "by hand" on vertices - & that is an other reason it took me so long (250 x 250 = 62,500 x 4 = 1/4 Million.... While I can't say I handled 'em all, my roving, critical eye took them all in and I laid hands on a goodly number to appease my sensibilities for - "that looks more interesting..."

You have a natural tallent at making these maps that are more like mini-campaign maps than the norm.

From day one it's always been my main interest - the campaign experience. A recently registered Member here, Darkseid_D, can attest to that as we had some memorable conversations about Scavs, A.I. & New Campaigns shortly after WZ's retail release in Pumpkin's MPlayer BBs - over a decade past now. (I have a good memory, in general.)

What is reflected here is also my long love affair (since early childhood) with 3 pastimes - making music, storytelling & painting.

I look forward to the release of the ManGodAi map, as I recall the idea was first put together around the days of N.E.W.S.T, but correct me if I am wrong.

Right you are about the "ManGodAi" and N.E.W.S.T....

But here is one more bit about those days not commonly known.

The core techniques I make use here to create that "Campaign-like" experience, I first discussed at length with one of the A.I Scriptors on the N.E.W.S.T Team, Prometheus, back in 2000-2001. Prometheus created the marvelously fun Skirmish "Water A.I." (aka "H2O AI") which was never migrated over to any of the Open Source Binaries of WZ.

Since those long ago discussions, I've discovered quite a few nuances about the A.I.s emergent behavior that we were not aware of back then and which I've been able to make very deliberate use of in creating many of the GP experiences I enjoy playing against.

Keep up the good work.

When I return to work on brand new WZ stuff in the Spring of 2011 I hope to continue with some original takes - ideas on "Urban Warfare" and the use of the "Tank Transport with LZ Limits".

~ Regards, RV

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[Rman Virgil]

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Map Preview: Just a few iterations prior to the completed work. (Gotta hold back a few surprises. )



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[NEXUS]

Looking nice. BTW what postion is the human player supposed to use? (Just asking the prying questions. )

[Black Project]

Looking nice. BTW what postion is the human player supposed to use? (Just asking the prying questions. )

It's position number 0, just watch where are located the green structures on the minimap .

BP