Rule the Waves 3: Expanded Battles | Dev Diary 2

[h3]The Historical Scenarios[/h3][p][/p][p]Myself, I love campaign style games, where I can build up and nurture a force over a long stretch of[/p][p]battles and encounters. Not everyone has the time and inclination to do that however, and some players[/p][p]prefer historical battles instead of sanbox games. That is why we have developed the historical scenarios[/p][p]feature of Expanded Battles.[/p][p][/p][p]The expansion will ship with a number of scenarios spread in time and scope to give variation and[/p][p]show the whole breadth of what the RTW system is capable of. Scenarios will include Yellow Sea,[/p][p]Dogger Bank, River Plate, Rheinübung (the Chase for the Bismarck), Second Guadalcanal, Eastern[/p][p]Solomons and a fictional cold war scenario in the Mediterranean. This is an impressive collection of[/p][p]scenarios spread over 70 years. No other game can even come close to simulating such a long[/p][p]timespan of naval warfare.[/p][p][/p][p]Personally, I like Yellow Sea and Dogger Bank the best. They are manageable in size and time, have[/p][p]a high suspense level, and they have concrete goals to attain. Eastern Solomons and Rheinübung are[/p][p]larger and take longer time. They are also more varaible in outcome, with a risk that no substantial[/p][p]battle will happen at all, which is in fact how most potential naval battles ended in real history. This[/p][p]is something the designer has to balance all the time, realism, player agency, and maneuvering vs[/p][p]a scenario where the forces will inevitably come into contact.[/p][p][/p][p]As players, we want action and combat, which at times goes against outcomes sought by admirals.[/p][p]Just take the Rheinübung scenario for example. If the Bismarck and consort manages to sneak out[/p][p]into the Atlantic and reach the objective without combat, this would certainly be a champagne[/p][p]popping occasion at the admiral’s bridge on Bismarck, but as a player it will probably feel as an[/p][p]anticlimax. ”At least let me blow up the Hood on the way...”.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]To give the player the option both for battle action and for the more long term sneaking through the[/p][p]British patrols, we have made two scenarios, one long breakout scenario and a smaller one that[/p][p]concentrates on the battle of Denmark Strait. The problem of course with Denmark Strait is that the[/p][p]historical outcome was probably very unlikely, but players will still somehow expect the Hood to[/p][p]blow up. And Bismarck can blow her up in the game at the correct distance, but not every time, and[/p][p]not usually after the first few salvoes. Playtesting so far has shown that the most common outcome is[/p][p]damaged ships on both sides and Bismarck heading back home with some wounds and a substantial part[/p][p]of her ammo used up, which seems reasonable enough.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We will also include a hypothetical nightmare scenario for the Royal Navy, with the carrier Graf[/p][p]Zeppelin accompanying Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, and Scharnhorst and Gneisenau making a sortie[/p][p]from Brest at the same time. We decided to have that as a separate scenario, as there are more[/p][p]potential hypothetical ships that have various levels of probability. In this case we’re taking some[/p][p]historical liberties for the benefit of player agency and what we think is an interesting scenario that adds[/p][p]additional challenge to both the Royal Navy and Kriegsmarine sides.[/p][p]All in all, it will be a nice collection of scenarios that will have something from every period of[/p][p]naval warfare in the twentieth century for the naval enthusiast. And if that isn’t enough, there will[/p][p]be a scenario editor, where players can create any scenario they might dream about. But more on[/p][p]that in the next dev diary[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]By Fredrik Wallin[/p][p]Lead Designer[/p][p]Naval Warfare Simulations[/p][p][/p][p]WISHLIST THE GAME NOW:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p]