I would like to see something completely different when it comes to WWII games.
How about the premise of a WWII game
not revolved around the idea of shooting guns, but instead on a different aspect entirely? I envision a spy management game which pits one nation's spy network against the other factions and their spy networks.
[ul]
[li]In this game, you play as head of operations and chief of intelligence-gathering, overseeing operations for seeking out enemy arms/supply caches, encampments, blueprints and war-plans, assassinating, kidnapping and interrogating live targets, sabotage of vital facilities, the insertion of misinformation and harassment of enemy's communication lines, posing as figures in other organizations, recruitment and training of operators with various skills in the field, and the development of gadgets and techniques.[/li]
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[li]The game plays turn-based, like the Civ series. It features a large overworld for major cities across North America, Europe, and Asia. You can play as any of the major spy networks, or make your own serving under any of the intelligence branches (OSS, GRU, NKVD, MI5/MI6, OKW, BCRA, SIM, Kempeitai, Belgium Secret Service, Canadian Intelligence, AIB under Australian command, etc..)[/li][/ul][ul]
[li]The game would allow friendly factions to trade information at the risk and cost of transferring information, and allow bonuses to organizations when aligned with certain governments, such as less cost per recruitment of units for the NKVD, faster time to train and specialize agents as double-agent inserts for misinformation missions and information extraction for the MI5, or a boost to cipher decryption efficiency for Polish Intelligence.[/li][/ul][ul]
[li]I'm not sure how most of opponent/allied spy interaction would take place, but ciphers would allow a percentage of enciphered enemy information trafficked across the cipher's location (Either acquired from allied or enemy hands and delivered to the cipher) to be deciphered. Upgrades to the agency's Ciphering stats would allow for more efficient decoding, but a more advanced enciphering and information trafficking method from the opponent's end would counter this.[/li][/ul][ul]
[li]No military or political actions can be controlled, only intelligence, but an intelligence acquisition can be used to influence your government or an allied government's military or political actions. Likewise, the same concept can be used to misinform an opposing government, which can be countered with counterintelligence by the opposing spy network under that faction.[/li][/ul][ul]
[li]The main goal is to further your faction's cause. Victory is achieved at the end of the war. All stats are tallied up and the faction with the most ground gained, battles won, targets destroyed/captured/spotted (from individual soldiers and vehicles, up to large facilities), and most influential political victory in relation to intelligence derived from the enemy faction to achieve that specific military/political goal will receive points based on the degree of victory.[/li][/ul][ul]
[li]A faction conquest does not equal victory for your organization, but an intelligence victory does. The organization with control over a majority of the flow of information will ensure victory for their faction, but as there are other allied organizations, there is competition for being hailed as the top spy-network. Keeping information to yourself will ensure rival organizations do not understand what you know, but at the cost of the possibility of their country and your faction losing influence in the war. Sharing accurate and usable info will reward the source of the transfer bonus points in relation to the level of accuracy in what was destroyed/captured/spotted on the battlefield, or how much of an influence was gained in politics if the ally decides to use the info. If they decide to use inaccurate info, this will neither penalize nor reward you. All information is shared in trades, so all info is a potential weapon both for and against your rival, and all info received can be harmful or helpful.[/li][/ul][ul]
[li]Your organization receives penalties in the form of smaller funding from the government if your intelligence is not accurate and does not at least destroy/capture/spot a target, or if there are casualties and the battle is lost (Victory on the battlefront voids penalties), or does not achieve the desired quota of favorable social order influenced by politics. [/li][/ul][ul][li]Every action costs money, and a more accurate use of intel equals higher funding, which leads to more complex operations being deployed on the field as there is a budget to support them. More complex operations require a greater handle on finances from larger acquired sums.[/li][/ul][ul]
[li]There will be plenty of information circulating between nations and spy-networks, and there will also be many events on the battlefield and in politics to apply the acquired information, so this penalty will mostly be the result of carelessness. As enemy networks gain influence, the inaccuracies are harder to avoid unless one maintains control over the flow of information and has a secure network.[/li][/ul][ul]
[li]You will know you have lost when the government barges through your door and takes you away, telling you that your organization has lost impact as an effective spy group and must be disbanded. Last screen is a gun to the head, and a bright flash.
Victory is rewarded with medals and high honors from the leader of your country in a non-disclosed environment, and "You will never be spoken of, but your actions for your country will forever be remembered in the deep annexes of our nation's history".[/li]
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I tried to tie the information-flow system with political events in a government, but nothing is coming to mind. There is more I could possibly add, but this is all that's needed because most changes would come from tweaking stats/balancing gameplay. This is simply a
concept.
This game is completely non-conventional, revealing battles of involved governments from behind closed curtains. I think it could make for an admirable title that would display various techniques and methods used by spy networks during the war in the way of multi-layered gameplay, new perspective and some (hopefully accurate) history to WW2 games.
Anyone who takes aim to make such a game and finds inspiration from my ideas, please take them.
creationis apostate said:
I have a better question. Why no World War 1 games?
Well, there is this flash game [http://armorgames.com/play/2267/warfare-1917].
A trench-warfare RTS, it features multiple infantry and fire support types, as well as an upgrade system. Also, take note the tanks are intentional game-breakers, just as the tanks had been effective at breaking trench-warfare as a method for fighting in WW1.
Outside of this RTS, you won't find much more. WWI didn't have much in the way of 'action'.
