WW2 Diplo

[FockeWulf]

World War 2 Diplomacy

This project is over a year old now and a LOT of work has gone into it.

These numbers:

Abilities: 47
Actors: 524
Behaviors: 107
Buttons: 144
Effects: 195
Footprints: 10
Movers: 9
Requirements: 156
Turrets: 38
Units: 99
Upgrades: 75
Validators: 31
Weapons: 92

Are no joke.

Ok so what is the map?
Well the map is a Diplomacy of over 30 nations set in Europe with a World War 2 theme.

Main Features
-Amphibous and naval system.

-Combined Arms focus (as opposed to a simple tic-tac-toe)

-Easy to use, information, dialog box diplomacy system.

-Easy to use special unit system. Certain nations have certain special units. There are nearly 100 units in all and the combinations are almost endless.

-Triphibian Warfare. For the first time in StarCraft 2 war is waged on Land, Air and Sea.

-High Quality naval warships. The battleship and light cruiser are both (temporary) custom models made by my team and I). The Battleship consists of 2 Anti-Aircraft guns and 9 16-inch tripple turret guns with can fire on the move and independantly. The light cruiser has 4 AA guns and 12 6-inch cannons.

-Custom models of historical tanks like the Tiger II, the IS-2 and the Stug 3. More incomming.

Here is a link for more on the models: http://photobucket.com/WW2Diplo

And here is a link to a wide assortment of developement pics of WW2 Diplo and other maps: http://s1088.photobucket.com/albums/i333/marshallwellington/

Combined Arms
This may have raised some eyebrows. Naturally too. Here is what I mean:

A unit is only powerful when used with other units. Unit roles overlap to a degree and these overlaps change as the game progresses.

I would like to call to your attention one particular example of how the game is balance and how units relate:

1. Small nations that have to expand quickly to survive have early game specials that assist in this.

Let me list a few:

-Iceland: The Icelandic Marine (Special Troop) has sticky bomb. This is great vs structures and moderatly good against light armor. Iceland also starts with a slightly more powerful navy then either Great Britian or Norway. If Iceland is an experienced player they will be able to exploit that advantage and take out Great Britian, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Morocco, Portugal or Norway quickly.

-Czechoslavakia: the Panzer 38 (Light Tank) is the most powerful early game tank. It has a good anti-armor attack as well as a great anti-structure attack. This means that a good Czech player will be able to go a good number on the Germany player next door. It only takes 1934 armor upgrades.

-Romania: The Flamenwerfer 35 is the best anti-structure weapon in the game. You can literally Blitz your way into russia with this thing, as it does great against infantry and wipes structures. Just remember though, this game is about Combined Arms. Although you may have a powerful unit in one catagory it is vertually useless unless you mix it with other units. So don't just spam those things, otherwise a small pack of armored cars or infantry tanks will make you history.

-Switzerland: The Swiss Mercenary is a very long range riflemen. This allows the hill that Switzerland stands on to almost act like a fortress. It can shoot outside the range of any of the defenders so its a very effective unit. Also remember that unless they have a unit at the top they don't have vision of the units up there. On top of that the "Heavy Transport" will also climb those hills in Czechoslavakia and Switzerland. This is due to how the amphibious system works. So an experienced player can abuse that mechanic and do hit and runs from those places or flank choke points as well. Same with rivers. It can help force a bridge crossing if you use a couple of heavy transports to put an assault force on the other side of a river.

Also there are some nations that seem too powerful units wise.The most common examples are Italy and Turkey.

-Italy: This nation is in a nasty spot. Yes she can expand in almost any direction but keeping with the historical nature she doesn't start out with enough economic resources to take on any of the major powers around her. France can wipe her and Germany can wipe her. But between the Black Shirt and the m.41 Anti-Tank Gun she can put up a good fight against German armor, Austrian Grenediers (Special Troop), French Foreign Legion and M10 Tank Destroyer. Without those units she has vertually no chance at all.

-Turkey: The 88mm AA/AT Gun is very powerful. It may almost seem to be an op unit. But keep in mind it is vertually useless against plain riflemen. Also Machine Gunners are effective as well. Its primary role is actually defensive. With her being on the border of the gigantic USSR and the mass of North Africa she is in a disadvantagous starting position. Yes she may have 2 cities but if she goes to war with anyone on the mainland Istanbul is effectively a write-off. The Middle Eastern Coalition has both the Bren Gun Carrier (Armored Car) and the Mk.III Valentine (Infantry Tank). USSR has both the T-34 (Medium Tank) and the IS-2 (Heavy Tank). Although the USSR units come in later she is still facing a lot of armor. The 88mm is a required if she is to survive. It can structures from outside their firing range and can hit armor hard.

I'd also like to bring to your attention the following about heavy tanks:
Many people have complained that the King Tiger, IS-2 and Churchill are overpowered. I would like to dispell this fear. It is far more subtle than meets the eye.

Here are the anti-armor DPS values and fire ranges of the 4 heavy tanks in the game:
Chruchill: 14.285 @ 5.2
King Tiger: 26.087 @ 6
IS-2: 22.892 @ 6
Heavy Tank (default): 31.034 @ 4

Here are the HP and armor values:
Chruchill: 1000 @ 70%
King Tiger: 800 @ 70%
IS-2: 800 @ 70%
Heavy Tank: 900 @ 70%

Here are the costs:
Churchill: 110 mins & 78 supply
King Tiger: 160 mins & 105 supply
IS-2: 140 mins & 90 supply
Heavy Tank 120 mins & 82 supply

And one more factor:
The Churchill tank is the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_tank

The important part is it's armor and its gun. The gun was only up to a medium length 75mm cannon. The Sherman ended up having more punch than that. It was in fact an infantry tank. The reason it got stuck in the "heavy" catagory is because of it's armor. Its designed to soak up damage.

So really in a heavy tank to heavy tank battle, the default is more powerful. The others only become powerful if they are used with other units. Once again Combined Arms. The difference with the others is that with the Default Heavy its in front of the battle line, with the chruchill its in the battle line and with the IS-2/King Tiger its behind the battle line. The IS-2 and King Tiger are powerful because they can sit back and take out enemy armor at long range. Granted 800 hp and 70% reduction is no small amount but a default heavy vs either of those and the default will win.

The map is avaible on both NA and EU.

Here are the names:
NA: WW2 Diplo
EU: WW2 Diplo Europe

Let me know what you guys think!