Status of TOAW

Norm Koger's The Operational Art of War III is the next game in the award-winning Operational Art of War game series. TOAW3 is updated and enhanced version of the TOAW: Century of Warfare game series. TOAW3 is a turn based game covering operational warfare from 1850-2015. Game scale is from 2.5km to 50km and half day to full week turns. TOAW3 scenarios have been designed by over 70 designers and included over 130 scenarios. TOAW3 comes complete with a full game editor.

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Erik Rutins
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Status of TOAW

Post by Erik Rutins »

Hi guys,

In response to the many requests late last year, I just wanted to let you know that we are very interested in continuing to develop and improve TOAW, including the possibility of a TOAW IV in the future. We've been in contact with Ralph, who we would really like to be the developer going forward as he has been in the past. Ralph is going through some tough times and I think it will be some time before he is ready to start a new project or invest significant development time. Our preference is to give Ralph some time and hope that he will be available in the medium-term, but I know a lot of you are impatient for faster progress. Unfortunately I don't have better news right now than to say that whatever may come, it is not our intention to "retire" TOAW, it's our goal to continue and improve it.

We appreciate very much the work of all members of the TOAD team and the community in helping us improve TOAW to date and we're also interested in your feedback on where we should go with TOAW in the future.

Regards,

- Erik
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Oberst_Klink
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by Oberst_Klink »

Thanks for the comprehensive update Erik! Very much appreciated.

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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by Martin_Goliath »

ORIGINAL: Oberst_Klink
Thanks for the comprehensive update Erik! Very much appreciated.

I agree with der Oberst!
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golden delicious
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by golden delicious »

Good stuff.

I rate Ralph both for his engagement with the end users (i.e. us) and his ability to implement changes effectively, so I'm personally content to wait a bit longer if it means retaining him in the role. It's a long road and getting to the right place is more important than getting there quickly.

Erik, if you read this could you pass my (our?) best wishes onto Ralph with whatever personal difficulties he's experiencing?
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by josant »

ORIGINAL: MarGol

ORIGINAL: Oberst_Klink
Thanks for the comprehensive update Erik! Very much appreciated.

I agree with der Oberst!


I also agree, thanks
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Telumar
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by Telumar »

ORIGINAL: golden delicious

Good stuff.

I rate Ralph both for his engagement with the end users (i.e. us) and his ability to implement changes effectively, so I'm personally content to wait a bit longer if it means retaining him in the role. It's a long road and getting to the right place is more important than getting there quickly.

Erik, if you read this could you pass my (our?) best wishes onto Ralph with whatever personal difficulties he's experiencing?


Our. :)
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by JMass »

Hoping for the best!
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Jeff Norton
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by Jeff Norton »

I too agree - further development would not be the same without him.

He's a class-act, very personable, and his insight (coding side) is invaluable. I too vote for getting it 'right' over 'right now'.
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Panama
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by Panama »

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

We appreciate very much the work of all members of the TOAD team and the community in helping us improve TOAW to date and we're also interested in your feedback on where we should go with TOAW in the future.

Regards,

- Erik

This is probably a long shot but would it be possible to release the current build of 3.5 as a public beta? Sounds like Ralph's situation is quite serious. Regardless of whether it can be made a public beta hopefully Ralph can come out the other end in good shape. Most things in life are more important than a game.

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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by walkra »

ORIGINAL: golden delicious

Good stuff.

I rate Ralph both for his engagement with the end users (i.e. us) and his ability to implement changes effectively, so I'm personally content to wait a bit longer if it means retaining him in the role. It's a long road and getting to the right place is more important than getting there quickly.

Erik, if you read this could you pass my (our?) best wishes onto Ralph with whatever personal difficulties he's experiencing?

Hi. I totally agree with Golden Delicious.
PEWPEW
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by PEWPEW »

Instead of going for TOAW IV, can we see something of an Expansion? At the moment, it'd be nice to see some bug fixes, balancing and some more Scenarios. It'd be nice to get something that's right around the 25 dollar mark with maybe 12 small/medium sized Scenarios.
VadeS
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by VadeS »

Toaw IV = new product = income , I think there will not be any more serious improvements in current version.



fogger
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by fogger »

Hello Erik,
I do not know what Ralph’s problems are but would you or someone else who is in contact with him let him know that there are a lot of people out here rooting for him. He as an individual is far more important than a game.

I personally lost a child nearing 20 years ago and suffered for a long time until I got help. There are always people round who will take your hand and help if you reach out.

Cheers
Sunray

PS
Erik, put my name down for a copy of TOAW 4 when it comes out in the fullness of time.
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heyhellowhatsnew
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by heyhellowhatsnew »

Is there anything we can do to help out Ralph?
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USXpat
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by USXpat »

Best wishes to Ralph, and thank you for the update, Erik. That's the kind of reassurance needed. I've tried other games and nothing compares to TOAW for pure awesome wargaming goodness. Not being able to look forward, at least to the possibility of an immortal TOAW, would be... depressing. Maybe even worse -- our spare time would end up consumed by Warcraft or something.
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heyhellowhatsnew
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by heyhellowhatsnew »

Maybe we can start a kickstarter for Ralph?
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Karri
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by Karri »

TOAW IV will come out, Raplh promised I can beta-test it. In the mean time, best of luck to him and I hope situation soon improves for him.
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by wodin »

Couldn't someone cover for Ralph while things improve for him? The person maybe just get some advice when needed from Ralph whilst working on it?

Just a thought, it will keep things moving though maybe slowly until Ralph is upto coming back full time so to speak.

Otherwise things will stagnate abit and I think it's going to be hard to give a time scale for when he feels upto it. SO at some point a decision will have to be made and I think if someone is covering to some degree it's less pressure on Ralph to get back to it.
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Catch21
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by Catch21 »

ORIGINAL: wodin

Couldn't someone cover for Ralph while things improve for him? The person maybe just get some advice when needed from Ralph whilst working on it?

Just a thought, it will keep things moving though maybe slowly until Ralph is upto coming back full time so to speak.

Otherwise things will stagnate a bit and I think it's going to be hard to give a time scale for when he feels up to it. SO at some point a decision will have to be made and I think if someone is covering to some degree it's less pressure on Ralph to get back to it.
I'd second this. As it is, it's a large enough system to deal with for one person. Where folks are proposing it go in TOAW IV is even more ambitious.

Having someone else on board to sort out a few critical 3.5(?) bug fixes might be useful to all:

1) Ralph has back up, and vice versa for the new person(s)
2) In fixing a few 'show stopper' bugs, the new person(s) will gain familiarity with TOAW, hopefully with pointers from Ralph
3) The 'knowledge base' concerning TOAW code is more 'shared'
4) Ideas can be bounced around intra-programming team
5) There's just less pressure on the one single person, currently Ralph, who, though I don't know, perhaps needs none at all at the moment

I wish Ralph all the best, and hope he's back with us as soon as he's able.
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heyhellowhatsnew
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RE: Status of TOAW

Post by heyhellowhatsnew »

KICKSTARTER
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