A thought about variables

[LoBaron]

Ok this is just a vague observation, but I wonder what you think of it.

WitP AE, more so mods like DB, brought the game so close to real as the game engine
is able to handle.

When observing what is left concerning issues (most of them located at the extremes of certain
situations) I began to get the impression, that the difficulty faced when trying to adress those
issues, comes down to a few simple problems in the way of how variables are implemented compared
to the RL state, or count, it tries to describe.

The main problem is scale. The lower the resolution is, the less flexible is the system.

Let me give you an few examples:
Pilot aggression is rated on a scale of 0-100, with a single integer being the the smallest
possible step. Real human beings would never differ as much in aggression as the game calculates
by using either a value of 57 or a value of 88.
With a scale from 0-100 you cannot express finer nuances that probably describe differences in aggression
between trained pilots better, like 0-1000 with the huge majority falling into the 400-600 range.

Similar example could be given for any skill attribute, as well as leader attributes or ship´s crew experience.

Another one is DL:
We have a scale from 0-10.
For everything which can happen in a 40 square mile hex, every unit composition in that hex, we are only
able to express how much is known in 10 huge steps, each action increasing the value by at least 10%.

Another one is disablement of devices:
We have 0, 1.

Damage or injuries to men and material are gradual, and can be inflicted gradually.


I know this will never happen in WitP AE, also not in the mods. This has to much impact on the games´ code.
I only want to know if you agree with this observation. I believe many of the small issues at the extreme
ends of the war could be adressed easier if the scale of variables is increased to enable better abstraction
to RL situations and reduce the neccessity to use minima and maxima of the scale which often are responsible
for producing the results we experience as "off the scale".

[PaxMondo]

 
watching this with great interest.  Hopefully John, Andy, Michael, Don, or someone else will weigh in here ...

[herwin]

Do you think this matters (much)?

[JWE]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron
Ok this is just a vague observation, but I wonder what you think of it.

In the abstract (pun intended), in the math world, you may be right … butt …

There’s no joy in that approach in the AE system. Can say more in a pm if you want, but don't want to turn this thread into one of those intelligent computer krishna consciousness things.

Ciao. J

[LoBaron]

Agree, and I´d really apprechiate that JWE, just for the sake of understanding what has been tried and where the limits are,
or why they are there.

Just to clearify: I know that this train has left the station for WitP AE on most if - not all - instances.
I know enough about software to apprechiate to which extent the old code was tweaked to make AE possible at all.
Also I do not assume that any idea I can provide you with was not already picked up during some stage of the developement process,
and either implemented anyway or dumped for one or the other reason.

Extending the scale on variables was only an idea I have stumbled across now for several times when thinking about the limitations the game engine serves us,
and what could be an easy way to adress certain aspects of game extremes.
Somehow it always looked like the least invasive approach to sqeeze another inch of realism out of what have to live with.

[JWE]

Sent you a pm. Hope it helps.

J