COG Expansion Is Officially Under Way

[Gil R.]

News Bulletin from Western Civilization Software's Corporate Headquarters:

At about 10:00 a.m. E.S.T., Eric began programming the "Crown of Glory" expansion, starting with the code for naval combat, which will be one of the most significant new features. From there, all sorts of other goodies will also be added.

We'll keep you posted as progress is made. But we're definitely under way now.

[LarryP]

Excellent! I have been playing this gem quite a bit lately. I assume that a lot of what you did to FoF will be incorporated into CoG? [&:]

Legend for the clueless:
FoF = Forge Of Freedom
CoG = Crown Of Glory
ROTFLWMCO = Rolling on the floor laughing with my clothes off
Scratch the last one... [;)]

[1925frank]

Is this a downloadable patch or the type of expansion we purchase?
 
I've enjoyed CofG.  I don't have FoF.  I'm looking forward to any additions.

[Gil R.]

ORIGINAL: 1925frank

Is this a downloadable patch or the type of expansion we purchase?

I've enjoyed CofG. I don't have FoF. I'm looking forward to any additions.

This would be a new product augmenting the existing game, not a free patch.

[Reiryc]

I can't wait!  I've started playing FoF a lot again lately and has raised the bug to play cog again...  

[vanmi]

Great news ! I very like CoG. One of the best game about napoleon period.
I'm awaiting for more news ...

[semper fi]

This is good news! However, this expansion should be free since the original game was busted and failed to deliver what was expected. I hope they fix all the glaring errors and problems that have been duly noted in the game...

[Gil R.]

"Crown of Glory" won a CSR Award for "Best Pre-20th Century Game" and took a bronze in the voting for Wargamer's 2005 "Wargame of the Year." I'm not sure either would have happened if the game had numerous "glaring" problems.

The expansion will not be free, though I believe there will be a discount for those who already own COG.

[Joram]

You're entitled to your opinion Marine, but quite a few people enjoyed the game quite a bit!

[Sytass]

The expansion will not be free, though I believe there will be a discount for those who already own COG.

Such a discount would obviously only make sense if the expansion can be bought as a standalone or would be offered with the original game as a bundle. Does this mean the people who don't own CoG yet should rather hold out till said expansion is released?

[LarryP]

No matter how you decide to charge for it, expansion or stand alone, whatever... I'm buying it! [:D]

[ericbabe]

ORIGINAL: Sytass
Such a discount would obviously only make sense if the expansion can be bought as a standalone or would be offered with the original game as a bundle. Does this mean the people who don't own CoG yet should rather hold out till said expansion is released?

Tentatively, the expansion will be a stand-alone product. We're tentatively calling it "Crown of Glory: The Emperor's Edition". Tentatively, we're planning a features list that'll put it somewhere between a typical expansion pack and a full-blown sequel.

People who have a registered copy of COG will be able to buy the expansion at a discounted price.

COG is a great game right now, I wouldn't recommend that anyone delay even a single day in buying it!!!

[Sytass]

Thanks for the info. I was part of CoG before release, and I thought the game had great potential.

I just got AGEOD's Napoleon's Campaign, so I will wait for the Emperor's Edition of CoG now.

[Gil R.]

Syntass, great to hear. I think you’ll like what you see.

All,
I’m pleased to report that I’m hearing very good things from Eric about the progress of the naval hex-war combat feature that we’re adding. Shouldn’t be too long before we’re ready to test that. We’re also redoing certain regions on the map, which should make for some very welcome improvements.

In general, we’re trying not to say too much about what will be in “Emperor’s Edition,” but one thing that I know will be welcome news to a lot of people is that we’re now making the more complex economic rules and features part of the “Advanced Rules,” and providing players with the option of playing a much more basic game that focuses on war and diplomacy. While we at WCS think the economic component makes for a far more challenging game, and many of our customers agree, we recognize that a lot of people don’t want to have to spend so much time running their economies. So, just the way “Forge of Freedom” can be a very simple game when one plays with just the “Basic Rules” or a very complex game if using the “Advanced Rules,” those who play “Emperor’s Edition” will be able to choose between simplicity and complexity.

[Ironclad]

Probably a wise decision which should keep both camps happy. I have just read several posts on the Empire in Arms forum saying that they liked the idea of COG but found it too complicated.

[LarryP]

ORIGINAL: Ironclad

Probably a wise decision which should keep both camps happy. I have just read several posts on the Empire in Arms forum saying that they liked the idea of COG but found it too complicated.

I was one of those people that found CoG too complicated. Then I got Ralegh's Guide and misc notes, read the manual a bit, and tinkered with the game off and on and it became one of my favorite games! Same as WitP, it just took some tinkering and reading and things became clear. I love the economy part of CoG now and will choose the Advanced when the expansion is done.

[Reiryc]

ORIGINAL: Gil R.

Syntass, great to hear. I think you’ll like what you see.

All,
I’m pleased to report that I’m hearing very good things from Eric about the progress of the naval hex-war combat feature that we’re adding. Shouldn’t be too long before we’re ready to test that. We’re also redoing certain regions on the map, which should make for some very welcome improvements.

In general, we’re trying not to say too much about what will be in “Emperor’s Edition,” but one thing that I know will be welcome news to a lot of people is that we’re now making the more complex economic rules and features part of the “Advanced Rules,” and providing players with the option of playing a much more basic game that focuses on war and diplomacy. While we at WCS think the economic component makes for a far more challenging game, and many of our customers agree, we recognize that a lot of people don’t want to have to spend so much time running their economies. So, just the way “Forge of Freedom” can be a very simple game when one plays with just the “Basic Rules” or a very complex game if using the “Advanced Rules,” those who play “Emperor’s Edition” will be able to choose between simplicity and complexity.

Excellent!

I hate when games 'dumb down' without the option of leaving the complexity for those that enjoy the more difficult aspects of a game.

Looking forward to the naval battles as well. Can't wait!

[Gil R.]

Great to hear.

Yeah, there's no way we're going to dumb down the economic complexities. We have no doubt in our minds that a lot of people like that, and we think it makes for a far more challenging game. But at the same time, too many people are turned off by having to deal with their economies, and would prefer a game that's mainly military and diplomatic, so it makes a lot of sense to accommodate them, too.

Plus, if we removed the economic side of the game, so much of Ralegh's work would have been in vain...

[ericbabe]

The economy in COG either seems to be the thing that makes people really like COG or else really not like COG.

A lot of people don't like the fact that you make more economic decisions than, say, the Emperor of Austria would have made, and they call this aspect of the game "unhistorical", yet the same people are perfectly happy to have the player make more military decisions than the Emperor of Austria would have made. I just think it comes down to what people are used to doing in a game: to many people it's normal to have god-like control over the Austrian military yet bizarre ("gamey", "unrealistic", "childish") to have god-like control over the Austrian economy. De gustibus non disputandam!

When we designed the game we decided that we wouldn't strictly model only those things that the Emperor would be able to do but rather that the player would be playing the spirit-of-Austria; many games seem to work this way. You play Austria, not the Emperor.

Also I don't think that the economic aspect of COG is really any more complicated than the military aspect, objectively measured, it's just that people are used to many of the concepts in the military side, whereas the economic part of the game is a lot of new things. Wargamers can read "zone of control" in the topic sentence of a paragraph, then nod, skip that paragraph, and they won't really have missed anything. This isn't true for the economic part of the game.

Plus a lot of people don't want to manage their nation's flow of spices and cotton, they just want to blow things up.

Hopefully if we make the economic detail optional we can please all of the people all of the time! [:)]

[Gil R.]

ORIGINAL: ericbabe


Hopefully if we make the economic detail optional we can please all of the people all of the time! [:)]

I'd much rather fool all of the people all of the time. Much more fun.