Practicality Check: Axis Soviets in a modified campaign?

[The Almighty Turtle]

Greetings All. Long time admirer of GG and BtR, relatively recent convert to the new version. It's really heartening to see this old war horse continue to get supported even years later, and to have a passionate fanbase and team of modders on hand. I've just started dipping my toes in to the new game and especially the new versions (in part with internet connectivity hurting my updates and especially connection to the wider community as of late). However, I have dabbled in (admittedly rather light) modding here and there from time to time, and so I had a thought that I figured I'd pitch around to some of the older hands.

I was a bit bummed to see the 1940 France project break down (because to be honest an alternate campaign starting in the Phony War struck me as a great adaptation of it), but seeing the presence of the Soviet icon and one plane made me think. What would need to be done in order to get the Soviets on the "Axis" side? Or more generally to flip one side or the other?

I'd hope that the individual characteristics and traits of the planes and weapons would still be reliable and could be relatively easily adapted regardless of faction (but I don't know that), but what would it take to create the possibility of bringing one faction's planes to the opposite side?

The ideas I had offhand were mostly about the possibility of a clash between the Soviets and the Western Allies. Whether that's in the context of the Soviet-Axis Pact remaining in place or even escalating (maybe if the West decides to wade into Finland during the Winter War?) resulting in Stalin sending the VVS West to help both attack the British and the Atlantic Convoys and protect the Reich's industry (out of self-interest while industrialization happens), or a WW3 (perhaps a massive asymmetrical campaign focused more on land warfare and the support role air has, with the Western Allies forced to balance between slowing the seemingly-unstoppable Soviet land juggernaut down and ultimately pushing it back, hitting the logistical tethers feeding it in the rear in places like Eastern Europe, and retaining Aerial Superiority to do this, while the Soviets are forced to fight the Western Juggernaut with fewer airframes and often less experienced pilots, playing security for the land armies and the industry while trying to avoid having both get holes bombed in them?).

However, I imagine the applications would extend well beyond this. For instance, asking things like "What if Petain and Laval took up Hitler's offer and had France re-join the war as an Axis power in say 1940-1943?" "What if Fascism never rose in Italy or at least Mussolini took Balbo's advice that Hitler was the greater evil or at least less dangerous compared to the so-called Western Plutocracies?"

I will freely admit that I cannot imagine my knowledge or skill base at the moment is actually adequate to do all of this, and in particular my art skill is nonexistent. I am more of a writer or script kiddie by trade able to copy/paste a fair bit, write up convincing briefings or aftereffects, and research, so I imagine the learning curve would be vast (though I am willing to learn).

Edit: One other issue that comes to mind would be how to model off-map industry for the Axis, specifically in regards to the likes of the factories of the Soviet Union. IIRC this is done fairly widely on the Allied side (both to factor in those factories to some degree, and more widely the North American and Dominion/Colonial Factories), but it'd certainly add in a new wrinkle of an enemy you can't entirely bomb the production of for the Allies. Because as dramatic and interesting as - say - trying to defend the Ural Factories against Stratofortresses or trying to defend the Persian Airfields and bring fighters all the way in to the European USSR against those (and against both AA and conventional airpower, or more exotic stuff like budding missiles or jets) I can't imagine what an absolute Pita it would be to expand the map that far East, if it is even possible at all.

[simovitch]

In my mind I think most of the stuff you mention is doable, but not with the current team and not recommended without updating the whole programming and data system. Adding any new scenario requires data and coding in C++ with a familiarity of the thousands of lines of code, so it's a lot harder than even the most difficult scenario editors.

To start with, this game has to be able to run on newer computer without the "crutch" of dxwnd, and an updated graphics platform if it's ever going to transcend the niche market.

It's more or less up to Matrix as to where this game is going in the long run. They would have to make it a funded development project and throw a fair bit of money at it. While we don't have a window into matrix's inner workings, I don't personally see much chance in that happening. In the meantime we will keep tinkering away gratis on the current platform, there is still nothing like it out there.