5 ms·

Post is from 2016 and the link to the game (from the post) doesn't seem to work. However seems to be available from https://nwswargamingstore.net/shop?olsPage=p

by senko 7y ago

Post is from 2016 and the link to the game (from the post) doesn't seem to work. However seems to be available from https://nwswargamingstore.net/shop?olsPage=products https://nwswargamingstore.net/shop?olsPage=products (haven't tried buying). There's apparently a sequel out, here's one review: https://www.wargamer.com/reviews/rule-the-waves-2/ https://www.wargamer.com/reviews/rule-the-waves-2/

thrower123 7y ago
Look at those glorious Win32 controls! Brings me back to the Windows 95 days. Wargaming is one niche where you can get away with really basic graphics, if the gameplay is good. And looking at the amount of detail exposed by this game, I shudder at the thought of the art budget it would take to bring this up to even mediocre 3D graphics.
- jandrese 7y ago
  Grognard wargames are one area where you are almost forced to make old school interfaces like this, because the core playerbase has a large paying contingent that continue to use 15 year old bare bones systems running obsolete OSes.
rob74 7y ago
I can only agree with this quote: "RTW2 might look [...] perhaps a little too much like the work players hoped to avoid by firing up a video game at the end of a long day" - you'd have a hard time convincing me that an application with so many tabs, list views, select boxes, radiogroups etc. etc. could actually be fun to use. Plus, I wonder if it was a concious design decision to keep the "good old" (shudder) Windows 95/NT 4.0 look or if they simply forgot to include the required manifest for getting the updated look & feel?
- moron4hire 7y ago
  That's the entire Hard Simulation genre. It's not your cup of tea, but there are lots of people who only play those sorts of games. Football Manager sims are basically nothing but this. Hell, even Eve Online is not much more than this, especially when you get into some of the massive battles that get reported on in the tech media.
  - tomatotomato37 7y ago
    Auroa 4x is another good example. Very deep and detailed but also requires a lot of menu fiddling and micromanaging with a GIMP-tier UI. http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Main_Page http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
    - jplayer01 7y ago
      I've messed around with Aurora 4x before and I don't think the UI concept is that bad. In a game as complex as this, the UI is going to have to reflect that complexity in some way. I think the worst thing about the game's UI is how it eschews basic usability and makes everything ridiculously tedious to use. If I made a game like this, I'd probably come up with a similar UI, but I'd pay way more attention to how players interact or want to interact with the game on a moment to moment basis.
  - JoeDaDude 7y ago
    I'd recommend Command Air and Naval Operations [1]. It even includes a professional version [2], used by military forces to simulate engagements. [1] https://www.matrixgames.com/game/command-modern-air-naval-operations-wargame-of-the-year-edition https://www.matrixgames.com/game/command-modern-air-naval-op... [2] http://www.warfaresims.com/?page_id=3822 http://www.warfaresims.com/?page_id=3822
    - smacktoward 7y ago
      I'm the guy who enjoyed Rule the Waves, and even I found CMANO to be a bit of a slog. There's a ton of interesting data and scenarios, but it's just... so... clumsy to play.
- some_random 7y ago
  Sounds like this genre of video games isn't really for you then.
- kbenson 7y ago
  There's something to be said for providing a very simple interface to allow the core game to be iterated on much quicker. This doesn't work for every game (specifically, some games rely on the interface much more), but in a turn based tactical game (whether it be this, or the excellent post-apocalyptic RPG Neo Scavenger[1]) I imagine it can be quite freeing for the developer (especially single or small team developers). 1: Neo Scavenger's interface actually looks better in screenshots than it plays in game, but none of that matters, because the game itself is quite good once you play for a bit and learn the idiosyncrasies of how you do things.
- praptak 7y ago
  Dwarf Fortress, one of the most complex simulations in existence has an ungodly character-based UI, with a mapping of keys to commands which is not very consistent across various screens. It is still a wonderfully interesting game.
smacktoward 7y ago
Thanks for pointing out the broken link, I hadn't realized NWS had finally ditched their Yahoo store (which they apparently only got around to last month - !). You are correct that nwswargamingstore.net is the place they're selling from these days. I've updated the link to point to the general landing page for Rule the Waves, which will lead you there if you decide you want to buy it.
jandrese 7y ago
> I only occasionally saw bugs, like the Royal Navy laying down a ship with a complement of anti-aircraft guns in 1902. Highly suspect, Admiral Nostradamus. I LOLed. One downside of these hardcore milsim games is that the companies that make them are garage shops and it is far from uncommon for bugs like this to fester for years, or even never be fixed. On the flipside, sometimes the bugs are hilarious, like third cousins in Crusader Kings that murder themselves and then have to run away because they are kinkillers.

by senko 7y ago

thrower123 7y ago

Look at those glorious Win32 controls! Brings me back to the Windows 95 days. Wargaming is one niche where you can get away with really basic graphics, if the gameplay is good. And looking at the amount of detail exposed by this game, I shudder at the thought of the art budget it would take to bring this up to even mediocre 3D graphics.

jandrese 7y ago
Grognard wargames are one area where you are almost forced to make old school interfaces like this, because the core playerbase has a large paying contingent that continue to use 15 year old bare bones systems running obsolete OSes.

rob74 7y ago

I can only agree with this quote: "RTW2 might look [...] perhaps a little too much like the work players hoped to avoid by firing up a video game at the end of a long day" - you'd have a hard time convincing me that an application with so many tabs, list views, select boxes, radiogroups etc. etc. could actually be fun to use. Plus, I wonder if it was a concious design decision to keep the "good old" (shudder) Windows 95/NT 4.0 look or if they simply forgot to include the required manifest for getting the updated look & feel?

moron4hire 7y ago
That's the entire Hard Simulation genre. It's not your cup of tea, but there are lots of people who only play those sorts of games. Football Manager sims are basically nothing but this. Hell, even Eve Online is not much more than this, especially when you get into some of the massive battles that get reported on in the tech media.
- tomatotomato37 7y ago
  Auroa 4x is another good example. Very deep and detailed but also requires a lot of menu fiddling and micromanaging with a GIMP-tier UI. http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Main_Page http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
  - jplayer01 7y ago
    I've messed around with Aurora 4x before and I don't think the UI concept is that bad. In a game as complex as this, the UI is going to have to reflect that complexity in some way. I think the worst thing about the game's UI is how it eschews basic usability and makes everything ridiculously tedious to use. If I made a game like this, I'd probably come up with a similar UI, but I'd pay way more attention to how players interact or want to interact with the game on a moment to moment basis.
- JoeDaDude 7y ago
  I'd recommend Command Air and Naval Operations [1]. It even includes a professional version [2], used by military forces to simulate engagements. [1] https://www.matrixgames.com/game/command-modern-air-naval-operations-wargame-of-the-year-edition https://www.matrixgames.com/game/command-modern-air-naval-op... [2] http://www.warfaresims.com/?page_id=3822 http://www.warfaresims.com/?page_id=3822
  - smacktoward 7y ago
    I'm the guy who enjoyed Rule the Waves, and even I found CMANO to be a bit of a slog. There's a ton of interesting data and scenarios, but it's just... so... clumsy to play.
some_random 7y ago
Sounds like this genre of video games isn't really for you then.
kbenson 7y ago
There's something to be said for providing a very simple interface to allow the core game to be iterated on much quicker. This doesn't work for every game (specifically, some games rely on the interface much more), but in a turn based tactical game (whether it be this, or the excellent post-apocalyptic RPG Neo Scavenger[1]) I imagine it can be quite freeing for the developer (especially single or small team developers). 1: Neo Scavenger's interface actually looks better in screenshots than it plays in game, but none of that matters, because the game itself is quite good once you play for a bit and learn the idiosyncrasies of how you do things.
praptak 7y ago
Dwarf Fortress, one of the most complex simulations in existence has an ungodly character-based UI, with a mapping of keys to commands which is not very consistent across various screens. It is still a wonderfully interesting game.

smacktoward 7y ago

Thanks for pointing out the broken link, I hadn't realized NWS had finally ditched their Yahoo store (which they apparently only got around to last month - !). You are correct that nwswargamingstore.net is the place they're selling from these days. I've updated the link to point to the general landing page for Rule the Waves, which will lead you there if you decide you want to buy it.

jandrese 7y ago

> I only occasionally saw bugs, like the Royal Navy laying down a ship with a complement of anti-aircraft guns in 1902. Highly suspect, Admiral Nostradamus. I LOLed. One downside of these hardcore milsim games is that the companies that make them are garage shops and it is far from uncommon for bugs like this to fester for years, or even never be fixed. On the flipside, sometimes the bugs are hilarious, like third cousins in Crusader Kings that murder themselves and then have to run away because they are kinkillers.