Post by Shieldwolf on May 17, 2010 17:59:13 GMT
I originally posted this on EE Planet, but since EEC is my home, I thought I should also post it here. 
--------
A. For an Empire Earth 4, I think the game developer should mix these elements:
Empire Earth 1
- scen editor
- civilization points/ builder
- individual unit improvements
- subtle morale (city, towers, mountain bonuses)
- different counters for a single unit classification (as pointed out by pilgrim)
- aircraft speed
Empire Earth 2
- Citizen Planner
- War Planner
- Diplomacy and intelligent AI
- Changing Seasons
- Roads/bridges
- Crowns
Rise of Nations
- Cultures with different units and designs
- ability to choose which type of government aka Thrones and Patriots style
- special resources, wealth and knowledge
- Intelligent Citizens, and naming them as builder, wood cutter, stone miner, etc.
- newly created units being able to join a previous unit group
- strategic map
- nonlinear gameplay
- forced march while on group formation
Company of Heroes
- destructible buildings
- physics engine
- ability to pick up weapons
- veteran units being able to be deployed in the next map
- camera angles
Imperial Glory
- mixed faces and textures for similar units (this means that a squad of say, hoplites, does not look entirely the same. no clones here! I've read that Imperial Glory let's the AI mix the textures of the squads, to create individualism).
- sea battles
Earth 2150
- connected map access (either space, land, sea or below ground)
Empire Earth 3
- global domination mode
Total War
- morale and routing during battles
- unit creation in specialized areas/buildings
- 1 unit as 1 squad (especially infantry)
- mercenary system
- real city defenses (walls and towers, siege system)
- group formations
Caesar IV
- city building attributes
Act of War
- in-game cinematics
- prisoner system
- fighting inside buildings
World in Conflict
- tactical points
- offmap supports
Homeworld Cataclysm
- space battles
B. Having said the mix, here's the product of my day dreaming: My Big Dream Game:
Empire Earth 4: Clash of Civilizations
The single player campaign is composed of 5 campaigns:
- Tutorial: Chinese/ Other Tribes
- Ancients: Roman/ Persian
- New World: Europeans/ Native Americans
- World War: Japanese/ Americans
- Space: Earth/ Space Colonies
The Campaign Menu is a rotating Earth-Moon system. The Earth is divided into 4 sections, representing the 4 campaigns taking place there, while the moon represents "Space". The player has the choice of picking up what campaign he wants to play by clicking the section, although the player is advised to play first the tutorial. (You could also see that the campaigns are intentionally done to cover the whole of Earth).
After picking the section, and after loading, the strategic map appears. Then, the player is asked what faction he likes to play (there are 2 choices).
The Strategic Map is similar to the map in Rise of Nations, but unlike RoN, the area can be accessed for city-building like in Total War. But unlike Total War, the city-building would include the traditional RTS style of EE, mixed with city-building aspects of Caesar IV. Got what I mean?
Let's say we play the Ancients, Roman side. The player has a goal of founding the city, and achieving Roman Hegemony. Here, the city-building aspect is introduced. However, instead of the complex systems introduced in full-blown city-building games, the interaction or goal would be limited to population, unique buildings built, town-centers acquired, popularity, or amount of resource, wealth or knowledge gained. Of course, the player should be given the choice of skipping this goal or having the AI handle this stuff. If the player does skip, he can proceed to the next goal, but he loses any bonus that can be attained if he has handled the building/management himself.
So, let's assume the city of Rome has been founded, and Roman Hegemony has been achieved. The player then goes back to the Strategic Map. The other historical factions will now have their turn. During their turn, the computer will, in the background, determine which area they like to build upon or attack. All the units built/created (buildings and army) in this turn (as well as those remaining units created by the human player) will still be available for the next turn. A turn could be 1 year, or 1 time period (ex: Founding of Rome to Punic Wars).
Now, for the next turn (equivalent to the 2nd scenario).
The player will have the choice of choosing which path to take, in this case, let's assume a choice between attacking Greece or Carthage. After choosing, say, Carthage, the player is given the choice to attack right away with his present army (with limitations to units of course, to avoid rushing), or, if he knows he has no army yet, to prepare first.
If he chooses to attack outright, he can move his piece (similar to RoN) over Carthage, and the battle will be at the mission map of Carthage. If he chooses to prepare, the mission map will be the homebase, i.e. in Rome. (Note that there is no actual movement in the Strategy Map, not like Total War).
Now comes the access to different maps. In Earth 2150, the player can shift from the homebase & the mission map, and vice-versa. In effect, the player has control of 2 maps. This I think will put realism to the game (since what country does not undertake war without thinking of the security of his other possessions?)
In the above example, whatever the choice of the player, he can control more than 1 map. The difference is that preparation will generally be better than attacking outright (that is, for missions without time limits), since you can plan what units to send, and what to leave behind.
(I can also think of say, inserting set-piece historical battles (both land and sea) before (or between) the actual mission map itself, where winning them would give a morale boost or additional resources that could be used in the actual mission.)
Of course, the mission can be abandoned (or the attempt of conquest be repulsed), and another path could be taken, but morale and some resources will be deducted to the player. But for this illustration, let's assume that Carthage is captured, and thus, the mission is a success. Now, the enemy players will have their turn.
Say that Greece/Macedon decides to attack Rome. The human player of course needs to defend Rome. This clash will feature the human players' Rome, with all the created buildings and army garrison there. The AI has the option of taking its time before actually attacking the territory (a siege in Total War). If it does, the player could pull his troops back to relieve the territory. However, if the AI decides to attack outright, and then the human player made the mistake of leaving behind too little garrison troops, now, that is a pain in the neck. Played Chess before? Every move counts, right. Same here. Real Time Strategy to the max!
But the clash above is a bonus mission only, and is not part of the actual progress of the story. There could be limitless bonus missions of the AI attacking the human player's territories in the Strategic Map, but there should also be at least 5 storyline missions reaching an overall goal, in an otherwise nonlinear campaign.
Popularity, economy, scientific/technical advances, overall resources will be accumulated in the strategic map.
City-wide (or Empire-wide) policies, diplomacies, world-shaking events, could be handled by the player, or the AI itself.
Having presented the campaign side, the multiplayer could be composed of (1) world domination mode, (2) set-piece battles, (3) basic city-building and (4) traditional random RTS battles.
----------------
This is my dream game. It's a very long shot of course, but simply sharing it is (no doubt) worth it. Comments, whatever their nature, are very much welcome.
--------
A. For an Empire Earth 4, I think the game developer should mix these elements:
Empire Earth 1
- scen editor
- civilization points/ builder
- individual unit improvements
- subtle morale (city, towers, mountain bonuses)
- different counters for a single unit classification (as pointed out by pilgrim)
- aircraft speed
Empire Earth 2
- Citizen Planner
- War Planner
- Diplomacy and intelligent AI
- Changing Seasons
- Roads/bridges
- Crowns
Rise of Nations
- Cultures with different units and designs
- ability to choose which type of government aka Thrones and Patriots style
- special resources, wealth and knowledge
- Intelligent Citizens, and naming them as builder, wood cutter, stone miner, etc.
- newly created units being able to join a previous unit group
- strategic map
- nonlinear gameplay
- forced march while on group formation
Company of Heroes
- destructible buildings
- physics engine
- ability to pick up weapons
- veteran units being able to be deployed in the next map
- camera angles
Imperial Glory
- mixed faces and textures for similar units (this means that a squad of say, hoplites, does not look entirely the same. no clones here! I've read that Imperial Glory let's the AI mix the textures of the squads, to create individualism).
- sea battles
Earth 2150
- connected map access (either space, land, sea or below ground)
Empire Earth 3
- global domination mode
Total War
- morale and routing during battles
- unit creation in specialized areas/buildings
- 1 unit as 1 squad (especially infantry)
- mercenary system
- real city defenses (walls and towers, siege system)
- group formations
Caesar IV
- city building attributes
Act of War
- in-game cinematics
- prisoner system
- fighting inside buildings
World in Conflict
- tactical points
- offmap supports
Homeworld Cataclysm
- space battles
B. Having said the mix, here's the product of my day dreaming: My Big Dream Game:
Empire Earth 4: Clash of Civilizations
The single player campaign is composed of 5 campaigns:
- Tutorial: Chinese/ Other Tribes
- Ancients: Roman/ Persian
- New World: Europeans/ Native Americans
- World War: Japanese/ Americans
- Space: Earth/ Space Colonies
The Campaign Menu is a rotating Earth-Moon system. The Earth is divided into 4 sections, representing the 4 campaigns taking place there, while the moon represents "Space". The player has the choice of picking up what campaign he wants to play by clicking the section, although the player is advised to play first the tutorial. (You could also see that the campaigns are intentionally done to cover the whole of Earth).
After picking the section, and after loading, the strategic map appears. Then, the player is asked what faction he likes to play (there are 2 choices).
The Strategic Map is similar to the map in Rise of Nations, but unlike RoN, the area can be accessed for city-building like in Total War. But unlike Total War, the city-building would include the traditional RTS style of EE, mixed with city-building aspects of Caesar IV. Got what I mean?
Let's say we play the Ancients, Roman side. The player has a goal of founding the city, and achieving Roman Hegemony. Here, the city-building aspect is introduced. However, instead of the complex systems introduced in full-blown city-building games, the interaction or goal would be limited to population, unique buildings built, town-centers acquired, popularity, or amount of resource, wealth or knowledge gained. Of course, the player should be given the choice of skipping this goal or having the AI handle this stuff. If the player does skip, he can proceed to the next goal, but he loses any bonus that can be attained if he has handled the building/management himself.
So, let's assume the city of Rome has been founded, and Roman Hegemony has been achieved. The player then goes back to the Strategic Map. The other historical factions will now have their turn. During their turn, the computer will, in the background, determine which area they like to build upon or attack. All the units built/created (buildings and army) in this turn (as well as those remaining units created by the human player) will still be available for the next turn. A turn could be 1 year, or 1 time period (ex: Founding of Rome to Punic Wars).
Now, for the next turn (equivalent to the 2nd scenario).
The player will have the choice of choosing which path to take, in this case, let's assume a choice between attacking Greece or Carthage. After choosing, say, Carthage, the player is given the choice to attack right away with his present army (with limitations to units of course, to avoid rushing), or, if he knows he has no army yet, to prepare first.
If he chooses to attack outright, he can move his piece (similar to RoN) over Carthage, and the battle will be at the mission map of Carthage. If he chooses to prepare, the mission map will be the homebase, i.e. in Rome. (Note that there is no actual movement in the Strategy Map, not like Total War).
Now comes the access to different maps. In Earth 2150, the player can shift from the homebase & the mission map, and vice-versa. In effect, the player has control of 2 maps. This I think will put realism to the game (since what country does not undertake war without thinking of the security of his other possessions?)
In the above example, whatever the choice of the player, he can control more than 1 map. The difference is that preparation will generally be better than attacking outright (that is, for missions without time limits), since you can plan what units to send, and what to leave behind.
(I can also think of say, inserting set-piece historical battles (both land and sea) before (or between) the actual mission map itself, where winning them would give a morale boost or additional resources that could be used in the actual mission.)
Of course, the mission can be abandoned (or the attempt of conquest be repulsed), and another path could be taken, but morale and some resources will be deducted to the player. But for this illustration, let's assume that Carthage is captured, and thus, the mission is a success. Now, the enemy players will have their turn.
Say that Greece/Macedon decides to attack Rome. The human player of course needs to defend Rome. This clash will feature the human players' Rome, with all the created buildings and army garrison there. The AI has the option of taking its time before actually attacking the territory (a siege in Total War). If it does, the player could pull his troops back to relieve the territory. However, if the AI decides to attack outright, and then the human player made the mistake of leaving behind too little garrison troops, now, that is a pain in the neck. Played Chess before? Every move counts, right. Same here. Real Time Strategy to the max!
But the clash above is a bonus mission only, and is not part of the actual progress of the story. There could be limitless bonus missions of the AI attacking the human player's territories in the Strategic Map, but there should also be at least 5 storyline missions reaching an overall goal, in an otherwise nonlinear campaign.
Popularity, economy, scientific/technical advances, overall resources will be accumulated in the strategic map.
City-wide (or Empire-wide) policies, diplomacies, world-shaking events, could be handled by the player, or the AI itself.
Having presented the campaign side, the multiplayer could be composed of (1) world domination mode, (2) set-piece battles, (3) basic city-building and (4) traditional random RTS battles.
----------------
This is my dream game. It's a very long shot of course, but simply sharing it is (no doubt) worth it. Comments, whatever their nature, are very much welcome.
EE4 if it ever does exist will be poor if what ever they are called now get their way 
