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Dear friends,
We would like to ask for your comments and opinion regarding a new strategy and war game project, called War Cabinet.
The game will put you in the army commander's role during a War that takes place in the late 80s – 90s of XX century. Watching the news and the same topics are being discussed again and again: There is an escalating tension in Marutia! Mass riots erupted in the big cities and the government seems to be losing control of the situation.
Armed insurgent groups are freely roaming the country. Police stations and governments buildings have been captured and burned. Marutia does not have armed forces to fight back these gangs and anarchy is spreading across the country.
To make things even worse in this delicate situation both Ortia and Girdia claim to be the rightful protector of the people of Marutia and are offering military support...For centuries the two countries have coexisted peacefully… now the houses are more divided than ever… Read more at: http://www.warcabinet.net/story/
War Cabinet will be played in two different modes: Single and Multiplayer Campaign or different battles scenarios. It will use pause-able real time planning system to offer full strategic and tactical flexibility.
You can take a look at our first video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ5puz9UpjM

War Cabinet screenshots: http://www.warcabinet.net/gallery/

So what do you think?

Eh it dose sound like it has potential, but seeing how your product is still quite raw I would like to wait a while before passing any sort of judgment, but the story sounds like a fresh take on the whole affair of warfigthing.
How will combat play out? Will it be eagle eye vie or will you be given x amount of troops to micro manage and control?

 Trondheim wrote:
Eh it dose sound like it has potential, but seeing how your product is still quite raw I would like to wait a while before passing any sort of judgment, but the story sounds like a fresh take on the whole affair of warfigthing.
How will combat play out? Will it be eagle eye vie or will you be given x amount of troops to micro manage and control?

I’m glad you see the potential even if it’s in early development stage. We will show much more in near future.
Our primary goal is create different and realistic warfare experience by including many features to simulate all major aspects of conducting war.
Player will have a lot of freedom regarding camera position and zoom in-game. Everybody have different preferences about the amount of micromanagement and this will be adjustable setting.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
War Cabinet story continues 23 Days Later…

Part 3: Shadows from the past

There are numerous reports of intensifying firefights in Marutia. Most of the country is the hands of the armed insurgent groups. There is no electricity and serious food shortage in all major cities. Marutia’s government is on the edge of collapse. Two major rebel movements started to fight each other clearly supported by the neighboring countries. In this situation all diplomatic efforts to reduce the escalation of violence have failed.

Read the rest: http://www.warcabinet.net/story/

New content in War Cabinet Gallery Section - http://www.warcabinet.net/gallery/concept-art-2/. Please share your comments about the helmet.

New Interface Screen for Faction Selection

This is the Interface screen for Faction selection.

The Interface screen where to select your playable county. Which one you will choose: the House of Green or the House of Orange.
Share your choice on the selected faction as well as your opinion on the Interface screen.

New BTR-60PB

There is new addition of entry level mechanized infantry for the House of Orange.

BTR-60PB rigged and ready to be animated. - http://www.warcabinet.net/gallery/pre-alpha-screenshots/

Share your thoughts and comments.

Why on earth have you choosen two such dull names for the factions? If you want anyone to even look at this game I suggest something a bit more uniq than those two names.

 Trondheim wrote:
Why on earth have you choosen two such dull names for the factions? If you want anyone to even look at this game I suggest something a bit more uniq than those two names.

Thank you for your comment. Can you please tell us what exactly you don`t like about the names of the factions. They are fiction names because we want to avoid any coincidence with real names and events. Do you have any suggestions how we should rename the factions?

So wait, you want to avoid any coincidence with real names, yet you named one House of Orange, the name of the Dutch Royal Family.

 Soladrin wrote:
So wait, you want to avoid any coincidence with real names, yet you named one House of Orange, the name of the Dutch Royal Family.

Well, it is not a military unit or anything that is related with other games


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Another screenshot of BTR-60PB side view - http://www.warcabinet.net/gallery/pre-alpha-screenshots/
Share your comments.

CosPetia wrote:

 Trondheim wrote:
Why on earth have you choosen two such dull names for the factions? If you want anyone to even look at this game I suggest something a bit more uniq than those two names.

Thank you for your comment. Can you please tell us what exactly you don`t like about the names of the factions. They are fiction names because we want to avoid any coincidence with real names and events. Do you have any suggestions how we should rename the factions

For one it showcases a disturbig lack of effort from the developers, no real respekt for any potensial player sand just a general mediocere,or Even worse a shoddy make game

 Trondheim wrote:

CosPetia wrote:

 Trondheim wrote:
Why on earth have you choosen two such dull names for the factions? If you want anyone to even look at this game I suggest something a bit more uniq than those two names.

Thank you for your comment. Can you please tell us what exactly you don`t like about the names of the factions. They are fiction names because we want to avoid any coincidence with real names and events. Do you have any suggestions how we should rename the factions

For one it showcases a disturbig lack of effort from the developers, no real respekt for any potensial player sand just a general mediocere,or Even worse a shoddy make game

I didn’t want my reply to be taken as ignorant or insulting. We really care about opinion of the gamers and we are always open to suggestions. It’s not about convincing anybody how great everything will be, but it’s about making it better every day. In the end it’s going to be made for all of you game lovers to enjoy. Further more we are in the initial stage of War Cabinet project so this is a critical moment for us when most of the things still could be changed if we receive constructive recommendation.
Often the negative comments are the most valuable ones. I will be glad if you continue to follow the development and make assessment on more mature stages.
So thank you again for your input.

Hi guys,

We are happy to share with you the design of the Strategic Map - http://www.warcabinet.net/gallery/pre-alpha-screenshots/

This is the place to get the overview of the war theater.

Here you plan and perform movements, deployment, reinforcements and air operations.You also get information and filter display of strategic objects like barracks, factories, supply depots, SAM sites, EWR stations, cities, villages, etc.

Weathear report will guide you about combat operations in different atmospheric conditions.

What do you think about it? Share your comments.

Well that actualy sounds like a decent idea, as long as you dont go the way that the developers of Company Of Heros 2 did with the effects of winter conditions,

 Trondheim wrote:
Well that actualy sounds like a decent idea, as long as you dont go the way that the developers of Company Of Heros 2 did with the effects of winter conditions,

We promise to ask the gamers as much as possible and search for their feedback. This way we will make the game as close as possible to everyone`s expectations.

Hi guys,

Supply and logistics have been playing important role in every war since ancient times.

As a general rule if you want to win a war there should be couple of things present. One of them is strong supply and logistics. This involves huge volume of manpower, equipment, fuel, food infrastructure consideration and serious planning. Without it even mightiest army is becoming helpless mass of people and equipment.

They all had to be moved usually between great distances from the homeland into the campaigning theaters. The fighting front is where the links in the supply chains end.

In the end it doesn’t matter if it is a real war or just a strategy war game the rules remain the same. That is why we believe that any serious war strategy game should consider including this key element. We will.

In this regard we would like to share with you one piece of equipment suit for the task. - http://www.warcabinet.net/gallery/pre-alpha-screenshots/ This is the Ural fuel tanker 375D, which can be quickly and accurately allocated to supply the battle front. The Ural-375D is a general purpose 4.5 ton 6x6 truck, produced at the Ural Automotive Plant in the Russian SFSR since 1961. The ZIL-157 was the standard Soviet truck until it was replaced by the Ural-375D, which became the standard Soviet truck in 1979. The Ural-375D was soon replaced by the Ural-4320. The Soviets also found the trucks an ideal platform for the BM-21 Grad rocket launcher. Other modes for the Ural-375D included troop carrier, supply carrier, etc.

So please take a close look at it and tell us what you think.

Dear friends,
War Cabinet game added its Game economy as part of the development process.
We believe that one of the main elements of the economy are the resources types, availability and specific purposes. We plan to have 7 main pillars of our war economy.
If you want to read more please visit: http://www.warcabinet.net/war-cabinet-game-economy-was-added/#more-526

War Cabinet frontline battle machines were added

Dear friends,

We would like to present a game scene with House of Green equipment showing some of the frontline battle machines.

The whole news is here: http://www.warcabinet.net/war-cabinet-frontline-battle-machines/#more-545
Having such equipment on hand what would be your strategy? How you would use these frontline assets to win battles? Would you need any other equipment to enter combat?

The BMP-2 was added to the War Cabinet military equipment.
The BMP-2 (Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty,infantry combat vehicle) is a second-generation, amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s.Full description here:http://www.warcabinet.net/the-bmp-2-was-added-at-gallery-section/#more-563

Share your thoughts and comments.

M113 APC – New combat vehicle added to the House of Orange

Dear friends,
In order to win battles the modern battlefield commanders would need highly mobile manpower, which can turn the tide in the most crucial situations. Armor protected vehicles are preferred choice to do this while operating near the enemy.


That is why we added M113 – Armored Personnel Carrier to the War Cabinet military equipment to serve into the House of Orange forces. With this new addition to game’s Military Park we are confident that your soldiers will yield the benefits of the mechanized warfare.

More about M113 - APC can be found here:http://www.warcabinet.net/m113-apc-new-combat-vehicle-added-to-the-house-of-orange/#more-572

Please share your thoughts and opinion.

Secure your troops with M163 Vulcan Air Defense System

How to protect troops and equipment from air attacks? The partial answer to this challenging task could be simple when we talk about low level strikes. You might want to consider including in your military formation M163Vulcan Air Defense System. It is already on the way to support the House of Orange commanders.

Read more at:http://www.warcabinet.net/secure-your-troops-with-m163-vulcan-air-defense-system/#more-598

Would you use M163 Vulcan Air Defense System as part of your equipment?

CosPetia wrote:
New content in War Cabinet Gallery Section - http://www.warcabinet.net/gallery/concept-art-2/. Please share your comments about the helmet.

SInce you asked for comments:

What is the black band on the bullet brass supposed to be? They are not links (to belt the rounds together) and a dual metal shell isn't used in real life for small arms ammo for a reason. I would redo that.

Why use such an old helmet design when the vehicles/other tech in the game seem more modern? I would reconsider that choice too.

 CptJake wrote:

CosPetia wrote:
New content in War Cabinet Gallery Section - http://www.warcabinet.net/gallery/concept-art-2/. Please share your comments about the helmet.

SInce you asked for comments:

What is the black band on the bullet brass supposed to be? They are not links (to belt the rounds together) and a dual metal shell isn't used in real life for small arms ammo for a reason. I would redo that.

Why use such an old helmet design when the vehicles/other tech in the game seem more modern? I would reconsider that choice too.

Thank you very much for your opinion and comments. Here are the answers to your questions.
What is the black band on the bullet brass supposed to be? - The whole idea for the black band on the bullet brass is part of designers concept to create an authentic helmet, which will represent the feeling of tense and fear in the enemy, while the war goes on. But if you don`t like it, please let us know, what you would like to be look alike.

About the helmet deign: We are trying to repeat the military equipment from USA and Russia within the 80s-90s of XX century, due to the reason that the game story is about a war that takes place at this period of time. The model is really old, but had been used in USA up to the end of 80s of XX century. In many other countries the same or similar design is valid up to day.

Hope this covers you questions. If there is something else you want to share, please feel free to tell. We are very happy for each comment, no matter if it is positive or negative. So thanks a lot once again

Black band on the brass does nothing to enhance the look of the helmet, let alone make it 'authentic'. In fact, it detracts from authenticity. In fact, putting bullets in the cammo band of your helmet is not 'authentic' to begin with. I guess if I was told to put bullets in the cammo band of my helmet artwork I would at least make them look like real bullets. If you like the black band on the brass, turn it into proper belt links. I would just ditch it though.

The US army adopted the PASGT (a kevlar helmet) in 1985. Again, a lot of the tech you are showing in the screen shots/concept shots for the game looks way to new for old steel pot helmets to be used. For example, there is one command post type shot with big display monitors and computers, you didn't see CPs set up like that in the early 80s.

 CptJake wrote:
Black band on the brass does nothing to enhance the look of the helmet, let alone make it 'authentic'. In fact, it detracts from authenticity. In fact, putting bullets in the cammo band of your helmet is not 'authentic' to begin with. I guess if I was told to put bullets in the cammo band of my helmet artwork I would at least make them look like real bullets. If you like the black band on the brass, turn it into proper belt links. I would just ditch it though.

The US army adopted the PASGT (a kevlar helmet) in 1985. Again, a lot of the tech you are showing in the screen shots/concept shots for the game looks way to new for old steel pot helmets to be used. For example, there is one command post type shot with big display monitors and computers, you didn't see CPs set up like that in the early 80s.

OK, I see your point and will have it in mind. We are in a process of some graphic changes and your comments are more than welcome. We received a lot of similar comments on the "new look" of the equipment and are making changes there as well.

Thank you once again

War cabinet story part 4: 48 Hours Later - The price of Victory

You haven’t slept much in the last days.

Many unsettled questions are within your head…

How can I best serve my country?

You should not only be excellent military commander, but also you are expected to take the burden to spend scare resources of your country to wage war… instead of these been used for the people and their wellbeing. How this could be balanced? What is really necessary in this dark time?

Read the whole story at: http://www.warcabinet.net/story/

Share your thoughts and opinion.

Economy system within strategy war games

Guys,

We plan to implement economy system into the game. By doing this we want to achieve an additional depth of the gameplay. However, in order to do the right balance we need your valuable input here.

First of all do you enjoy economic aspect of the strategy games or you prefer pure combat only gameplay?

If there is a game economy in place it should be:

1. As simple as possible with very few type of resources with minimum amount of user management.
2. Moderately detailed economy system part of the core game mechanics. This could include several resources to be generated, monitored and used for various activities. This would mean roughly up to 20% of the gameplay might be related to economic and resource dependent activities like: purchasing of equipment, upgrades, promotions, personnel recruitment, repair of facilities, etc.
3.Well developed war economy model which will strongly influence game campaign and rules. This would required better planning of your spending and more economy related decisions and events. Without proper economy management your chance to gain victory will be vastly reduced. Of course at times it would require more micromanagement.

Any other thoughts and questions on this topic are mostly welcome.

I for one like my role within the game to be consistent, and like to make decisions based on that role.

If I am brigade or BN commander, my 'resources' are troops/units, supplies, enablers (like allocating ISR, artillery, engineering or CAS assets). I don't need to be worried about economic decisions at the national/strategic levels.

Conversely, if I am the Sec Def or equivalent, or the President/Prime minister, economic and basing decisions are important, but I would not expect to be telling 3rd platoon of Alpha company 3-8 Cav where to deploy and what targets to engage.

When you come down to it, even with greatly abbreviated procurement in war time, economic decisions (what to make, how much of it to make, where to make it) do not affect the battlefield for months, often longer. Even when the economy is on a war footing, retooling factories to produce a new version of a weapon system takes time. It takes time to build up the stocks of spare parts needed for new systems to be useable in theater. It takes time to train units on the new gear. Heck, it takes time to implement changes in the training base to allow units to be trained on the new gear.

Some folks LOVE this type of stuff within a game, where they can click on an area and in a couple of minutes a new tank factory magically appears and starts producing tanks that then roll right to the battle.

Personally, I never liked that in a game.

I do undersand my opinion is probably not reflective of the folks you are really marketing this game towards though, so take it with a grain of salt...

Jake

 CptJake wrote:
I for one like my role within the game to be consistent, and like to make decisions based on that role.

If I am brigade or BN commander, my 'resources' are troops/units, supplies, enablers (like allocating ISR, artillery, engineering or CAS assets). I don't need to be worried about economic decisions at the national/strategic levels.

Conversely, if I am the Sec Def or equivalent, or the President/Prime minister, economic and basing decisions are important, but I would not expect to be telling 3rd platoon of Alpha company 3-8 Cav where to deploy and what targets to engage.

When you come down to it, even with greatly abbreviated procurement in war time, economic decisions (what to make, how much of it to make, where to make it) do not affect the battlefield for months, often longer. Even when the economy is on a war footing, retooling factories to produce a new version of a weapon system takes time. It takes time to build up the stocks of spare parts needed for new systems to be useable in theater. It takes time to train units on the new gear. Heck, it takes time to implement changes in the training base to allow units to be trained on the new gear.

Some folks LOVE this type of stuff within a game, where they can click on an area and in a couple of minutes a new tank factory magically appears and starts producing tanks that then roll right to the battle.

Personally, I never liked that in a game.

I do undersand my opinion is probably not reflective of the folks you are really marketing this game towards though, so take it with a grain of salt...

Jake

Thank you for the detailed and valuable feedback. We will have in mind all your comments and thoughts

I enjoy seeing your progress and watching the development. I'll keep reading the thread with interest.

As for my previous comment, maybe you can have an option for players to play the economic game and allocate national resources between missions or something, or just allow the AI to handle that portion (for folks like me who don't enjoy it too much).