Q of the Week: Computer Gaming?

[Leon]

As it says, with the popularity of online wargaming, plus the younger generations interest in games like Call of Duty, what affect will these have on table top gaming?

[Jase]

I have seen many times that wargamers are lost to online gaming (myself included), but eventually they always come back. I think because playing wargames and painting miniatures is much more gratifying than playing computer games. At the moment I only play games to get inspiration for wargames, CoD Modern Warfare 2 for ideas for modern combat etc. So for me, computer games used to take me away from wargames, but now they are used to complement my hobby.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

high turnout !!!

[Aart Brouwer]

I have seen many times that wargamers are lost to online gaming (myself included), but eventually they always come back.

I think Jase has it - at least I hope so. In my limite experience very few wargamers will definitively be lost to computer games. But more than a few computer gamers will drift toward tabletop gaming - as they get older, that is.

Cheers,
Aart

[Gunfreak]

Actualy I played computer "wargames" like 15 years before I started with real wargaming.

I think computergames are a great gateway drug, it easy and quite fun, but very few come close the the realsim of miniature wargames. so the more hisotricly intrested people will find minature wargames sooner or later.

[NTM]

I think any miniature gamer permanently lost to computer games would probably have drifted away at some point regardless. For me computer games are just a quick fix. Painting, research etc are all part of the experience for me.

[Gunfreak]

Computergames does have one thing going for it, when done right it looks realy impressive.

I tried a ACW mod for Empire total war, while the regular empire game is horrible, the ACW mod is fantastic, it got ripping sounds, when 400 infantry fire of thier rifles it FANTASTIC, I play battles with over 20 000 soldiers, and over 100 guns, which means more or less constant artillery fire, leaving smoking crators from shell's going of, I had  24 guns on a hill and the hill got bombarded by by enemy shells which ment the hill was smoking like crazy, and when my guns open up the whole hill vanished in smoke.

[GordonY]

Where can I get the ACW mod, poked around their site but couldnt find it. 

Gordon

[Gunfreak]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1627


The sounds are Fan beep tastic

Here are some pictures I took for a battle.









The last picute shows, a poor man beeing turned into prossesed meat.

It's not perfect, because of the inherant bad AI from the original game, the ai has a tendency to charge with bayonets leading to HUGE masses of soldiers in mele, I think in the end 8 000 soldiers lay dead on a 100x100 meter square, in big battles you play 2 vs 2, so while my army is deplyed right, the allied and enemy ai just fight it out in mele, so I just direct my artillery into the mass and fire, canister shell and shot into it. as well as rifle fire, the end resault is a carpet of dead 100x100 meter.

[capthugeca]

Personally nothing can match the feel of a real "lead" figure and the joy of painting it. And I really don't enjoy the "realism" of computer battles.

I think that the two forms of wargaming appeal to different types of people. There may be some crossover and dabbling but it shouldn't have too much of an effect.

[GordonY]

I'll have a dabble, thanks Gunfreak.

Gordon

[Leon]

It looks kinda fun, and I'm tempted to give it a go.  The problem is, if it's addictive, I'll lose days of my life playing it.  That's the reason I've not touched Warcraft yet either.  The last game of that type I played was Command and Conquer about 10 years ago!

[GordonY]

Oh no do not go near WoW Leon, do not come to the Dragonblight realm, do not look for the hunter called Pplschamp, that way lies madness (or fun). It will cut down on the amount of painting time available to you by at least an hour or two a day.

Gordon

[Leon]

Oh no do not go near WoW Leon, do not come to the Dragonblight realm, do not look for the hunter called Pplschamp, that way lies madness (or fun). It will cut down on the amount of painting time available to you by at least an hour or two a day.

It would probably be more like casting time, the only painting I get to do is blackwashing the figures for the web photo's!   

[GordonY]

If you do decide to try the free 10 day trial Leon, you will get a lot more out of it on Dragonblight, my guild the Savage Crusaders has about 450 members, so that means you'd always have help/gold/goodies availble to you.

Gordon