Advanced Strategic Command

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Advanced Strategic Command
Asc-2.1-lv2.jpg
Studio Martin Bickel, Steffen Fröhlich
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 January 1, 2001
platform GNU / Linux , Microsoft Windows
genre Turn-based strategy game
Subject Fantasy
Game mode Single player, multiplayer via LAN , hot seat mode and internet
control Mouse and keyboard
medium Download
language Multilingual
Current version 2.6.0.0

Advanced Strategic Command ( Engl. "Modern Strategic Warfare") or short ASC is a free turn-based strategy video game , under the GNU General Public License has been released. It is based on the traditional design of the Battle Isle series by Blue Byte and is played on fields in a hexagonal grid .

The game can be played both in single player and multiplayer mode via LAN , hot seat mode or the Internet . Advanced Strategic Command is available in German and English.

The main game

The game is completely deterministic. Every move can be planned down to the last detail and repeated at any time with the same result without random actions. ASC receives its strategic depth from the abundance of decision-making options that are offered to the player. And every decision can have an impact on the outcome of the battle. Whether it's a small duel card or a move in a long campaign - every decision counts. The players play one at a time. Everyone makes his moves and hands the game over to the next player. He can now see the actions of his opponent in the replay and then make his own move. Up to eight players can play against each other on one map.

Combat & Diplomacy

The fight is fought with modern military equipment. In addition to ground troops, the player also has tanks, reconnaissance and jamming units, as well as naval and air forces at their disposal. One should not underestimate the possibility of inflicting heavy losses on enemy combat fleets with submarines. And, if you're wondering why your opponent can attack units in your hinterland with long-range weapons, it may be due to the reconnaissance satellites circling invisibly over your command bunker.

But not only the fight unit against unit is available to the player as a possibility. Diplomatic skills should not be neglected on larger maps. Alliances can be entered into or broken, and even resources and units can be exchanged.

Unit sets & cards

A seven-player multiplayer map of Europe after the First World War .

The main game currently has a single set with around 100 units: The MK1 Rehaner Set . Six more sets are currently in use in the Battle Planet project: MK3 Terran , MK4 Cromoner , MK5 Outlaw , MK6 Teccnols , Malaner and SY . There are also additional units for the interstellar travel system between the individual PBP planets. The unit sets have individualized buildings and their alignment is adapted to the philosophy of the respective set. While z. B. the Rehaner are very defensive oriented and the Cromoner are based on Battle Isle units, the SY are very mobile.

Another set including completely redesigned terrain can be found in the Rough Legion project .

Unit wiki

A unit set wiki can be generated from the program.

cards

Maps and campaigns can be created with the supplied editor. There are currently three map archives for new mission maps and campaigns in the ASC archive, maps converted from Battle Isle and in the Battle Planet project.

Campaigns

The campaigns are successive mission cards against the computer, similar to the campaigns that already existed in Battle Isle. In addition to the campaigns included in ASC (main campaign, camor, NOS and training campaign), there is another one by Michael Ginter, as well as the campaign of the Rough Legion.

Game mechanics

Although the game is completely deterministic, the outcome of the battles can only be calculated in advance to a limited extent by the human player due to their complexity. The many different game mechanics, which can make the game very complex, contribute to this.

Weather and soil conditions

Each hex space has a certain basic type (e.g. sand, grass, river, ocean), which is associated with certain properties (e.g. tracked vehicles move faster in sand than wheeled vehicles or submarines can dive in the ocean, in the river Not). Properties change depending on the "weather". Grass can turn into morass / mud, which can interfere with locomotion and visibility. Heavy snowfall and ice cause z. B. for frozen water (ice breakers are required) and for difficult advancement on land. Rain reduces the effectiveness of aircraft, wind changes the speed of aircraft and in the worst case scenario can capsize small ships.

Altitude levels

ASC has several height levels. Each unit that is on a hex is assigned to one of these height levels. The altitude levels are:
- orbit
- high flight
- medium flight
- low flight
- ground
- water surface
- simply submerged
- deeply submerged
Each unit can enter certain altitude levels. The maximum achievable speed is set individually for each unit per altitude level.

Visibility and radar interference

ASC works with the Fog of War function . This means that once cleared hex fields are only completely visible as long as a unit can actually see them. Unexplored hexes are gray. Hex fields that have been explored and are currently not visible have a gray veil, but the type of underground and buildings are visible. Units and objects (such as rails) are not visible through the gray haze. Units and objects are only displayed in addition to the background for fields that are currently visible.

The visual calculation is very complex within ASC, as there are many influencing factors. As already described above, z. B. the weather the visibility. The terrain (objects) such as forest, trenches, mountains, etc. also reduce visibility. The higher up a unit is (elevation steps), the less the terrain hampers it. Specifically, this means that the view of a soaring aircraft is far less influenced by the terrain than the view of a unit on the ground. The influencing of the view through the hex field itself and objects on it is called "terrain jamming".

All units submerged and in orbit are invisible per se. They can only be seen by units that have sonar or satellite reconnaissance.

There are also stealth and unit jamming complications. Units with stealth functions are more difficult to spot, so they obstruct the view of the hex they are on. Jamming, however, also hinders the reconnaissance on neighboring hexes.

Basically, the topic of view can be summarized as follows: A hex field is completely cleared up if the player has more view than the unit and terrain jamming are added together on the field.

Objects & obstacles

In addition to units (maximum one per hex), various objects can be found on each hex. These objects can either be built by certain units or have already been permanently installed in the editor. Buildable objects are z. E.g. tank trenches, trenches, bases for battle towers, forest, rails, mines etc. Objects change the ability and range of movement (e.g. vehicles cannot pass through tank trenches) and give attack and defense bonuses (e.g. base, trenches) . Objects can be torn off or destroyed by armed force.

Combat modes

Units can be used in different combat modes. This has an impact on their tactical skills and capabilities. The default mode is that a unit can move and then fire. In doing so, she loses the opportunity to move further after the shot, regardless of whether she has used her maximum range of movement or not. Other units work the other way around. You lose the chance to fire this round the moment you move. Artillery works z. B. partially like this. But, if you fire first you have the opportunity to move freely afterwards, which can be useful with artillery when you are in retreat to keep the enemy at your body.

Movement - Shot - Movement (MAM)

A special attack mode is the so-called MAM mode. A unit does not lose its residual movement after it has fired. Often this function is in combat support units, such as B. to find buggies or airplanes. The latter fly over the enemy positions, drop their bomb load, and fly back to their own lines in the same turn (provided the movement range is sufficient).

Reaction fire (RF)

Certain units can be set up to automatically fire at any unit that comes into their line of sight and weapon range during the opponent's turn. This mode is called Reactionfire in ASC . In this mode, a unit can fire several times per enemy round. This is the case with enemy artillery e.g. B. very uncomfortable and makes storming enemy artillery positions difficult. Air defense against airplanes is very much based on this combat mode and allows enemy bombers to be shot down if they fly over your own positions.

If a unit is placed in RF mode, it will completely lose its ability to move. Flak positions in this mode must be specially protected or strategically positioned so well that the opponent cannot reach them, because they can only escape in the next round after leaving the RF mode.

Movement under Reactionfire (MdRF)

This special mode can only be found in a few units, as it can make them very powerful. It allows you to move freely even when you are in RF mode.

Block & clamp

Units can not only protect each other from enemy units with Reactionfire, but also offer themselves additional protection if two friendly units are standing next to each other and one of them is attacked in direct close combat. They do this by mutually increasing their defensive bonuses. This means that an enemy can do less damage in close combat.
The attacker has a similar function through crossfire (clamps). If you surround an enemy unit on two or more sides, each attack receives a corresponding bonus to its attack value. Breaking through an enemy line and quickly placing combat units behind the direct opposing front line can very quickly lead to large gains in terrain, since a large increase in attack power is possible by clamping.

Close and long range combat

In close combat, both attackers and defenders always shoot each other (provided ammunition and the technical possibilities are available). In long-range combat, only the attacking unit shoots. It is not possible to draw a direct conclusion over a distance of more than 1 field. This is done beforehand using the reaction fire mode.

Game comfort, undo & event list

Many games are designed so that decisions made by the player are permanent and cannot be reversed. In turn-based games, this concept only works to a limited extent, as the player can simply start his move again and try to see if a better result could be achieved. To make it as easy and comfortable as possible for the player, i. H. Not having to start from scratch again and again, ASC has a recording system for every single event. As long as the player has not finished his round, he can undo all his moves using an undo function. It is even possible to selectively remove individual trains from the event list, provided that this does not prevent any follow-up actions in the event list. This gives the player the opportunity not to have to go through everything he has earned again if he only wants to change a single move. Only when he finishes his round and sends all his moves are permanent and irreversible.

resources

There are three resources available to the player: energy, material and fuel. These are required for the production and repair of units, as well as the construction of infrastructure and buildings. Resources are obtained from buildings; in either Battle Isle or ASC resource mode.

Battle Isle resource mode

Here the creator of the map determines for each building how many resources it will produce per turn. Just like we know it from the Battle Isle series.

ASC resource mode

Here buildings harvest or extract resources. Energy is generated by wind and solar systems, material and fuel have to be taken from the ground by conveyor buildings or extracted from renewable resources. The occurrence of material and fuel can be explored by units with resource tracing functionality. The efficiency of the building depends on the weather (sun, rain, snow, wind) and the amount of raw materials in the ground.

In the Battle Planet project, additional buildings can be erected that provide research points. These points can be used to research new technologies, whereby new construction options can be obtained.

building

Depending on the map, buildings are either fixed or can be built by players. Buildings "cost" material and a little fuel. Most maps have buildings that are part of the map, e.g. B. Cities.

Development history

Enthusiastic about the Battle Isle game series , but disappointed by the limited modding options that this series offered the player, Martin Bickel began programming his own hex strategy game . When the project became known to the Battle Isle community, some players got involved in the development. First, the system was converted to a real hex field system and an interface was created between Battle Isle and ASC so that units and maps could be transferred. From there, the game was constantly expanded with new ideas. The Battle Planet project, which was started at the same time, led to many major development steps, as a structured development was made possible here. In its current form, ASC was completed in its development around 2013. Only the difference in the experience system between attack and defense experience of version 2.7.127.4, which is used in the Battle Planet project, has not yet flowed into the official release (version 2.6.0.0); the source text of both branches can be accessed freely.

Modification options

Screenshot of a unit description file

ASC generates its program data for soil types, buildings, objects, units and research from text files. These can be freely modified and thus infinitely expanded. There are currently over 500 different units in the Battle Planet project. However, to ensure that every player in a game plays with the same unmodified units, there is an internal version and control system so that differences between two computers in the same unit are immediately noticed and reported to the player. So cheating is not possible.

There are currently two full ASC expansion sets : Project Battle Planet and Rough Legion .

Project Battle Planet

PBP star map with CETA open planetary system

The Battle Planet project is a turn-based, ongoing PBEM strategy game. PBP is not designed for short-term pastime, but requires long-term strategic planning. In addition to the direct battle for territories and buildings / cities, diplomacy, a functioning economy and close cooperation with the alliance partners are also important here. Currently over 70 players play more or less with or against each other on a little over 50 different planets. Everyone is responsible for the expansion of his colony and the production of his troops / armies.

A “personal unit” (PUnit) is available as a treat. This can be created by the respective player himself and is only played by him.

The story and administration is done online on the homepage. The game is only played offline and the score is sent by email. Each player is free to decide on which card or which cards they want to play at the same time. He is therefore responsible for building and expanding the infrastructure. The course of the game so far has shown that the players have a high emotional bond with their territory and their own units. Alliances can be formed or dissolved at any time. As good as anything is "ingame" allowed, the home base of every player is secured by a protection zone. This means that it is not possible to completely wipe out a player.

Rough Legion

Rough Legion is about the story of the Rough Legion. The Rough Legion is a special unit of the Republic Forces and is ambushed by the Corporation in the first mission. The campaign thus leads the player through the unwanted war that the corporation has forced on the Rough Legion.

It is a card and set system, which was created completely independently. Unfortunately there are only a few mission cards available so far.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ASC Wiki. Accessed August 30, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b ASC Wiki: Luck. Accessed August 30, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Battle Planet: Diplomacy. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).
  4. ↑ a b c Rough Legion
  5. ↑ ASC archive
  6. ↑ Maps converted from Battle Isle
  7. ↑ a b c Project Battle Planet - map archive
  8. Jump up ↑ Battle Planet: Terrain. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).
  9. ↑ Battle Planet: Weather. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).
  10. ↑ ASC Wiki: Viewcalc. Accessed August 30, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Battle Planet: Viewcalc. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).
  12. ↑ Battle Planet: Explanation of abbreviations. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).
  13. ↑ ASC Wiki: Reactionfire. Accessed August 30, 2015 .
  14. Jump up ↑ Battle Planet: Reactionfire. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).
  15. ↑ Battle Planet: Strategy. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).
  16. ↑ ASC Wiki: Resource Modes. Accessed August 30, 2015 .
  17. ↑ Battle Planet: Agriculture. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).
  18. ↑ Battle Planet: Research. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).
  19. ↑ ASC Wiki: Import BI Maps. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).
  20. ↑ ASC Wiki: Asctxt format. Accessed August 30, 2015 .
  21. ↑ ASC Wiki: Asctxt-Semantics. Accessed August 30, 2015 .
  22. ↑ ASC Wiki: Replays. Accessed August 30, 2015 .
  23. ↑ ASC Wiki: Replay errors. Retrieved on August 30, 2015 (German).