Discussion on how DEFCON scores

I propose that some alternative ways to score the game be implemented.

You could also have a way to start with some money, then purchase items, ships, radars etc.
After each round you get points for what's left, then get paid more money to buy more silos, ships etc.
..sort of like global thermo-nuclear RISK game.

You should receive some points in the game...
if you manage to end up with a score of zero and have most of your cities and facilities intact - you should receive some score
for the remaining silos, ships, etc.

Cheers.

I don't imagine Introversion will be changing how the game is scored any time soon, sorry. Every so often somebody suggests a new way, but the game has stayed the same ever since release.

I'm going to against what mrxak said and tell you that alternative scoring methods DO exist, including a method where you 'buy' buildings, and can be selected from the custom game options.

AND welcome to the boards!

@prophile, on Feb 11 2008, 07:23 AM, said in DEFCON SCORING:

I'm going to against what mrxak said and tell you that alternative scoring methods DO exist, including a method where you 'buy' buildings, and can be selected from the custom game options.

Eh?

@mrxak, on Feb 11 2008, 09:46 PM, said in DEFCON SCORING:

Eh?

Now, now. You're both right!

There are three scoring modes, but all of them are based upon the number of civilians killed in the game. Default gives you 2 points per megakill, and -1 points per megadeath (i.e. 2 points for killing 1,000,000 enemies, and -1 points for losing 1,000,000 of your own people). Genocide scoring drops the penalty for losing civilians, and Survivor (basically) drops the reward for getting kills.

Prophile is also correct that there is a mode in the game where you can buy units. However, you can only buy units at the beginning of the game. There is no system of "paying" a player to buy more units. Frankly, that wouldn't actually make any sense, given the timeframe in which the game plays out.

And mrxak is probably correct. The game has been out a while and many people have made similar suggestions. Introversion, the creator of the game, has not change the scoring parameters at all, ever, since the game's release. I honestly don't think that it is going to happen now.

xander

@darwinian, on Feb 11 2008, 04:52 PM, said in DEFCON SCORING:

Now, now. You're both right!

There are three scoring modes, but all of them are based upon the number of civilians killed in the game. Default gives you 2 points per megakill, and -1 points per megadeath (i.e. 2 points for killing 1,000,000 enemies, and -1 points for losing 1,000,000 of your own people). Genocide scoring drops the penalty for losing civilians, and Survivor (basically) drops the reward for getting kills.

Prophile is also correct that there is a mode in the game where you can buy units. However, you can only buy units at the beginning of the game. There is no system of "paying" a player to buy more units. Frankly, that wouldn't actually make any sense, given the timeframe in which the game plays out.

And mrxak is probably correct. The game has been out a while and many people have made similar suggestions. Introversion, the creator of the game, has not change the scoring parameters at all, ever, since the game's release. I honestly don't think that it is going to happen now.

Yeah, okay, that's what I thought. There's just no way to have previous games change future games.

Well what I am thinking of would be based in 'rounds'. At the end of each round, each person would have a chance to buy more equipment and place them. Or perhaps even to treat/isolate/evacuate citizens. You could a whole new element by buying mobile decontamination trucks or whatever.

Some of the ships could carry special forces units, designed to be deployed on the beaches (shoreline) they could then sneak in and destroy a targeted airfield or silo.

I know the game is focused on 'nuclear' aspects mostly, but the engine could probably handle a bunch of non-nuke based military strategy and equipment.. all leading up to DEFCON 1.

You could also make it more real-life by adding an 'oil-well' module. The wells make money, used to buy weapons or more wells.
You could also add chemical and biological weapons, lets face it, nukes aren't the only tools of mass destruction.

Cheers
Q_Dog

I just merged your three posts. In the future, please use the edit button under your post to add further thoughts instead of posting three times in a row.

What you don't seem to be taking into account is that the game ostensibly takes place in real time. Defcons 4 and 5 are a bit of an exaggeration of that, but the idea is that you already have forces deployed at the beginning of the crisis that precipitates the nuclear war. Then, the war plays out over 3-10 hours, and the world is gone. There would be no time to drill more oil, and there would be no one to sell it to. You start the war with all of the resources that you will ever have to fight the war. Thus your idea of rounds and an economy just doesn't make sense, whether or not the engine could handle it (and, given the way that IV codes things, I don't think it would be able to handle it).

The other thing that you are not taking into account is how your economy and ground units would affect game balance. Right now, the balance of the game is pretty fine tuned, and works really well. Each unit has strengths and weaknesses, there are no über units, and there are no useless units. You are proposing major disruptions to that balance, and I don't think that you really understand the ramifications of monkeying with it.

xander