SR1936 Press Release

[Edit: Apologies, thread should have titled Supreme Ruler 1936 Press Release, not with short form of the name]

Hi everyone,

We’re happy to be sharing our announcement for the next project from our studio;

ANCASTER, Ontario - March 7, 2013 - BattleGoat Studios has today reoccupied the Rhineland with their announcement of Supreme Ruler 1936. This historical real time strategy game for Windows based PCs is scheduled for release in Q4, 2013.

“Throughout the development of our Supreme Ruler series, we saw a World War II title as the culmination of our grand vision”, commented Lead Designer, David Thompson. “We’ve always endeavoured to make significant changes with each new title and this will be no exception. Supreme Ruler 1936 will immerse players in the historical era and feature a depth of play that will provide incredible challenge.”

In Supreme Ruler 1936, players will be able to embark on the road to war in many different ways. Economic, scientific, and diplomatic challenges will certainly influence the ability of their nation to impose its will on the world. Meanwhile military buildups and escalating tensions throughout the world continue, as some nations flex their military might seeking to expand their territories, while others pursue peaceful and isolationist policies in hopes of avoiding a second world war.

[ul]
[li]Play Multiple Campaigns from either Axis or Allied perspective.[/li]> [li]Take Control of any Nation in the World in Sandbox Mode and see how you can impact the outcome of the era.[/li]> [li]Challenge yourself with many Historical Scenarios for a quicker and fast-paced gameplay experience.[/li]> [li]The butterfly effect… Influence the timeline and outcome of thousands of historical events.[/li]> [li]Use Diplomacy, Trade, Espionage, and Intimidation to influence the policies of other nations.[/li]> [li]Research new Technologies to give your nation a significant military advantage including the Race for the Atomic Bomb![/li]> [li]Modernize your economy to become a world leader and support whatever social and military policies you choose.[/li]> [li]Manage as much or as little of your military forces and production as you like by setting your Defense Minister’s level of control.[/li]> [li]When diplomacy fails… Sophisticated Real-Time Strategic and Tactical Control of your Military Forces.[/li]> [li]Battle your enemy and Mother Nature, as a fully integrated weather model influences the outcomes of the battlefield.[/li]> [li]Significant graphic improvements to 3D terrain and Graphic User Interface[/li]> [li]Up to 16 players in Multiplayer over local network or Internet[/li]> [/ul]

Follow us at http://www.battlegoat.com, or on twitter at @battlegoat and @sr1936

About BattleGoat Studios
BattleGoat Studios is a Canadian Software Developer committed to developing leading edge “Intelligent Strategy Games” for the PC. BattleGoat’s game design history dates back to the first text-based Supreme Ruler game in 1982, and the design team firmly believes that Strategy Gamers are looking for more sophisticated games that also remain fun to play. BattleGoat insists that their approach to development will always emphasize an accurate, heavily researched environment assuring players an entertaining and immersive gameplay experience. Their previous PC releases are Supreme Ruler 2010, Supreme Ruler 2020 (Gold), and Supreme Ruler Cold War.
Official Website: http://www.battlegoat.com

Cheers,

<troll> My SEO rating for this thread: Horribly undescriptive title, little original content, no images and missing elements (what goes after the “Cheers,”?). Dunno why I felt compelled to post this, but I did. </troll>

The game looks interesting. A link to a screenshot might help, as well.

@Brian Rubin - Sorry if the title wasn’t that descriptive but not sure what else to post, it’s the first announcement, not sure what “original content” you’re looking for. I’m on the dev team so it’s all “from the studio”.

There aren’t any screenshots to release yet. For a game of this style building on an existing engine, a lot of the early work is building the data to go into the maps. There will be more info and screenshots coming as development continues.

Chris Latour
BattleGoat Studios

Hey BG, what I meant is basically use the full game name in the title, right now it looks like the title of a congressional bill. ;) Also, more original content meant more stuff from you, less press release. :)

I clicked as I wondered what SR1936 was. Figured it was some sci-fi game, SR1936 being the name of a lunar base or something along those lines.

From what I read, its a Strategy game set in 1936?

A strategy game almost certainly in line with its predecessors, Supreme Ruler 2020 and Supreme Ruler Cold War.

Ah, I seem my mistake. I guess I was posting some of these too fast yesterday. I should have titled it Supreme Ruler 1936. The “SR” has become a well known moniker within the community. Oops.

Yes, the game is set in 1936 to start, although there is intention for the scenarios to recreate historical conflicts at various times throughout the war. Precisely which conflicts we’ll recreate is still being reviewed.

I didn’t really have much to add to the OP, some stuff is still being kept under wraps so I need to find out from above how much more I can say on some areas.

Questions?

One of the biggest improvements you made to SR:CW over 2020 was a considerably improved interface (along with features like the merchant marine to make moving troops around much less of a chore). I’m assuming you have some basic ideas for refinements to the interface, but do you have anything that has materialized on that front? Will the merchant marine make a return (potentially playing into the War of the Atlantic)?

To be frank, my biggest obstacle to getting into the games is how moving much of anything military-wise with precision seems to be such a chore, but part of that may be my inability to get past the rules of engagement, stances and all the other little details that I assume are key to actually performing maneuvers and combat operations properly.

Also, are there any plans to expand diplomacy (with the tacit understanding that this is almost certainly a wargame first and foremost)?

The intention is to improve the interface without changing it completely. Merchant Marine are still planned, but it’s still early. Can’t say much on diplomacy yet, it is being examined.

Hi,

Just a quick update on our project;

BattleGoat Studios is excited to announce the launch of its Kickstarter to support the development of Supreme Ruler 1936.

In particular, this Kickstarter will allow us to develop more content for SR1936 (additional Campaigns, Scenarios, and other elements). It will also allow us to launch a beta program in late November to allow everyone to help us make Supreme Ruler 1936 the best game possible. And it’s a great way to get the game at an early-supporter discount!

You can visit the Kickstarter page to see in-game video and screenshots.

Thank you everybody for your ongoing support of BattleGoat Studios and the Supreme Ruler games, and we hope you’ll help us bring Supreme Ruler 1936 to the world.

– The BattleGoat Team

Thanks. Any target release date? Is it still 4Q 2013?

No, the Kickstarter details actually updated that to Q1 2014. There have also been some updates on the Kickstarter page that include video and screenshots from the game. If you’re interested in seeing our progress, check them out.

How does this compare/differ from Paradox Interactive games like Hearts of Iron 3?

It’s got some similarities but also a lot that is different. The biggest differences are that we do territory in individual hexes instead of provinces and we use many more unit types than they do. Because we deal with countries in a “per hex” fashion, our supply model for getting supplies to units is much more dynamic than theirs but this can create more unexpected shapes during times of war and conquest. For the units, where they create generic ability levels and assign real names that are comparable to what you’ve built, our game has every different unit type you’d expect to get. I believe our commodity system is also a little less complex than theirs. We also don’t really model the people below the leader of the country the way they do. We use generic “ministers” who are available to manage each department your not interested in controlling.

Another big difference is that our game has no end date. If you achieve your victory condition you can choose to “play on” for decades. A player starting in 1936 could play through technologies up to ~ 2070 before running out of things to research.

Is this rts style play with pausible time, or turn-based? How many countries are modeled? All for 1936? Could I play as Argentina and try and take over South America during the war, or is this major powers only?

Oh just read this: http://www.supremewiki.com/node/300 sounds nice! You should do a super sale on Steam right now to try and get some more publicity for the kickstarter. Then some people who’ve never been exposed to your games could give them a try. Will you have a really good manual, or at least excellent tutorials to help newbies get into the game? I know some people might be intimated as it previous reviews talked about how involved the series is (though many of us are just starting to find out we like that!)

It’s pauseable real-time. I’m assuming all countries at the time are modeled for 1936 and that, while the game will emphasize the larger countries, there should be no issues with you taking Argentina and trying for global conquest if you’re so inclined. Past games in the series have always let you do that (starting with SR2020, at least).

Can’t say how extensive the manual/tutorial will be yet, we’re still working on those elements. But making it more approachable is one of our priorities.

And yes, in Sandbox mode you can play as any country.

Also, SR2020 was on sale at Steam last week. Cold War pricing is still in the hands of Paradox who did the publishing of that title for us.

I apologize if these have been asked:

  1. How long does a typical 1936 to … ~1950 game take to play?
  2. Knowing the above, how is a multi-player game played? Does everyone have to be connected to the game for every moment of the game?

1 - Hard to say, we’re still Alpha testing and content hasn’t been filled in to a number of areas yet. Hopefully the beta will answer some of this, but can go quite long. That’s why we’re offering 1940 and 1941 start date campaigns as well.
2 - Yes, there is no join in progress, it’s not a persistent world and we don’t have the resources for servers. Players can however save and resume. The game also Alt-Tabs cleanly. If you were playing cooperatively with a friend and had to go for dinner, you could just “leave it running” then come back after if you’ve set lots of things in motion and trust your minister for a bit. You’d just need them to pause if you came under attack :)