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From: "gil" <hakim@tx1.elex.co.il>
Subject: Re: How to do tactical control...
In-Reply-To: Your message of 22 Mar 1996 11:41:28 +1000.<4it0g8$jtq@w617gja2.gjames.com.au>
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>From: chris@w617gja2.gjames.com.au (chris orchard)
>Newsgroups: comp.ai.games
>Subject: How to do tactical control...
>Date: 22 Mar 1996 11:41:28 +1000
>Organization: G. James Australia Pty. Ltd.,Brisbane , Qld, Australia
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>Keywords: tactical design
>
>Hi all,
>
>Thanks firstly to Allan who gave me a good reference to a military site:
>http://alsp.arpa.mil/cfor/cfor.html
>
>Ok, assumption:
>In order to have a body of units working collectivly (as a squad or whatever)
>SOMEONE has to be the leader.  Following this leads to a chain of command.
>Now, for this to work, there must be:
>-an order(s?) given down the chain
>-a report given up the chain
>
>Let's discuss the order bit first:
>
>What makes an order?  Let's take a simple movement command.
>
>- Well it must be timely.  "Go here" is great, but WHEN?. now?, if the
enemy moves?
>    after your guys have attacked?  at a certain time?
>- It must also have a location or area to be executed.  Ie "move as close
to x,y as
>    you can"
>- There must be an attitude to the order. attack or defend? 
>- There may also be a reference unit to stick close to, or to follow.
>- The path to follow. 
>
>What about an attack/defense order? (additional points only)
>
>- Priority of attack.  attack weakest units?, slowest units?
>- Alternate objectives?  forget the catapults, go for the towers?
>
I suppose you could let decide your unit what they want to attack first
according to the threat and the value of the ennemy units (which you can
quantify according to the rules and goals of the game)
You can also use probabilities to let your unit decide, let's say that green
units will have a prob' of 80% to attack the closest ennemy unit and 20% to
attack a more valuable unit but at a longer range, whereas elite units could
go for the valuable ennemy units with a prob' of 90% and ignoring a more
immediate threat...
>
>Are there any parts to these orders left out?
>

I believe that units should be let an option to prefer their own survival
rather than carrying the orders until the last men. This could be done in
introducing a morale element in the unit characteristics as it is done in
Advance Squad Leader for instance. 
>IMO a strategy is just a bunch of pre-determined orders, with a time for
them
>to execute.
>Whereas a tactic is a real-time adjustment of these orders, to take
advantage
>of any enemy weakness or good terrain or your strategy.

I believe that tactical orders are quite simples in their essence: as in
real life, they tell were to go, what area to cover, what unit to support,
what objective to capture, destroy or occupy and so on. What you do is up to
the platoon leader, or Cie leader or whoever that believes  he's in charge...
The second clear element is according to those basic orders, according to
the terrain and ennemy position, how you carry them out. This is not really
decision but rather automatism and training. It's not a coincidence that
soldiers go through intensive training that sort of "programs" them. This
programming can be done to units in computer games.

Hopes this helps
Cheers
Gil

>Chris.
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>Chris Orchard - Assistant Manager, G James Computer Dept.
>( E - Mail )  - chris@gjames.com.au
>( Web Page )  - http://www.gjames.com.au/chris/chris.html
>- "Sex is not the answer.  Sex is the question.  Yes is the answer"

Orson Scott Card, Robert Sheckley, Robert Heinlein,Racine,Mendel Mann,Ernst Lubitch, thanks a lot.



