One aspect where SuperPower 3 differs from SuperPower 2 is in tactical combat. While the SuperPower series isn't a wargame per se, warfare has always been an integral part of geopolitics and how the game is played. The game is a geopolitical simulator, meaning that combat has been adjusted accordingly. On a tactical level, SuperPower 2 obfuscated everything into a semi-graphical display but under the hood, combat resolution was quite simple. We wanted to do more with SuperPower 3. We wanted to bring the player closer to the action and display the actual combat. We also wanted to use the terrain more accurately.
A big constraint we have is that the game is in real time, and has multiple players (194 in all, human or AI). So, when large-scale conflict breaks out (and knowing some of you, it will!), there are dozens of combats that need to be resolved by the server. Therefore, we're creating a hybrid approach to combat in SuperPower 3, where you get to see and can control units directly on the globe. Because of these technical constraints, we couldn't have resolved these dozens of simultaneous battles in a pure RTS setting (imagine a game playing 12 Starcraft games at once, on top of the rest of the simulation). This is why we're aiming for a compromise between details and controls.
Please, keep in mind that the world is still in a simplified view; we're not creating the world to scale for technical and gameplay-related reasons. It would be simply unfeasible and unmanageable if we tried. To be sure, we tried to make the world as realistic as possible but within certain constraints.
This has enormous implications for games. When units get into combat, it creates a battlefield zone. Movement rules are affected in that zone, and the game creates a sort of mini-RTS for these units. Of course, you can send reinforcements, flee the zone, etc.
While this objective isn't achieved, and there are multiple units doing battles in a single territory, the territory will change status to "contested", meaning it produces less economically, is less stable politically, etc. A contested region will be retaken by the political owner of the region if it successfully defends the battle - meaning, if it pushes back the invading force. If the invader succeeds, and becomes the sole presence on a region, it can then start an annexation process to take control of the region politically and economically.
Note that airplanes need airports (or aircraft carriers) to take off and land. When a region becomes contested, its airports become unusable, so you need "feet on the ground", i.e., land units to occupy the zone. Planes are modeled in such a way to make bombing runs between airports and battlefields. They can swoop in, attack a target, and return to base. You can also bombard from afar using certain ships.
This system creates the notion of frontlines in SuperPower 3 - you can position units strategically to pressure a neighbor. It also creates the possibility of multiple frontlines and battles between large borders.
In smaller countries, there is the possibility of dragging neighbors into conflicts by accident. A battlefield is roughly 200 km across. In parts of the world where regions are small and multiple countries can be near, it can mean that depending on where the first hostilities occur (the center of the battlefield), a third-party country could be within a battlefield "zone". The AI will try to move according to its objective, and not necessarily drag neighbors into conflicts. But human players, on the other hand...
All of this is a large departure from combat in SuperPower 2. You can always keep these battles on autopilot and not interact with them to have a more "SuperPower 2" feel to the military. But the extra controls, realism and tactical possibilities of SuperPower 3 are a new and exciting gameplay option that we're eager to build upon for the future of the franchise! Hope you like the new images and we can’t wait to show you more!
