HomeLAN - How does Act of War handle things like resources and unit creation?

Henrick Strandberg - Resource management in Act of War reflects the resource and supply issues faced by any contemporary fighting force. It's simply about money, equipment and time. Players will adapt their strategies depending on the mission and try different solutions to reach the same objective. This creates a much more dynamic experience than a linear or tactical game where pretty much every game situation can be predicted.

The most important resource by far is what we simply call the "human resource". Wounded enemy soldiers and downed pilots can be captured and turned into prisoners of war, which give you both an instant and a long-term cash bonus. On the flip side, preventing the opponent from capturing your own wounded soldiers (by keeping them safe until they can be medevaced) is of course an equally important part of this "resource". To add to the mix, all units gain experience which makes a big difference to their overall efficiency, so you really want to be careful with the most experienced ones. The game is balanced so that players that "manage" these "human resources" the best will win in the long run.

Aside from the human resources we have oil (harvested from oil wells) and banks (buildings you have to occupy and hold) that continously add cash to your war chest. Mainly, these provide static strategic objectives and are a good way to kick-start gameplay before you've had any enemy contact. Finally, achieving certain objectives will sometimes give you cash injections.

Different missions use these resources in different ways to provide the maximum amount of variety -- some missions have no resource management at all. And of course, in skirmish and multiplayer games it's vital to find the right balance -- you can only capture prisoners of war with your infantry units, but these in turn are vulnerable to being captured by the enemy. This way of putting human resources in the fore-front is totally in line with how today's warfare works, and I believe we're the first game to simulate this in a way that's really user-friendly and easy to understand.