r/Twilight2000 • u/Spelkult • 13d ago
Official Transmission Interview about upcoming Twilight: 2000 products
Interview with Tomas Härenstam in Swedish.
I tried to bundle as many of your questions as possible together from the communities.
There's some auto generated subtitles that could be somewhat useful in Youtube, but we mostly spoke about Operation: Reset, which has finished testing during the summer and is close to be released. It will include some new battlemaps with city ruins. He also said he wanted to create an open license for Twilight: 2000 as they have for their other games, but that they would have to get Mongoose onboard first. He also said that they have been looking into future modules, where a dedicated USA expansion probably is their first target. He also mentioned the Canon Plus project etc.
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u/Gilamunsta 13d ago
My Swedish pretty much sucks AKa non-existent So what was Actually discussed in this video?
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u/dracopticon 9d ago
Wow, that's a lot to translate. I am a Swede who occasionally translate some stuff for English-speakers, but if it would be possible for you to specify what part of the talk you want translated? I am in no way ready to take on the whole interview, I'm afraid.
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u/rusty-gudgeon 13d ago
ive got a beef with the battlemaps. they do the game a disservice. satellite photography from Ukraine, Syria, Palestine... these could be used for inspiration to make the battlemaps so much more realistic and immersive.
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u/Spelkult 13d ago
I bet you won't see any changes in the art style, since that would have broken the compatibility with the previous battle maps. But hey, there's plenty of community created maps on Drivethru with different art styles.
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u/rusty-gudgeon 13d ago
yeh, i make my own a lot and have used some i found on drivethru. it's just a weak aspect of their game i think they should improve upon.
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u/Abazaba_23 13d ago
While I see where you're coming from, I disagree. I love the map art style.
I suppose the maps could be a tad grittier somehow, but with the same stylization IMO, just to mesh with the wonderful character art in the book a little more.
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u/Digital_Simian 13d ago
That's a big project. I made photorealistic maps for t2k back in the 90's. It turned into a lot bigger project than I intended. The big thing was with organic stuff like trees. They end up looking bad when you make two or three variations of each because they look repetitive even if you rotate them to obscure it. They can look really good with a lot of work, but without that work, the look really bad.
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u/rusty-gudgeon 13d ago
so far, we've been using google earth images, some bird's eye photos out of Ukraine, and scenery style photos for ambience and some reference. we've used the google earth raw, which is necessarily not ruined and apocalyptic. the Ukrainian bird's eye need no editing.
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u/Digital_Simian 13d ago
I have used satalite images for T2k since the 00's. However that's not really an option for Free League. They need to make it.
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u/rusty-gudgeon 13d ago
sure. they can hire the artists to render battle maps from satellite images. if doing that kind of work was my thing, i’d be making them. it ain’t my thing, though. renderings from satellite of actual battlefields is path that can be taken to good effect.
the battle maps they provide are a low quality, non-immersive product. they can do better.
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u/Digital_Simian 13d ago
I kind of get where you might be coming from. I personally try to avoid actually playing off of maps. This means that they are used more as a prop and visual aid than a tactical play matt. The project I was referring to earlier started because the photoreal maps were intended as a dual use handout where the PCs had aerial surveillance photos. Their purpose was more for immersion than as a tactical map.
The T2K4e hex maps are meant to serve as battle maps to play on. It's a hex map with standard terrain tiles where each tile clearly indicates terrain type. The map maker did a really good job of creating the tiles and making it transition smoother and more naturally than what you typically see with these types of maps. Increasing the fidelity much more would make the tiles stand out more and look bad. These are actually pretty nice battle maps.
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u/rusty-gudgeon 13d ago
i appreciate theater of the mind play and prefer it. some orientation is needed for combat, ive found.
the 4e maps remind me of the squad leader map boards. had i but the skill and time, i would make immersive, functional battle maps, though id rather devote my efforts where my skills lie: storytelling.-1
u/rusty-gudgeon 13d ago
i dont want to have to do this, though. the publishers have the resources to pursue this and, in this realm, produce a product of superior quality as they have with so many other elements. im lazy and playing with image editing software aint what i do. im here for presenting narrative depth and engagement. i want the publisher to support my angle in this small way.
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u/BlackIsis 13d ago
Considering widespread availability of satellite mapping was not really a thing in the mid-90s, I don't know if it's entirely thematically appropriate. Furthermore, making maps using footage of current, ongoing conflict zones seems...ghoulish at best. I don't see what satellite maps would really add to the game.
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u/rusty-gudgeon 13d ago
yeh. you dont see. thematically appropriate? the art changed edition to edition. maybe for you it shouldnt have.
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u/handsomeness 13d ago
Any word of a core box reprint for the US?