Hello All!
Thanks for all the feedback so far. Rest assured that we are listening very carefully, and no comment will go unnoticed.
Retributarr wrote: ↑Wed Jul 18, 2018 5:13 pm
From the Map-Depiction, my first impression is that the Units in it with the depicted BackGround just might blend together a little too much, making it difficult to see where your Units' are verses the Campaign/Scenario-Map!. Would it be possible to have a built-In-adjustment tab or what-ever, so that one could adjust the intensity of the Darkness/Brightness of the Units and or also the BackGround-Scenery?...to make it easier for the Player to see what is going on and to easily see who is where and in what terrain situation!.
The units always stood out from the map in this game series, and this is one of our priorities in the new game. The screenshot may not be fully representative here, because in trying to show more of the map at once, I've got view angle close to top-down, which makes it harder to read the units. To make matters worse, this screenshot was downscaled from full HD (BTW, here is the
image in original size). In any event, if our current implementation is not good enough, we will improve it. Of course, we can make an option to control intensity of units/terrain, but first, we will try to make it work for everybody and without the need to adjust anything.
goose_2 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:06 pm
This is very interesting new concepts that I would like to playtest before they are fully implemented as some areas I see possibly breaking the current game, but want to play test first before I make a judgment...
But even before you can test them, feel free to post any concerns here!
Kerensky wrote: ↑Wed Jul 18, 2018 8:13 pm
For example, splitting sounds interesting, but it pretty much goes against all the rules of good combat. You should always consolidate strength, not spread it, especially in long PVE campaign environments where snowball effects make winner win more and losers lose more. Is it actually going to be effective general tactic, or a gimmick that requires specific scenario design to enable functionality of? I mean, if splitting a unit takes extra core slots, why not just have full normal core slots of cheaper units and have them all proper 10 strength instead of expensive 5 strength units. It's generally always better to have weaker 10 strengths than stronger 5 strengths. This is why all those custom maps with 1 and 2 strength Tiger tanks units were interesting in concept, but invariably failed in practice.
What you say does make perfect sense, I just wanted to point out that:
- A unit may take up several slots, so splitting may be cheaper than buying a second full-blown unit.
- There are also over-strength units, so even in halves they can be quite powerful (e. g. 15 -> 8+7).
- You can split/merge on one side of the map when you need an additional unit there, then do it on the other side of the map next turn. It just makes your force more flexible, at a cost of leaving some slots unused.
As for tactical uses for splitting, here are some possible ideas:
- Complete encirclement
- Recon
- Deplete enemy unit's ammo
- Cut off enemy unit's path to retreat
- Split crippled unit and run in opposite directions to maximize its chances of survival
- Provide at least some cover for more that 1 bomber at once
- Spread out suppression from artillery across two enemy units
etc.
gerbercage wrote: ↑Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:58 am
Do this game/game engine make use of many core/thread CPU or still only using one like most of the game?
Panzer Corps 2 is a turn based game, so it does not need to multi-thread as aggressively as real time games. However, the AI has been designed and implemented so that it can use as many threads as we throw at it, so it should be able to utilize all available cores.
mcc6256 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 19, 2018 11:15 am
They need to resize the units.They're out of proportion to each other.
In the end, relative size of units will be handled the same way it was handled in Panzer Corps. I don't remember any complaints about unit relative scaling in that game, but if you think it is not good enough, let us know!
Sourdust wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:09 am
The graphics do nothing at all for me, they're bland exhibit "early 21st century 3D render style", which is to say no style at all. I can't see that these graphics justify the shift to 3D. Unity of Command 2 team is doing a far better job producing a coherent and interesting visual style for their new game (even in 3D). I hate zooming and rotating around a map with a camera, it feels like camera is used as a crutch for bad graphic design. I'd rather have things presented well in max 2 scales, or better yet 1 scale with a mini-map.
I agree that Unity of Command 2 looks quite nice, but I don't agree that Panzer Corps 2 has no style. I think, "Panzer" games in 2D had very distinctive visual style, and the new game very clearly follows the same style in 3D. You may not like it, but it does not mean it is not there. As for camera controls, they will not be more complicated than in Panzer Corps. At the same time, personally I think that smooth zoom is always an advantage. In this game every battle has many different levels, starting from global strategy to strategy of each separate battle group to low-level tactics. You need different scale when planning ground war, air war and naval war. In each case you will use zoom to see everything you need big and clear.
Sourdust wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:09 am
I don't like the captured units mechanic at all. I know people liked using Char B1s etc. in PC, but the truth is that too much captured equipment makes the armies feel less unique, breaks immersion and encourages lazy play. I'd like to see less captured equipment, not more.
The point of captured unit mechanic is to have LESS captured units, not more. The way it worked before, when you got your Char B1s, you could use it indefinitely, until a more powerful upgrade became available. In Panzer Corps 2 you spend points from captured pool to raise such units, and also to replace them. As soon as you run out of points, no further replacements are possible. You can either try to capture more points form the enemy, or upgrade this unit to your native equipment, to get unlimited replacement points.
Sourdust wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:09 am
I'm keen to see what devs make of the whole prestige system / power curve / campaign progression. This to my mind is where the game will be made or broken, and I do hope there is some serious innovation in the works.
I did not write about it in the first diary, because it is more of a low-level aspect, related to how rules and formulas work under the hood. All I can say is that we are of course aware of the problem and giving it a lot of attention. It could be a good subject for one of the future dev diaries.
Sourdust wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:09 am
It looks like devs are being cautious or conservative in what they're doing with the game (eg no changes to unit classes or stats). I'd rather something that takes a few more design risks...
I think, even from the first dev diary it is obvious that we are doing some pretty serious changes, which some Panzer Corps fans may not like. In fact, with an established game like Panzer Corps, ANY change is risky.
As for classes and stats - well, we don't change them simply because it is better to add more functionality via unit's unique traits and abilities than to introduce more stats which most units may not even need. At the same time, it is good to give our players some familiar ground and not force them to learn the whole game from scratch. This is what sequels are about.
bebro wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:34 pm
Air model with planes auto-returning reminds me a bit on SSI's in People's General...
In that game air units were not proper core units though, but "air missions". We thought it was important to keep air units in the core, so you could nurture them, replace/elite-replace/upgrade/over-strength them, use prototypes or captured equipment for them, gain experience, awards and heroes on them, and even... give them unique names.
In other words, do everything you are used to do with your beloved core units.
Intenso82 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 20, 2018 9:00 pm
If there is a map converter, will there be a full scenario converter?
If so, will all existing PZC1 content(DLC, GC) be transferred into a new game engine?
We don't plan to provide any official conversions of PzC content. PzC2 is a new, separate game. If there is demand, it is technically possible to provide conversion option as part of the new Editor. However, note that Panzer Corps 2 uses a different hex orientation, so any maps from Panzer Corps will be converted rotated. And of course, the balance of such converted scenarios will be completely off, because of different game rules, different unit balance, different AI and many other aspects.
