Slitherine

So I played to the tutorial by now (just 2 missions?) and I made a short start with the first mission.

A couple of things I noticed:

solved
- I play in a 1680 by 1050 resolution and it seems like I am missing a small part of the interfance on the lower side of the screen (you need a screenshot?)
- In the menu, there is now mouse to be seen, this way it is rather hard to navigate trhough it. Same goes for the tutorial messeges on wich you need to click to continue the mission.
- There are Xbox controls there, it ercodnizes my controller immedietly. This is a good thing, but there are only few things to control with it.
/solved

- Graphics are looking great, really enjoying them.
- After playing the tutorial (Really just 2 missions?) I still have little idea what the game is about. It is a good thing I play GBM otherwise I would be completely lost. Some general info is required, how do turns work etc.
- I like the possibility of controlling the camera from the WASD position
- I like the fact that you can zoom out that much, but there should be a faster way to do it and I would like to be able to still view the battlefield rather then a grey fog when zoomed out.
- This game is dying for a skirmish mode, hope there will be one (advance wars style)
- Music is very nice, yet I would appriciate a little bit more variation. Perhaps a different track for each front you are fighting on, so a different one when fighting in the dessert for example.
- Sound is nice, I really appriciate the real German languages rather than english with a german accent. Yet explosion could use some more base.
- When starting the first battle of the buldge mission, I really need some advice from the game. I never commanded more than one unit in the tutorial and also I have had no explenation what so ever on how to select a well balanced army. The gasme should help you a bit in your first mission. How do you set up a defence line, which units are strong versus other types etc. I guess this will all be added in due time though, just making Sure.
- Game is making contact with Xbox controller while it should not, this is definetly a bug.
- I like the vast amount of squads one can control.
- How do I spot which units are covered? And what do the three bars of a selected unit say?
- What is the role of morale? How does it work?
- I would like the ability of turning the camera with the 'q' and 'e' keys if this is possible.
- For people with dual monitor like me, it is nopt possible to scroll your camera to the right (As with most games) since the mouse leaves into the next screen. It can be helped though, some games make use of it (it is not a big deal I will give you that)

- more to come.

Ahhh - take the Xbox out. That is disabling your mouse controls!

Thanks That is just so much better. Also, no longer having the resolution issue, since the Xbox buttom icons no longer appear.

The missing cursor must be a bug, which I'm guessing is related to your Xbox controller. AFAIK there is no Xbox version planned for this game, nor any Xbox controls. I suggest you unplug the controller and see if that helps.

EDIT: blah, Iain beat me. Must learn to type faster.

So will the tutorial be expanded ? And is there some kind of manual there that we could use?

I'm expanding the tutorial as we speak!

Ideally we want players to be able to play without a manual. The controls should be intuitive enough to pick up and go with. In terms of the unit abilities, you will be more gradually introduced to the units in the earlier campaigns, so by the time you get to Bulge you'll have a solid idea of what works. Bear in mind that, gameplay being king aside, the abilities are somewhat realisitic - so there isn't necessarily the rock-paper-scissors that you might expect from, say, an RTS.

Thanks for your detailed comments, and keep them coming!

Cheers

Pip

I got to say this all sounds really great! A lot of depth can be added this way without overcomplicating the game. I will make a serieus attempt on the campaign tommorow. Any tips ?

Don't try and kill Panthers from the front?

The Bulge scenario is pretty tough, but then so was the battle! At least I think it is, but then perhaps my tactical skills are best serving behind the lines...

Cheers

Pip

but then perhaps my tactical skills are best serving behind the lines...

Nothing wrong with that Pip! Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics. A true military doctrine.

Okay si U tried playing the first mission of the Battle of the buldge campaign. I am kind of ashamed to say that I lost.
I proberbly lost because of these things:
- Most importantly: my lack of skill in gaming.
- Secondly I did not get the proper tutorial, I know this will be added later so don't worry.
- Third, the information you get while playing the scenario is very little.

The last thing is actually the only major issue. I think that if you guys wish this game to be playable without having to read a manual, it is extremely important that the player gets, or is able to get if he prefers, enough information out of the game. How big is the bonus for being in the woods(A colored shield as in Company of Heroes for example would be nice) What happens if units are spotted? How is determint how much damage a unit gets? And how big is the area of efect of a certain type of shot? These are all things an interface would be able to tell without distracting to much from the game.

I would also like ask for a future that would be nice here and that I always loved in the Stronghold series. I would like the ability to ask for tips on possible strategies and tactics. What kind of army would be best etc. The last thing you want in a game with as many different units as this (really like that btw) is that the player gets the idea that it doesn't really matter a hell of a lot what kind of units one uses.

Ps. I really enjoyed playing it by the way

+ The bonus for cover varies by unit. But generally it is pretty big. Perhaps we could add it to the tooltip?

+ If units are spotted they have been seen by the AI (otherwise they have fired from cover and the AI only has a vague idea where they are and might suppress the area, rather than shooting directly at the target, which has a much higher kill chance).

+ There isn't really a damage amount, there is no health as such. There are kill calcs based on the different types of weapons.

+ There isn't really area of effect, a given shot only affects the tile it hits

There are some guidelines about the abilities of units in their Force screen descriptions that might be helpful Or if you have any tips you think should show up in the game, let us know!

Thanks again for your feedback, keep it coming!

Cheers

Pip

But Artilery and mortar seem= to be able to hit different tiles than one aims for every now and then. Or is this just a visual thing?

Yes they are random but each shot hits a single tile. You want to know the maximum random spread from the target tile? We might be able to show this but it would not mean units in this area were effected. Only that there was a chance they would be effected.

It would be very nice if you could see the area where the shells could possibly fall. You could use it to see where you could get the most hits.

O and some sort of tooltip fpr cover would be great. Distinguishing between no, low, and high cover.

O and btw, when I place a unit on a tile with a building on it, do they gain extra cover ?

Trying the scenario again right now

Ok so this time I had several units surrender immedietly from the start because of the artelery fire, I should not place these units so close together.

I think it is not really realistic though, to have units surrender to an out of sight enemy while still being surrounded with allies. Should they not just flee rather then surrender ?

Morale limit for surrendering was increased recently, meaning they surrender more quickly. This works fine in combat but I think artillery fire should affect morale in a lesser extend now. I too have been able to clear entire villages with a single artillery barrage because they surrender so easily.

Good point - we need to reduce artillery suppression.

Great that you agree with me

So things I would really like to see in the upcomming version:

- Turning the camera with the q and e keys (just as the left and right arrow do atm)
- Fewer surrenders from artilery strikes
- A way to see how accurate your artilery (and mortars) can be and see where shells may or may not com down
- Some form of tooltips to give a quick view for the player to see wehter or not his unit is wel covered.

Can some of these things be realised ?

Edit:

Just found a bug. I do not know wether or not you guys know this already but here it is.
If I select 'campaigns' from the main menu, then select battle of the buldge, then I can choose the mission I want.
When I press on a mission, I get the appopriete army customisation screen. If however I then decide to choose a different mission, by pressing the cancel button in the lower right corner of the screen, the game takes me to an empty menu while it should take me back to the mission selection menu.

Aye that is a bug, I noticed it as well.

-When quitting a campaign, in the stat menu there is still an old UI button.

-Same problem when you get the UI menu you still have some credits left to buy units, UI buttons are still the old ones.

-When I played windowed, I found the scrolling of the map not very smooth going.