Slitherine

Hey there. This is my first post, though I have followed and played a bit since early Beta. I follow forums and such for many games for years but for some silly reason seldom actually post anything! But this time I must, so here goes.

I have played all Panzer General games since the first one and have loved most of them, but especially PG1 and PG2. Right now I play OpenGen often and love it.

When I first tried the early Beta of this game it brought back good memories of my experiences with PG1, but it could not hold my attention for long and I did not play it very much. I felt that the series had moved on and OpenGen was still the only game I would play of this type.

I kept trying each new Beta version, but same result. Until this one .99. The combination of improvements has hit the tipping point and I played for quite a while and enjoyed it immensely! It has the feel and strategy of PG1, but with changes and updates that make it a new great experience!

Negative: I find it hard to follow combat results: when the combat animation happens (cool btw!), I have no idea who lost what or what supression occured..etc. (especially if air AND ground units in same hex) Maybe I am just missing something?

Observation: I read somewhere here that no one thinks many players of OpenGen and improved PG2 would play this game. I play these and now believe I would buy this game and add it to my play time as well as playing those other games. Especially if 2 things were added...maybe 3.

1) Overrun attacks...a powerful tank should not always be stopped by a 1-2 strength unit...adds a lot of strategy as well.
2) Leaders: I read that Leaders would be in final version...I hope so as they really help get you hooked on the game and involved with your troops...and generates excitement.
3) Prototype units: not as essential as the above 2 points , but another way to get players immersed in the game and trying for that BV and generates excitement and "game changing" each time you play through a campaign.

Implementing 2 or 3 of the above things would NOT make this just another OpenGen or PG2...there are too many differences between this game and those. But it would bring to this game a couple of the most "fun" and campaign changing things the others have. It greatly enhances the replayability of campaigns because you never have the same Core as the game before. Leaders and Proto units can drastically change the way you play a campaign and the core you buy. This is a good thing!

Congratulations to the Developers and main Beta Testers (you know who you are!) of this game! I am now eagerly going back to playing this game and looking forward to purchasing it when it comes out! (But please implement 2-3 of the above points...In my humble opinion it will greatly increase your sales so you can pump out updates and expansions!...hehe)

Negative: I find it hard to follow combat results: when the combat animation happens (cool btw!), I have no idea who lost what or what supression occured..etc. (especially if air AND ground units in same hex) Maybe I am just missing something?

This is something that I don't really miss but also DO miss. If I follow my own reaction on while playing I notice some things. First is that the combat animations haven't gotten to my visual spectrum yet, strange, but I don't watch them but they are probably good because they don't annoy me. But the second more important thing is the status results, combat resolution, hit point report, damage flow or what ever name it has is not registering in my brain and I miss that. One of the most important aspects of PG or the biggest thrill was the showing of the combat results. I was biting my lips when the letters screamed, Rugged Defense, or a battle ended bad. For some strange reason I don't get sucked in to that feeling with the way the combat resolution is shown in the game until now and I seem to care less. Now I cannot remember at the moment what the big difference is/was but I'll try to figure it out soon.

Anyway , I'm for sure the ay combat resolution is presented can be improved some what more. Maybe showing the results a little longer or a count down on both strengths, number by number, or a ticking sound for each strength a unit loses, 1 loss.. tick. Seven losses tick tick tick tick tick tick tick. Like a sound from arcade games when your stars are counted or your jewels. or tick tick tick and boom if a unit dies. Sound feedback seems to be very important for the feeling and atmosphere.

And yes, I agree with the overrun attack. With very weak units you could give the option to just run them over and ignore the zone of control if that doesn't make the game more complex then necessary.

good points Terhune..

Hit the L key for Last combat report.

Hot keys are your friend.

I agree hotkeys are helpful, but the option of selecting additional display preferences, such as floating text or popups couldn't hurt and may win friends.

A lot of the items are on The List, specifically floating text
Post#2 Article# 9.5
viewtopic.php?t=24157

We're hoping to get the chance to implement them and implement them well, but currently there is a deadline coming up, and there are more urgent matters that require attention...

Hit the L key for Last combat report.

I agree hotkeys are helpful, but the option of selecting additional display preferences, such as floating text or popups couldn't hurt and may win friends.

That's useful but it's not giving me back the tension and excitement that I had, waiting for the combat results, guessing an hoping, while the numbers slowly materialize and take form. There should be the right feel in displaying them, like the sound of the Tardis of Doctor Who, the Teleport effect in Star Trek, the sound of an approaching tank when waiting in an ambush without visual contact. So I talk about building tension in this short little moment of displaying results, that makes the moment more interesting and gives you just enough time to wonder and think about the results without it taking too long.[/quote]