Panzer Corps 2 - A look to the future

[AlbertoC]

Hello All! This is Alex, lead developer of the Panzer Corps series. Panzer Corps 2 released three weeks ago (time flies), and we can already draw some first conclusions.

On the whole, we are really happy with how the game has been received. Metascore reached 84 and all 13 critic reviews were positive, which is very rare for a niche wargame, and an improvement over the prequel. User reactions have also been positive overall, and many war-hardened veterans of this genre told us that Panzer Corps 2 was the best game which they ever played, and better than the predecessor in every way.

Although it is 2020 and we had to update the graphics to modern standards, it’s very satisfying to hear that the new game does not only stand out because of the graphics, but also because of advancements in gameplay. In particular, players feel that the new game is more deep and tactical, without losing its charm and simplicity; that all unit classes are now useful; that the game rewards varied army composition and combined arms approach like never before, and that the number of available options allows to adapt the game to any playing style and provides a lot of replayability.

However, we will readily admit that it’s not all perfect, and there are definitely issues and things to improve. Upon release, the game has some stability issues, performance issues and bugs, especially in Multiplayer. We apologise for these defects, consider them all a top priority, and are working on them right now.

⦁ We are getting all crash reports in real time and collect them all in a big database. In each patch we address at least some of the most common crashes, and then watch how the number of events drops, so stability of the game is quickly improving. If you are playing Panzer Corps 2 and get a crash, please do press “Send & Close” button to send a report to us, and ideally also add a short description of what you were doing when the problem occurred.
⦁ There are no simple methods to improve game performance, so we are already working on a deep refactoring of the engine to provide good performance on a wider spectrum of PCs, even not the most recent or top-of-the-line models. Preliminary results look promising.
⦁ As for Multiplayer, this is where most of the time of the whole team goes right now. We are not only fixing problems, like annoying desyncs in online games. There are also several major features in the pipeline, in particular tournaments, ranked games and more content, both competitive and co-op. Panzer Corps was primarily a single player game, but we want Panzer Corps 2 to shine in Multiplayer as well.

Although many players eagerly embraced Panzer Corps 2, some others remain unconvinced. I read everything posted in player reviews and on the forums, and so I’m aware of all concerns which people voice. For example: the map looks blurry, units are hard to recognize in 3d, some mechanics could use more balancing (e. g. heroes), there is not as much content as Panzer Corps had, random maps need more options, and so on. All these concerns are perfectly understandable and valid. We will always keep them in mind and will likely address most them as we develop the series further. Our goal is to make Panzer Corps 2 a game for everyone, a definitive experience for all fans of this genre.

From experience we know that such games have a long life span and get even better over time. Panzer Corps is a prime example here; it enjoyed a record-breaking 1000+ online players this February. Not bad for a 9 years old game! We are confident that the release of Panzer Corps 2 is also just the beginning of a long and exciting journey, which we will happily share with our vibrant player community.

[ErissN6]

example: units are hard to recognize in 3d

All should be at least as easily informative than in 2D. All what was in PC1 must be visible if we want in PC2.
. So, like you did for units, you must too give options to scale what is important in the terrain, such as flags of objectives.
. Too, recognizing a unit is not enough, we must too, and it's the more important, regnonize its game function: that this tank is reco, or this fighter plane is un-munitioned spotter.

Our goal is to make Panzer Corps 2 a game for everyone, a definitive experience for all fans of this genre.
we know that such games have a long life span and get even better over time. We are confident that the release of Panzer Corps 2 is just the beginning of a long journey, which we will share with our player community.

Yes, I'm quite confident and hopefull.

[gokkel]

Good to hear that Panzer Corps 2 does well, I hope we will have lots of years of new content and improvement to come still.

I generally enjoy the game, though there are some things I too personally would like to see improved still. Many of those are listed already in your post (esp. of concern for me are the blurry map; the hard to recognize 3D units, esp. Planes and Infantry; overpowered heroes, commander trait balancing, bug fixes), but there are also some concerns I did not see mentioned but are important to me and surely also others:

1. The AI often behaves very, very poorly and needs to be improved A LOT, this is a core element for campaign gameplay and should be of highest priority right now. It starts with the most basic concepts like using artillery before an attack with a different unit rather than the other way around. The AI also sometimes attacks units with disastrous combat predictions with zero success chance (like actively charging Cavalry into a Panzer IVG in open ground). Moving a Katyusha into the frontline while the tanks remain passive and sit behind. Moving infantry out of a town, just to decide not to do anything afterwards.
2. Campaign mission debriefings. Doesn't have to be as big as the mission introductions, but it feels a bit sad to only see a Victory screen after every mission. The next mission briefing sometimes explains the war situation after your victory, but sometimes the impact of your previous mission success is not clear enough, and mission debriefings could be helpful to accomplish this. In particular these are absolutely necessary in missions with bonus objectives that impact the campaign tree (like Moscow 41, Stalingrad; I captured all Moscow 41 objectives and I got no kind of feedback that I even succeeded in this, and I have no idea without searching this forum what kind of impact that even had on my campaign) and especially campaign ending scenarios. Seeing only the default victory screen after you won the war for example is extremely underwhelming.
3. Sound effects. Many unit sound effects are very underwhelming right now and a step back from PC1. Units should have more differentiated sound effects for moving and shooting, particular iconic unit types (like Stuka, which already sounds exciting but could be improved still) and tanks, especially heavy tanks, should sound much more epic. This would do wonders for immersion.

[eddieballgame]

The game is great fun & am excited for the future of this gem.
One thing I would like to see per future modding capabilities is to be allowed to 'fiddle' with the difficulty settings a bit more & the Traits.
With the possibility of creating more Traits.
Or is that left to the 'devs' per DLCs?
I would be ok with that.
Heroes & General Traits for the AI to include renaming the heroes would be a nice touch.

[Gelete]

I would love some kind of role military carreer for the player.

I guess is shouldnt be that difficult and I am not asking for something really detailed. You get promotions and medals when achieving good perfomances.

Some sort of military carreer in which you begin as a Generalmajor in Poland (or in any other teather in case you start later on the war). Then you could have some ranks like the real ones:
1.-Generalmajor
2.- Generaleutnant
3.- General der Infanterie
4.- Generaloberst
5.- Generalfeldmarschall which would be the hardest and final target.

Also the adition of some regular medals like:
1.- Iron Cross 2nd and 1st classes.
2.- German Cross in Gold
3.- Knights Cross and its oak leaves, swords, diamonds and golden diamons
4.- Eventually a Great Cross of the Iron Cross in case you win the war and you already hold all previous decorations.

Also an option to see your unfiform with ranks and medals... well with this system it would be my perfect game.

[PoorOldSpike]

As it stands, PC2 is one of the best wargames on the market so congrats to the devs, but its encirclement/supply system seems to be drawing some criticism from quite a few players and I have to say I agree with them, so I don't suppose there's any chance of the devs releasing a brand new system in a future update?
For example one of the best supply systems I've seen in any wargame is in Order of Battle, so I suggested to the PC2 devs a couple of years ago that they could use a similar "wavy front line" system in PC2, but I was overruled, grrrr..

[Magic1111]

After playing 10 scenarios I would like to have in future Patches/updates:

- German voice output

- The possibility of displaying an entire hero list with the assignment to each unit at a glance (perhaps as a separate menu item at the top of the UI).

- Before starting a new scenario, after the briefing, a pop window should appear with the units that are newly available due to the date (as in Panzer Corps 1).

- It would be nice if there was an option to choose that we cannot undo our own turn once we have uncovered enemy units through it.

- Possibility to change the advanced options between the scenarios, and not just at the beginning of a new game

- If we want to end the round in a scenario, but units still have actions left, there is no pop-up message. In Panzer Corps 1 there was a corresponding warning before the end of the round.

[gunnergoz]

What I look forward to the most is the ability to play a campaign as a nation other than Nazi Germany. That is my #1 priority for future enjoyment of the game. The sooner, the better.

[eddieballgame]

What I look forward to the most is the ability to play a campaign as a nation other than Nazi Germany. That is my #1 priority for future enjoyment of the game. The sooner, the better.

I 'feel you', & look forward to the same.
For now, at least, you can play the scenarios (to include each campaign scenario) just that very way via the Editor.
Here are the scenarios that attempt to tackle this.

viewtopic.php?f=597&t=98071

[janscas]

units are hard to recognize in 3d

I have to careful see the planes to know if i'm selecting a Ju87 or me 109

[gunnergoz]

What I look forward to the most is the ability to play a campaign as a nation other than Nazi Germany. That is my #1 priority for future enjoyment of the game. The sooner, the better.

I 'feel you', & look forward to the same.
For now, at least, you can play the scenarios (to include each campaign scenario) just that very way via the Editor.
Here are the scenarios that attempt to tackle this.

viewtopic.php?f=597&t=98071

Thanks for the suggestion: I plan to do exactly that when I'm done with my campaign. On an intellectual and moral level, I hate playing a Nazi but the game is after all just a game.

[rzwicker]

[...]I captured all Moscow 41 objectives and I got no kind of feedback that I even succeeded in this, and I have no idea without searching this forum what kind of impact that even had on my campaign) and especially campaign ending scenarios. Seeing only the default victory screen after you won the war for example is extremely underwhelming.
[...]

This! I also just completed the Moscow map with all bonus objectives but I have no idea if this was actually registered/stored in the game somewhere? Is there a stat screen that I can access somewhere to get confirmation?
Also, the fact that the game ends immediately after a single lost battle is somewhat disappointing. Hope this can be modified in an upcoming patch.

Keep up the good work!

[Magic1111]

I also just completed the Moscow map with all bonus objectives but I have no idea if this was actually registered/stored in the game somewhere? Is there a stat screen that I can access somewhere to get confirmation?

Yes, I can confirm that. I also ended the Moscow scenario including the bonus objectives last night and it came as a "reward" for the bonus objectives - NOTHING!

Not even as a bonus prestige or anything else. Quite disappointing if there is no reward for reaching bonus objectives.

[ErissN6]

I also ended the Moscow scenario including the bonus objectives and it came as a "reward" for the bonus objectives - NOTHING!

Like Napoleon. Moscow is an illusionnary goal.

[SineMora]

Yes, I can confirm that. I also ended the Moscow scenario including the bonus objectives last night and it came as a "reward" for the bonus objectives - NOTHING!

Not even as a bonus prestige or anything else. Quite disappointing if there is no reward for reaching bonus objectives.

There is a hint to the reward in the message you receive after securing all the main objectives -- that pushing on and securing the optional ones could potentially change the course of the war (effectively these optional objectives along with the ones in Stalingrad are needed to unlock the ahistorical path that leads to a German victory).

[rzwicker]

[/quote]

There is a hint to the reward in the message you receive after securing all the main objectives -- that pushing on and securing the optional ones could potentially change the course of the war (effectively these optional objectives along with the ones in Stalingrad are needed to unlock the ahistorical path that leads to a German victory).
[/quote]

I read about this as well and but there is currently no way for me to verify if the bonus objectives from the Moscow map were indeed stored/registered somewhere. I think I need to complete multiple more battles before I reach the 2nd map with new bonus objectives that need to be met. I'd like to avoid finding out only then that I missed objectives during the Moscow battle.

[George_Parr]

I also ended the Moscow scenario including the bonus objectives and it came as a "reward" for the bonus objectives - NOTHING!

Like Napoleon. Moscow is an illusionnary goal.

Well, unlikely during Napoleon's times, Moscow was the all-important train-hub of the entire Soviet Union, without it the Soviet Union faces gigantic issues in terms of supplies and redeployment of troops, so taking it is of the highest significance. But yes, taking it does not miraculously end the war or guarantee longterm success.

[ErissN6]

taking Moscow does not miraculously end the war or guarantee longterm success

And the germans knew it, their goal was to cross the Volga: Arkhangelsk-Kazan/Kouïbychev(Samara)-Astrakan.
But they differ their folish vainglory after their minor victory of 1st battle of Smolensk, which was rather a minor strategical defeat: The sudden reality of failure of their grand plan made them stop for few weeks as they wonder how to succeed it against those slavic "sub-humans" that they would crush for sure.
Stalingrad was not only a symbol, but a bridge to cross the river for the true goal.

[PoorOldSpike]

I’m aware of all concerns which people voice. For example: random maps need more options, and so on..

Congrats on introducing some sensational new Random mission generator features in v 1.1.0..
Can I suggest another feature for a future update that would be terrific too, namely Terrain type options.

At the moment the generator dishes up maps consisting of a mix of all types of terrain, and in this screenshot the poor Germans are unlucky enough to have been placed by the generator in hilly and mountainous terrain at the start which will slow them right down and make it almost impossible for them to reach the objectives on the other side of the map before the game ends.
Sometimes units start in more easily-traversable open terrain, it's just a matter of luck.

So my suggestion is to add a simple "Terrain Density" slider to the Random options.
That would allow the player to slide it to 0 percent to simulate the open Russian steppes, 50 percent for rolling European countryside, and 100 percent for the dense Ardennes, plus various intermediate percentages..

(PS- Does the Random generator have snow terrain? I've played many Random battles but haven't yet seen a white winter wonderland in it, I've only seen summer green and browny spring/autumn.
And in Random battles set in 1941-42 between Brits and Germans there seem to be no desert maps)

[PoorOldSpike]

This screenshot from the Random mission generator illustrates what I was saying in my previous post, namely that we sadly have no control over what terrain the generator will give us.
In the previous post's screenshot the generator gave me very hilly cluttered terrain, but in this screenshot its given me a nice mix of more open terrain-