Timskorn

No, USSR gets a readiness increase if you hit Yugo before war with Russia. Best to save it for after Barabarossa.

I think as long as there are proper cost/benefit rations for whatever kinds of decisions you make, mostly a-historical ones, they can be worked out. Everything can't simply be balanced through code and script though, either. It comes down a lot to player skill as well. For example, you can't just keep adding scripts where the US suddenly gets a big fleet if Axis takes over Turkey early on. As players we need to be aware of the disadvantages that Axis player would be in at the time he invades Turkey, and take advantage of that. It seems Terif is currently the master at understanding this and exploiting it the most. Not everyone is able to do that, of course, but a lot of the time I think it's a matter of you yourself making the other player pay a price for doing something like that, rather than throwing in more scripts.

Nice to see an old name around here again Honch. I just recently "came back" as well, but I think I'm done with editing and will stick to just playing from now on.

I enjoy having open strategies that aren't historical. It's the key to long-term MP gaming. Too many restrictions and it no longer becomes viable to try different strategies as it narrows down your options. I feel SC2 has come a long way to balancing the risk/rewards associated with "minor-grabbing" by both Axis and Allies. There's just a lot of good players out there now who have refined their play so well as to make it seem like a problem. We then don't want to tread into the territory of balancing the game towards the elite players. You know, anytime it seems like someone is beating you with a certain strategy or play style consistently, something is added to "nerf" it so it's not as effective. Sure, there are always things that can be balanced and changed, but I think there comes a point when the benefits become negligible or even make things worse. There are real problems and then there are perceived problems. Need to be careful to differentiate the two.

I imagine Targul is talking about Axis and Allies regularly taking over countries they didn't attack historically, such as Germany hitting Spain, Vichy France and Switzerland. There will always be debate about that. On one hand you can heavily punish countries diplomatically by doing too much too soon, but after a certain point it's really total war. Who cares if I take over Spain and Vichy France in 1942 when the US and Russia are already at war with me?

SC and SC2 really are classic games. I played SC1 for a good 2 years off and on through PBEM. I took a hiatus from SC2 but am now getting back into it. The strong community and unbelievable developer support helps a lot with its longevity. Imagine not having some of the long-term, hardcore players here like JJR and Terif, or seeing SC2 only receive a single patch or none at all.

Thanks for the info, never hurts to hear from people first hand experience, especially one who enjoys SC2 and can try and give an unbiased opinion of the game. Like I said, it's not a bad thing if another good strategic WW2 game is upon us. Still doesn't sell me though. Not worth the dough when we have SC2 available, plus the expansion. I'd rather use my $$ on that and support Hubert.

I was thinking the same thing when I saw it. No diplomacy either, nor much in the way of scripting it seems. Just hard-nosin' war, which is good too I suppose, and if done right. I haven't played it so I won't pass judgment, but there certainly isn't enough there to warrant me even trying to find out. Nothing wrong with having another good WW2 game out there, anyway.

Finished my first game as Allies, Exp. +1 in September of 1945, which ended in a Stalemate. I had just taken Berlin with the Russians, and had become bogged down in a dumb attempt to liberate Greece with the US North African forces, so Italy remained untouched. Russia was fun, as I didn't actually make consistent headway until the summer of 1944. 1941 found me on the defensive, with the Nazi's making it to Kharkov and outside Moscow. For the next three years that's pretty much where the lines were drawn. I'd go on the offensive, beat 'em up and then run out of steam by winter, allowing them to regroup. Unfortunately they themselves never mounted a serious offensive. Landed at Casablanca with US forces and forced my way eastward to help the British. By 1943 Alexandria was captured, but just as the US had reached the outskirts of the city. I had left Egypt fairly defenseless though. All in all it was enjoyable. I used bombers and rockets throughout the game and felt they were better utilized. Rockets did seem a little overpowered though, but I suppose that comes from their ability to quickly gain 4 bars of experience. Next game I'll try the Axis, good mod!

For me a good strategy game allows players to have many choices to achieve their goals, while attempting to remain as historically accurate as possible. It's nice playing with this patch because it makes otherwise "non" options viable ways to attack your opponent.

Nice to see you're still working on these "mod patches" Blashy. I've been playing it this morning for a few hours, and so far so good!

Fantastic! Am just about to jump back into SC2 when I hear about this, good stuff! Will any of these new additions be options that can be toggled on/off?

I also was thinking Muzzle Velocity looked similar to WWIIOnline. I'll have to check out SB though, maybe download a demo if they have one out.

Hah, it's a loving mock, believe me. M1 is another one of those games that I would buy again if someone would simply give it a facelift.

Back when I was doing AI mods for SC2, I helped alleviate the Russian AI problem of operating defensive units too much. It's fairly simple, and if this is still occuring it may be worthwhile to implement. It's sort of how you suggested Hyazinth. You have to make the AI "garrison" specific tiles, based on the location of German units. This way you can create defensive lines anywhere you want, and the AI will not move them. It's not enough to simply garrison a city, you have to make the AI create defensive lines similar to how a player would. The best you can hope for from the Russian AI against a competent player is A)Ability to create many units and good tech and B)Decent defensive lines to stall attacks. If you can get the Russians to bog down the player until 44, and with competent US/British AI invading Germany, most players will have a fun challenge on their hands. Now, with a bit more scripting (and a lot of testing), you can set up the Russian AI to go on offenses at the right times. This is truly the key to breaking the Germans in Russia. While the AI can slow you down, a good player will find the right moments to unleash his defenders and reserves to rip up the weakened Germans. It's more difficult to get the AI to do this at opportune times, for if you release their defensive lines at the wrong time, the German player can make short work of them. *sigh*...wish I had the time to do AI work these days.

I played the original CM way back when, and loved it. For some reason I've skipped everything in-between, but Shock Force looks like it will definitely get me back into it. Anyone remember M1 Tank Platoon by Microprose? I know these are two quite different games, but I've been waiting for a modern tank game for awhile, and the latest screenshot of SF conjured up some old memories of M1 (except extremely better looking than the polygon hell of M1).

JJR: Yeah, Jericho is good. It has a couple episodes that would be considered "filler", but it's mostly been a solid show.

Fantastic news. Been away from SC2 for quite awhile now, definitely a good reason to jump back in. Probably won't have time to do any scripting, but most of what I had been doing is probably taken care of by now anyway! Thanks HC, for all the hard work!

Anyone watching that show Jericho on CBS? It's about a small town in Kansas that witnesses a nuclear explosion, and goes on to find out many other US cities have been hit as well. Anyway, two more episodes before the first half of the season is done, and it looks like the Chinese will be involved somehow.

Flags sounds like it should be a good film. Heard Flyboys stunk, plus I was bummed to find out they weren't representing Eddie Rickenbacker in the film.

Great stuff! And I have to say, the new script editor is highly recommended. I used it extensively and it makes editing scripts a cinch.

Remember, Counter-Strike was originally a mod and now it's being sold. But, you'd need HC to officially pick up your mod and market it, you couldn't go and do it on your own to make money.

Yep, the things most of us have been doing with the editor have been good, but it seems this kind of mod is what HC ultimately envisioned as the fruits of such a device.

Yep, weak attempt at pulling German units away from Stalingrad ends in disaster. On a positive note, Egypt is liberated and a combined US/Russia attack force is moving freely there. Overall, the situation is clearly over for the Allies. Unable to sap much of Germany's massive MPP income, they will easily be able to field more and much more experienced troops than anything the Allies have at this point. Russia has over 10 units in the production pipeline, but they would merely be temporary roadblocks to an inevetiable conclusion. In the UK, I have three fighters that are able to keep up a bit with the 3 AF in France and a level 4 bomber on the way, but that (at best) would only make a small dent in the Axis MPP production. The situation in Egypt is positive, but ultimately Jon will be able to divert enough troops and ships there to keep me from moving out of North Africa, eventually pushing me back. So at this point it would be a matter of seeing how long I could last, but it would be no later than 1946, if not sooner. This has definitely been one of the funnest games I've played, mainly because of all the different things that occurred. From my successful ambushing of the Kriegsmarine and Jon's eventual and impressive rebuilding of it (with help of the Italiano's), my failed invasion of Norway/Sweden, the Russian push into Romania and the bloody battles fought there, UK/US guerilla operations and the Russian/US advance through the Middle-East. Wild stuff! I felt I didn't do too bad as my first MP game as the Allies and with the 1.00 version. I'm looking forward to a rematch, same sides, using 1.02 and no doubt another exciting match.

Unless they changed the costs.