Otto

It better be three day old stale french bread, this way it will better dent a French helmet.

Another good way is to simply ignore the defence, (especially any large well defended border areas), just attack, and they should surrender. Ok sorry, that was cruel. Did I tell you guys I saw an ad in a 1941 Paris newspaper? It reads: "For sale, French Rifles, Cheap, Only Dropped Once" Damn, there it goes again.

In the Great War air power was most useful as a recon tool as opposed to powerful tactical and strategic weapons in World War 2.0 From what I know, the editing tool will be very powerful, but not powerful enough to make a completely new game...

Just so you guys know, the way the game is now, land units do not defend against attacking naval units, not unless that land unit is in a city. Also, naval units can only be damaged if they are in port. I don't think it is possible for naval attacks to destroy a ground unit on one turn. Now, if you have several turns without unit reenforcement, that is another story. I also like the way it is now.

IE, no problem

IE, most of the files on my site come with a short text file explaining the install and uninstall processes. But just for you I'm going to put a user guide on my site to make this process simpler. Look for this is in the next few days.

Jorgens mod is now available on my site, thanks JC!!

Jorgen, Great work, would you mind if I add you file to me site?

I'll supply the first new unit icon, (sorry we got Donald instead of Daffy:

Thanks for the comments Bill and BB. There are now three new unit mods with another on the way, and two options for flag icons. All this and the game hasn't even been released yet! I can't wait to start posting some custom campaigns.

Great post, I agree with you Straha, and I also see the similarities with Cos I'm not saying that these games are all poor and StrtComm is the only good one. I think they are all great games, the real compliment to SC comes when these famous games are mentioned in the same breath as SC. HiComm, CoS and 3R are all great games, to be compared to these fine games is a great thing in of itself. I just brought up the map issue because I've read it here a few times. I think most similarities at this scale are unavoidable. Imagine a game without London or Paris? There has to be some consistency with what exists historically, leading to some similaries. Like you said Straha, I see this as a compliment, historical accuracy demands some overlap.

I don't think the map 'borrows' any design from CoS, but it does borrow a lot from Europe. Frankly I'm getting a little tired of people saying the game looks like this European one or that European one. Unless the game isn't about Europe, it's going to look the same as other 'maps' of Europe, only the scale will be different. I do agree that the graphics are not my main priority, gameplay is. However, if you take a look at my fansite there are some people working on moding the existing graphics. If you rally don't like the way the units look, you can change them yourself. [ June 17, 2002, 03:31 PM: Message edited by: Otto ]

Thanks for the kind words, but we honestly couldn't have done it without you. 1:12 and still up?!?! I don't envy how busy you must be these days!

New is a relative term in relation to programming languages. It was initially concieved in '85, (still a teenager!) Certainly it's young when compared to Kobold or C++. Anything is expensive when compared to something 'free'. It looks to me like it was fairly useful to Hubert, and I don't think he is a teacher.

I just added CM's file to my site as well. I also posted Camice Nere's preview Mod of the British Fighters. They look great! Also available on the site is a simple flag mod that replaces the current German flag with the historical version. Take a look: [ June 17, 2002, 02:26 AM: Message edited by: Otto ]

Sure, just let me know wht the final product is out.

I'm not too sure about eiffel's details, but I do know it is a very powerful new language. Hubert is the first person to ever release a game using it, and he is one of the world's foremost codemages under the eiffel banner. more info? http://www.eiffel.com

Wolfe, I just saw yours too. I'm a Beta tester and I'm almost 100% certain your files will be compatible with the final release. With your permission, I'd love to add this one to my site as well.

Sgt Eagle, I took a look at your unit edits, Nice Work! Do you mind if I add your file to my StratComm fansite?

IE, I agree, it's good to see someone with more actions than talk, it is a rare trait indeed.

Yes, Hubert has been a very patient man.

I have watched the progress of Strategic Command since almost its conception. I'm a Beta Tester so I have seen much more than most. I have studied World War Two gaming for several years and have studied WW2 extensively. I feel I have a fairly good base from which to make some of the claims I am about to. Hubert's task of creating a WW2 game is probably one of the most difficult software design endeavors one can undertake. (I'm not even going to begin discussing the fact that he did this alone!) This is why: WW2 Games are by far the most difficult type of game to create. Why? you ask. Well consider what a WW2 game involves. World War Two is probably the most documented series of events in history. Literally tens of thousands of publications, thousands of games and countless other media formats have been produced under the WW2 umbrella. There seems to be no end in sight to this massive field. There are millions of people with a very good grasp on what happened, and you have to produce a game that satisfies all those people! Consider someone making a game like Warcraft. Warcraft is a very good game, I played it a lot and enjoyed it very much indeed. However, one must recognise that this type of game is an exercise in fantasy. No one will go to a history book and correct you because the Orcs you designed are too tall, or too green, or too powerful in combat. Other poplular games like Unreal Tournament or Sim-City are based on the very premise that they are not realistic. Sure they look very good, but people don't ask for reality in those games. At the same time, a WW2 Gamer will demand that his/her game is accurate and true to history. Due to the war's scope and complexity, and the number of people who are interested in this field, this would be a difficult enough task if everyone held the same views and perceptions about it. But this is far from the case. WW2 historians, amateur and professional alike, have a great many differing perceptions of what actually happended. There is no "absolute truth" about the war, only points of view, some more valid that others. I mean seriously, if there are still people debating wether the Holocoast/Shoa even occured, how can there be any concensus about why Germany lost, or what may have happened if Germany didn't invade the USSR in '41. However, this type of hypothetical situation is exactly what Hubert is trying to create. A task that by it's very nature must be incredibly historically accurate have enough room for hypothetical events: This my friends is what you call an oxymoron. The best WW2 games are those that bridge these two factors "very well". From what I can tell from the reactions of people in these forums, Hubert has done this "very well". For instance; I was reading the thread about the U-Boats in the game. Some people in the thread said that the U-boats were too weak overall. In the exact same thread others posted that the U-Boats were too powerful. What this tells me is that Hubert has done a good job in this area. There is no satisfying everyone, but at least the complaints are on both sides if the spectrum. Then there are the inevitable comparisons to all the other WW2 games out there. It's no surprise that this game has some similarities to others in the genre. It has to be somewhat like others, or else it wouldn't be a WW2 game. I'm willing to wager a hefty sum that the next WW2 European theater strategy game will be compared to StratComm. But back to my original point... What Hubert has done here is create a game that I think is well balanced, very playable and historically accurate. Sure there are things that might not be consistent with my personal view of the Second World War, but I'm still going to play it because in my view it's a darn good sim. ================================ I would love some feedback on this. [ May 30, 2002, 08:10 PM: Message edited by: Otto ]

I don't get it, how can everyone go on about extending the game and not even mention the A-Bomb. If as an Axis player, you don't end the game my mid '45, Fat Man and Little Boy will.

Not neccessarily. Moving a military unit a given distance is no the same as you going for a sunday drive. A drive where the cost involved is calculated simply by how far you travel. Moving a military formation requires the use of a transportation system, (in this case a train). In the game this represents a unit moving not under its own mobility, but gettng on a train. Any way you slice it, you will have to embark, travel and then disembark the entire unit. The real effort is packing up and resettling. Travel is the easy part. The cost to move a unit in StratComm probably represents this expense. I agree that ther should be some slightly higher cost for a longer move, but there should be a high base cost, and then a slighly higher cost added on based on distance. However, if I had to choose between a cost based purely on distance, (as you suggest), and a flat fee, (a is now in the game), I would pick the flat fee as it is closer to reality.

I don't think the game should go past '45. "Why?" you ask, well it's because if I don't conquer Europe by early spring '45, I can look forward to a very hot, (and nuclear), summer. [ May 27, 2002, 02:46 AM: Message edited by: Otto ]