Edwin P.

Good manual. I am adding bookmarks to it so I can use the bookmark tab in Acrobat to jump from section to section. PS: There are two copies of the Manual in the PDF file. [ April 05, 2006, 09:18 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Is there a place on the screen that tells you what how long a scenario lasts?

Played third demo game, got those small buttons done pat, now I intuitively know what they do. Looking good so far.

Just finished Game 1 of Demo, I liked it. The units moved/slided very smoothly. Noticed Japanese Attacks Pearl Harbor Popup Event in the scripts! Took France Relatively Quickly and skipped Norway for Iceland. Lured UK navy into a series skirmishes in the Atlantic. They kept attacking at 1 to 3 and 2 to 4 odds. They lost 4 ships, to no losses for the Axis who kept retreating damaged ships to Iceland for repair before sending them backout to battle. I have to get used to the small - no name - buttons on the side. Liked the convoy and war maps. Lots more exploring to do. Looked at the scripts. Interesting that Allied forces in Egypt receive lots of reinforcements. Script organization is nice, well organized. Will experiment lots more in the coming days, perhaps try adding an AI script (if its not there yet) for UK Navy to blockade North Atlantic at start of war to prevent Axis conquest of Iceland say 25% of the time or have UK send Corps to Iceland. [ April 04, 2006, 07:17 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

I wonder if Battlefront will create a new forum category for discussions on Sc2 scripting? This would be useful for it would consolidate all script related posts in a single discussion forum. [ April 03, 2006, 05:49 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

In my view, after receiving the game it will probably take me 2 to 4 weeks to understand its nuances and provide intelligent feedback while keeping in mind the law of unintended conseqences. That said, based on everything said about the game on this forum and in the designer diaries posted on Wargamer.com, I look forward to this game becoming a timeless classic like chess. Simple to learn, but difficult to master.

Thanks for the update, and for the reminder about being able to link AI scripts to various difficulty levels. I look forward to trying out the game firsthand to see the improvements in the AI. Perhaps, if the AI needs it, I will write a script that gives the AI a bonus number of Diplomacy Chits or Tech Chits at higher difficulty levels if it is possible to write a script that will only trigger for an AI controlled nation - or if not, I could just turn on a script named Allied AI Bonus or Axis AI Bonus.

With the spotting bonus does the AI play a better game? And at higher difficulty settings does the AI get any other bonuses? [ April 02, 2006, 10:32 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Do you have the option to turn FOW off for the AI?

Great idea fantaomas. Its too bad that SC2 does not support rail lines (or roads on operational level maps). These were critical to the movement and supply of troops during the American Civil War. Perhaps in a future version?

Many thanks for the update. I look forward to the real game or demo; whichever is released first.

Any comments on the battle for the Mediterranean vs the AI?

Interesting discussion. In my opinion, nothing can be guaranteed to last forever with 100% certainty. Witness PAN AM or AT&T. As Moon says, who knows if the next OS after Vista will be compatible with SC2. Who knows, someone might, just might write an unstoppable virus that erases SC2 on every computer in the world. Highly unlikely, but possible. There are no guarantees in life.

Henzau, I see nothing wrong with publishers using software like Securom to protect their intellectual property. In fact about 80% of major game publishers use this software. With Securom the publisher can allow the user to make copies of the software or not, and can tell it how often to check for a valid CD in the CD-ROM drive, if they want to use a CD validation check. I looked at the thread you listed. In my experience, in most cases if you uninstall the game software or use the rollback feature the copy protection software is removed from your hard drive. Removing the DRM software without removing the game software is not going to work, unless you know what you are doing.

One question on the AI - Does the AI make any moves in the Mediterranean theater? In SC1, the AI totally ignored this theater all the time. [ March 30, 2006, 10:09 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Great news on the AI from you and Pzndgr (Parachutes in Norway!). 2 or 3 higher settings? What do these do? Better AI or just more experience and plunder? or something more?

I will hold off on making any comments until I have had a chance to play the game, but to elaborate on SeaMonkey's idea I would say that the chance of the infrastructure being hit (for non-bombers) should be related to the strength of the occupying unit. Example: 10 Str = 0% damage to infrastructure, 9 Str = 10% damage to infrastructure,... 1 Str = 90% damage to infrastructure. This would reflect the fact that weakened units are not nearly as effective.

In Sc1 there were only 2 American ports, German battleships could reduce the American ports to rubble, if they faced no opposition.

As was stated earlier, you can "bombard a city/port to zero strength and thus zero supply." I assume this means you can reduce the supply state of a German unit in Dublin by reducing Dublin to rubble. I also assume, that the maximum strength of Dublin and its port is 5 as it can't trace a line of supply directly to an Allied or Axis capital. Am I correct? or has this changed in SC2? I wonder, can supplies be shipped through a zero strength port. I.e. If the ports of Oslo and Brest are reduced to zero does Germany still recieve its MPPs? If the American ports are reduced to zero can the USA send MPPs to the UK?

Excellent, a perfect addition that fits in nicely with a WWII Pacific island campaign. [ March 27, 2006, 03:28 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

What I am trying to do is create a unit that can intercept attacking air units, but can't attack ground units. Since only Air units perform Intercepts, perhaps; 1. Change Air Units to SAMs so they can intercept but not attack ground units and give range of 4. 2. Change Attack Values of Bombers to allow them to attack Ground Units & give range of 40. Will this give me the effect I am looking for? i.e. a unit that is only able to intercept attacking air units - ie renamed bombers.

My wish list for future map enhancements: #1 Priority - Road Tiles - for operational level battles where roads had an impact. #2 Priority - Railroad Tiles - for higher levels games - such as American Civil War - where the rail net was of great importance. #3 Elevated Terrain Types #4 Bridge/Ford Tiles #5 Terrain AP costs by Unit Type - so Armor pays more AP to enter Forest Tiles. #6 Supply Lines traced 5 tiles to Road then Along Road to Supply Center. Cut the road and you cut off a unit's supply, unless there is another road link to a supply center. [ March 24, 2006, 10:26 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

Egyptian SAM units were a key feature of the Yom Kipper War. The question is how to create this unit in SC2 for a Yom Kipper War Scenario. Perhaps; Step 1. Change the Bomber Unit to a SAM unit. Give it Air Attack and Air Defense Values. Set the other attack and defense values to Zero, and reduce its movement rate and attack range. This gives you a unit that can only intercept and attack air units. Until the SAM units are destroyed attacking Isreali Air units will take heavy losses if they attack Egyptian units protected by their intercept range. If Land units destroy the SAM units then the Egyptian units will be open to air attack. Step 2. Increase the range of Air Fleets to 40 tiles. This ensures that Air Fleets can always be based out of range of the SAM units and reflects their ability to strike anywhere in the theater. Any thoughts on this implementation idea?

You are saying that a port can be transferred to Gernan control without control of the adjacement city being transferred? Would this allow for Allied subs to get free experience by attacking the German controlled Spanish port, without bringing Spain into the war? Perhaps, an unintended consequence that modders need to be aware of.

Microsoft announced that Vista, the windows upgrade, will not ship this year as originally planned. Software development is not easy and BF has wisely tried not to give a firm date, other than saying it will ship in late March or April.