Xerxes the Great

Dear developers, I have been trying all the 8 maps available in multiplayer. Please consider the following as constructive feedback and Beta/QA test on the released version of the game: 1) The maps are all 2Km x 2Km. Whether it is a 2-player or 8-player map. Given the range of the units in this game (Tanks can easily shoot more than 1Km away), these maps are really tiny. Right from the start, the units can see each other and shoot specially given the LOS/LOF issues in the game and the fact that there is NO place to hide or cover the units. A 4Km x 4Km and 8Km x 8Km is a MUST for all map types. 2) The units are not enough. For example, I want to play a 2-player game with my buddy (my foe really!!) and we want to have a decent size army say 10 or 12 Tanks. We can't currently. The maximum allowed per player on any map is about 6 ro 8 Tanks depending on the country you play. 3) The map to player ratio is not calculated. This means, if a 8-player map such as "face to face" is selected, then each player gets about 3 Tanks. So with all 8 players, ther would be 8x3=24 tanks on the map. However, if 2 players select the same 8-player "face to face" map, they are also given only 3 Tanks each for a total of 6 Tanks. Now, if the game's engine can support 24 Tanks on this map, why wouldn't the 2 players get 12 Tanks each for the total of 24 Tanks?????????????? 4) Please allow players to have defensive units such as ATGs. If not, please place ATGs on various places on the map to give incentives to players to capture strategic villages that have these ATGs placed in them. I know one map does this so why couldn't this be configured by players. Say we can specify 4 ATGs to be placed randomly in villages available in the map. 5) More hiding places, deeper valleys and taller hills to provide decent ambush spots and to allow movement of armor without clear detection. 6) MORE MAPS! Please provide the ability to have multiple small, medium and large (at least 8Km x 8Km) maps so everyone can have their pick. There is more but I don't want to make it mission impossible for developers so I stop at these for now!! I believe these will help the longevity of this game and cater to a wider set of players. Thanks for listening! Over and out.

dmg, I understand the Internet (WAN) bandwith issue but this thread is about LAN!! LAN speeds are 100Mbps or 1000Mbps, so there is really no reason to hard-code the speed tp 200Kbps and waste all that bandwidth available in LAN. At least in my case, the difference was like day and night! I think today's users are sophisticated enough to choose the speed (either WAN/Internet or LAN) from a select menu. It is not as intuitive to edit a file to force the speed. Just my 2 cents. I am just happy that I can run the multiplayer smoothly now. But the multiplayer gameplay is another thread!! Over and out.

dmg, Thanks for the hint! This should be made a sticky or it should be a clear option in the multiplayer menu. Following your suggestion, I was able to run the multiplayer game beautifully. It worked the best at 2,000,000 Bytes/sec. I will do more testing now that I am passed the freeze zone! ARFF1, I strongly recommend you change your setting in "towsetup" tool. The default LAN speed is set to 25,000 Bytes/sec which is rediculously slow. Also, the "smooth unit movement" box is NOT checked by default and it SHOULD! It will run the game much smoother and with no choppiness. Mods and developers, I think the speed setting should be one of the configurable options in the main multiplayer menu. Even the highest setting (2,000,000 Bytes/sec) is only 16Mbps. Most LANs run at least 100Mbps and many are running 1000Mbps (1Gbps). All new computers ship with 1Gbps NICs. The default setting (25,000 Bytes/sec) translates to only 200Kbps which is less than the speed of most DSL modems at homes these days. All, If you have been trying Multiplayer, make sure you try again with these settings changed as described in this thread. It should make the games a lot smoother and more stable. Over and out.

Roger that! This game will live or die depending on its multiplayer stability and playability. Aside from obvious stability and crash issues, the following are "MUST HAVE" list currently missing: 1) Ability to select your army. We don't need the AI choose for us randomly or predetermined. Half the battle (and half the fun) is choosing your army and hardware. 2) Unit customization based on point system. Both players will get the same points (say 1000) but one player may spend the points on 3 super tanks with mediocre gunners and commanders while the other player may take 2 tanks and spen the points on upgrading the gunner and commander's ratings. This will add wonders to the replayability. As is now, there is no replayablity at all since there is no customization and everything is pre-determined and fixed! 3) Map selection. Some like to have a fight on a small map. Some would like to have a huge (8km x 8Km) map with only 2 players so they don't run into each other from the offset. Hunting and searching adds a lot to tactical aspect of the game and induces a lot of fun! 4) Unit size. Each side should be able to yield a decent size army. Having only 4 tanks a side may not suffice. Not asking for a hundred tanks but a dozen or so should be possible to have along with say 10-12 ATGs and 4-5 infantry platoons. 5) Ability to build defensive structures such as barbed wires and tank obstacles and bunkers for MGs and camoflaouge for ATGs. This game can really be awesome. Do not miss the opportunity. If you build it (almost there!!), people weill come (buy). Word of mouth will be your most effective marketing campaign! Over and out.

dmg, Both the PCs run the single-player game flawlessly. The multiplayer issue showed up with 3 maps we tried (2-player, 4-player, and 6-player maps). I still have the LAN setup. I will try your suggestion tonight and report back around midnight. I haven't used the towtool yet but I assume it is straightforward executable from TOW directory!! Over and out.

dmg, Thanks for the hint. We got the LAN game started. Unfortunately, the game freezes a few minutes into it. There is not much action. It is early in the game. The host computer freezes (task manager says the "Theatre of war" is unresponsive. Obviously, the guest gets a message saying the host has dropped!! We tried a couple of times from each PC hosting with same result. Honestly speaking, I don't think the multiplayer was tested and it doesn't seem to be ready. My LAN connection is clean and is 1 Gbps. It runs other multiplayer games flawlessly. So, the problem is with the games's multiplayer stability. That is a shame. Please request the multiplayer stability be fixed as top priority in the next patch along with LOS/LOF issues. This game will not last without a playable multiplayer option (at least start with LAN if Internet is too far away a goal to reach). It was very disappointing to abort the multiplayer session as we really looked forward to human versus human encounter. What pitty. Over and out.

Mods, administrators, developers, Please help. We are trying to setup a simple 1vs1 LAN game but we can't. The host (creates game) and the guest tries to join (over LAN not Internet) but as soon as the game is loaded on the host, it ends in Victory and kicks out in the next menu. We tried from different computers hosting with same results. What is going on? We just want to test a few simulations (making up for custom battles missing from the game. Hint, hint!). Please advise as to why we can't setup a LAN game. If anyone has seen this issue and knows the cure, please let me know. I believe the real value of this game is in multiplay and human versus human. No matter how many patches we get, the AI will always be either sub-human or cheating unrealistically. Over and out.

It is great that every infantry and tank crew has a name to associate with, throughout the battles. However, wouldn't it be great if we could change these names to something more personal so we can associate with even more? Is there a way to change the names? I like commander Igor Zokolov but would much rather have my own name or someone I like to substitute to give the game a bit more personal touch!! This is just editing a text file so I don't think it would take much to let us change the names. Anyone knows of a hack to do so? Over and out.

ianc and other mouseophobics, Have you ever used the mouse wheel before? The trick to this game's camera and most existing 3D games for that matter, is the use of the mouse wheel. I recommend arming yourself with a high-end mouse which has hydralic (smooth and responsive) mouse wheel. Then use the adjustments available in the game's control to adjust the wheel sensitivity and then test drive for a while and you will get it! As for quickly going to any spot on the map, use the "mini map" to click where in the map you want to be and you will be beamed there! What I don't understand is that how some folks ever played 3D war games before! The camera controls in this game is not that different from most popular 3D war games in the market today. In fact, the zooming level (up and down) in this game is superior to most other games I have seen. Over and out.

Diggy, Good general observations. My comments: 1) The official game is a bit different than the demo aka "mission impossible". You can actually win by valid tactics and strategy. You do need to pause a few times to compensate for unruliness of some of the units until you get used to the commands and the occasional micro. 2) Disagree on ATG auto rotate. Personally, I prefer ATG to be facing a certain direction and only move when I want it moved. Putting ATG on auto AI, could be counter productive and expose a flank without your knowledge. So be it if it needs a bit of micro, Use 2 ATGs to cover 360 degrees! But I never want my rear end or flanks exposed just because the ATGs rotate to take a shot at a fleeing infentary. 3) Agreed on the laser accuracy of AI's tanks in picking infentary and ATG. It is a bit unrealistic and I believe this issue has been beaten to death by many posts and LOS/LOF adjustments are on the top of the list in the upcoming patch. 4) This game is unique in the fact that it is a simulation game in RTS format. No other game in the market is like it. And I know because I own all the WW2 games there is! Even the non-WW2 war game masterpiece "Total War" series do not have the simulation aspect despite their amazing gameplay engine. 5) The game needs a few patches to mature. IMHO, it is a rare diamond in the making. Just give it a bit more time (a few patches!!). Over and out.

Great, another teenie "general wannabe" who can not comprehend the fact that there is actually a need for deep tactical understanding of units and terrain and unit movement and a need for strategy to actually win. It is actually refreshing to hear that the less sophisticated players accustomed to "rock-paper-scissor" type games, dislike this game!! Onwards! Leave the frighten ones behind! Over and out.

OOps, I meant Nvidia 7800 (not 6800). Personally I prefer ATI cards and for AGP, the best video card ever made for AGP is ATI X1950XT. Don't forget the powersupply requirement for either of these cards (550W minimum). You should also consider ATI X1950 PRO which is a very top-notch AGP card and has less power requirement than the X1950 XT so given your 6600 running today, I recon your best option is to go with ATI X1950 PRO given your powersupply is adequate and not less than 400 Watts. Of course you can do your own research on video cards! Good luck. Over and out.

Nvidia also has its own control panel. However, I have some bad news for you! It appears that you have a motherboard with AGP slot for video (as opposed to PCI-E). Nvidia 6600 is too slow and frankly not up to task for this game at high resolutions. 6600 GT is better but still not good enough. If you have AGP, I recommend Nvidia GeForce 6800 or better yet ATI X1950XT. They are both expensive (about $250) and require a lot of power which means you probably have to upgrade your powersupply to atleast 550 Watts (about $100). To see this game in true beauty that it is, you need to run it at the highest resolution (1600x1200 or 1680x1050 for wide screen monitor) and set the AA/AF to max with contrast set to very high. 6600 just won't cut it I am affraid. Good luck. Over and out.

Wokelly, Do you have ATI video card? If so, it comes with its own control panel. You can right click on your desktop, go to "properties", then select "advanced" and you should see the ATI tab. In the ATI tab, you will see options for setting up AA and AF. You can select depending on your card's performance (2X, 4X, 8X, 16X). The higher the multiplier, the sharper and more real-life the image but make sure you get decent frame rate by testing one at a time. It is some manual try and error but it is worth it. Also, in ATI panel, there are options to set "Gamma", "Brightness", and "Contrast". Make sure to adjust these and select "manual" and NOT "in game". Most important one is the contrast which will really bring out the details and colors. Good luck. Over and out

Wokelly, Flint, and all I figured out how to make the game look even prettier! The problem was I was letting the game to adjust the AA and AF. Unfortunately, this game does not handle AA/AF internally. Most games do but not this one. I wish the mods and developers would have alerted us earlier. So, what I did was to manually set the AA and AF and the contrast/brightness/Gamma in the ATI control panel for my ATI 850XT card and WOW what a difference that made!! I must say my graphics look nicer than Flint now!! I am not jealous any more and I will enjoy this game even more now! Do yourself a favor and if you haven't done so, let the Video card manually set the AA/AF and contrast/brightness (by default most cards are set to allow the game adjust these settings). It will take a few trial and errors to find the optimum setting but when you do, you will be amazed. Happy hunting. Over and out.

Wokelly, So you are saying that he is not getting these crisp images and resolution in the game itself? Wow, I thought it had to do with the video card and whether or not the shading and antialiasing is set on the video card or is set to be adjusted by the game itself. Would sure be cool to get that level of clarity in the game itself. I'd never be able to get anything else done!! Over and out.

Flint, I believe a few folks have already asked you this. Could you please share with us what video settings and resolution you are using and what video card you have. Do you use photoshop on some of these pics or they are direct screen shots? I have the video settings at MAX but can't get this quality! Should we use anti-aliasing manually on the card or let the game adjust it? Appreciate your help soldier! Over and out.

@ U292: I agree 100% regarding CoH. This game is by far superior to Company of Heros. Unfortunately I bought CoH because at the time it was the nicest WW2 RTS and to be fair it has great eye candy and rich maps (albeit too cramped and hectic). Having played both games now, I would never go back to CoH again. There are a dozen things I would like to see added/improved/fixed on ToW but it is the best WW2 RTS and closest to real-life simulation than anything else on the market. Kudos to developers and QA given the tight resources they had. This will bode well on their resume! Over and Out.

I only have the demo. Will I be able to have a quick custome battle in the GOLD game where I can test how 4 shermans fair against a tiger. I think half the fun in simulation/RTS war games is to practice and unit test the available units in order to make wiser choices when selecting hardware to go to a battle. This is specially required for any cammnader worth his salt to prepare for multiplayer combats. Please tell me it is available in the shipping game. If not, that would be a major disappointment and I recon it should be on the top of the list in the next patch. It adds infinite replayability as well. Over and out.

Ok, My evaluation is done with the demo! This is a winner! I want to buy this and will recommen it to my mates! but I want the game box and all, not just a download file. I checked the local game shops and not there! When is this thing going to be available in stores?!! Also, is it the type of ammo or the location of hit that determines whether a tank catches fire and goes up in smoke (very cool sight)? I noticed most tanks won't smoke or catch fire but couldn't exactly figure out whether it is the location of the hit or type of ammo or both that sends a tank to hell in a fire ball!! Over and out.

Great concepts and details. However, in the demo version my graphics (video set to 1680x1050) is not as good as some of the screenshots folks have posted. I have a very high-end PC with a very high-end ATI 1950XT graphics card. This system runs games like Total War and CoH flawlessly and beautifully! Is the demo version graphics hardcoded at a lower resolution than the GOLD game? If not, how come some of the screenshots are way better than what I get on my PC? Am I missing something? Also, any trick to add animation to dead hardware such as dead tanks in the field? I mean can we add smoke or fire or defined deformation that is noticable from from distance? As is, I have a hard time distinguishing the dead versus alive tanks (yes the icon will disappear on top of dead tanks but still a bit annoying) I also have some gameplay concerns but most have been discussed on the forum already!! Looking forward to multiplay and hunting a few tigers! Over and Out.