i was gonna buy

[deilthedog]

the game looked excellent until i saw the demo. the game engine looks good but the graphics are just too bland looking for me, especially the map graphics as there's hardly any terrain. i just purchased uncommon valour which is superb. not only is it a great game but it looks and sounds great as well.

i will purchase airborne assault though

[SuperTed]

Deil,

I'm a bit confused here. Are we suppoesed to beg you to buy the game or just bid you a fond farewell? :confused:

[Titan]

I cant understand your post, You said the game looked good and then go on to contradict that statement by saying it looked bland.You need to remeber this is Grand Strategy which traditionaly is not eye candy material.

[Hawk]

Well, it's most definitly his loss anyway!

The latest beta looks very good, folks! (oh, sorry deilthedog, no new graphics )

I think we're getting close ...

[Der_Waggs]

Well the Graphics look good to me on my P4 2.0 Geforce4 ti and sounds great with 5.1 speakers. This is a grand Strat game looks good plays great. For one I'm just drolling for the final ver. Keep up the good work.

[pzgndr]

I would hope to see a map editor provided someday so we can tweak things ourselves. SC has a lot of robust features which would make for a great game design kit if Hubert moves in that direction.

I agree the map is rather bland. The A3R map is a thing of beauty, while SC is, well ... Anyway, I've still got $25 burning a hole in my pocket.

[Aloid]

Originally posted by deilthedog:

the game looked excellent until i saw the demo. the game engine looks good but the graphics are just too bland looking for me, especially the map graphics as there's hardly any terrain. i just purchased uncommon valour which is superb. not only is it a great game but it looks and sounds great as well.

i will purchase airborne assault though

Yeah, I really wanted to hide my Armies and Corps level units in fox holes and in ridge lines... Would have been nice to have that kind of detail.

A zoom feature that would let me see my individual soldiers is high on my list too...

Finally, we must be able to see each division move within the hex during combat...

Hubert please do somefink!! ... or we'll have to declare this game as broke!!

Aloid (hmmm... what grass mod are you using?)

[Harold Jones]

I like the graphics, I mean we are moving around corps and armies not platoons and squads. Actually the map reminds me a lot of the 3rd Reich boardgame map. Game play is similar as well. Any plans for a PTO version?

[vonManstein39]

The map borrows a lot from Clash of Steel in design - simple and easy to understand. Every difference in terrain makes a difference in the game, and every detail on the map serves a purpose. In Third Reich the map was more detailed, but was not as instantly accessible, and some of the detail did not affect gameplay.

The lack of 3D or animated graphics makes no difference whatever to the gameplay of SC - 3D graphics enhance action oriented games, and real-time strategy games. Since SC isn't real-time but turn based, 3D action sequences would be non-interactive and repetitive, and would serve no purpose other than novelty-value eye-candy. I remember buying Microprose's Risk II, and the animated graphics were beautiful! They were great and fun for the first two weeks - then the novelty wore off. I turned the animations off and concentrated on playing the game.

[Otto]

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 ]

[Straha]

Originally posted by Otto:

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. SNIP

Don't forget that people most often mean this as a praise. When I came upon this site for the first time, I thought "hey, the intelligence screens look exactly like those in COS, and the map layout is similar, too!" But instead of pissing me off, this made me want to have that game *at once*. Now, if you compare the SC map to the maps of other grand strategy games like HiCom, 3R and COS, you will indeed find evidence of COS being the most close one with respect to several features (e.g. the number and overall choice of cities). There's absolutely no need to deny this. For, like Hubert once put it: "the game has much more to offer than just a map". And then, in the meantime we all have seen that - despite all similarities - the map is much more beautiful than the COS map to boot.

Straha

[Otto]

Originally posted by Straha:

Don't forget that people most often mean this as a praise. When I came upon this site for the first time, I thought "hey, the intelligence screens look exactly like those in COS, and the map layout is similar, too!" But instead of pissing me off, this made me want to have that game *at once*. Now, if you compare the SC map to the maps of other grand strategy games like HiCom, 3R and COS, you will indeed find evidence of COS being the most close one with respect to several features (e.g. the number and overall choice of cities). There's absolutely no need to deny this. For, like Hubert once put it: "the game has much more to offer than just a map". And then, in the meantime we all have seen that - despite all similarities - the map is much more beautiful than the COS map to boot.

Straha

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.

[Valadictum]

For this kind of game things are about right on terrain, although I'd be tempted to push for the addition of "ancient farmland" with its little hill top towns and small fields surrounded by sunken lanes abd tall hedgerows. This is what stalled the allied invasion of Normandy once it got out from the beechhead.

[ALthered]

i just purchased uncommon valour which is superb. not only is it a great game but it looks and sounds great as well.

i too have just purchased uncommon valour but have not yet received it.I am encouraged by your remarks.However,i like the strategic command demo and will definately be buying it when it comes out.

Al

[Straha]

I do not quite understand why deilthedog mentions Uncommon Valour ... I have it, too, and yes, it's great (what else do you expect of Grigsby?), but I do not see any aspect in which it can be compared to SC. :confused:

Straha

[Traveler]

Well, I'll tell ya what. I've played alot of the pretty games, ya know the ones with the flashy graphics, and kool effects. But, when ya peel away the glitz ya get and empty shell. "Strategic Command" has alot of depth, that's what ya call that feeling ya get when ya stare at the screen and try to figure out how to take that city from the enemy who are putting up a hell of a fight.

Depth is the effect a game has on ya as you play and appreciate the subtle details that the designers flesh out in the game design. Depth keeps ya trying different things to effect different results.

I'm not saying uncommon valor isn't a good game, nor am I discounting companies that put time and effort into graphics and what not. What I am saying is that games with depth are hard to come by, and this game has loads if ya ask me.

So don't ask for flash and glitz, there are plenty of games with that out there. You should compliment the programmers for spending time on the details. I can't wait to play the full version of Strategic Command and can't offer enough support to those who are bringing it to us.

Sorry for Rambling....