dugfromthearth Posted December 16, 2003 Share Posted December 16, 2003 looking over my posts I noted that they weren't always the most positive possible. So I wanted to write something nice I used to play The Perfect General, a massively flawed game that had FoW and interesting artillery (indirect and pre-called). Then I moved to Steel Panthers which had the flaw that one armor unit found the enemy and then on the same turn all of the others moved in response to it and killed it. Combat Missions is amazing. Not just the order system, but the detail. Zooming in to watch a squad toss grenades at the enemy nearby in the woods. Watching the turret rotate on a tank as it tracks its target. Mortar smoke upon firing and then watching the shell arc and take time to actually land. Just endless little details. And it plays well. Issuing orders is fast and easy. Nothing in the UI gets in the way of playing. The real flaw in CM is that you can do so much you want more. With so many choices for terrain you want that extra one. Or that extra choice of unit types. But I suppose that is why they release new versions. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gallear Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 Yes, it is a good system - basically. But if we don't moan and point out the faults it won't get any better. Thats the point of the forum or did Battlefront think we would sugar coat it all the time and just sing their praises . 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dugfromthearth Posted December 17, 2003 Author Share Posted December 17, 2003 I'm just worried that sometimes I forget to put a chorus of praises in between the verses of pointing out flaws. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herr Kruger Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 Don't worry, if we're not agreeing with you on a point or arguing against you on another point, we're probably not paying much attention! J Kruger 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 I may whine a little, but, in the end, I vote with my dollars. The score so far is about $100 in CM's favor. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianc Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 Nothing in the UI gets in the way of playing.Here's where I must disagree with you. What you say is for the most part true. The CM series has far and away surpassed any other computer wargame ever made. But... The UI is extremely annoying and tedious at times. Chief among my rants has been the lack of any kind of 'Unit Navigation Screen' that would allow one a quick look at the organizational structure of one's units and the ability to jump to one instead of repetitively pressing + and -. BFC stoutly maintains that it doesn't need such a device to play properly, and that it would make it too easy to play, apparently flying in the face of the common wisdom that if a particular piece of information is available to the user, making it easy to access is job one of the UI. In addition, there are other shortcomings, such as no support for the scroll wheel on mice for panning the view, no allowing the user to configure customized keystrokes, or simply adopting the easy, tried and tested FPS WASD + mouselook layout to control one's view. Non-sortable scenario lists, the inability to cancel out of a scenario after progressing past the initial briefing, etc. Just my niggles, and keeping my fingers crossed they'll be addressed with the engine rewrite... ianc 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.