First impressions

[Kuniworth]

Ok my impression after playing the two scenarios for a while...this will probably change

PROS:

- Tiles is not as confusing as feared. Although they create some strange situations, hexes definately better but the impact of the tiles is not a game-breaker.

- Game is enjoyable, lots of things are going on. Im glad I bought it.

- Plenty of options, new amphibious landing system is working fine.

CONS:

- Paratroopers are possible exploits as in hearts of iron. They are powerful units.

- Feels more like playing Panzer general 2 than SC1, more like a tactical than strategic approach due to larger map, crowded feel, 3d units

- CLICKING is much more frequent. Maybe it's possible to reduce some of those.

[Blashy]

Paratroopers, I'm surprised you find them so powerfull.

You are probably getting this perception from the D-Day campaign.

In the full map campaigns you are 1) Limited in how many you have and 2) They are VERY expensive 3) You're in for a surprise if you intend to use them in the "exploitive" manner I think you are envisioning, I could certainly be wrong.

[Kuniworth]

No I think you are right actually. And after all I was the guy who back in the golden days of sc urged for stronger airfleets to break the frontlines

[Blashy]

Well I'm sure you'll find some stuff we have not come up with.

A handfull of testers is no match for a community of thousands, hehe.

[Lars]

Seems I'm zoomed in just a little too much on the main screen. Possible zoom in/out?

Also, the small area map below, would be nice if markers could be added there for at least my units, like on the Strategic Map. Just dots would be ok, nothing fancy (maybe blinking for ones that haven't moved yet?)

Would save clicking back and forth to find that sub out there somewhere that I totally forgot about and haven't move since 1939.

[Blashy]

Your subs will ALWAYS appear on the convoy map. So you will always know where they are.

Plus you have the option of using the "next key" that goes through every units that has not done anything that turn.

[acrashb]

1) I'll be playing with the 'nato'ish symbols. The 3d's are giving me eyestrain both from clutter and distinguishing the unit from its terrain.

2) Square movement on the ground isn't too bad... it's appalling on the ocean. Diagonal = 1.5 would solve this.

3) blinking the unmoved/unactioned units' national symbols doesn't work - a quick screen scan can happen faster than the blink, which is small anyway, so you don't see them. An alternate colour/base would be better, anything bigger and more constant.

4) madmatt couldn't find a sample of the Canadian national anthem for Ottawa? It was first sung in 1880, and while not 'official' until 1980, it gained wide popularity in 1908, easily enough time to be in use for WWII.

5) I got the "DIRECTX FAILED: dderr_surfacelost" error while typing this stuff. No excuse for this after so many years of DirectX stability.

for positives:

- the larger map will make things a lot more interesting.

- air units are no longer the zapguns of yesterday.

- working with nations before they are at war is a lot more realistic, and should limit standard DOW opening moves.

[Lars]

Originally posted by Blashy:

Your subs will ALWAYS appear on the convoy map. So you will always know where they are.

Plus you have the option of using the "next key" that goes through every units that has not done anything that turn.

I saw that.

I'm just saying you could get a little more use out of the world map than just popping about the screen. Put some unit markers on it and I'll know where to go. No need to flip back and forth.

Btw, Next Unit toggles have always been a pain in the *ss to me. But I'll try it again.

Perhaps you should re-label it Unmoved Units if that's what it really does?

[Blashy]

Its "unmoved, unreinforced, unupgraded, unattacked" basically it means they have done NOTHING.

Ok, I was not sure you saw the sub thing in the convoy map.

Good idea on the mini screen thingy.

[Jeff Gilbert]

Initial impression ... big smile.

I'm messing about with the DDay just to get the feel.

More to follow when I get done with work ...

[Sombra]

First of all. Game runs smoothly without any problems on my computer.

First look

Well to many units at one place . Playing a little with the settings though helps a lot.

After 2 turns my units spread out.

I really think I need to study the manuel to understand and make sense out of some of the options. I need a list of shortcut keys besides my computer.

Annoyingly the enemy keeps running away from the french border ) . The same as in Sc1 . time will tell if this is a stupid move or a good tactic.

I really like the new map. Squares don´t annoy me at all. I never even thought about them until I am writing these lines.

Units somehow look a little bit blurry to me... Do I need new eyes?

I am already in love with the paratroopers.

Getting a little bit lost on the oceans where is the next connvoy line to raid?

[Hubert Cater]

Seems I'm zoomed in just a little too much on the main screen. Possible zoom in/out?

Perhaps you are running at the minimum resolution of 1024x768? If your system supports a higher resolution such as 1280x1024 or 1600x1200 much more of the game map will be shown. The game setting can be manually edited in the SC2.ini file but probably the best way to do this is to re-install the demo and select a higher resolution if supported.

[Blashy]

Ok, I must say that you will find that there is A LOT more room to maneuver than in SC, you won't find it to cluttered after the fall of France. Remember in the begining ALL the German Army is concentrating on either Poland or France. But after that, you start to get streched.

And even in the Poland / France campaigns I found there was plenty of room with the new feature of attacking and moving away. Of course you'll find it harder to do so in MUD and even more so in Winter.

[Hubert Cater]

My guess is that some of the cluttered feel is just with the inital setup of the German army... keep in mind this is optimized for the best possible invasion of Benelux, i.e. takes into account weather and AF range etc.

But, as Blashy mentions, this changes as soon as you start moving units around and espeically once you get to Barbarossa etc., as you can see the USSR is much bigger and deeper than it was in SC1.

[Lars]

Originally posted by Hubert Cater:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> Seems I'm zoomed in just a little too much on the main screen. Possible zoom in/out?

Perhaps you are running at the minimum resolution of 1024x768? If your system supports a higher resolution such as 1280x1024 or 1600x1200 much more of the game map will be shown. The game setting can be manually edited in the SC2.ini file but probably the best way to do this is to re-install the demo and select a higher resolution if supported. </font>

[Marky]

ahh canadas not important enuff to include its anthem

jk

paratroopers are just about right i think but id like more

[Blashy]

FYI, I run the game in 1600*1200, been running it like that since early beta with never an issue.

[Squonk]

Tried the demo and was very impressed! Kudos to Hubert and to the team!

[Ike99]

Well to start with, make sure you take a look at the minimum requirements before you buy. My system in our living room just met them, but the music stuttered and jerked and the screen came out like this...

Why this game has such high specs, (32Mb Video card, 1 GHz Processor, 256Mb of RAM) is beyond me!! You would think this game was a first person shooter!!

But anyway... took it back to the bedroom to 2nd PC (has much stronger video card) and the game and music worked fine. Thats the good thing. Bad thing is everything I was concerned about with before was only reinforced by actually playing the game.

The isometric grid based board blows. Hard.

The game seems too lightweight, not enough substance. Really been nice to see some retreat and breakthrough, additional armor movement, phase, whatever you want to call it. This type of stuff, little more meat and lot less get old quick candy.

Maybe in two years if its less than half the price it is now I'll buy it. But for now I didn't see anything worth shelling out 45 U.S. green ones plus shipping for.

[ April 05, 2006, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: Ike99 ]

[jon_j_rambo]

Just tried a few moves for the first time. Hmmm, tiles & graphics are there for sure. My older laptop was acting a little fussy.

Need more facts, the jury is out.

-Legend

[fantomas]

Tiles and 3D ? Where ?

We have not the same game !

[ April 06, 2006, 08:19 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

[Desert Dave]

Helluva job on such short notice!

(... or, was it?)

Anyway, I'd have to play it first

To see how

All the attack ANGLES change

The over-all approach.

Say,

Of a Pz II to... a near-by French bugler

Blowing out avant garde! retreat.

Will DL and giv 'er a fair shot

One a' these days,

Then you've gotten apparently adept hands

On Editor, and "fine tuned" it. :cool:

[Hubert Cater]

Originally posted by Ike99:

Why this game has such high specs, (32Mb Video card, 1 GHz Processor, 256Mb of RAM) is beyond me!! You would think this game was a first person shooter!!

True that a 2-D game can be decieving in terms of overall system requirements but these types of games, and especially with added graphics and increased map size can unfortuantely be quite demanding (relative to the games of old) on system resources and CPU speed. Path finding algoritims along with image rendering for a game of this type unfortunately require these types of minimum specs.

For another example and point of reference, take a look at the minimum and recommended system specs for GGWAW and you'll see that SC2 is not bad at all.

This type of stuff, little more meat and lot less get old quick candy.

I would strongly suggest taking a look at the provided User Manual as the game does offer a lot more depth over the original and truly is much more than *added* eye-candy.

[zmoney]

I did not play the first one but I have played Panzer general. I thought the game was great. I have a problem with my units being blurry even though I have a fairly new PC. It took me a few try's to figure out what all the buttons did, but now its not a problem.

One question though; how can you tell weather your aircraft is a bomber or fighter? On the same note how can you tell what kind of tanks you have?

When the game comes out and you are allowed to purchase units can you buy light, medium and heavy tanks or is it that you only have a choice to buy one general tank type? For instance can I buy PzII and Tigers at the same time or is it just the generic purchase tank depending on tech level?

[Hubert Cater]

Originally posted by zmoney:

One question though; how can you tell weather your aircraft is a bomber or fighter? On the same note how can you tell what kind of tanks you have?

Bombers are generally identified by a different unit icon and will have a different properties. If you go into the purchase unit screen and select a bomber for purchase and then compare to an Air Fleet you will see what I mean here.

When the game comes out and you are allowed to purchase units can you buy light, medium and heavy tanks or is it that you only have a choice to buy one general tank type? For instance can I buy PzII and Tigers at the same time or is it just the generic purchase tank depending on tech level?

Depending on your current Heavy Tank Research level you can purchase a different tank type from research level 1-5. Each tank type will have its attack/defense values adjusted for the applicable Heavy Tank Research level and will be shown with a new unit icon, such as the PzII, Panther, Tiger etc.