Jim Cobb Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 http://www.wargamer.com/reviews/combat_mission_shock_force_jimcobb/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cid250 Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Originally posted by Jim Cobb: The game offers two styles of play, real-time and WEGO, and shows the strengths and limitations of both. WEGO allows players to plot their orders and then watch and replay the action as their orders unfold in thirty second intervals. Players who like to study situations and consider their moves carefully will enjoy WEGOThat's not true... we doesn't have WeGO in CMSF at all. Only a vanilla version of realtime-auto pause. To get WeGO, you need good TacAI that makes your troops act more realistically when they spot some targets or become under fire. This game is fully realtime oriented... don't even speak of WeGO, if you want to sound like a serious reviewer, WeGO it's only the name of the menu that they placed in their realtime with auto-pause option... all the maths of the TacAI are done in real time... without any stop for 100% dedicated CPU calculations. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Krejcirik Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 I play WEGO only and find it quite enjoyable. Sure, there are bugs and omissions, the TacAI is dumb, but it's not THAT bad. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cobb Posted September 12, 2007 Author Share Posted September 12, 2007 Originally posted by Cid250: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Jim Cobb: The game offers two styles of play, real-time and WEGO, and shows the strengths and limitations of both. WEGO allows players to plot their orders and then watch and replay the action as their orders unfold in thirty second intervals. Players who like to study situations and consider their moves carefully will enjoy WEGOThat's not true... we doesn't have WeGO in CMSF at all. Only a vanilla version of realtime-auto pause. To get WeGO, you need good TacAI that makes your troops act more realistically when they spot some targets or become under fire. This game is fully realtime oriented... don't even speak of WeGO, if you want to sound like a serious reviewer, WeGO it's only the name of the menu that they placed in their realtime with auto-pause option... all the maths of the TacAI are done in real time... without any stop for 100% dedicated CPU calculations. </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkmek Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 30 second intervals? Since when? I play WEGO exclusively and I run my own version of the blue bar. I plot my moves, then turn off the sound, point the camera off map and hit go. The computer does it's thing, then I watch the replay. I had to resort to doing this because my old rig couldn't run the Hammertime Scenario with out my tanks jumping around the screen like crickets. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoolaman Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Originally posted by Cid250: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Jim Cobb: The game offers two styles of play, real-time and WEGO, and shows the strengths and limitations of both. WEGO allows players to plot their orders and then watch and replay the action as their orders unfold in thirty second intervals. Players who like to study situations and consider their moves carefully will enjoy WEGOThat's not true... we doesn't have WeGO in CMSF at all. Only a vanilla version of realtime-auto pause. To get WeGO, you need good TacAI that makes your troops act more realistically when they spot some targets or become under fire. This game is fully realtime oriented... don't even speak of WeGO, if you want to sound like a serious reviewer, WeGO it's only the name of the menu that they placed in their realtime with auto-pause option... all the maths of the TacAI are done in real time... without any stop for 100% dedicated CPU calculations. </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntarr Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 umm yeah 30 sec? I think you screwed the pooch on that one. It is 60 sec intervals. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoolaman Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 And yeah so anyway, great review Jim! It looks like you have presented the facts as they stand now and taken into account BFC's position on supporting the game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melnibone Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Originally posted by Jim Cobb: "Poor Johnny One-Note, he played out his one note with gusto." Well played Sir! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KNac Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 blue bar! blue bar! jezz... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkEzra Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Oh yeah...sure but what does HE know? About the Author Jim Cobb has been playing board wargames since 1961 and computer wargames since 1982. He has been writing incessantly since 1993 to keep his mind off the drivel he deals with as a bureaucrat. He has published in Wargamers Monthly, Computer Gaming World, Computer Games Magazine, Computer Games Online, CombatSim, Armchair General, Subsim, Strategyzone Online and Gaming Chronicle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 "Walls crumble and buildings collapse when the correct amount of high explosive is applied, although ground is not cratered." Ground is cratered...depending what hit the building. A fair review. I thought. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Underneath the building? Playing around with all the air support in the 'Warlords in a Barrel' user-gen scenario, using 'heavy' fire missions, I've seen quite a few leveled buildings surrounded by crater... but with the building wreckage at its original level (as if on a dirt pedestal, basically). Never saw building wreckage pushed downwards -into- a crater. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 No, not underneath...but that's semantics. Actually someone could take that quote as meaning there are no craters in the game...I did, until I reread it. That scenario leaves some big holes don't it? Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Oh, yup. 12x air assets (if memory serves) will tend to do that... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aka_tom_w Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 "Combat Mission Shock Force is a deep, complex and taxing game. Players who don’t want to invest time and effort into play may not enjoy it. However, gamers who want to have insight into the kind of operations the US appears to be doomed to undertake in the foreseeable future will be rewarded for waiting for the patches. This game goes beyond the gung-ho products of other franchises. The strengths and weaknesses of the “Western Way of War” in the modern era are shown here clearly. Finding the right mix of force, distance, and time challenges players to make truly tactical decisions. The rewards of success are visceral and watching a plan unfold with all the graphical nuances leaves players holding the breath. Failure is almost a personal loss. Any serious gamer should suffer through the not insignificant bugs—or wait for the patches—and get this game." Sounded like a fair review to me 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aka_tom_w Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 No one here has come right out and said it, so I will, for the time being one much loved feature of the CMx1 was TCP/IP WEGO. TCP/IP WEGO is missing from CMSF, but, you can still play WEGO via hotseat or via PBEM or against the computer AI and it IS WEGO. BUT there no network live action TCP/IP WEGO and by now I am sure they, (the good folks at BFC) KNOW ALL ABOUT IT. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelmia Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Originally posted by aka_tom_w: No one here has come right out and said it, so I will, for the time being one much loved feature of the CMx1 was TCP/IP WEGO. TCP/IP WEGO is missing from CMSF you can still play via hotseat or via PBEM or against the computer AI and it IS WEGO. BUT there no network live action TCP/IP WEGO and by now I am sure (the good folks at BFC) KNOW ALL ABOUT IT. I liked it. I like TCP/IP real time more. It would not bother me if it came back, though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cobb Posted September 12, 2007 Author Share Posted September 12, 2007 Originally posted by aka_tom_w: "Combat Mission Shock Force is a deep, complex and taxing game. Players who don’t want to invest time and effort into play may not enjoy it. However, gamers who want to have insight into the kind of operations the US appears to be doomed to undertake in the foreseeable future will be rewarded for waiting for the patches. This game goes beyond the gung-ho products of other franchises. The strengths and weaknesses of the “Western Way of War” in the modern era are shown here clearly. Finding the right mix of force, distance, and time challenges players to make truly tactical decisions. The rewards of success are visceral and watching a plan unfold with all the graphical nuances leaves players holding the breath. Failure is almost a personal loss. Any serious gamer should suffer through the not insignificant bugs—or wait for the patches—and get this game." Sounded like a fair review to me Darn, that paragraph reads even better to me now than when I wrote it. CMSF was difficult to review. So tiring that I'm giving myself a break before doing the next. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reel-why Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 A good review by somebody who obviously knows their market. The line about animation being key to gameplay (I'm to lazy to find the exact quote) is dead on. The real reason I play WEGO is so I can watch all that cool stuff happen again. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Originally posted by reel-why: The real reason I play WEGO is so I can watch all that cool stuff happen again. A truer statement was never spoken...me too. It's half the reason a 30 minute game usually lasts four hours for me...and I am fine with it! I like RT for testing stuff though...speeds that part of the process up. And Jim's last paragraph was great. Nice wind up to the review. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoolaman Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 The troops travel in Stryker AFVs armed with .50 cal. Machine guns, 40 mm grenade launchers, or 155 mm howitzers. Minor correction, the MGS is 105mm isn't it? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbott Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Originally posted by Hoolaman: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> The troops travel in Stryker AFVs armed with .50 cal. Machine guns, 40 mm grenade launchers, or 155 mm howitzers. Minor correction, the MGS is 105mm isn't it? </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cobb Posted September 13, 2007 Author Share Posted September 13, 2007 Originally posted by Hoolaman: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> The troops travel in Stryker AFVs armed with .50 cal. Machine guns, 40 mm grenade launchers, or 155 mm howitzers. Minor correction, the MGS is 105mm isn't it? </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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