ATR Mod

[smittyohio2]

Could someone who's played the ATR mod by Bill Macon answer some questions please ;-) I don't have PDE, but am considering purchasing it.

First, is the map different than the standard SC2 European Theater map? I'm not real fond of the "squished" look of the standard one, and was wondering if it looks more natural.

Secondly, does the AI play a good game? Is it fun to play on either side?

Thanks!

[pzgndr]

Hey thanks for your interest! What I did with this mod was take the original A3R map and essentially doubled the scale where 1 hex = 2 tiles. So it's a completely different map than SC and as natural as the boardgame map.

Instead of quarterly seasonal turns, I've used monthly (4-week) turns. I kept the unit movement factors the same though, so it's possible to get 1.5x movement but when you factor in weather effects and units halted for reinforcements it works out nicely. I've created a customized order of battle true to the original game, including national differences (eg, German 4-6 armor vs Russian 3-5 armor, etc., plus air and naval DRMs) IMHO it plays very much like the original game, with a little more operational flavor with monthly turns.

As for AI, I worked pretty hard to script a balanced and variable game for both sides, optimally for Intermediate +1 difficulty settings. It's good but it still has some weaknesses.

I am continuing to improve my A3R mod for the upcoming release and have made some changes to the OOB and other settings to provide more balance. I've also roughed in a new 1942 scenario and will also add a 1944 scenario as well. As we get closer, I'll share more details.