My review of Tow2

[Han]

I bought this game last week. I'm not completely new to ToW: I own the original ToW as well. Back than, I felt the game had a lot of potential, but found it exceedingly difficult to play: I had a sense of lack of control during the battles. For this reason I didn't bother with this game for long, now was I tempted to buy ToW2 for that matter. Until last week I came across a Steam-sale: 75% off ToW2: Kursk. Being Dutch, I quess I couldn't handle the tempation of a 75% descount :-)

For good measure I also purchased the Caen-expansion. Years ago, with a couple of other modders I created the Gold-Juno-Sword mod for Close Combat. The Caen area has held a special interest to me ever since. (modding as well; I don't think I've played a game the last 8 years or so that I haven't adapted to my own tastes in some way or another :-) )

My first impression of ToW2:Kursk is positive. Soldiers and vehicles look a bit larger than in the previous game which makes it a bit easier on the eye. I quess I'm getting older. It's graphically pretty much the 3D Close Combat I've ever hoped for. (noticed for the next release, Korea, there will even be a strategic map which doesn't look dissimilar from Close Combat!) The designers of this game did a good job. Close Combat is however better in one respect. The interface.

To sum up my gripes about ToW I need five words only: IT DOES NOT FEEL INTUITIVE!

First and foremost it's the interface which I feel is to blame. When starting a battle, I've got lots of units under my control. The link between my units and me however, in other words the interface, is not logical to me. When I select units by creating a box with the cursor (as you do in pretty much all games) I'm seeing tons of individual soldiers in my selection bar. Mostly the infantry is to blame, but bailed out vehicle crews are clotting up the unit-selection bar as well.

In my opinion the logical way to organize the interface is top-down. You don't select individual soldiers but teams: a vehicle or a squad of infantry. To solve this problem without loosing the ability to control individual soldiers like you can now, I'd like a unit-bar at the bottom of the screen where each vehicle (or bailed out crew) and each infantry squad is represented by one icon/button, similar to the ones in the unit selection screen. When I press the icon for an infantry unit, it automatically selects all soldiers of the squad. Sure, the same feature is already usable when you give group numbers, however I always have difficulty remembering which group has been given which number. Again, I'm getting older. Nevertheless, as it works now with those group numbers, it feels clumpsy.

The second thing that's not intuitive are the maps. The Kursk maps are ok; large open swats of hilly terrain with the occasional build-up area. The Normandy ones are not that life-like. The battle of Normandy is known for the hedgerow-fighting. There's one thing seriously missing on the Normandy maps in the Caen-expansion: hedgerows! Right now, the maps do have a Normandy "feel" over them, with the lines of trees visually representing hedgerows. However, only my own LOS is blocked. My virtual soldiers have a completely different view. Their LOS is only blocked by the occasional tree-trunk. Enemy fire can come from everywhere; there's no logic in the way the map is represented to me, to find out where I have to look for the enemy. They could be hiding in the next line of trees, they could as well be two lines of trees further down the road.

A good map should be easy for the player to "read": especially on LOS and (visual) cover. Than the focus can be on tactics instead of on the need to constantly check the LOS of units.

The nice thing about Normandy is that LOS-blocking hedgerows offer an excellent opportunity to create intuitive maps. The maps available with the stock game are good, but could because of that be better.

In my opinion, a good game is easy to play, yet hard to master. Because the interface is not logical and the maps are hard to "read", ToW2 is both hard to master, and hard to play. The sense of lack of control puts potential customers off. Well...not being a marketing-specialist..at least I can say it did put me off after trying the original game.

The good thing is, that I think it might not be hard to correct these issues. That would make a good game polished.

Just my 2 cents worth...

[Sneaksie]

It's good to hear from one of GJS creators:)

Actually we've tried CC-style menus while revamping interface for Africa. Something like what you propose for infantry squads will be in Korea, in the meantime you can just double-click a soldier and all his squad (or what's left of it) will be selected.

Caen author tried to represent hedgerows using thick tree lines with bushes and i think they work fairly well (it's almost impossible to see units hiding in or behind them while they can see you because of visibility system - LOS ignores vegetation which is close to a unit).

[Han]

Looking forward to the Korea game here. Haven't got Africa (yet) though, so I can't comment on that.

Gotta say that the controls do grow on you. Once you get the hang of it the handling of numbered groups makes the game quite a bit easier. Still, I remain with the opinion that the interface can be made more user-friendly.

For the force selection screen I'd like to see a map preview and the battle briefing. That would make it a lot easier to make informed decisions about the types of units you need for the battle.

During the battle team-icons like in the picture attached would be helpfull. Ideally the icons would glow up when a team or vehicle gets fired upon. That would increase overall situational awareness.

As for the Caen-maps: credits to the creator. Having spend quite a bit of time on GJS maps I'm fairly familiar with the area, and I could have recognized some of the maps without the map name being displayed.

I quess the main thing I'd have done different is making the hedgerows more continuous. Right now there are quite a lot of open spaces between the bushes which results in quirky LOS with enemy AT-guns taking pot-shots at my troops from large distances trough the gaps between the bushes; often from several hedgerows down the road. This means a lot of micro managing of troops and vehicles is needed, which takes my attention away from the tactical side of the game.

I am however very much tempted to try my hand at making a Normandy map for ToW myself ;-) Are there limitations to the number of objects/trees like in ToW1?

[Sneaksie]

Yes, there are, and creator of Caen already exceeded recommended limitations, that's why system requirements were upped. Empty spaces between bushes are there because these limits are not indefinitely increasable)

To increase your situational awareness, hit F4 key to toggle advanced damage info mode on.

[Han]

Thanks again for the response.

Is the limit on the number of objects hardcoded or can I exceed it with the only penalty being a possible slowdown of the game? (my computer is running all the maps without as much as a hickup)

One way to get around the limited number of objects/trees might be the creation of a special "bocage" object, something like an extended bush, preferbly including a slight raise in the ground just like the real thing. Would it be possible to create such an item, or would it be possible to contact the designers of the game to create such an element?

[Sneaksie]

AFAIK no limit is hardcoded, but the game will begin to crash on older PCs with less video memory and then on modern ones as well (in addition to slowdown).

[Han]

And my second question? Or is that a big no-no? ;-)

[Sneaksie]

I don't know whether it's possible to create such object, you better ask one of experienced modders like Knokke. I guess no, because the trees in the game were made using the SpeedTree technology and these and static objects are independent systems. It may be possible to create a linear trees conglomerate that will be handled like a single tree, but then it will be undestructable (you can make it destructable, but then this entire trees section would collapse) and it will not be raised above the ground.

You can try modifying one of the Caen maps - try raising ground under hedgerows for example.