Wargamer's Corner

Corsicans are a wild and unruly bunch, they probably tortured Pope into submission. They're the real Papal controller now.

The same thing happened again when I excommunicated Sardinia, Stupid Papal state keeps choosing heretics over me, so I annex the heretic OPM for 2 infamy (I love Excommunication for gaming the rep system to annex any OPM I want) and I've reduced the Papala stats to Roma and Siena, at one point he had nearly all of Italy, from Mantua to Napoli.

I'm upto 70 hours in hte last two weeks for EU3. Once I get closer to the end of this game I'll unveil the ridiculously impressive screenshots

Just ordered Distant Worlds from Matrix Games: http://www.matrixgames.com/products/...

It looks very promising. I basically just ordered it based on the videos the developer has put up and the positive feedback so far in the forums.

On another note...I restarted yet another game of AACW after getting nowhere in my last game. Each iteration, I'm getting closer to understanding how to play. Tonnes o'fun

I've got Distant Worlds but have only done the tutorials. Not sure I like the ship appearance (kind of big and clunky, like oversized icons) but so far the game is engaging. I have to go away next week but if I formulate an opinion over the weekend, I'll let you know.

Minase wrote:
AGEod's American Civil War does NOT work. Froze when changing options AND froze when loading tutorial.
Europa Universalis 3 Demo, EU3 HttT Demo, EU3 full game: All freeze either when changing options OR when the world map first displays either at the beginning of a game or the beginning of the tutorial.
Hearts of Iron 3, also, freezes at options and/or when displaying world map.

I had a very similar problem (freeze when loading EU3). I was able to fix it by turning off sound in the configuration file.

Hmmm.... if I get bored enough to redownload the demos, I may give them one last chance.
Thanks for the tip, I assume turning off the sound from the config file is obvious/simple?

You tell us. I've turned mine off in the file settings.txt, if you can spot how you won't have any trouble:

gui=
{
language=l_english
}
graphics=
{
size=
{
x=1920
y=1080
}

refreshRate=60
fullScreen=yes
shadows=no
shadowSize=2048
multi_sampling=0
anisotropic_filtering=0
gamma=50.000000
}
sound_fx_volume=0.000000
music_volume=0.000000
scroll_speed=50.000000
camera_rotation_speed=50.000000
zoom_speed=50.000000
mouse_speed=50.000000
master_volume=100.000000
ambient_volume=53.000000
mapRenderingOptions=
{
renderTrees=yes
onmap=yes
simpleWater=no
}
lastplayer="Simon"
lasthost=""
serveradress="diplomacy.valkyrienet.com"
autosave="YEARLY"
outliner=
{
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 15 }

Distant Worlds is a bit of a disappointment so far...not much though. It really pales in comparison to the detail provided with AACW, so, like the whore I am I bought RoP.

I see that HOI3 patch 1.4 is out. Is that worth loading again?

Also, Lock On 2.0 just hit the streets as well.

/watches Robear explode.

darrenl wrote:

I see that HOI3 patch 1.4 is out. Is that worth loading again?

Its now officially in the pile for me to be revisited at some point. I'll probably see how well the mod scene is doing too.

Gettysburg - Scourge of War is out!!!! Her is the main post i made on the gwj forums for it.

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/49701

1000 posts, good work guys We should get some sort of Grognard prize.

dup

Prozac wrote:

1000 posts, good work guys We should get some sort of Grognard prize.

I award us all with the Golden Hexagon for extraordinary perseverance!

IMAGE(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21rd2Uo3NFL._SL500_.jpg)

That Golden Hex looks like it may have a chocolaty center....

I picked up Distant Worlds yesterday and have played through the tutorials. Not sure what to think yet; there is a lot of automation in this game, we will have to see how it works in a real game. There seems to be a lot of depth and it looks to be pretty approachable, but that's what I would expect think after playing the tutorials.

I'll post back when I have some thoughts after playing some of a real game...

For those interested I created a Catch All for Distant Worlds. It seems we have a discussion or two regarding the game so I thought I'd try to streamline the conversation.

Robear wrote:

You tell us. I've turned mine off in the file settings.txt, if you can spot how you won't have any trouble:

gui=
{
language=l_english
}
graphics=
{
size=
{
x=1920
y=1080
}

refreshRate=60
fullScreen=yes
shadows=no
shadowSize=2048
multi_sampling=0
anisotropic_filtering=0
gamma=50.000000
}
sound_fx_volume=0.000000
music_volume=0.000000
scroll_speed=50.000000
camera_rotation_speed=50.000000
zoom_speed=50.000000
mouse_speed=50.000000
master_volume=100.000000
ambient_volume=53.000000
mapRenderingOptions=
{
renderTrees=yes
onmap=yes
simpleWater=no
}
lastplayer="Simon"
lasthost=""
serveradress="diplomacy.valkyrienet.com"
autosave="YEARLY"
outliner=
{
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 15 }

Sooo.....
I reinstalled and tried setting all the volumes to 0(zero) and ALSO turning off renderTrees and onmap.

No luck.

I give up, but thanks for trying to help.
I kinda feel like shooting some zombies and eating some brains, anyway.

I kinda feel like shooting some zombies and eating some brains, anyway.

There's a thread for that.

Geez, man, I really wish we could have figured out what's wrong with your system. It's a puzzle and I hate not solving them.

I'll be back at home tomorrow so I can commence downloading while my head asplodes. 8-0

Has anyone tried 1.4 for hoi3 yet?

darrenl wrote:

Has anyone tried 1.4 for hoi3 yet?

I've only messed with it enough to know that it actually works now. Tutorials load and function, none of the blackscreens and freezes that were there before.

Despite the supposed optimizations, the initial load time is still something you measure with a sundial instead of a stopwatch. I can sit there and see that the program is using all 4 cores, yet it won't ever use more than about 28% of capacity. Just crazy bad programming apparently.

Mistakenly posted in another thread something that belonged here. Quoting for continuation.

My original:

duckilama wrote:

Since Paradox doesn't like me, how about some thoughts on these two games from GoG?
Strategic Command European Theater - http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/strat...
Combat Mission Beyond Overlord - http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/comba...

SC looks like a boardgame-style high-level overview-type strategy game while CMBO looks more tactical, down on the ground, commanding a much smaller force at the encounter/battle level. I am always wary of on-site reviews, so all those 4 and 5-stars on GoG are suspect in my opinion.

Would love some input/reviews/thoughts.

Robear wrote:

The CM series of which Beyond Overlord is the first is the absolute benchmark for WWII tactical games. You may want to look at battlefront.com to get more info on these. Many people prefer the second game, Barbarossa to Berlin I think it's called, because it deals with the East Front and adds some technical improvements.

However, if you like WWII tactical, you cannot go wrong with the CM series.

Strategic Command is also from Battlefront and there are a large number of improvements in SC 2. I'd avoid the original for that reason. The later games are better than the original.

For more info, ask in the Wargamer's Corner. :-)

Aetius wrote:
duckilama wrote:

Combat Mission Beyond Overlord - http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/comba...

SC looks like a boardgame-style high-level overview-type strategy game while CMBO looks more tactical, down on the ground, commanding a much smaller force at the encounter/battle level. I am always wary of on-site reviews, so all those 4 and 5-stars on GoG are suspect in my opinion.

In this case they are correct. CMBO is very, very good - the whole series is excellent, though more recent games have (possibly irritating) DRM. It's basically tabletop gaming brought to life. There's more discussion of that series in the Wargamer's Corner thread, particularly about the latest installment in the series which covers modern warfare.

Well, one reason I would buy the ones on GoG is a)updates for current Windows OSes and b)no DRM to mess with me. I don't want to pirate games, just want games that work.

I think I'd be more interested in higher-level strategy over tactical, but I don't know how low-level CMBO really is.
Anyway, further input appreciated. GoG also has a lot of other strategy titles that I have "heard of" but don't really know anything about.

I can't recommend the Combat Mission series enough...especially Beyond Overlord. That was actually The game that brought me back to wargaming. Love it.

I remember zooming down to a bunch of troops when I first tried the demo out, and when the camera was shaking from the impact of mortar fire and the troops were ducking and covering their heads....yeah...I bought it the very next minute.

Currently downloading the SC2 demo. Didn't really like SC1, but we'll see how this one is.

duckilama wrote:

Well, one reason I would buy the ones on GoG is a)updates for current Windows OSes and b)no DRM to mess with me. I don't want to pirate games, just want games that work.

Agreed - I was referring to the newer games, which aren't available on GoG yet.

I think I'd be more interested in higher-level strategy over tactical, but I don't know how low-level CMBO really is.

CMBO is pretty low-level - units are individual tanks and platoons/squads/teams of infantry. Individual soldiers are tracked.

I think I'd be more interested in higher-level strategy over tactical, but I don't know how low-level CMBO really is.

Individual soldiers, vehicles and weapons. One minute turns with I believe tenth of a second resolution. Each shell and bullet is individually tracked and follows ballistic arcs. Hit boxes on vehicles are something like four inches across.

You plan your troops' movement by giving them orders. Movement is predicted with "toothpaste" lines extending out as a future path. Then when you end planning, the turn is calculated, with both sides moving simultaneously. You then get a "movie" of the turn, which you can reply from any position on the map as often as you like, but it will only show you things your troops can see or hear. Then back to movement.

Units can be given targets, or left to select them. You can define fire arcs, ambushes and other tactical actions. There are different types of movement - sneaking, running, regular, attacking, etc. Units have morale and will refuse orders or modify them based on their current situation (don't try to tell a squad to cross a street when they know a machine gun is in the plaza a few blocks down). Vehicle damage is by location and so you can shoot out periscopes, disable guns, blow off tracks (the vehicle will slow to halt leaving the tread behind) and also force them to button up.

There's a scenario generator as well as tons of scenarios in the game and available on the Internet. Can't say enough good things about this series.

The thing that sold me on the game was the original demo, in which a Sherman is advancing on a small village in the woods. I sent it in without infantry cover, cautiously, and sure enough as it entered a clearing it spotted a few German squad positions. At this point the American tank commander was exposed.

The Germans fire a few rifle rounds, and the tank commander ducks inside, closing the hatch. A few moments later as a squad is fleeing, a Panzerfaust goes corkscrewing past the tank. The tank hull gunner opens up, but the American crew is still not worried. Another Panzerfaust, a few more bursts from the machine gun.

Then, suddenly, a Panzerschreck round comes flying out of the woods, hits the front of the tank and ricochets off the angled glacis plate. The whole tank must have rung like a bell. Five seconds later, the main gun starts to crank over and down towards the origin of the shot and the AP round that was loaded is fired to clear the breech for an HE.

You could just see what the tank crew was thinking. They'll just hang out in the trees, let these guys run from the MG, the 'fausts are nothing to worry about, infantry is following, and then WHAMM! That anti-tank round hits and they went into high gear to shut down the firer. No more screwing around!

I love the ricochets, too. I've seen AT rounds bounce and land in a group of infantrymen and wound or kill several of them. Quite detailed.

Oh, if only they'd completed that strategic level game wherein your tactical level contacts would be resolved using the CM engine. If only...

Take a look at Achtung Panzer: Kharkov, Dave. Weird interface, but I think that's what the game is about. Move on the strategy map, fight on the tactical one.

Robear wrote:
I think I'd be more interested in higher-level strategy over tactical, but I don't know how low-level CMBO really is.

Individual soldiers, vehicles and weapons. One minute turns with I believe tenth of a second resolution. Each shell and bullet is individually tracked and follows ballistic arcs. Hit boxes on vehicles are something like four inches across.

You plan your troops' movement by giving them orders. Movement is predicted with "toothpaste" lines extending out as a future path. Then when you end planning, the turn is calculated, with both sides moving simultaneously. You then get a "movie" of the turn, which you can reply from any position on the map as often as you like, but it will only show you things your troops can see or hear. Then back to movement.

Units can be given targets, or left to select them. You can define fire arcs, ambushes and other tactical actions. There are different types of movement - sneaking, running, regular, attacking, etc. Units have morale and will refuse orders or modify them based on their current situation (don't try to tell a squad to cross a street when they know a machine gun is in the plaza a few blocks down). Vehicle damage is by location and so you can shoot out periscopes, disable guns, blow off tracks (the vehicle will slow to halt leaving the tread behind) and also force them to button up.

There's a scenario generator as well as tons of scenarios in the game and available on the Internet. Can't say enough good things about this series.

The thing that sold me on the game was the original demo, in which a Sherman is advancing on a small village in the woods. I sent it in without infantry cover, cautiously, and sure enough as it entered a clearing it spotted a few German squad positions. At this point the American tank commander was exposed.

The Germans fire a few rifle rounds, and the tank commander ducks inside, closing the hatch. A few moments later as a squad is fleeing, a Panzerfaust goes corkscrewing past the tank. The tank hull gunner opens up, but the American crew is still not worried. Another Panzerfaust, a few more bursts from the machine gun.

Then, suddenly, a Panzerschreck round comes flying out of the woods, hits the front of the tank and ricochets off the angled glacis plate. The whole tank must have rung like a bell. Five seconds later, the main gun starts to crank over and down towards the origin of the shot and the AP round that was loaded is fired to clear the breech for an HE.

You could just see what the tank crew was thinking. They'll just hang out in the trees, let these guys run from the MG, the 'fausts are nothing to worry about, infantry is following, and then WHAMM! That anti-tank round hits and they went into high gear to shut down the firer. No more screwing around!

I love the ricochets, too. I've seen AT rounds bounce and land in a group of infantrymen and wound or kill several of them. Quite detailed.

Its that good a game, poor graphics be damned. Panzer Command Kharkov is said to be as good but I haven't played (No opponents!) Heroes of Stalingrad should be as detailed too..... when it releases...

That recent Kharkov release has a terrible interface, however. Weird and cumbersome.

D2D has Men of War on sale for $2.50. It's sequel (I thought it was an expansion, but 1C's site says sequel) Red Tide is $4.95.

It's been more than a year since I've posted here -- I've done some lurking, though, so I'm entitled! -- but I thought that it might be time for another self-serving post. "Self-serving" because I'm with Western Civilization Software, developers of the Civil War and Napoleonic strategic+tactical games "Forge of Freedom" and "Crown of Glory." I know that several of you are into Civil War gaming, and therefore might be interested to learn that we recently made an informal announcement of a new series of tactical, turn-based games devoted to specific Civil War battles (with 1st Bull Run, Wilson's Creek, Mill Springs and Williamsburg to be in the first release). The series, called "Brother Against Brother," will be released sometime this summer, but we have a "coming soon" forum over at Matrix: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tt...
We'll make the official announcement once we have the graphics ready -- map-making takes forever -- but between now and then the forum should be worth an occasional visit, especially since we're likely to have some interesting discussions about these battles.

Thanks for the heads up Gil. I own Crown of Glory: Emperors Edition...great title. Need to take a closer look at FoF at some point....but wondering how it compares to Ageods ACW (...yeah...that game spoiled me...lol).

...can't wait to see what BoB brings to the table.