The Good in FPC

[Mad Russian]

We have tons of threads about what you guys thought should be changed or fixed.

What do you think we did right? What is it about the game that keeps you playing it?

Good Hunting.

MR

[budd]

The first thing i noticed was that the hold order works much better now, that was a big issue for me.

[David Clark]

Purchased the game today, so I only have a few hours' experience to relate.

- The first game I've played since Flashpoint: Golan to properly implement the OODA cycle. I've been trying to figure out a really elegant way to do this for a decade, and FPC's implementation is elegant, simple and effective.

- More generally, an appreciation for soft factors that reminds me of Dunnigan's old NATO Division Commander. A game that doesn't just treat electronic warfare as either another weapon system or a nonentity - it's so claustrophobic to be relying on runners under a thick blanket of broadspectrum noise.

- Made me feel like I was pushing cardboard tanks around on my old Assault or MBT maps, but without all the table look-ups and memorization. FEELS like a modern war sandbox.

- No super-weapons. Everything takes time, every technology has its weaknesses. Helicopters, night vision, smoke, bridging - every wonder-weapon works a little less well in practice than you expect, and modern combat is messy, confusing and incredibly violent.

- A feeling of actual friction and fog of war - the simpler my plans are, the better they seem to succeed. I really feel like I'm in the brigade commander's shoes - the perfect plan is always too complex to work, and I always have to settle for something messy but doable.

Those are just the 'intangibles' - they're not the sort of things that can appear in a bullet list on the back of a retail box, but they make this game feel like the sort of thing that was made by The People Who Were There. This is the Ralph Peters 'Red Army' of WWIII games; if you've read that novel, you'll know what I mean.

On a more technical note:

- The UI is USABLE. This feels like a game that was actually usability tested by someone other than the developer himself. No offense, but practically all the other Matrix titles I own feel like they were shipped with a first-pass UI that looks pretty from a distance, but gets in your way when you play. This UI just does what you want, and gives you all the info you need, but gets out of your way when you need the big picture.

- Stable - no crashes, no issues. Warning dialogues boxes in actual English when I try to do something stupid with the scenario builder, for example. This product was obviously written by someone who practices defensive programming, another unfortunate rarity from this publisher.

- The price. Slitherine/Matrix have a reputation for sticking to price points much higher than narrow-market games are running these days. I've been debating my purchase since I heard about this product three days ago; when I logged into Steam today and saw the price, I ordered immediately. Good work, whoever put that pricing together.

Anyway, that's all the enthusiasm I have right now - I have to get back to the game!

[CapnDarwin]

David, thanks for the nice review. We do spend time and thought on the UI layout and we went with a well known windows based format and show enough info to keep the player informed. We also listen to what you the player wants to see as well.

Enjoy the game! [8D]

[aleajactaest10044]

I think David's post the most eloquent that I've seen in many a forum regarding a gamer's succinct review of a product. He's on target and has played many an old fond title of mine that certainly adds to his weight as a reviewer in my mind.

I will only add that if all game developer's were as dedicated to their product as to yours, it would be an amazing world for gaming. Good work; your on my very short list of developers that I will buy titles from!

Kudos to you also for allowing the players/modders/mapmakers to create new content. The Berlin map is a work of art!!!

[&o]

[wodin]

I'd like actual Arty ammo count so choosing the right type of bombardment is more critical.

[CapnDarwin]

Wodin, on the list for 2.1. Arty for sure and probably all other units on discreet ammo tracking. We want to have mission selections and setup from the scenario side more detailed and more dynamic.

[Mad Russian]

Not saying we still don't want feed back for the game but there are tons of threads for that. Let's keep this thread for what you guys like about the game. It's good to know what you think we can improve on but it's also very helpful to know what you think we've done right.

Thanks for all the comments so far. We appreciate the feed back we get from the gamers who play our games. The Flashpoint Campaign series is developed by wargamers who don't think they know everything. We look for as much feedback to incorporate into the series as possible.

Keep those cards and letters coming and we'll try our best to continue to improve and expand on the series.

Good Hunting.

MR

[rwenstrup]

Been playing war games since Tactics II by Avalon Hill. Every once in a great while a well thought out, well implemented game comes along that stands well above the others...and Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm is one of those. It's hard to describe how a good game feels...many other games look the same. It's just how it flows...it plays in a natural way. Kinda like playing basketball when all the shots are hitting. I can think of two games that I believe have captured the 'moment' for me in a truly effective way since computer war gaming began...Steel Panthers and Flashpoint Campaigns. Excellent job!

[wodin]

Whoops sorry MR misread the thread title.

The biggest love for FC is the turn mechanics. Being WEGO and with the EW\Force Cohesion aspect makes it a unique experience to play. It now looks amazing aswell. The whole design from UI to mmersionis spot on I feel and a reason why I desperately want to see a WW2 version infact any new game be it SCI FI to WW2 would be a definite purchase from me.

It's actually hard to pick whats good about FC as no aspect is actually bad..it's all good!

ORIGINAL: Mad Russian

Not saying we still don't want feed back for the game but there are tons of threads for that. Let's keep this thread for what you guys like about the game. It's good to know what you think we can improve on but it's also very helpful to know what you think we've done right.

Thanks for all the comments so far. We appreciate the feed back we get from the gamers who play our games. The Flashpoint Campaign series is developed by wargamers who don't think they know everything. We look for as much feedback to incorporate into the series as possible.

Keep those cards and letters coming and we'll try our best to continue to improve and expand on the series.

Good Hunting.

MR

[jack54]

So much to choose from but out of the newer stuff...

'{end of movement stance}'... and, never would have thought it but,the {'ATGM' launch message.}

I really enjoy the message, it seems to add to the immersion factor; I get more of a feel of 'what's happening'....

[FroBodine]

The way you guys show and use the order of battle is simple, elegant and brilliant. I am no genius of military operations and structure by any stretch of the imagination, and I often struggle with this aspect of coordination. So often, games convolute the OB and/or make it difficult to match up the OB list with what you are seeing on the map.

FC:RS keeps it all on one screen and it just works very well, without any of the fuss. Even a civilian like me who knows very little about the military TOE and OBs can quickly comprehend what's going on on the map, and move my units with some semblance of cohesion and organization.

Bottom line, your UI is second to none, for a wargame particularly, and generally it puts many non-game applications I have used to shame.

Well done! You guys done good. Oh, and the game is just a blast to play, too.

Just one thing - I wish the game would show you exactly what units are subordinate to the HQ when you click on the HQ. Like, highlight all of them when the HQ is selected. If there is already something like this, then pardon me. I did not notice anything, or any setting to change this.

Thanks!

[CapnDarwin]

jglazier, if you Ctrl+ left click any unit on the map, all of the subunits will get a yellow band on them and the selected unit gets a full highlight. You can also do the ctrl+left click on the OOB tree and the units on the map will highlight.

[FroBodine]

Perfect! See, I knew you guys would have thought of this. Thanks again Jim.

[Emx77]

ORIGINAL: Capn Darwin

jglazier, if you Ctrl+ left click any unit on the map, all of the subunits will get a yellow band on them and the selected unit gets a full highlight. You can also do the ctrl+left click on the OOB tree and the units on the map will highlight.

This is very useful function. Is there any way to make it always turned on? I think that making yellow band default for showing sub-units from same formations would save player from repeating tedious ctrl + left click command every time.

[CapnDarwin]

Emir, that is a good idea. I'll make sure we add that to our list. Probably a few functions that would be good to toggle on/off.

[jds1978]

Feels like a 'Golden Age of War Gaming' classic.

The command cycle.

Sandbox style editor

Interesting niche topic.

[Rosseau]

It's an amazing leap from the first Flashpoint. What I like most is the dedication of the team and the professionalism and/or respect shown by the posters. Putting it on Steam will hook a few more dedicated players to add to the current pool that will support the game and modules for years to come.

Oh yeah, and I like the editor [:)]

[wodin]

ORIGINAL: jack54

So much to choose from but out of the newer stuff...

'{end of movement stance}'... and, never would have thought it but,the {'ATGM' launch message.}

I really enjoy the message, it seems to add to the immersion factor; I get more of a feel of 'what's happening'....

Love that too..though would like to see it expanded i.e when an ARty unit is set to CB fire and it finds an enemy arty unit to be told in a message "CB fire Arty located in hex "....""

[Alchenar]

Most of my feedback is a bucket-list of things I'd like improved in the UI, but on a purely positive note I think it's helpful to compare/contrast with the closest competitor I can think of (Command Ops).

On that basis, I really like the hex-based map. Too many wargame developers aim uncritically for 1:1 simulation without stopping to think about a) whether that makes for a good game, and b) whether or not too much detail in one area will clash with abstractions made elsewhere to create a result that's less accurate than just abstracting in the first place. Within my first couple of games I was finding it easier and easier to scan the map and see lines of sight and fire without even needing to pull up the LOS overlay.

Limited orders per turn. Too many wargame developers either lose track of the central theme of their game or fail to include one in the first place. FPC revolves around the concept of competing battle plans as much as competing armies and everything around your turn is about using your limited number of actions in the best possible way to out-think your opponent. It's tight and focused and I love that.

The two sides play differently - using the same rules. If anyone thinks it's odd to think of this as a special bonus I invite you to go look at War in the East and the number of special rules the dev team have been throwing into and out of the game in order to try and make the Soviet side 'work'. The result there is that the two sides are almost two different games and have to be learned separately. In FPC once you've learned the basics of how to move one army around then you've learned how to move all armies around, which means you get to focus entirely on the tactical problem and not on trying to remember if the unit you have is going to do something odd because of a special rule that applies only to it.

In conclusion: FPC, definitely a game.