Noob Questions / Wishlist

[sage]

I just picked this up the other day and have played through a few scenarios. All in all, I really enjoy it, but I have some v2.0 requests (and questions -- maybe I'm just missing something).

1) I'm not sure why infantry were left out (I'm not quite sure I agree with the 'speedbumps' argument), but I'd love to see them. I suppose there's a danger that the late battle will turn into a big of a slog, but that could be interesting in its own way. I'd really like to be able to drop off forward scouts well ahead of the battle line, or helicopter deploy infantry.

2) Contour lines for hills. This could be a simple overlay that toggles on and off. I have a lot of trouble 'seeing' the hills. The mouse over is only moderately useful.

3) Better group selection. I go shift-clicking through a stack, but inevitably leave something behind. I like to be able to use the OOB view to create a group.

4) OOB view shows simple status -- maybe yellow for damaged and red for destroyed?

5) A 'unit last spotted here at 00:00' feature? This could be a toggle on and off so it didn't clutter the map so much. Without this, it's hard to drop artillery predictively. I'm always forgetting which square I last saw a unit.

6) Someway to show destroyed vehicles / craters on the map? Right now the game follows the board game convention of removing the counter. It seems very sanitary. I'd like to see tiny little destroyed vehicles appear when there are confirmed kills, and craters where artillery fire has been heavy. This would also provide nice visual feedback on killzones.

7) Differentiate ingoing vs. outgoing fire more clearly? Maybe allow two different 'bar' colors?

8) Two AI things I've noticed: first, the AI has a tendency to lead with its artillery assets. Maybe not the best way to use them? Second, the AI doesn't seem to use heli's very effectively. Some hinds showed up, shot once, killed a couple Bradleys and then flew away. Both are very initial impressions on my part.

I don't want to give the impression that this is a bad or buggy game -- far from it! I'm having a blast playing it.

[CapnDarwin]

Noob,

We are putting the finishing touches on 1.1 update this week. As for your questions...

#1. Not left out as much as not show as separate units on the map. It was an early game design decision. The plan is to move to discreet infantry/teams in the 2.0 series of games.

#2. The early version of the map and overlay system did not give us that freedom. We will have a better way to do that in 2.0 and plans are to have an overlay like you are talking about.

#3. At one time the you could use the OOB. There was a bug in the code with respect to doing it that way so we had to pull it back out. We will be looking to make that a feature in 2.0.

#4. The OOB now shows bold for HQ's, red for out of ammo. The plan for 2.0 is to have more info in or around the counter to get quick status.

#5. Good idea. I'll pass it on to Rob (Lead Programmer).

#6. Same limit that prevents the contour prevented wreck/craters. That will be corrected in 2.0 and with some luck fed back into 1.1 at some point (depends on time contraints).

#7. Also a good idea! Right now the shooter highlights in yellow then the red line is made. There was no line in the early version.

#8. All of that will change in 1.1. The AI and combat routines (and many other items) where tweaked and updated.

Hope that answers the questions. We always welcome comments and ideas!!

Thanks!

[sage]

Thanks for the responses. Can't wait to get 1.1... (And the next game in the series as well!!!)

[CapnDarwin]

Coded in #7 tonight. It will be in the 1.1 update. Thanks for the idea.

[sage]

Wow. That's the quickest anyone's ever accepted one of my feature ideas, and that includes 9 year in s/w industry.

But, uhhmm... aren't you guys supposed to be worried about shipping it to us? Ship, ship, ship! :=)

[CapnDarwin]

sage,

Yes we are getting it all polished up to ship off to Matrix at weeks end. Didn't take that long to add the addtional firing line last night.

Enjoy!