Matrix Games Forums

I only bother to write this because I like the game so it's not meant to be harsh:

-Even though the answer is right in the manual, its kind of unsexy to have to open it up one of the first thing you do, im happy to go through all the menus those contain interesting stuff, but the definition of various speed and intent of travel doesn't.Why did you not just call it walk, run and attack? It's be clear what you meant and if people wanted to know more they can look it up if they want to.

-Make the game into one, solid window like every other game. Make it play borderless full screen so it looks full screen but tabbing out to read messages you heard a bleep for in another app should take less than 1 second.

-When I make an order for bombard X hex, there's a delay before I can click OK, whick is mitigated by editing the values in the screen, meaning I have to, often, change a number I liked to a random one, then set it back, during gameplay.

-Make it so that every unit always has a HQ, and that you command whole HQs by default, not but find hq->select hq and all subordinates->order.
This way. the player has less clicking to do, yet any customization they would like to do, is still very much an option to them.

-Less Americans and Soviets in the scenarios I know this is cold war gone hot but there's a ton of countries in Europe and they all would've gotten involved. To my knowledge there's not a single way to face of Polish vs. French in the game.

-The speed of the play through of the round is to slow by a lot, and upon entering settings it's sort of clear you can fix it, but not how. Have 2 buttons, default and fast, and those who lose interest if the turn is too slow (I love this game its great but I was very close to shutting it down forever and uninstalling it 5 minutes in) could make it clear to the player that no, this game does not include looking at the screen and doing nothing very long periods of time.

-Speaking of, I'd like to be able to look at my units and take a deep dive into their equipment while waiting.
After the turn of course I need to be able to get the important information from the enemies turn comprehensively but succinctly.

-Superb job with the graphics, really nice that it looks good and you can tell what everything is. Counters, I've seen better.

-Definitively make the HQ unit have a logo indicating its an HQ and either move most of their assets to a new unit or keep them in regardless. Ctrl+H shouldn't be needed for finding HQs, because you always want to find a good spot, relative to your battle line, for your HQ regardless.

-Never make the OOB function trouble players by letting them shut down the window, and not building/reinforcing with units lacking proper chain of command, or a very large amount of unis under chain of command, or if you want to take your 3 self-propellered artillery and split it up among 3 units of tanks you've got in the field, you are left with an awkward HQ without anyone to command.

Thanks in case anyone working on the game read this, it's a good game.

Elizabeth,

Thanks for taking the time to note your issues and recommendations. Let me see if I can answer them as to why we do it that way or how it works in the game, and also pass on your comments to the team for consideration.

1. Walk, Run, or Attack versus Hasty, Deliberate, and Assault movement names. Most items in the UI use as many proper military terms as most wargames, and professionals get the intent from the wording. Walk/run is not something a tank platoon does, and both can support attacking. All three terms are a type of military movement across the ground with different rates of speed and exposure. We do our best to make that distinction in the orders.

2. Our older Red Storm game was like that. We had to move away from that with the array of vastly different monitor resolutions and display arrangements to allow players to move information panels to other screens or have the freedom to see what they want, where they want. With the default setup with the panels on the right fixed Red Storm style, you should be able to alt-tab out like any other Windows application. If not, can you get me a screenshot of what is not "tabbing out" when you do this?

3. When plotting an artillery mission, after setting the target point, there is a dialog for setting the type and duration of the shelling. You have the option to alter the basic attack or just close or okay it to keep going. There is also an option in the User Preferences to suppress the auto pop-up of this dialog.

4. Who has an HQ is set by the Order of Battle. Some units are independent and do not have HQs they report to. HQ also reports up the chain of command to other high-level HQs. In most cases during gameplay, subordinate units move more than moving groups. We have it, so you can select any HQ and issue a group order by Alt selecting the HQ. This applies all the way up the chain of command. The same mechanics also work for setting SOPs, and you can use Shift-Select to add or drop other units.

5. We have several scenarios where the US and Soviets are not in the mix and more on the way. Most will, as they were the two most numerous forces on the map in the 80s. As for the Polish forces, we will have them in the game in the future with other nations as well. In the Scenario Selection screen, you can filter scenarios by country and see who is involved in the battle.

6. Game speed and settings. This is a good point that most new or RTS games just want to get to the results and having some default speed settings pre-adjusted with all of the preferences in the game options may be more helpful. So maybe a Slow, Normal, Fast, Fastest option for easier access to this state is the way to go. I'll pass this on to the team for future consideration.

7. This is where #2 comes in. You can open the Sub-Unit Inspector (SUI), leave it open on the screen, and look at the various forces while the game is resolving a turn. Also, a number of the staff dialogs update in real-time, and those can be opened and viewed during gameplay.

8. What do you dislike about the counters? What could we do better? You can switch between NATO, Unit images (sils), or large NATO modes. There are modes for color options to better see force groups, and a halo option for aesthetics. We also pack all the critical info on the counter as well.

9. Not sure what you are looking for here with the HQs. The HQ is denoted with an "H" in the upper right of the counter, and dedicated higher HQs have the HQ flag for their graphic.

10. As noted above, we use actual military orders of battle, and units are subordinated as that structure shows. You have the option to subordinate any of your units in the window to any other HQ and even reorder the listing for clarity. If you remove all the subordinate units from an HQ, it will be left on its own. There are no means in the game currently to disband or absorb those assets in the timeframe of a scenario. If it is on map, maybe using it for recon is the way to go, or move it far from the fighting so it does not get killed.

I hope this helps. We are always glad to receive feedback from the players, and we do look to make the game better and more accessible as we go. Thank you and enjoy the game.