Dad, are we there yet? Are we there yet?

[GaryChildress]

Is that a rhetorical question or do you really want to give an answer? [:'(]

[undercovergeek]

as champion of 'just tell us, and if it doesnt come out then, thats fine, give us the next date you think it might be ready' i think its a polite way of 'them' saying we dont know, we're busy, leave us alone.

[SireChaos]

ORIGINAL: m10bob

ORIGINAL: Yamato hugger

ORIGINAL: m10bob

The great game "Monopoly" was born during the depression as a means to entertain the family.

So you planning on teaching "The Wife" to play AE? Let me know how that turns out [:D]

Instead of "utilities" being free...I just need to make a deal that my carriers get to "pass the Solomons" without penalty....[:D]

Is that the version of the game where, every time you end a move on Torpedo Alley, you get to collect 1d6 new holes below the waterline?

"Go to the bottom of the ocean. Go there directly. Do not pass Pearl Harbour. Do not collect 50 replacement planes."

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: SireChaos

ORIGINAL: m10bob

ORIGINAL: Yamato hugger




So you planning on teaching "The Wife" to play AE? Let me know how that turns out [:D]

Instead of "utilities" being free...I just need to make a deal that my carriers get to "pass the Solomons" without penalty....[:D]

Is that the version of the game where, every time you end a move on Torpedo Alley, you get to collect 1d6 new holes below the waterline?

"Go to the bottom of the ocean. Go there directly. Do not pass Pearl Harbour. Do not collect 50 replacement planes."

Play the game with both sides sub ops set to 'OFF'. That pretty much moves it up to 2d6 new holes below the waterline...wether you are in torpedo alley or not. [X(]

[m10bob]

You guys have PLAYED IT!!!!!!!![:D]

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: m10bob

You guys have PLAYED IT!!!!!!!![:D]

Not AE of course. Though I'm sure it works the same.... [:'(]

[Flying Tiger]

Are we all talking about the same thing?????????????????????

[m10bob]

Shhhhh!....HE's here!

[RolandRahn_MatrixForum]

ORIGINAL: TR Shrum
All that I'm trying to say is that Matrix may not be able to release this game (or any others) for reasons beyond their control.  Even if they do release it, some may decide to spend that $39 on other things.  When you find yourself making 60% less this year from last, trying to keep your wife in nursing school, pay for your own health care insurance, etc., some sacrifices will need to be made.  Fortunately I have no employees to lay off.  Of course if things don't improve, I may be laying myself off.  Right now in Oregon and California you can't buy a drafting job.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but business is business.  Just my two cents worth.

Your points are valid, but I disagree.

AE is an extension for WitP. I guess that nearly every potential customer for AE has already purchased WitP.
Either WitP is too much micromanagement (= no interest to buy AE) or he is WitP-addicted (like me), then he will buy AE no matter what.

We are not speaking about having fun for a weekend. Or a week. Or 100 hours of gameplay. We are (in the long run) speaking about a four-digit-number of hours of gameplay over the coming years.

Even at $100, the entertainment cost would be less then $.10/hour. So, I fail to see that the current situation will prevent many people from purchasing AE.

Best regards and I hope that you will prevail in this situation,
Roland

[SireChaos]

ORIGINAL: RolandRahn

ORIGINAL: TR Shrum
All that I'm trying to say is that Matrix may not be able to release this game (or any others) for reasons beyond their control.  Even if they do release it, some may decide to spend that $39 on other things.  When you find yourself making 60% less this year from last, trying to keep your wife in nursing school, pay for your own health care insurance, etc., some sacrifices will need to be made.  Fortunately I have no employees to lay off.  Of course if things don't improve, I may be laying myself off.  Right now in Oregon and California you can't buy a drafting job.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but business is business.  Just my two cents worth.

Your points are valid, but I disagree.

AE is an extension for WitP. I guess that nearly every potential customer for AE has already purchased WitP.
Either WitP is too much micromanagement (= no interest to buy AE) or he is WitP-addicted (like me), then he will buy AE no matter what.

We are not speaking about having fun for a weekend. Or a week. Or 100 hours of gameplay. We are (in the long run) speaking about a four-digit-number of hours of gameplay over the coming years.

Even at $100, the entertainment cost would be less then $.10/hour. So, I fail to see that the current situation will prevent many people from purchasing AE.

Best regards and I hope that you will prevail in this situation,
Roland

This is not so much $0.10 per hour, this is an up-front cost of $40 or whatever, followed by essentially free entertainment. But this up-front cost is the point. As they say, it takes money to make money - or rather, here it takes money to have fun, and this money might be hard to come by. Plus people might have to work harder and longer to make ends meet, and may no longer be quite as willing and able to commit their time and mental effort to WitP/AE.

That said, I am awaiting AE just as eagerly as you are.

[madgamer2]

OK we will assume that there are many willing players out the that will (are) playing WitP with its very long learning curve and time commitment. It would then follows that AE arrives on the scene and requires even more time and a longer learning curve.
Now In am retired and have a fair amount of time but I could not manage a turn a day. I am wondering how many of you who still have jobs, family,and a wife to fill your days can you find the time to play this game or AE with its longer time commitment and learning curve.
I love this game and will play WitP against the computer because I enjoy it and I don't have to worry about sending x number of turns to some other player. Will I buy AE...yeah I will and play it in the same way as WitP. I take off my hat and applaud those who can find time to play these games but I do have a life even being retired.

Madgamer

[Yamato hugger]

Well, speaking as someone still struggling to learn it (someday I should sit and read the manual [;)]) I can say that other than the ship repair process and a fair amount of what I consider needless clicking in the air screens, it really wont take a lot more time to play than WitP. After you get used to it that is. It WILL take a while to reach this level of comfort.

Some people wont like it at all. It is more detailed and complex than WitP is. In some cases down to company level and single airplane detachments. You dont just toss guys on ships now, the ship has to be docked in a port (and ports have a limited capacity to hold docked ships), and the ground unit has to be in strategic move mode, and it can take up to 3 days to get the ground unit in this mode. Ports have a maximum capacity (based on size) of the equipment they can handle, so if you have like a heavy radar set on a size 0 island, it aint moving.

You have system damage (that is basically the same as it was). Float damage isnt what it used to be. Now its the damage to the hull. In this you have major and minor damage. Major damage can only be repaired at shipyards. Minor damage is water leaking in the boat. So having 60 major damage sounds bad, it isnt necessarily (if the float damage is also 60). Having 12 minor damage sounds minor, but that is actually some pretty major flooding. Edit: And you have engine damage (major and minor on that as well).

Some air units have drop tank ability that the players need to slect between. Those that carry torps can be toggled on or off, and they wont carry torps regardless unless they are within range of a air HQ that has enough torps in the HQ to equip them.

Ground unit modes are combat, movement, rest/training, strategic, and reserve. They all mean different things and they all function differently if engaged in combat. If you order a unit to move from here to there, when it gets there it stays in whatever mode it was in to move there, so you have to remember to check your moving units. Edit: And ground units can be disorganized from bombardments (sea or air and possibly land as well, I havent gotten that far).

There is a lot of complexity and detail that some people frankly just arent going to like. And thats ok. WitP will still be there, and will still be supported.

[madgamer2]

Thanks for the info. This is the first real explanation I have seen that give me an idea of what it will be like. I will buy AE but i most likely will not be a big player of it. I had hoped to get a WitP upgrade that improved the player interface along with whatever else they did toi it.
I had hoped that some of the features could be player controlled or turned on or off in the game setup. I find that WitP has as much detail that I care to deal with but I will buy it anyway.
Thanks for the post, very well done.

Madgamer

[bigred]

NO S--T

ORIGINAL: The Gnome

I'm pacing around like a caged lion waiting for this thing- better release it soon while we still have a currency to buy it with! Just kidding, take you're time. I like the it's finished when it's finished policy

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Yamato hugger

Ports have a maximum capacity (based on size) of the equipment they can handle, so if you have like a heavy radar set on a size 0 island, it aint moving.

Well, if it's on the island that means that it got there somehow, so maybe that's one tiny thing that could be looked at post-release for a patch.

[Yamato hugger]

Well it has been discussed but frankly that probably isnt going to happen. If its something thats that important you can spend some time and supplies expanding the port a level or 2 to get out. I dont think there is anything that cant be shipped out of a level 2 port and possibly a level 1.

One person suggested that very large devices be put in the database as several smaller devices that would allow movement in these cases. The problem with this is it could take several days (and possibly several weeks) to take something apart to put on a ship. An airplane for example. You cant just roll an airplane across a beach and load it on a LCI and send it out to a ship.

[String]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Yamato hugger

Ports have a maximum capacity (based on size) of the equipment they can handle, so if you have like a heavy radar set on a size 0 island, it aint moving.

Well, if it's on the island that means that it got there somehow, so maybe that's one tiny thing that could be looked at post-release for a patch.

It was probably built there so..

[Don Bowen]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Yamato hugger

Ports have a maximum capacity (based on size) of the equipment they can handle, so if you have like a heavy radar set on a size 0 island, it aint moving.

Well, if it's on the island that means that it got there somehow, so maybe that's one tiny thing that could be looked at post-release for a patch.

In this case it got on the island by scenario designer's keyboard. The problem playtesters are having is not getting big things off of small islands, but onto them.

Many of these problems have turned out to be issues with device load costs in the scenario and have been (or are being) corrected. However, there will always be things that can not be loaded/unloaded at tiny ports in AE - like a 16inch railroad gun at a level 1 port.

The answers to all the "port is too small" issues are to either bring in engineers and enlarge the port or bring in Naval Support to assist in operations.

By the way, port size limits are just one of the operational limits applied to AE. No more basing a battlefleet in a fishing village. Ports have reasonable limitations in docking space, loading/unloading capacity, rearming, repair capability. Players will either learn to plan ahead or to cuss like a boatswine's mate.

[Cavalier]

Read the manual??? what is youz ...a girly man? [X(]. Manly mens learn from all the blood and carnage in the water and say, "maybe I shouldn't be sending all them unescorted troop transports into Truck in '42"[:-]

[witpqs]

I did say it's a tiny thing. Maybe priority # 4,162,867 for your great-grandchildren to look at some day. [8D]