A Little Good News

[David Heath]

Hi Guys

As you know Matrix is open to discussion on any subject on our products. We ask that you think about the Topic name. We have gotten a few emails from gamers coming to see what the game is about and walk a way feeling that no one is happy with the game or its riddle with bugs.

No one at Matrix is claiming the game is perfect but we do feel this is a great game and will be enjoyed for years to come. If you think you found a bug please post it in the bug section and we will also look into it. If you are enjoying the game found somethnig that makes you happy post it here and let us all know about it.

If you are enjoying the game its important that your fellow gamers and they read it here. We once again thank you for your support.

David

[Raverdave]

It is a pity that "newbies" are looking in here and going away with the impression that the game is buggy.....a real pity in fact.

If the casual "lookers" took time out to read the AAR's then I would have thought that that would have been enough to convince them that the game is well worth it. Add to this the swift reaction from the game producers to fixing....er....playablity concerns, I could not recommed this game highly enough to anyone thinking of purchasing it.

[DaveConn]

Okay, here goes. I have been playing wargames (beginning with board games) for over 30 years, and have probably played just about every Pacific game produced (at least the board games; I missed a few computer ones). A true grognard can find something to tweak in any game; but UV comes closer than any game I have every played to giving me what I want in a theater-level game on the Pacific campaign. I have spent countless hours playing, and have barely scratched the surface of what the game has to offer. The learning curve is a little steep, but the rewards are worth it. If you are a fan of the subject, there is no way you can NOT own this game. If you are interested in a great wargame, there is no way you can NOT own this game.

Oh yeah, and did I mention, it's a LOT OF FUN as well.

--Dave Conn

[Huskalator]

Uncommon Valor is a great game, period.

I have Neverwinter Nights, Morrowind, JKII, Day of Defeat, and Uncommon Valor on my hard drive and UV gets the most play time out of all of them. The gameplay is very addictive and I'm really feeling the "just one more turn" effect. The graphics are very pleasant to the eyes and you can tell a lot of work was put into some of the animations and plane drawings. The AI is very adequate but the real fun is in playing a PBEM game of UV. There are many dedicated, experienced, and mature players who really wouldn't mind adding you to their list of opponents.

I would not describe UV as buggy and certainly not more than any other new release. Matrix has shown themselves dedicated to not only eradicateing bugs but tweaking and improveing the the gameplay. I anticipate every patch knowing that a great game will just get better. The Matrix staff support their products better than any company I have encountered and they frequently visit the forums to answer questions and just be helpful in general.

I am very, very happy with my purchase of UV and I think anyone who reads this thread and decides to buy UV, will love it too.

[strollen]

For me the bottom line on the game is it that simulates history exceedingly well and it is a blast to play.

Practically every factor that any book on the war in the south Pacific talks about, Zero range, durability, the SeaBees, shortages of merchant ship, malaria, Japanese Long Lance torpedo, leadership, and hundreds of other factors are taken into account.

The more knowlegable you are the WWII in the Pacific the more you appreciate the wealth of details.

But you don't have to worry about all of these things, you just need to focus on the bigger strategic picture which base to defend/invade, where do I put my carriers task force and how do I counter the enemy. The detail exist and you can examine them to your hearts content or ignore them and stick to the high level.

The interface is good and getting improved with every patch. The AI is competent if not brilliant, and Play by email (PBEM) is a lot of fun.

The great thing about the game is I find myself thinking about the game even when I'm not playing it. How am I going to take back Guadacanal, how I'm going to keep Gili Gili in supply and zillion other things.

I highly recommend it for anybody who likes turn based strategy games (like Civilization), any wargamers, anybody interested in the War in the South Pacific.

[pasternakski]

Okey dokey, David. My general feelings about UV were expressed in a post to another thread, whose name shall remain nameless here in order to persecute the ignorant (I said such foolish things as, "I am grateful that Matrix and 2by3 even bothered to produce this, otherwise, we'd all be fiddling around with those horrid pseudo-Sid-Meyer abominations or worse" and we all know how BAD a horrid abomination can be - just look at Sid's face in Civ III).

The depth of this game is far more than we have ever seen before. Matrix has freely admitted that this was an ungodly complex undertaking. Bless 'em for doing it. I've gotten my round butt roundly kicked both at AI and PBEM (although I've kicked some butt, too) and I don't mind. It's like Andres Segovia said about the guitar: "It's the easiest instrument to learn how to play a little. It is the most difficult instrument to learn how to play well."

This is not to mention the unprecedented support Matrix and 2 by 3 are giving this software. Where else have you ever gotten this kind of attention (this side of mom, of course, assuming that your mom wasn't an uncaring old beast like mine was, but that's another story)?

So, put all them complainers into an old Brewster Buffalo and let 'em fend for themselves.

-----------

I will now proceed to entangle the entire area.

[Mark Ezra]

This is a great game that can be played by the casual gamer as well as the gronard. When you start this thing forget everything else...it's gonna hook ya good!

[msaario]

UV is definitely the best WW2 Pacific title on the market. It is a direct descendant of other (still) world class wargames, such as Pacific War, Carrier Force, Carrier Strike, Guadalcanal Campaign (did I get this one right?), War in the South Pacific etc. I was playing WitSP still a few years ago in an Apple 2...

When I am in a boring meeting at work, I keep thinking of my Bettys attacking Noumea and the hunt for the last US carrier still floating... Or, why did I lose those 16,000 troops in an uncoordinated amphibious landing...

It's simply awesome! We just bitch about the tiny details we'd like to get fixed, and it's happening one by one as there are already several patches out! Great support, too!

--Mikko

[mikel]

I ‘m not a serious wargamer although I have played games such as Pacific War, War In The South Pacific, SPWAW, and The Operational Art of War. I’ve been playing UV for about 2 weeks now (although I pre-ordered, it arrived the day after I left for a 6-week trip!) and so far have only played against the AI.

UV is by far the most enjoyable game I have ever played. The depth of the game is impressive but the ability to play the game at many different levels of detail even more so. I especially enjoy the lack of clarity – strategy and tactics can not be distilled into synthetic numbers.

For example, ASW capability is not arbitrarily treated in UV as a single composite number which can be displayed for all to see. If you really want to understand the capabilities of your ships, you need to study each class and get a feel (not exact) of their ASW strength. Mahan class DD’s have little or no ASW capability, Benham class some, Craven a bit more, and Bristol quite a bit. Also individual ships may get refitted with upgraded equipment that changes their capabilities. The same kind of feel needs to be developed for Flak, Gun, and Torpedo capability. I thoroughly enjoy developing and playing this incredibly complex game “by feel” rather than “by synthetic numbers”.

UV handles the fog of war well. Not knowing exactly who you are facing, who has been sunk, etc. adds a great deal to the game. I don’t even like the 2 month rule (maybe a future enhancement could allow it to be toggled off). How many operational carriers DO they have left? An important consideration for which there was no exact answer.

Although highly skilled players use the AI for target practice, I find the AI surprisingly challenging. I have made my share of mistakes and the AI has made me pay for many of them. As with most AI’s, it is better at defense than offense but has a nasty habit of pulling off a surprise whenever I get careless.

My only concern is that War In The Pacific not be issued too quickly because this could cause both gamers and developers to abandon UV, a game that is already great and yet has even more potential (bugs, balancing, and enhancements).

[brisd]

UV is a great achievement in capturing the look and history of the struggle for the Solomons and New Guinea in WW2. It has given me MANY hours of great fun vs the AI and human opponents via pbem. During the first months of owning it I have watched the 2by3/Matrix team tackle each problem and I have supported their efforts to make a great game better. It is a great achievement in wargaming!

HOWEVER -

When a wargame has a major flaw in it that makes it unplayable for me. then I will speak out and have NO regrets in doing so. It is not a BUG, it is a design FLAW IMHO. It probably slipped through playtesting and will be corrected no doubt. It is not the end of the world and some people can overlook the issue and continue to play, bully for them. Looks like I am not alone in voicing concern over the issue and I am glad it is being fixed. A lesson learned, spend more time play-testing WITP?

My favorite wargames have been Gary Grisby games, esp. War in Russia and Pacific War. UV is a worthy successor to those games but at no time did I shelve those games due to not wanting to punch the computer after a combat result! :p

[Spooky]

UV is probably the best wargame I have ever played.

Contrary to many posters in this forum, I am not a die-hard grognard so I was ready to trade off some historical aspects in order to get a better gameplay.

However, the UV developers have managed to combine a wonderful gameplay with a very accurate simulation of the Salomons & New Guinea battles

Moreover, the Matrix/2by3 team has always taken in account the players' remarks in order to tweak and improve the game.

To sum up, congratulations for this wonderful game ... and I am eagerly looking for WITP and hopefully the Med game

Spooky

[Point Luck]

I feel this is one of the best games I played in my thirty years of wargaming. I've been waiting for a really exciting game based on the WWII Pacific Theatre campaigns. I don't have to wait anymore. Any little quirks ( not bugs) I may have incountered was easliy delt with by adjusting my tatics. I don't know any other game that allowed that kind of flexibility and remained enjoyable to play. The one more turn urge pretty much sums it up.

[RevRick]

seriously! I've been playing for over 30 years as well - including some serious time with PacWar and longing for someone to help me set up the old SPI game in what was my War Room (actually had one in out old house!) Bugs, of course. Has anyone ever found a progam that didn't have something that was a little twitchy somewhere? With this size and complexity, and grognard depth, this game is a great achievement. I only get to play a little each day because of a number of things, but every time I get a chance, I'm on the prowl trying to find out which air group is running low on morale, which ships need to be docked for a few days, or longer, and worrying about carriers not being ready for the next Op.

Found out something! Don't send the PT boats anywhere near Shortland with the "React to enemy" button "ON" unless you want splinters flying worse than on a RN SOL at Trafalgar. Hmmm Doggies! Sank a tin can and lots of AG's, but paid the price,they did.

[FirstPappy]

Originally posted by RevRick
seriously! I've been playing for over 30 years as well - including some serious time with PacWar and longing for someone to help me set up the old SPI game in what was my War Room (actually had one in out old house!) Bugs, of course...

Dear Rev,
If your war room was in your old out house I would imagine there would be plenty of bugs!
Pappy

[Tuomas Seijavuori]

My 0.02 euros.

If you are looking for a new operational / theatre level wargame for the PC, there isn't any competition. The game is not buggy. If I've had any problems with UV it's been with using the user interface which isn't always intuitive (e.g. always set destination before loading troops, that kind of thing) and the lack of a printed manual. If those are the greatest problems I've encountered, the game has to be good quality overall. Prepare to print the thick manual and to read it once or twice, though. The game is about complex operations over a wide area, including supply of troops by sea, so it is harder than an average strategy game.

What are you waiting for? Buy it.

[Howard Mitchell]

I've been playing wargames for the last 25 years since my very first one, 'Fast Carriers' by SPI. And I have always concentrated on the Pacific.

UV is very good as both a game and a simulation. Like all PC games there are a few minor bugs, but nothing that hinders the game to any extent, and the degree of support provided by Matrix is very encouraging.

So, if you haven't already got it, STOP READING THIS AND GO AND BUY IT NOW.

You won't regret it.

[Sabre21]

I have been playing wargames...board, computer, and RL for over 30 years...and have known but a few Pacific WWII wargames that I thoroughly enjoy. The old Pacific War and Flat Top boardgames, GG's Guadacanal and Pacific War, and now UV. Many other Pacific WWII games are OK while others are horrid...but it seems that GG continuously comes out with winners and I am looking forward to WITP. UV is an outstanding game, and with the ability to mod some of the map and wave files...makes it even better. If you are a fan of naval warfare or WWII Pacific Operations...this game is a must!!

Andy

[Ron Saueracker]

Guess we are all guilty of not posting the good as this is assumed. This (Pacific Theatre, with the Guadalcanal campaign period especially) is my favourite area of interest. And UV has been the finest game to tackle it yet, by a wide margin.

It is my sincere hope that prospective buyers spend more time on these forums than maybe they are, in order to properly judge both the game and the context of many threads. Given the fact that Matrix has such a devotion to their products, I believe the majority of the thread titles are intended to be of a constructive nature with the end result being an unsurpassed product.

Just remember newbies....there would not be this amount of activity on these forums if this game was not enthralling to the serious gamer! Use your plastic and purchase this game and support one of the few gaming companies which not only produces an excellent product, but actually gives a damm!

[afenelon]

-The best wargame since the first TOAW (1998)
-The best wargame ever published among those focusing
-Pacific War Operations. It´s worth each cent of the US$90,00
-I paid for it. There are some bugs but they´re being fixed.
-Just one comment: I would like a more flexible and friendly
-scenario editor
-Just wondering how WiTP will be
Alexandre Fenelon

[FM_Freyland]

I just traded mine away for cash, sadly. Was really looking forward to PBEM'ing with a bud, too, but it was just sitting on the shelf doing nothing.