Demo first Impressions

[BletchleyGeek]

ORIGINAL: Rick

ORIGINAL: Gerry
Hello:

I must say it is hard, even in Easy mode. The Russian ATGs seem to do a lot of damage. In a couple of attempted playings I have had a PzIII destroyed in each one and one or more PzIIIs immobilized. Not sure how I will survive in Normal mode.

I love the way you can Shift-Click the messages and also how you can rewind by just clicking on the progress bar.

Thanks again for all the work.

Gerry

I've played through the Tutorial, well, a LOT of times. Don't be surprised to lose at least one tank to the AT guns.

Just a few weeks ago, I was shocked when I testing a feature, and ran the Tutorial on Normal, and ended up getting handed a Defeat by the AI. (in fact I got so involved, I forgot what I was trying to test).

You might also try angling the Bound path more toward that AT gun to try and not expose the flank of the tanks, You can then hook left to after you've taken out the AT gun.

The Bound order uses Rush for its moving units, so they are pretty vulnerable, and not able to spot very well at all. But then they are stationary for a phase and have a chance spot and target.

thanks
rick

Well, it was hard but I really like it that way. I must say that as a tutorial is pretty tough: ambushing ATRs on the front, 45mm guns on the flank. I guess I had just got used to those tutorial were you're basically supposed to learn how to mount and dismount troops from vehicles

Something I didn't really enjoy was the very precise mortar fire covering my advancing half-tracks (one of them got a grenade just on top of it), and I don't think the russians had any spotter with LOS on me.

In any case, you just got one buy on release day. Thank you very much for the demo I needed a fix of WW2 tactical combat very badly

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Bletchley_Geek
Something I didn't really enjoy was the very precise mortar fire covering my advancing half-tracks (one of them got a grenade just on top of it), and I don't think the russians had any spotter with LOS on me.

They do actually, Rick made sure they could spot you from the first turn (though you can't see them yet). He's sneaky that way. Perhaps we should skip the beginning mortar barrage for the full release though, it sounds like that's tripping up a lot of players.

In any case, you just got one buy on release day. Thank you very much for the demo I needed a fix of WW2 tactical combat very badly

Excellent, thanks!

Regards,

- Erik

[Jacko]

ORIGINAL: JMass

ORIGINAL: Jacko
Don't be so mysterious, JMass! Which one? [:)]

German, no turret, 1108 produced... [&:]

Would that be the StuG IV? [:)]

[buzznaut]

Just completed my first run-through of tutorial mission and let me preface by saying it's my first experience with the PC franchise.

Overall I think the game is fantastic. Was a huge CMx1 fan and PC:O has improved on all the elements that frustrated me in that series including the camera interface, (lack of) message box, command order structure, air strike animations (!), easier PBEM implementation etc. I've lurked on several forums related to the two series and while my impression is that a certain group feel the CM series is more "real" or "sim"-like the features of PC in my mind really add so much playability for me as to make any sacrifice of "realism" negligible. I say this only to express how impressed I am with the game and the team who created it.

Played tutorial on easy and got a legenday ? victory despite numerous soviet troops remaining in and around objective area. Had advanced very slowly and taken out all ATG so by turn 10 I had just reached the farm/buildings. Seems I shouldn't have received a victory as I really didnt remove the enemy from the area around the objective flag. Not sure what to make of that. Will have to try again.

But again great work and I am very much looking forward to the full release (demo sold me for sure)

[Ssnake51]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: Bletchley_Geek
Something I didn't really enjoy was the very precise mortar fire covering my advancing half-tracks (one of them got a grenade just on top of it), and I don't think the russians had any spotter with LOS on me.

They do actually, Rick made sure they could spot you from the first turn (though you can't see them yet). He's sneaky that way. Perhaps we should skip the beginning mortar barrage for the full release though, it sounds like that's tripping up a lot of players.

I think that would be a good idea. Tutorial should give the player a chance to learn as many features of the game as possible. In order to do that you need to have a number of troops and vehicles available to play around with. Most of mine are getting pinned down or destroyed before having much chance to do anything.

Other that that minor quibble, I am really impressed by the game itself. Will most definitely be purchasing this one. Thanks for all the hard work you guys obviously put into it.

[junk2drive]

I think Rick made the victory conditions so that you didn't have to sit on the farm for turn after turn trying to kill everything just to end the battle. We just want to give you the basics of the controls and features, then move on to the second battle.

[JMass]

ORIGINAL: Jacko
Would that be the StuG IV? [:)]

Correct! [:)]

[Jacko]

ORIGINAL: JMass

ORIGINAL: Jacko
Would that be the StuG IV? [:)]

Correct! [:)]

Excellent, one of my favorite vehicles.

[Erik Rutins]

Hi Buzznaut,

Great first post. [8D]

ORIGINAL: buzznaut
Just completed my first run-through of tutorial mission and let me preface by saying it's my first experience with the PC franchise.
Overall I think the game is fantastic. Was a huge CMx1 fan and PC:O has improved on all the elements that frustrated me in that series including the camera interface, (lack of) message box, command order structure, air strike animations (!), easier PBEM implementation etc. I've lurked on several forums related to the two series and while my impression is that a certain group feel the CM series is more "real" or "sim"-like the features of PC in my mind really add so much playability for me as to make any sacrifice of "realism" negligible. I say this only to express how impressed I am with the game and the team who created it.

Thanks, this is great feedback and it's great to hear from someone who is completely new to Panzer Command as well!

Played tutorial on easy and got a legenday ? victory despite numerous soviet troops remaining in and around objective area. Had advanced very slowly and taken out all ATG so by turn 10 I had just reached the farm/buildings. Seems I shouldn't have received a victory as I really didnt remove the enemy from the area around the objective flag. Not sure what to make of that. Will have to try again.

The tutorial scenario is intended to be easy to win for the German side. Moving close to the farm buildings with your Panzers will give you control of the objective there and the win. We're really just trying to get you used to the system. Replaying the Tutorial on Normal or Hard will make it a bit more challenging as a scenario, but Novy Rizadey is the one you want to try if you want to see how a full normal scenario plays out.

But again great work and I am very much looking forward to the full release (demo sold me for sure)

Great to hear, thanks!

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Ssnake51
I think that would be a good idea. Tutorial should give the player a chance to learn as many features of the game as possible. In order to do that you need to have a number of troops and vehicles available to play around with. Most of mine are getting pinned down or destroyed before having much chance to do anything.

Ok, we'll discuss that and see what we can do as time is short before the release.

Other that that minor quibble, I am really impressed by the game itself. Will most definitely be purchasing this one. Thanks for all the hard work you guys obviously put into it.

Great to hear, thanks!

Regards,

- Erik

[Rik81]

It's comforting to know that most everybody else is having there .... handed to them on a platter in the tutorial[:D][:D]. It's usually just me. I would agree with the thought expressed above that a tutorial should be somewhat easier. One is trying to learn the nuances of the interface, etc. Having said that I will also say, a very impressive game!

[TheGreatRadish]

Ha!  Playing the tutorial on normal introduces a surprise or two for the German player!  I won in easy, went to normal full of confidence and then lost [:(] [;)]

I had a really fun Saturday with the demo alone and that makes me glad I bought PC:K some months ago because now I get this beauty for free.  You guys should feel proud of your work - I hope it gets the attention it deserves and grows from here.

[diablo1]

I want more please! (in the voice of Oliver). [:)]

[stormbringer3]

I've been dialup only until a couple of weeks ago so I've never downloaded a demo before. After I put it on my desktop will it just play from there or will it install to my hard drive when I open it?
Thanks.

[Jacko]

I scored a legendary victory in Novyy Rizadey. I've put my Jagdpanzer and infantry on Fire only with good target and bagged a dozen of T-34s and some Su-122. I've played a lot of CM, both the ww 2 series and the modern stuff, but I must say I enjoyed this. Some observations. Vehicles withdraw very slowly, which is a bit of a nuisance when under fire. I like the way vehicles start to burn when hit. It is quite hard to keep track of the infantry, but I guess that is a matter of practice.

I came across a rather strange situation. My HMG team was situated in a house. In front of that house a T-34/85 turned up and began to fire grenade after grenade into it. My HGM team continued to return fire, instead of taking cover or retreating. Personally I thought that looked a bit strange. What I do like a lot is how fast vehicles are turning to take aim. I'm going to enjoy this game, of that I'm certain. Can't wait for the release.

[junk2drive]

ORIGINAL: stormbringer3

I've been dialup only until a couple of weeks ago so I've never downloaded a demo before. After I put it on my desktop will it just play from there or will it install to my hard drive when I open it?
Thanks.

What you downloaded is an exe file that runs an installer. Once downloaded you double click the file and the installer will popup up.

[HintJ]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Grass is pretty well optimized for modern systems with recent graphics cards, but it's definitely an option I would turn off on older systems, along with Shadows. We tried to make sure that PCO would still run on every system that could run Winterstorm and Kharkov, which includes some very old hardware. However, you can't have all the new bells and whistles and smooth performance if you are on the low end of the system specs.

Regards,

- Erik

Actually the games plays pretty well w/grass if I use Medium instead of Ultra settings. I do have a high power PC, but I didn't put the demo on it.

Overall, I'm very impressed.

[BletchleyGeek]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: Bletchley_Geek
Something I didn't really enjoy was the very precise mortar fire covering my advancing half-tracks (one of them got a grenade just on top of it), and I don't think the russians had any spotter with LOS on me.

They do actually, Rick made sure they could spot you from the first turn (though you can't see them yet). He's sneaky that way. Perhaps we should skip the beginning mortar barrage for the full release though, it sounds like that's tripping up a lot of players.

Heh. The ATR guys placement is also "sneaky". My compliments to Rick

[Chad Harrison]

So figured I would throw my comments in here.

I am a long, long time CM player, but have really, really enjoyed a whole mess of Matrix Games (namely WitP, AE, WitE and Panther Games series). Lurking in the forums here, I noticed PCO. Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed was all the "CM sucks", "1 to 1 sucks", "BFC sucks" threads that have sprung up in here over the course of development. I am/was very pleased to see Erik and the dev team not feed those fires and (as much as possible) keep those comments out of here.

First off, as for the demo and my first run with the PC series, game looks great. Hats off to the dev team and Matrix Games on this one. If you enjoy tactical combat and the Eastern Front, download the demo and spend some time with the game. Lots of good things to go with this game.

That being said, I wont be buying it because I prefer CM's scale/system. And honestly I dont know why so many people either on the BFC forums or here have to make it into "theirs sucks and ours is awesome" statements - they are both great games. I prefer CM - especially CMx2's focus on infantry combat, greater control of individual elements, TO&E, and so on. Its a personal taste, not a broad sweeping statement that one is better than the other.

So again, great job on PCO. Will be interested to see the changes that come with the move to NWE Theater.

If you enjoyed the CMx1 games (CM:BO, CM:BB and CM:AK), quit comparing the two and give PCO a chance. Looks to be a great game.

Chad

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: Jacko

........In front of that house a T-34/85 turned up and began to fire grenade after grenade into it. My HGM team continued to return fire, instead of taking cover or retreating. Personally I thought that looked a bit strange. ...

Do you happen to have a saved game for that? I may be mistaken, but I don't think the HMG should have tried to target the T34-85. There may be some German tank Hunters in that scenario though. And sometimes there are passengers on the T34-85s that can/will be targeted.

Thanks!
rick