Some initial thoughts

[Pawlock]

Well, I finally recieved my copy Wednesday morning and have been engrossed since.

I did have some reservations on no printed manual based on what I knew at the time, well, these have dissapeared. The little booklet with the tutorials is more than enough to get you going and quite thorough( it took me 1.5 days to play the tutorials), but was well worth it.

Having played TAO and TAO on ME PC previous, I did have prior knowledge of the game engine,BUT was I in for a shock when I realised how much it has been enhanced!!!
The maps are still easy on the eye, but hard to spot detail,(something that seems a carry throught from TAO).

Im undecided on "!the combat advisor" , something in me, thinks its a cheat. The more I use it though, the more hooked on it I become.

Im about halfway through my first game against the AI, !st UK front, and soundly getting my *** kicked:-)

btw, heres a general question, when most of you lot start a new game against the AI as a complete novice, what AI settings do you normally go for?
For me, nowadays, I try to go everything on normal.

Anyway, great game, worth the wait? only time will tell, but I think it could be heading that way.

[BrubakerII]

Pawlok I generally play with settings as default because it is 'the way it was designed to be played'. having said that, because I have spent a 'little' time testing the game, I find the AI not the challenge I would like (it is not bad, I am just better )

If I was starting afresh, I would try a small scenario on the normal settings, and if found I could not get a balanced game with the AI, would then try with the Ai enhanced (or degraded). It is a clever opponent for sure and without the benefit of nowing what it is doing and why, I am sure it would be defeating me on regular occurence.

I would love to see a game where there was a way to determine skill level (and hence AI levels) before you play. Some RPGs these days have a 'learning' style system where the code sort of pigeonholes you during gameplay. maybe something like this is possible in wargames? If the human opponent is consistently killing AI units and advancing, maybe the AI could 'learn' and get some assistance?

[dwinston]

Well, I finally recieved my copy Wednesday morning and have been engrossed since.

I did have some reservations on no printed manual based on what I knew at the time, well, these have dissapeared. The little booklet with the tutorials is more than enough to get you going and quite thorough( it took me 1.5 days to play the tutorials), but was well worth it.

I agree!

The tutorial included is outstanding. There seems to have been a lot of work put into this and it is as good as reading the rulebook. It is reminiscent of the SL programmed approach which I thought was a key reason that SL/ASL became so popular, you could get into the game without being overwhelmed.

I would suggest that other wargame producers adopt this same model. While some try and get you through a couple of basic concepts and then drop you into the middle of the game, this one really takes you through all the aspects so you can play well.

Given the quality of the tutorial I can live with an electronic version of the rulebook.

[Rob Gjessing]

omg.. BrubakerII Im finding it really hard to focus on and read any of your posts mate..

[Massattack]

Yep!.....I'm getting sorta........distracted...........too...........!!!!

[BrubakerII]

Yep!.....I'm getting sorta........distracted...........too...........!!!!

Hey no credit to me - this is my homage to IgotMilk !