Impressions thus far

[ComradeP]

The first round of Sbiba Ridge led to a whole host of graphical glitches and peculiar situations. The game doesn't seem to like loading.

I loaded a bunch of saved games after the 37mm's got "Steep Angle" results, hoping that would solve the issue.

The Warhawk is stuck in the air after its strafing run.



The Germans in this screenshot are all dead/wounded, but standing upright.



The two 37mm AT guns and the Panzer IIIL have been staring at each-other for 40 minutes or so as everybody seems to get Steep Angle results. I tried firing at the ground next to the tank, but the gunners became "suppressed" when I did that. The Panzer IIIL then proceeded to fire diagonally at the sky with its bow MG.



An overview of the situation for most of the battle. The German assault on Meftah failed, but if I move towards the German deployment zone north of there, my men get fired at by some big AT guns and a Panzer IVF1.

There's a half-track on an overwatch position and a German MG team in the central orchard, preventing movement there. My men holding The Farm are hiding in a fake wall. Some walls are solid, some are not. The collision model is pretty poorly coded, as noted earlier.

The Germans have not moved in a while, but I can't safely move either due to the Germans holding overwatch positions.



The result. My two "wounded" men were the squad leader and a rifleman of a BAR team who Routed and fled the map after taking fire from something big. For some reason, the Germans didn't open fire on the routed men.

The Germans seem to have reclaimed their two broken down armoured cars and/or the SdKfz 251 that I knocked out at Meftah as they are "wounded".

My three mortar teams helped a lot at Meftah, otherwise the casualties wouldn't have been this one-sided. On the other hand, the Germans only assaulted it with a Zug Führer unit and a single squad, aside from the 2 armoured cars (one knocked out by mortar fire, the other with grenades by the Rifle team) and half-track.

The German AT gun was knocked out by a 105mm howitzer barrage.



I'm guessing the battle simply became too glitched at the end for the AI to handle, which led to it staying in position.

As noted in a review of CCTBF, the Panzer IVF1 remained in positions whilst the Panzer IIIL drove straight for the Observation Post objective.

[STIENER]

wow...that sounds a bit pathetic comrade P....I sure hope matrix is reading this too. that's just all around BAD IMO.....and some of the players here think that would be fun? wow....

[budd]

To be fair, it doesn't always turn out like that. When i played that battle it didn't , the Germans assaulted the ridge successfully.

[STIENER]

LOL...ok...but theres some serious issues here...that scenario was un playable...and if doesn't happen all the time...that's even worse IMO. is anyone sending them these game files? god I hope matrix pays attention to this stuff....wow

[Ezra]

I`ve been a long time supporter of this franchise since day one. I have also applied to beta test and never been chosen (I beta tested the original IL2). Why should I pay now to be one? After reading all the issues and comments like, "Patches usually come thick and fast," why release it in such a state then? I would be livid if I purchased blindly. Anyway, I will pass and wait on this one. Been around too long and frankly grown tired of "beta" state release from Matrix.

[ComradeP]

The first round of Sbiba Ridge wasn't unplayable, but it highlighted the numerous technical issues that plague the current version of the game.

The assault on Meftah proceeded normally. Had the AI kept its armoured cars and half-track back a bit, those could have easily annihilated my forces there. It was mostly chance that I didn't lose any men.

The crews of the armoured cars seem to have bailed after a morale failure or the like, as my Rifle team had no means to punch through armour.

The AI suffered from an unbalanced force composition, with AT guns that stood in the deployment zone for the entire battle. Multiplayer, winning this scenario should be a piece of cake for the German side.

The scenario became rather glitchy after I loaded a bunch of times, and the Mexican stand-off with the AT guns is silly, but it wasn't all bad.

I do get the impression that CC:TBF works best as an infantry-focussed game.

[STIENER]

comrade.....it may be not all bad but theres some serious issues here. Morale for one...why does everyone break so easy? piss poor unit set up by this great AI...the AI not attacking etc,etc.

PIP? Steve? are we listening?

[zakblood]

it's clear to see your not a fan and also don't own the game, as for one,

why does everyone break so easy?

they don't,. plain and simple, it's depends on how you setup a given game, i for one as i'm useless make the game so easy that really do my units breaks, and tbh the AI is very good even on the easiest of settings, so it goes on map and placements and how you play, for me, if i do something daft, then yes i'll loose some units, but as the AI doesn't tend to walk into MG fire as often as i did when i first started testing and playing it, and used cover way much better than i ever did, it's all how you setup a game tbh imo

so balanced, eg make your side rock hard and the other idiots, and even then, on most maps it's more than playable and enjoyable even that one sided, some maps are hard, there's some issues, but none as much as you think, and why only a few are being posted about, plain and simple, as for most, make yourself elite and the other side rookies, and you don't see what some are seeing, that's not to say there wrong or not seeing it, just on a given map and using a given setup, some stuff happens and for others on a different setup, it doesn't plain and simple.

then take away all this and use better or worse placements, and the % of things to go wrong or right, is depending on where and what you have placed and your settings etc

[zakblood]

for me i walked through the game as the Germans, then again they are better to start off with, better units, better equipment and overall pound for pound, better trained and better lead etc etc, so played them on elite with the AI on idiots mode and really enjoyed more than a few playthroughs, then as tbh i started off with the the bloody first and died more often than not, so went off default early on and played them on the best settings, so had the best chance of winning and made it easier for myself, and still most of the time settled for a draw but did get the odd wins, the US uses a peashooter as a AT gun so found that part hard, as my placements were always poorer than the Germans, and my equipment and knowledge on how to use them was never as good as the AI, but in the end i got by and learned that it's not easy to play as the US, then again the name somewhat gives that part away, the bloody first doesn't get its name as it went sailing though the war as a picnic does it?

[zakblood]

so playing the 1st Infantry Division (United States) or the "The Big Dead One" and "The Bloody First" is a combined arms division, but as this game and battles shows, what they started off with, wasn't worth the carry and is why it is also nicknamed "The Fighting First".

equipment compared to the Germans, poor,

tanks, well when you get them, there's not enough and tbh there also not used too well either, so trained by Mickey for a guess.

look at the squad firepower of the 2 sides, your always going to come off worse, as that's one sided.

so for me the game portrays a good show of how it was,

put this all aside and yes there is some issues which the developer need to sort out, and they will.

why does some have different play and screen shot to others, that's how games pans out, with different setups, different positions, even on the same level, no one games is going to go the same way as someone else's.

why does some shots miss when almost touching and then hit off the range of the whole map? no idea, either pure luck or bad luck.

i've seen many things here i've struggled to replicate on my own games, so how the developers going to, is anyone guess, as to fix it, they first have to reproduce it,...

[STIENER]

im a fan ...im a hardcore CC player...I have them all. your right I don't have TBF yet but I will after you guys play test the game for them. im done with that shit.
im watching and reading what other players are seeing in this new game and im seeing...the ones that post at least....that morale is an issue. gun accuracy is an issue. spotting is an issue. vehicles in buildings is an issue. poor AI is an issue.IE...wont attack...if it does it does it piece meal and poorly....bad AI set up...etc.

you may not see these as issues and have found work arounds?? I don't know...but to me and others these appear to be issues for a fun player game.

ill buy it when theres most of this stuff fixed.

[zakblood]

i'm not saying i'm right and everyone else is wrong, i alter the game from the menus to make it as easy as i can, and as hard for the AI as i can, this is how i play 99% of all my games, and unless someone dislikes that approach, i'm sticking with it, as until i start to play better and survive longer and enjoy it more, i tend not to alter it until i feel the need for the AI to have some more help, so far that's not been needed and i still get a good game out of the way i play, yes i've altered the view, and yes i agree with a lot of what's posted, but for different reasons, if someone plays on the default and makes something happen and can duplicate it, then the developer can see it, and make it happen, then fix it, so is one less error or bug for everyone else.

morale is set in the game at the start, and can be also altered in the battle part, so not to come into play, or made to beef it up somewhat, for me somewhere in the middle is fine, as i don't like to have to kill the last person who sits waiting for death, when i feel he should have ran a long while ago.

gun accuracy is something that's dependant on skill level, if you make them elite, they tend to be somewhat better than pure green, and position also helps, then again all this and still the US can be useless with the peashooters on offer early on, so maybe needs a tweak, but not on all maps either.

spotting, well again depends on which you play on, see all, and yes you see everything, but that's not to say you can hit it, you just spot it,...

vehicles, well pathing atm isn't as good as it could be, then again i'd guess that's the hardest part, iv'e seen some clearly open shots i'd like them to take, then make some through the windows one which looked a bit well dodgy, but again when i'm playing as elite i may have just got lucky, as i can't say i've seen anything to prove it otherwise.

for me it's a fun game, but no it's not a perfect game, then again which is? i'm still looking.

i like the game to one day have all the older battles and maps in the game, if addon's on DLC's matters not to me, the view more than makes up for playability to me, and anything which is pointed out as broken, will get fixed in the newer engine, and i'm looking forward to more of the same.

far too old to be a fanboy

and not good enough a player to be hardcore either, just a war gamer[&o]

[justflank]

The more tactically minded you are the easier the game is, understanding your surroundings etc I personally love to be challenged and try play it on the hardest settings I can.


Suppress
Assault
Regroup
Repeat

[fancylogic]

New to the CC series, was looking for something to mess around with platoon to company size tactical combat. Definitely have many of the OP's complaints about the game, but honestly the hardest thing to manage is attack. So far I can say I enjoy attacking in the game far more than defending but I would love for something like attack move, or a rush command when infantry is within a certain "assaultable" range.

For instance, enemy is on superior terrain, trying to overcome through a shooting match is not working, Indirect is not working. I'm taking losses despite being in hard cover due to terrain deficit. Decide that the only option to complete the objective is to assault the enemy fireteam with the three fireteams at my disposal. FT's drop smoke close range, while mortars smoke enemy position. My troops are less than 20m from the enemy, I set two of them to fast move (which can break their ability to fire) to cover the ground quickly to get into grenade/hand to hand range, while the MG team lays down suppression. Unfortunately, they can't fire on the move or perform assault functions and are cut to shreds even though the attack was well supported and planned out according to small unit assault. I expect casualties, but I don't expect casualties because of game incompetence. I would love for an action to tell your troops to assault (especially if you have assault troops split off) - this is something men at war does much better IMO.

I was successful in a different assault where I utilized a full platoon in a large defilade, with a second platoon on a ridge line on a 45* provided overwatch. Hit the rear of their line with off-map artillery, dropped smoke on the crest of the ridge, and told my guys to fast move over the hill and down to murder a full Italian platoon.

Second thing is howitzers being direct fire only? What's the point of it being a howitzer then? Making them direct fire makes them, in my opinion, practically useless for infantry support.

Third, is there a way to rotate off map assets? some of the fire angles are absolutely awful.

In the end, I've been playing this game quite a bit for the past two weeks, both online and off. Enjoying it either way!

[BobKlugman]

I am not happy at all with this game and I feel duped. I feel that it was pushed out way to soon. I get Seemingly random CTD's whenever I play it. I have been a fan of the CC series since the very first game. I have already posted in the support forum. FIX this mess.

[zakblood]

FIX this mess

if you look at the tech support page and compare to the amount of bought customers, the overall list is small, that's not to say it's not at fault, but most error's so far are on the users pc's, with a small part being game bug related, so quoting you it's a mess, is somewhat a odd statement, you're one of a very small few who have had CTD with the game, so far most have been driver related or something else running in the background that the game didn't like, the advice as always is simple,

install the game as admin, and then run the game as admin, and have the least amount of background apps and programs running in the background, the cleaner the better, with a default windows 10 install, i have these, most have far too many, and any not only impacts the time to start up windows 10, but on how stable it is as a gaming platform




if it's a bug and can be made to be repeatable on more than a few pc's, then it's fixable and patched, sorted.

if it's a random one that only happens on a given pc or a smaller amount, and only then every now and then, it's harder to be replicated so somewhat harder to fix.

a bug or error normally gives a error or code so at least the developers knows what part caused it and what part gave the error, without this, it's harder, a save with a given way of reproducing the error is the best and quickest way to fix and normallys gets a hotfix or added to another set of patches etc.

if the error is 3rd party related or background app conflict, windows or drivers, it's not game related and can't be fixed by a game update, that's outside what game makers do and can't be fixed

[zakblood]

as it's a test pc i use, which also has office on it and 100's of others which can and do load apps at start up etc, but not run every time windows boots, i have deleted the start up for almost all,...

so now office takes 6 seconds to load, instead of if the app was preloaded on boot less than 4

so you can clearly see most apps and programs aren't needed each and every boot, but as most install all sorts of junk every day and careless how long and slow it is to boot up, most careless, it's not until someone explains for tech support that any one of the apps pre loaded, could and sometimes does use the same memory address as a game, and as both can't use the same part at the same time, you either get a hang or a crash, plain and simple.

and as each app and program also uses resources, the more loaded, means less for a game, so if you have 32gb or 16gb or ram, i wouldn't careless and carry on regardless, but if you have 8gb of less, then i would think on my points, then again i have less crashes / hangs than most, so tend to careless if others have 50 or 100.

if you have the latest pc and CPU and max ram, all this can be forgotten until you app and or game crashes, then see which one of the many needs turning off by trial and error before you find a cure, telling someone else it's there mess, is like saying all games work on every pc, which everyone knows they don't, they work on a given set of pc's that contain a given amount of power and resources and the least amount of apps and programs running in the background with default apps, that's fine, add in 3rd party poor ones, and the amount of errors caused are timed by a given factor of X10.

default apps in O/S are built in firewalls and AV, 3rd party are bought or free ones etc etc

[zakblood]

now which makes it even more harder for some to understand, is how old is the O/S?

if it's a clean install of windows and is less than a years old, which is good, but saying that, that also depends on who uses it, as there habits will make the installing and uninstalling and chances of errors grow or lesson etc.

if it's a upgraded from a previous version of windows, that can and does sometime make it somewhat harder, as error can be taken over, plain and simple, so in the long run, tech support isn't a answer and question sessions, where everything is the games fault, 99% of the time it's not, 1% or less it is, and that's a fact with most games.

take out all the errors which can be on a given pc, and the amount of choices each user has to install or uninstall something which can and does make the version or windows unstable or clash with another app or game, makes fixing errors something more of a pin in a haystack, than more than what others think, as first you need to replicate it, then again and again on different pc's to make sure the fix works on all, not just the odd one or developers pc only etc

so yes rather a waffle and long post for a reply and i'm sorry for that, but it's never as simple as 4 words, a mess

[z1812]

ORIGINAL: budd

To be fair, it doesn't always turn out like that. When i played that battle it didn't , the Germans assaulted the ridge successfully.

To be fair, a game should not be released with so many obvious problems.

[budd]

Yea, there starting to stack up. I got nothing.