A Better Manual Could Make This Game Much More Accessible

[marek1978]

Guys,

I love this game. I love history and complex strategy games, and I have enormous respect for the developers and the work they have put into this project. It is a beautiful and ambitious game that deserves much greater success.

However, I believe that the current manual, combined with a very distinctive interface and systems that work differently from those in most other strategy games, makes the game unnecessarily difficult to learn.

This is particularly challenging for players who may be an important part of the target audience: people who love serious historical games but also have jobs, families, children, and limited time. We are willing to learn a complex system, but we cannot always spend dozens of hours trying to discover what individual buttons, orders, profiles, ranges, and logistical mechanics actually do.

In my case, it took considerable effort before I finally began to understand how the game works.

I watched YouTube tutorials, searched through forum discussions, and read some excellent AARs, particularly those written by Q-Ball and Ranger Joe. Their work was extremely helpful and often explained the practical side of the game more clearly than the manual.

Eventually, I also began using AI tools. I provided the AI with the manual, selected forum discussions, AARs, and tutorial videos, and instructed it to base its answers only on those sources.

Now, when I struggle with something, I can upload a screenshot and ask the AI what I may be doing wrong. It can explain the visible options, identify possible mistakes, and direct me towards the relevant section of the documentation. This has made learning the game much easier and more enjoyable.

But it also made me wonder: why should learning the game require so much external effort?

How many potential players give up before reaching the point where the systems finally begin to make sense? How many people would enjoy the game if the first few hours were clearer and less frustrating?

With new games hopefully coming in the future, perhaps it would be worth preparing a clearer and more practical manual or beginner’s handbook.

It should explain not only what the mechanics do, but also how and why to use them, supported by practical examples, step-by-step instructions, and annotated screenshots. AI could help reorganise the existing material, but the final version should, of course, be reviewed by the developers or experienced players.

Something similar to the Gary Grigsby’s War in the West Materials Manual and Handbook could be a useful model. Even a shorter introductory handbook explaining the main concepts and workflows would make a major difference.

The complexity of the game is one of its greatest strengths. I would not want the game itself to be simplified.

But complexity does not have to mean obscurity.

Better documentation, clearer graphics, and a practical player’s handbook could make the game much more accessible without reducing its depth. I honestly believe this could bring many more players into the game and help it achieve the success it deserves.

[RangerJoe]

I didn't read the manual until much later, there really wasn't much of a manual when I started playing with this .exe system.

If you are familiar with WITP:AE, then the game is fairly easy to learn as far as the button goes. Yes, I did ask questions in my testing. My testing however was more intensive on playing the game and finding crashes although I did find other errors.

Chasing railroad units across the countryside where there were no railroads was fun.

Finding the highest level HQ with no manpower was fun because I was able to state that the entire army HQ was full of women so the women were in charge of the army!

[nanni]

Marek raises a host of valid points. I agree 100% with all of them. I've been complaining since January 2026, when WIS was released, about the manual. It is essentially useless, bursting full of padding, inaccuracies and questionable syntax which any 7th grade teacher would cringe at. Never mind the syntax, but the manual still needs to be completely rewritten and drastically slimmed down. If you want, put the padding in an annex for players to read in their spare time. However, just like Marek all I got from the Matrix WiS team from my complaints were a couple of snarky answers.
Claiming that the game is based on WITP-AE, hence straightforward to master, is not true. It may be based on WITP-AE, which I've been playing and enjoying for decades, but the original DNA has been so tampered with as to be unrecognizable.
Any serious game venture should have as one of its objectives allowing players to play it, after they have read a proper manual. With WiS, this is impossible. To play, you have to plow through a turgid 420-page book, suspend play to skim through hours of videos, AARs, and literally hundreds of threads in this Forum, whose context is hardly ever evident, in the very likely event of an inexplicable error. Marek even had to load the whole thing in an AI engine to arrive at some answers. He is right. This is definitely not how computer games should be released on the market.

[RangerJoe]

Marek raises a host of valid points. I agree 100% with all of them. I've been complaining since January 2026, when WIS was released, about the manual. It is essentially useless, bursting full of padding, inaccuracies and questionable syntax which any 7th grade teacher would cringe at. Never mind the syntax, but the manual still needs to be completely rewritten and drastically slimmed down. If you want, put the padding in an annex for players to read in their spare time. However, just like Marek all I got from the Matrix WiS team from my complaints were a couple of snarky answers.
Claiming that the game is based on WITP-AE, hence straightforward to master, is not true. It may be based on WITP-AE, which I've been playing and enjoying for decades, but the original DNA has been so tampered with as to be unrecognizable.
Any serious game venture should have as one of its objectives allowing players to play it, after they have read a proper manual. With WiS, this is impossible. To play, you have to plow through a turgid 420-page book, suspend play to skim through hours of videos, AARs, and literally hundreds of threads in this Forum, whose context is hardly ever evident, in the very likely event of an inexplicable error. Marek even had to load the whole thing in an AI engine to arrive at some answers. He is right. This is definitely not how computer games should be released on the market.

You can write a "how to" for yourself. I didn't have to read the manual for most of my playing.

I do believe that my AARs have sufficient detail and explanations for new players to see what I was doing and why.

This game has no coding from WITP:AE. For me, I could just jump into the system and play. The only computer game of this large size that I have played was WITP:AE prior to testing.

[WG]

Eventually, I also began using AI tools. I provided the AI with the manual, selected forum discussions, AARs, and tutorial videos, and instructed it to base its answers only on those sources.

Now, when I struggle with something, I can upload a screenshot and ask the AI what I may be doing wrong. It can explain the visible options, identify possible mistakes, and direct me towards the relevant section of the documentation. This has made learning the game much easier and more enjoyable.

This is a surprisingly good suggestion. I have started using AI with the manual as well. An AI that handles coding well is good at parsing it and explaining how to perform certain specific tasks. However, it is no replacement for video tutorials.

[RangerJoe]

Eventually, I also began using AI tools. I provided the AI with the manual, selected forum discussions, AARs, and tutorial videos, and instructed it to base its answers only on those sources.

Now, when I struggle with something, I can upload a screenshot and ask the AI what I may be doing wrong. It can explain the visible options, identify possible mistakes, and direct me towards the relevant section of the documentation. This has made learning the game much easier and more enjoyable.

This is a surprisingly good suggestion. I have started using AI with the manual as well. An AI that handles coding well is good at parsing it and explaining how to perform certain specific tasks. However, it is no replacement for video tutorials.

In my AARs, I give up to 4 pictures with descriptions of what I am doing and why. I also offer to help if people were to ask questions and if I can show examples from my game then I will do so.

[WG]

In my AARs, I give up to 4 pictures with descriptions of what I am doing and why. I also offer to help if people were to ask questions and if I can show examples from my game then I will do so.

I saw your AARs. I am learning the game, and this one is very useful. Thanks for the work!

Scenario 7 tutorial AAR - how to do certain things

[RangerJoe]

In my AARs, I give up to 4 pictures with descriptions of what I am doing and why. I also offer to help if people were to ask questions and if I can show examples from my game then I will do so.

I saw your AARs. I am learning the game, and this one is very useful. Thanks for the work!

Scenario 7 tutorial AAR - how to do certain things

You are welcome.

It actually takes more time to do an AAR like that compared to playing the game.

If a player desires it, they can copy the pictures and my verbiage.

I am waiting for a new .exe before playing again.

[marek1978]

I made a point with AI because i belive company can use AI tool to rewrite manual and create simple tools for newcomers.

Main reason i am raising that question is that i belive that with that game we have a really gem here but it is pretty well hidden.

Eventually, I also began using AI tools. I provided the AI with the manual, selected forum discussions, AARs, and tutorial videos, and instructed it to base its answers only on those sources.

Now, when I struggle with something, I can upload a screenshot and ask the AI what I may be doing wrong. It can explain the visible options, identify possible mistakes, and direct me towards the relevant section of the documentation. This has made learning the game much easier and more enjoyable.

This is a surprisingly good suggestion. I have started using AI with the manual as well. An AI that handles coding well is good at parsing it and explaining how to perform certain specific tasks. However, it is no replacement for video tutorials.