December Update?

[CSSS]

CotD?

[Hanal]

ORIGINAL: CSS

CotD?

Campaign on the Danube...another Frank Hunter game based on Naploeonic War....a good game at a very reasonable price available here at Matrix....

[Hanal]

Frank, will there be a strategic map that we could toggle on to view the entire map and spotted unit positions?

[Clipper1968]

ORIGINAL: FrankHunter

Pumba : Hey I liked CotD Anyway, the two games have absolutely nothing in common and that means the AI too.

Glad to hear that!!![:)]
I am really looking forward to play this game...any release date expected???[&:]

[sol_invictus]

Looks beautiful Frank. I have anxiously waited for this game for so long.

[benpark]

Looks great so far. I'm really happy we will have a WW1 game of any scale in the future.

Two suggestions from my humble perspective-the city graphic is a bit too anthill like for me. Also-the counters seem just a hair large. Of course, if the jpegs are moddable, forget both suggestions and plug away.

[Lannes]

Hello,

Frank, the artillery help for attack and defense or attack only ?

Lannes

[wodin]

The counters do look very large. Aslo the hexes are hard to make out in some areas.

[FrankHunter]

wodin : Yep, the counters fill the hexes pretty much. Their display is a toggle.

Lannes : Artillery are used for neither attack nor defence, they're for barrages only. I figured there was artillery everywhere and its part of the existing units firepower. So its only mass artillery concentrations I'm trying to represent with the counters.

benpark : the map and counters are mod-able

JP : There is no one-screen overall map

[*Lava*]

Hi!

The Matrix artists once again do a super duper job.

Hope testing of the beta will begin soon...

Ray (alias Lava)

[Rainbow7]

The "single-screen map" is an issue that arose with CotD also. It's, of course, too early to see how not having it will hamper overall strategic planning in GoA, but my guess is that a non-interactive, large scale, map is always a benefit (with little icons for known unit placements), and that this game will need it as much as any other.

Looking forward to the finished product.

[Oleg Mastruko]

Hm. I don't like the graphics, though it's not ugly either. I'd say it's passable.

Some comments based of available screenies.

- Cities look ugly, don't look like cities at all, they look like acorns (I hope that's the word I seek)
- Unit counters are so very big, yet they contain so little information, and what little info they have, is hidden in very small numerals. Numbers should be bigger, and counters overall smaller, cuter and more easily readable.
- I'd suggest dropping the soldier graphics from the counters themselves. These are division or corps sized units yes? Then go for usual NATO symbology, as specialised units (eg. engineers, armor [:D] etc.) are rare at this level anyway.
- Cattara (Austrian Adriatic base) should be Cattaro, or simply Kotor, or even more precisely Boka Kotorska. Kotor/Cattaro is the town itself, but is totally unimportant. Natural bay, which served as excellend naval base is/was called Boka Kotorska.

Frank don't get me wrong but what are the chances of you getting the budget to hire some graphic professional to do better graphics? [>:]

O.

[Oleg Mastruko]

And your Serbian flag is wrong (this appears to be Yugoslav flag).

This is Serbian WW1 flag (and Serbian modern flag as well, though I think they don't have the crown anymore).

http://www.fotw.net/flags/cs-sr_k.html

O.

[wodin]

I agree with smaller counters but keep the soldier. Or give an option for real WW1 symbols.

Also I must admit that I dont get a WW1 feel from the map. How you would do that I dont know. Maybe give it a sepia tone. Something is missing from the screenshots I just cant put my finger on it. The cities look very poor aswell.

When I said you cant see the hex I ment even when a counter isnt on one you still cant make them out in some areas.

I know that graphics dont really matter and if the gameplay is good then great. However I really dont like them. I would have prfered graphics from Strategic Command than these to be honest.

Still Im sure the gameplay will be superb.

The map looks very...........bland.

Here is an image of an upcoming WW1 boardgame's map. I like it.



In fact here is a link to the game. Check out the counters aswell. I know this is at a different scale but it still looks better. I did think this game would be at the corps level though anyway.

LINK

[JungleFox]

Overall the graphics are very good. The cities are a little odd looking and maybe the counters are a bit large but this is a very nice looking computer game. Color and atmosphere. For me a must buy so whenever it's ready, so's my credit card.

[wodin]

Wish I could agree.

How about some screenshots of the other game screens?

[*Lava*]

ORIGINAL: wodin

I agree with smaller counters but keep the soldier. Or give an option for real WW1 symbols.

Hi!

Actually they are not counters, they are cards. And they are in .bmp format, so easily modded.

Remember the game is "Grand Strategy." From my time testing the alpha, you have all the information that you need. Not sure what else needs to be displayed.

Ray (alias Lava)

[wodin]

Lava,

Im sure the gameplay is superb. The counters/cards I can live with. The Map isnt pretty at all. The cites are terrible. You cant see the hexes.. The rivers are massive, to the point that Western Europe doesnt look like Europe at all. The rest of it looks like a green blotch.

I know this doesnt effect gameplay.

Can wee see some other screenshots that arent of the map?

Actaully the more I look at the counters the more I like them. Though Im sure someone will Mod them to make them even better.

Its the Map I dont like. At leats make those rivers a little narrower.

[sol_invictus]

Overall, I really like the graphics. Sure, the cities could look a little better, but I think they look fine. Unit counters look very nice. My only quibble is that the hexsides blend into nothingness when they run into the light green terrain. Maybe hexsides should be black with national boundaries remaining red.

Frank, while looking at the screens again, I noticed that the British units are the only ones on a knee. At first I thought this was because they are entrenched, but some of the Italians, French, and Germans are also entrenched, yet they are still standing up. Is there some visual indicator in the unit graphics, other than the number, that represents a unit being entrenched. If not, could this be added without to much trouble. It would be very nice to have all entrenched units take a knee. No biggy, just a little chrome.

[FrankHunter]

I can't upload screenshots of the other screens or even the panels next to the main display because that's what I'm waiting for to start testing. As soon as those are done, testing will begin. Right now its just blobs of colour with the word "temporary" stamped on it. Not what I'd want to upload here. Once the rest of the graphics are ready Matrix will set up a website and there'll be lots of screenshots and other information.

Graphics will always be an issue of personal taste. But like Danube, the map and counters, and even all the other graphics, may be modified. The person who did the graphics is in fact a graphics professional.

That shot of the game above. that looks to me like Schlieffen Plan from Decision Games. Its not upcoming, its been out for years. Its divisional level and covers the western front in 1914. Interesting example because many people were so turned off by those graphics that I think it hurt the whole series which is a shame because I think its a very playable system, especially in the east.

Thanks for the info on the Serbian flag and Cattaro, I will pass that along.

The icon on the counter only displays type. The entrenchment status is the number above the one in the lower left.

Hexes are an overlay that can be toggled.