First Impressions here please.

[wodin]

I may purchase this game. I dont own a Napoleonic game but this sounds very interesting indeed.

Please post your first impressions and convince me that its worth buying when the boxed version comes out[;)][:D]

[Banquet]

I've only had the game running for 20 mins so my comments will be very limted.. nontheless;

Difficult to alt tab from game to manual.. and you definitely need to check the manual before playing. I didn't and ran 2 turns wondering what the hell was going on.

However, the tutorial is really good. Rather than being boring (I find most boring and a real struggle to complete) this one is quick & lite & to the point.. it doesn't explain the whole game but gives a good overview of what's going on.. it's also easy to read while not playing the game with plenty of good screenshots, etc. Also the manual has a strategy guide section which is something I really like from games of a bygone era!

There seem to be good options for trade and diplomacy. Production and build seem quite user friendly and sensible with your various stockpiles being added to each turn and then certain costs for building certain units.. all this affected by research from what I can tell.

The music is good 19th century fare but seems to be limited to one violin piece which grates after a while.. but easy to turn off!

Not anywhere near into the game enough yet to tell you what the AI is like, or any of the other important facets of gameplay.

I've just tried a few turns after reading the tutorial and things are slotting into place, but there's still a lot that I don't understand so going to try and read the actual manual now.. but it definitely has my interest. Hopefully beta's, or others with more knowledge of the game system can post some info as I'd like to learn more about certain aspects myself.

[Montbrun]

Definately a "must-buy" for Napoleonic enthusiasts. There are issues, but I'm sure these will be addressed shortly. You MUST read the manual - most of us don't - LOL - to get the hotkeys for different functions, etc. Alt-tab for me was a no-go, so I'm printing the manuals as we speak......

Brad

[Hertston]

Its a bit hard to give any meaningful impressions after a couple of hours or so, as with this sort of game you need to play for a lot longer to assess the things that are really important. So I'll restrict myself to saying it looks smart enough, does the things I expected it to do, and it hasn't crashed on me yet [:D]. I hope they fix the alt-tab thing or allow you run it in a window.... that really is an essential feature if you are relying on .pdf manuals IMHO.

[Erik Rutins]

I strongly advise reading the tutorial, the strategy guide at the back of the manual and the manual itself. These will definitely enhance the game for you.

[sol_invictus]

Well I haven't played even a second but I have read the tutorial and printed the manual. I swore I was going to wait and get Kinkos to print it, but after reading two pages of the tutorial I started to think that I wouldn't be able to have a printed manual until next week; so I dived in and started printing with my lame Dell printer that was free with my system. It took about 3 hours or so but I have the complete manual for the weekend! I wouldn't even try to play this game without reading the manual first. I scanned most of the pages as they ever so slowly came out of the printer and this game is very deep. It models a huge amount of relavent factors for this period. Now I must hit the coach and dive into the manual in anticipation of conquest tommorrow night. The strategy guide in the manual seems quite thorough as well. Great manual!

[TheHellPatrol]

A game this deep needs a comprehensive manual and COG's manual doesn't fall short, i have read and re-read it many times and i still find things i missed. Even though i've been playing since the Beta started i've only had my manual printed out the last week and wished i had done it earlier, of course it wasn't about winning until now[;)].

[sol_invictus]

I think it will be weeks of playing and several re-reads of the manual before I am brave enough to take on a fellow human.

[benpark]

After about 3 hours of play, I am very impressed. The tactical system is a blast, and a massive improvement from EU style games. There is a heck of a lot of depth to the strat game, as well. Back to try another game...

[ravinhood]

Back to try another game...

ANOTHER game? So, does that mean you lost to the AI? I hope I hope I hope haha

[nukkxx5058]

My first impressions:

Impressive ! That's THE game I am waiting for so many years !

remarks (some pros and cons and maybe some bugs in it):
+ alt/tab works well with acrobate reader and manual
+ tactical battle are great ! I can even smell the gun powder.
+ seems very complexe and deep game
- too few sounds on strategic map. I would have appreciated to hear my troops when moving etc. Sonds on tactical map are OK
- no map zoom in strategic mode ?
- music plays 10 seconds of violin then stops
+ I declared war to Austria and 2 turns later, Paris was besieged and France occupied!!! IA seems very reactive.

[Naomi]

So many pros about the game ve been put forward above that Eric et al. may get me killed if i m the only one who dare to think lowly of their grave efforts. :p

But there must be sumone who comes to ask if it is possible to hv a soon arrival of patches to make it even better, including fixes to enhance the interface, say, between any small window (or rectangle) pop-up (you bring forth by clicking a button) and the broader background screen (By clicking serially the four assistants' icons in the pop-up, or clicking for renaming an unit, you ll better know what I mean); to enable us to "undo" our carelessly/tantatively made decisions (e.g. provincial labor-distribution and production decisions).

Since the game is (pleasantly) complicated enough to suck your energy into reading thru' teaching scripts and running your eyes across all aspects of game play (and even coming back to the forum for advices), buying it earlier never hurt. *(~,~)*

[El Vis]

I played only a couple of minutes.
Then I had read the rest of the evening the manual.
Not always easy, because I am not a native english speaker.

But it seems definetly neccessarry to read the manual.

For german speakers we have a CoG forum at:
http://www.si-games.com/forums/index.php?

Sometimes its easier to discuss complex games in your own language.[8D]

[Montrose]

First impressions? Very bad indeed.

I haven't even played the game properly yet because I can't read the manual via alt-tab and have no clue what is going on. Maybe I'll have gone and stocked up on printer cartridges by the end of the weekend. Maybe other things as well [:@]

[ess1]

ORIGINAL: El Vis

I played only a couple of minutes.
Then I had read the rest of the evening the manual.
Not always easy, because I am not a native english speaker.

But it seems definetly neccessarry to read the manual.

For german speakers we have a CoG forum at:
http://www.si-games.com/forums/index.php?

Sometimes its easier to discuss complex games in your own language.[8D]

El Vis,
Congratulations on your English[:)]

[2gaulle]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

Back to try another game...

ANOTHER game? So, does that mean you lost to the AI? I hope I hope I hope haha

if you don't play detailed battle but only use Quick button the AI become a very challenging opponent

[beserko]

Sacre Bluah ......................... I ordered the download and the physical but I see I'm goning to have to brutalize my printer if I am going to have a clue as how to play this puppy!

I tried with all players being computer but somehow that didn't work well either. I really hate that quick combat screen and hope a patch will come out giving the option for all detailed combat. The major reason I purchased this game is that it reminded me of the old SSI battles of Napoleon with the NATO designations. (yes I'm that old)

Guess I'll be spending the 4th drinking corona's and reading manuals.

[SLTxDarkknight]

At the options screen uncheck the always quick combat box[:)], and remember there must be 30,000 combatants to initiate detailed battle.

[wodin]

Matrix!!

Please,please get this manual printing business sorted out!

Some people dont have access to a printer and it can add a fair amount onto the price of a game to get it printed.

I was thinking of buying CoG on an impulse but I dont have the time to start messing around trying to get the manual printed. Also reading a manual on the PC is a waste of time. I due to family commitments only have a certain amount of time in front of the PC. A manual can be carried around and read when you get the chance.

As soon as this game ships with a manual I shall buy it.

How did you get the rules for Lock N Load sorted?

[Beorn]

oops, wrong thread [:o]