The Obligatory First Impressions Thread

[doomtrader]

Hi colberki, you might take a look at 1.01 patch WIP thread to see are we trying to improve the game correctly. Also you might post your wishes in the Great Wish thread to propose changes you would like to see. (It's not like we are going to put everything you guys are writing there, but it's very helpful to know your needs and expectations).

[sabre1]

Awww Man, I want it ALL. [;)]

[cpdeyoung]

I have spent the last couple of months caught up in Armada 2526, a serious addiction, think 14 hours a day.

However I am delighted to see the progress that ToF has made, and the newly vibrant community.

Congrats to all the development staff!

Chuck

[doomtrader]

Hi Chuck, nice to see you here.
Hope that Time of Fury will cure you from your addiction.

[freeboy]

ORIGINAL: doomtrader

You can try to run the videos directly from the game folder. They are located in /data/ subfolder.
You are not missing anything from the gameplay experience. Maybe some mood.

I looked for vids in the data subfolder? are they still included? All I found was the intro vids.. I would love some vids for mood!
thanks

[Rasputitsa]

More like Second Impressions :

I have had a chance to play the game for a while now, it's the same scenario I started way back, after some smaller trial runs, but with travelling just don't get the time.

It's now Christmas 1940, game time, in Fall Gelb Axis v AI. France defeated, Vichy government in place, Soviet attack in turn 4 (I hope we don't lose that possibility entirely - I think it should always be a risk) means that this is no standard Barbarossa, do the Lvov opening, AGN does this, AGC does that, you know what happens next. The Baltic states are still neutral, neither the Soviets, nor Axis, have attacked them, but they sit like a huge open flank, only I haven't got the spare troops to take them on. Finns are quiet and I can't quite take Narvik, the British have landed reinforcements, which bombardment from the sea, air attack and land forces haven't dealt with.

Never had time to deal with Yugoslavia, or Greece, as whilst I was engaged in France the Soviets launched a major attack into Romania. I came close to victory in France just in time to send units East, just as the Romanians began to collapse after a valiant AI controlled struggle and the Soviets were heading for Ploesti and Bucherest. Again, just in time Hungary joined the Axis, delayed because I had earlier tried to hurry them up with a coup attempt which failed, but I got the use of their railway to save the oil wells.

That meant that I had first to hold back the Soviet attack into Poland and the Soviet AI made some armoured penetrations, which I was able to cut off. I used the limited mobile forces available to exploit gaps, which worked at first, but slowly the AI began to close in and crush any exposed units, I felt that the line would give way, but was able to move forces just in time to reverse the situation. Was able to win the Frontier battles with large encirclements, as more forces became available to move into the East. Next move had to be to launch a Southerly attack into the Ukraine to Odessa to cut off the Soviet units in Romania, battles there are just coming to a close.

Objective was to move forward to the fortifications of the Stalin line and consolidate there for the winter and launch a major attack in early 1941, again nothing like the usual Barbarossa. The capture of Minsk left a huge hole which the Soviets did not, or could not fill, additionally there was nothing much to stop me taking Gomel, but a big fight in the South on the approaches to Kiev. However, I have captured almost all of the Stalin Line.

OK so the AI may not be very bright, but neither were the Allies at the beginning of the war, so it feels realistic.

I was beginning to think that the game was broken, as there was little Soviet reaction in the North and Centre, it was wide open, but the infantry could only crawl forward at 1 hex a week in the snow, armoured units pressing forward found little and almost reached Veluki Leki, which was empty, but couldn't reach it in time. It's well into the winter now and I cannot exploit the gap.

Now as we settle down for the 1940 Christmas feast, the game's not broken, long range recon shows large Soviet forces gathering on all fronts and I am building Infantry Korps as fast as I can, it's now me who has to fill the gaps.

Meanwhile in the Med an attack on Malta failed, whilst the Italians did well in NA, cutting off and destroying the initial British attack, with the help of shore bombardment from the Fleet.

The Italians have just captured Sidi Baranni and all looked good, until recon again showed major British forces gathering beyond Alexandria. When the option came up earlier, offering the DAK armoured unit, I decided to keep it for Russia and not have it arrive in NA, that might have been a mistake. At least, if the British are reinforcing NA, they shouldn't turn up elsewhere, or will they.

Using Agent S maps and Nato icons, GWGardner transparent and reduced size combat and info boxes and BCGames intro screens (sorry Doom, better than stock items), the game looks really good, although I know that's a matter of taste.

I have had issues with the game supply system, but that seems better with 1.01B, although the winter has arrived and I am not sure what is having most effect. I have made comment in several threads about rail damage in Russia, I think all rail in Russia should be damaged as control changes, to represent the different rail gauges used by the Soviets and the Germans. I have a self imposed rule to restrict the use of Strategic Movement along lines that have only recently been captured, otherwise you can rail into the depths of Russia, in the winter snow, without much penalty. I haven't seen Doomtrader comment on this issue yet.

The various info boxes work very well, you can quickly check the status of all your various types of units, Land - Air - Naval, you can scan supply levels for all units at a glance, to spot problems. This is very useful for the Italians, who have to run convoys to Sardinia, Albania, Tripoli and Tobruk, monitoring the low supply levels in the unit list warns you which convoys should move to the top of the convoy list. I use the the unit renaming feature to add detail and reminders, e.g. adding 'in dock' to the fleet names for damaged ships, as a prompt to repair when PPs allow when I scan down the Naval Unit list. Very flexible and user friendly information displays (but lots of mouse clicks), once you have worked them out. I know it is not perfect, but when you take into account that you are controlling Technical Development, Political actions, Production - unit building, etc. and monitoring all your units health, which is possible quickly at a glance, must be good. I am also using the unit renaming feature to introduce some Armee and Luftflotte organisation, so that there is some more realistic deployment control.

The move into 1.01B has improved the game, supply and reinforcement are more realistic, but I have needed house rules to moderate the game. ToF has been called a fun game, but it can be much more than that, whilst still being very enjoyable.

Overall the game has felt right, individual events sometimes are odd, but the wide scope of the game gives you the feeling of the extent of a world war. This has been one of the best gaming experiences that I have ever had, thanks to everyone involved.

[welk]

Definitively the game of my wargamer life, for modding and for playing : I stopped to play/to mod with Commander Europe at war. CEAW was a very very good game and I had never deception with, but Time of Fury is something different, more better, and the AI very surprising = excellent opponent. In addition, ToF is not only one game, but different games in one : all may be made to build little operationnel level scenarios. The game a PC wargamer must have.

[gravyface_]

Thank you for sharing your opinions, Rasputitsa.

For large scale/strategic games, my experiences include Commander Europe at War and Strategic Command 2, both fun games, but found them to be lacking in AI/depth. I don't have time to play with other human opponents, so when I have a chunk of free time, I look forward to a decent AI opponent.

So here we are, end of June, and I'm thinking of pulling the trigger: everyone still happy?

[TR]

I wish they would spruce up the graphics map art in this game. The way it is now it is so - Blah! IMHO They need to crisp up the land/sea boundaries, for one, similar to Guns of August 1914-1918.

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: gravyface
So here we are, end of June, and I'm thinking of pulling the trigger: everyone still happy?

Waiting for some problems in the recently issued 1.02 Beta update to be ironed out. The update has some useful features, but players' testing has found items that need attention.

Is the game perfect ? No, depending on what you are looking for, there may be things you may not be happy with, but on balance it's the best game I have had for some time. That's obviously a personal opinion, it just fits in with what I am looking for, your needs may be different.

So, I am still happy and expect to get happier.[:)]

[gravyface_]

ORIGINAL: Rasputitsa

ORIGINAL: gravyface
So here we are, end of June, and I'm thinking of pulling the trigger: everyone still happy?

Waiting for some problems in the recently issued 1.02 Beta update to be ironed out. The update has some useful features, but players' testing has found items that need attention.

Is the game perfect ? No, depending on what you are looking for, there may be things you may not be happy with, but on balance it's the best game I have had for some time. That's obviously a personal opinion, it just fits in with what I am looking for, your needs may be different.

So, I am still happy and expect to get happier.[:)]

Pulled the trigger, haven't installed/played it yet though. Going to take a stab tonight. Still finding the AI a challenge?

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: gravyface_
Pulled the trigger, haven't installed/played it yet though. Going to take a stab tonight. Still finding the AI a challenge?

Look at the AAR section on the top of the forum, see how games are going, there is a thread on poor AI performance.

Link to AI discussion http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3075278

In reality the Allies DOW Germany in 1939, then do almost nothing strategically until May 1940, they only reacted when Germany invaded Norway and then attacked in the West. What would the Allies have done if Germany hadn't struck first.

Hitler committed some of his best mobile units into vicious street fighting in Stalingrad, then left the flanks in open country (best for mobile units) to be defended by Axis Allied units, with poor mobility and little anti-tank protection. When 6th Armee was surrounded, refused to allow it to break out, all of which makes the AI look like Einstein.

However, there are also pages and pages on forums complaining that human PBEM players don't play historically, with just as many pages saying pointing out that human players would be stupid to follow historical mistakes. So the AI may be able to give you a game that feels more historical, even if it doesn't follow historical events

Next thing is, that if the game is too rigidly historical, then everyone knows what's going to happen next. The historical commanders did not have the advantage of hindsight, so to retain that historical feel of uncertainty, it's nice not to know what the AI might do next, even if it is something crazy.

My first game as Axis against the Allied AI, attacking France in 1940, approaching Paris, when the Soviets DOW and invade Western Poland and Romania. There will be pages of discussion on how this could never have happened, Stalin would never have done that, but now you're in a two front war and Soviets tanks are heading for your only oil wells at Ploesti. Historical, or not, it makes for a great game.

So is the AI a challenge will depend on what you are looking for in the game, but there are always settings to select at 'hard' and the F12 key to adjust PP levels in game.

Don't be put off if you find things you don't like, there are settings and preferences for most things and mods to provide a different look, or performance.[:)]

[doomtrader]

they only reacted when Germany invaded Norway and then attacked in the West. What would the Allies have done if Germany hadn't struck first.

This only happens because they have been preparing to send troops to Finland to fight the Soviets.

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: doomtrader

they only reacted when Germany invaded Norway and then attacked in the West. What would the Allies have done if Germany hadn't struck first.

This only happens because they have been preparing to send troops to Finland to fight the Soviets.

Or more probably to secure the iron ore mines in Sweden, it's debatable how many Allied troops would have got all the way through to the Winter War front and what would have happened if they had.

But the point is the same, some historical decisions were stranger than some of the seemingly odd behaviour coming from the AI.[:)]

[doomtrader]

Or more probably to secure the iron ore mines in Sweden,

This was the task when the Germans actually started the invasion. Did you realized how fast those troops were delivered into Norway since the German invasion begun?

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: doomtrader

Or more probably to secure the iron ore mines in Sweden,

This was the task when the Germans actually started the invasion. Did you realized how fast those troops were delivered into Norway since the German invasion begun?

Yes they were delivered fast, but the ships had been loaded for an un-opposed mission through Norway, into Sweden, and then to open a supply line to Finland, with the permission of the Norwegian and Swedish Governments. When these permissions were not given, delaying the plan, and when the Germans invaded, the Allied operation became an opposed assault against a hostile enemy, for which they were neither organised, nor prepared.

Had things happen as planned, the Allies may have been at war with Germany and the Soviet Union in 1940, how's that for a 'what-if'. By 1943/45 the course of the war was set and little could have happened to change it, but in those early years, different decisions, by the any of the leaders, may have completely changed the course of history. Which is why I like ToF so much, because these things are possible. [:)]

[David Clark]

Just bought the game last week, and I'm loving it so far. I have a strategy question, and a couple of wishlist-type suggestions.

How are people managing their Research? How many times are you buying research for a core unit type in a given year? I want to save my points over several turns to try to get better units, but I don't want to cripple my ability to build my army - how are you finding a balance?

Suggestion: I'd love to see the radii of fighter coverage indicated on the map somehow - by shading, or with a little icon in the corner of each hex covered by friendly air.

Suggestion: I'd really appreciate being able to see which sea zones I have convoys scheduled to use during the upcoming turn. The only way I know which sea zones to cover seems to be to check last turn's convoy report and write down the zone names, which is annoying. Perhaps a little cargo-ship symbol beside the name of any zone that's being used this turn for friendly convoys?

Thanks for reading - I'm sure I'll have more to say once I get further into the game.

[doomtrader]

Suggestion: I'd love to see the radii of fighter coverage indicated on the map somehow - by shading, or with a little icon in the corner of each hex covered by friendly air.

This is currently Work in Progress

Suggestion: I'd really appreciate being able to see which sea zones I have convoys scheduled to use during the upcoming turn. The only way I know which sea zones to cover seems to be to check last turn's convoy report and write down the zone names, which is annoying. Perhaps a little cargo-ship symbol beside the name of any zone that's being used this turn for friendly convoys?

This is a dynamic process, so we are not able to predict where each convoy will follow next turn (due to many reasons, one for example is that you might not have enough ships to send all the convoys), but this rule regards all sides.

[AH4Ever]

So far... I LIKE IT! Vast improvement over ToW and I was able buy for half-off.

[Tomokatu]

OK, I'm still familiarising myself with the game. I have WWII:RtV, WWII:ToW but skipped WWII:SoP so there were a only few new mechanisms to learn. The game is (basically) what I want as far as mechanics and AI go (so far).

I've installed certain mods I want, still have to implement some of the transparency and font colour choices.
One thing that still mystifies me (well, actually two!)
First, I havent found an explanation of THIS icon (See attachment) It must be important, or it wouldn't be there, right? What does it mean?

Secondly, since "British Colonies" have no PPs, how is everybody using them?

Oh yes, about font colour choices. Does the 0,0,0 RGB format accept the whole range of 0-255 in each element that's normally used when defining colours or am I restricted to "web-safe" options? I have a reasonably competent graphics card. Since confirmed