First impressions

[SteveMcClaire]

ORIGINAL: redmarkus4
The one CC mystery I never resolved is, who is 'Moorhouse'? LOL

You might even wonder why you keep hearing cries of "MICK!" when a US soldiers gets hit.

[Redmarkus5]

Irish Medic?

[xe5]

ORIGINAL: Steve McClaire
You might even wonder why you keep hearing cries of "MICK!" when a US soldiers gets hit.

Makes a great ringtone ;}

[Pvt_Grunt]

Sounds like just some hooligan...

[squadleader_id]

Love the new explosion effects! Wow! Great work!
I don't really see the 32 bit graphics to be much of an upgrade...maps in 16 bit were fine and detailed enough in previous versions.
Trees look great...but IMO too large and distracts from gameplay (sure they can be turned off...but...).

BTW, with the 32 bit graphics upgrade...why are the menu screens (BG, Soldier, Stratmap etc) still not stretched full screen and locked at 800x600 res???  I hate having to squint hard to enjoy rank details, unit graphics, weapon art etc!!

Please devs bring back weapon name details in the soldier screens!!!

The sounds are too basic...weapons sounds are fine (stock stuff from previous versions)...background battle noise are almost non existent.  Good thing we can mod the soundfiles with the old tools.

The fog...arrrghhh...get rid of it! I kept getting urges to wipe my screen clean when this sophisticated brand new effect blankets the battlefield  [:D]

I like the BG setup with more realistic OOB&TOE...but might cause probs with fun gameplay though.

Minor nitpicky things in the graphics...some new rank graphics but Panzer crews are still depicted wearing infantry collar tabs [;)]  Haven't checked what the devs assigned for Assault Gun crew rank graphics.

Well...at least PitF resparked my interest in CC after long months of CC burnout and denial  [:)]

[Tejszd]

Welcome back squadleader_id!

[squadleader_id]

ORIGINAL: Tejszd

Welcome back squadleader_id!

Thanks, Tejszd!
I hope the PitF bugs won't force me back into CC semiretirement [;)]

[squadleader_id]

I don't like the new interface for the Battle Screens (gamegadg)...needs unneccessary getting used to and I tend to automatically scan the now missing info bar at the bottom of the screen...now we have to scan left or right for the squad icons.

Some questions about the interface screens changes:
- BG Screen, once again...please bring back weapons names/info...weapon icons only with no pop up info? Why???
- Why are BGUnit pics (team/squad info) now missing from the Soldiers screen? It's harder to keep tracks of individual teams...the soldiers and stat are there...but no info on what type of unit/squad/team they are. Sure you can tell the units apart by memorizing the tiny BGunit/team icons at the bottom of the screen...but why delete the team info at the top of the screen? This simple feature worked well all these years in previous CC version.

Oh...did I say I love the explosion effects [:D]

[Southernland]

ORIGINAL: squadleader_id

I don't like the new interface for the Battle Screens (gamegadg)...needs unneccessary getting used to and I tend to automatically scan the now missing info bar at the bottom of the screen...now we have to scan left or right for the squad icons.

takes a couple of days to get used to it.

[Veldor]

From the perspective of someone who played all the original CC games, but none of the Matrix remakes thus far, I'm really loving the new version. For me the graphics are a huge improvement and very stunning. All of the other improvements seem logical and I do like the new UI layoutl I have only a single complaint in that I also do not like the fog for the scenarios that have it.

I actually thought something was wrong with the game when I first loaded it up and the colors were all washed out... Its just too dramatic and all encompassing. Maybe this is where a 3D engine would help create more of a rolling fog effect rather than a sort of photoshopped layered effect. Perhaps just an increase in transparancy (even if just a customizable option) would assist? I don't really see that it adds much in the way of realism.. Its still just as easy to see/not see the enemy and your own forces visually. It only adds an annoyance factor and belittles the gorgeous graphics this version otherwise shines for (I do run it at max supported resolution so perhaps thats also helping it look REALLY REALLY improved to me over previous versions)..

[Redmarkus5]

ORIGINAL: Veldor

From the perspective of someone who played all the original CC games, but none of the Matrix remakes thus far, I'm really loving the new version. For me the graphics are a huge improvement and very stunning. All of the other improvements seem logical and I do like the new UI layoutl I have only a single complaint in that I also do not like the fog for the scenarios that have it.

I actually thought something was wrong with the game when I first loaded it up and the colors were all washed out... Its just too dramatic and all encompassing. Maybe this is where a 3D engine would help create more of a rolling fog effect rather than a sort of photoshopped layered effect. Perhaps just an increase in transparancy (even if just a customizable option) would assist? I don't really see that it adds much in the way of realism.. Its still just as easy to see/not see the enemy and your own forces visually. It only adds an annoyance factor and belittles the gorgeous graphics this version otherwise shines for (I do run it at max supported resolution so perhaps thats also helping it look REALLY REALLY improved to me over previous versions)..

+1 Please remove the fog or add an option to do so...

[Trost]

I finally bought the game and to put it simple: this is the kind of real time strategy I was looking for (no base building, very limited resources, the feeling of desperation when losing men, 1 shot 1 kill for infantry)
Ive noticed many people seem to dislike the fog. I dont have any problem with it. I think weather effects are just a + to inmersion, altough an option to turn it on/off could be best.
There are many cosmetic features that would have been nice to add, (maybe in a future 3d version thats been discussed in another post) such as tanks shaking when firing and driving through different terrain, trees getting blown if you order a barrage on them, storms and rain (night battles on a stormy night would be quite amazing), dust clouds when firing at buildings that block the sight, and the roofs collapsing when under heavy fire.
The way the tanks move and the passivness of the AI when attacking are two of the things that didnt amused me that much. Also the random error messages in the middle of a campaign.
Other than that im reasonably happy with this my first CC game.

[slpatgun]

Well I been playing CC since CC2, and my impression of PitF is good. Call me crazy[:D] but I like the "Fog" effect. I think it would work well in "CC WaR" as I have read many accounts of how Fog effected many firefights during the "Battle of the Bulge". Also, as of right now, I have not run into any of the "error" messages during campaign play[:)]. Good "AI" in attack and defend. I am enjoying this game.[;)]

slpatgun

[Pvt_Grunt]

ORIGINAL: slpatgun

Call me crazy[:D] but I like the "Fog" effect.
slpatgun

Ok - You're crazy [:'(]

[slpatgun]

LOL.....[;)] Thanks, and I STILL am enjoying PitF......[:)]

slpatgun

[Dora09]

I agree. Despite the negativity concerning the AI, I think this is the best CC AI yet. In older versions, it always seemed that the enemy AI was week on the attack and often just sat there as if it didn't know what to do. In PitF it seems so far that the enemy AI is reasonably good and aggressive on attack. Still not the same as playing a real person but it is unreasonable to think any AI could truly mimic a human opponent. So far, I have enjoyed PitF very much.

[Redmarkus5]

Playing as Axis in my first campaign. I have found the strategic AI possibly even too aggressive, but it certainly wrecked my plans. The battle AI is still hard to judge but in a couple of battles it has given me a really tough fight. Where the AI has a very small area to deploy at the start of the battle, it is best to deploy your own troops far away to avoid an unfair massacre. Unless you like that kind of thing...

[xe5]

IMO a "fair fight" vs the AI involves never re-deploying your troops since the AI always uses the tactically deficient default deployment.

[Redmarkus5]

ORIGINAL: xe5

IMO a "fair fight" vs the AI involves never re-deploying your troops since the AI always uses the tactically deficient default deployment.

OK, well that needs fixing as my default deployment sometimes makes no sense, with guns in illogical locations, etc. I don't want a huge advantage, but I do want a fight that has some realism.

[blazej]

Hi everyone!

Here are a few first impressions that haven't been mentioned yet AFAICS.

- Medium-size maps, especially the ones displayed when clicking locations on the strategic map, are buggy. Tree shadows appear in wrong places.
- The offensive AI is as bad as ever. As soon as I started playing, I remembered why I found a human opponent the last time around - the AI is incapable of mounting an efficient attack, even with far superior firepower I will have to pick an operation where I will be attacking.
- On the strategic level, the AI also does weird things. I selected one of the operations (as Germany), and the first thing the Allied AI did was to move away from the Hill 314 map... This seemed so bizarre to me that I immediately went back and selected a different operation

As a general comment, while I absolutely love the strategic map aspect of CC games (it's a feature that makes the game way more interesting IMHO), I often find myself having no idea what strategic moves to make. I think it would be very useful to have the game help the player a little in the regard, for instance by providing "intelligence" about adversary troop movements or planned reinforcements. The existing short scenario / campaign descriptions don't really do a good job in that regard.

But other than that, kudos to the team!!!

Michal

PS. I am still hoping for an Eastern Front CC game )))) (or Western front but a different theatre, e.g. Greece or Italy or Poland 1939)