Another HOI?

[Pawlock]

Im sold , when you said it was turn based and more depth than Axis an Allies.

When can I order?

[Cheesehead]

I like your philosophy for this game. With CWiF coming out, and Strategic Command 2 on the way as well, you are simply finding your own niche. Those grognards who expect every game to suit them perfectly are expecting too much. Those of us who enjoy grand strategy WWII games exclusively have had to wait a long time for anything decent on the PC. Now it appears we are about to enjoy a renasissance in our hobby (at least in terms of the PC). WaW sounds wonderful! I hope you guys market it hard and get it into retail so that those bleary-eyed gamers who must be getting tired of all those 'shoot'em up games that clog the shelves can discover a thinking man's game.

[Greyshaft]

We're shooting for this to be a real PBEM classic. Time will tell.

PBEM grand strategic? Now you're talking! I'm too old and too married and too busy at work to be able to spend much FTF gaming time but I have truckloads of old wargaming buddies who left uni and are now scattered around the globe and we frequently moan at the lack of good PBEM strategy games which we can play.

Do you take Visa?[:)]

[ASHBERY76]

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings
Yes, and if that really bothers you I've got 100 more you won't like as well. [:)] We said we're keeping this simple. It will be more realistic than A&A by a mile (IMHO) in what is possible, but it will not be near the level of complexity of a hex grid wargame that AH or SPI would have put out.

I don't mind simple game mechanics! i just want semi-realistic game results, like italy betraying germany when or if the allies land on the "boot".[:'(]

[mbatch729]

Can we safely assume there are no "political" aspects to this game?

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: mbatch729

Can we safely assume there are no "political" aspects to this game?

Yes and no. Some countries are not at war even though the alliance they are in has some countries at war. Certain things can trigger their entering the war. Also, neutral counties (and some major powers not yet at war) will trade with the major countries (US gives resources to Japan, Soviet Union to Germany) until triggers stop this from happening (like Japan attacking further into China). We've had to simplify a few items but the basic feel on many of these things comes through in the game. However, we you will not be able to get true neutral countries to join your side (US is not considered neutral, it's just not yet at war, a major distinction in our game). Hope that helps.

[Greyshaft]

How does combat work? Is it like "War at Sea" or "Europe Engulfed" where each unit rolls a number of imaginary dice and each six kills an enemy or are there more subtle aspects to the combat where (say) adding an Anti-tank unit takes away the Panzer bonus but since I don't have sufficient air-cover then my bombers don't interdict his movement so his flanking attack proceeds according to plan which forces me to commit my reserves to cover my retreat etc etc.

I'm OK with area movement but I like to do some thinking and make operational choices during the actual combat process

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: Greyshaft

How does combat work? Is it like "War at Sea" or "Europe Engulfed" where each unit rolls a number of imaginary dice and each six kills an enemy or are there more subtle aspects to the combat where (say) adding an Anti-tank unit takes away the Panzer bonus but since I don't have sufficient air-cover then my bombers don't interdict his movement so his flanking attack proceeds according to plan which forces me to commit my reserves to cover my retreat etc etc.

I'm OK with area movement but I like to do some thinking and make operational choices during the actual combat process

It's dice but it's quite involved, so much so that I can't explain it all here. There are real advantages to have air units involved, artillery and even bombarding fleets as even if they miss they give you bonuses that your follow on ground units can take advantage of to more easily hit the enemy. Combined arms is what it's all about. The sequencing can get quite involved, as does the number of dice being rolled versus the various defense factors (3 items, evasion, durability and armor all factor into defense) and modifiers so to fully understand it all will take quite some time. Luckily, the computer does the work so you can enjoy the game while you learn the intricacies (or just wing it). We do provide a "combat analyzer" that gives a prediction of the number of hits both sides will take if you execute the combat, but there is so much involved that this is just an average and doesn't tell the whole story about how the combat will come out. It helps, but it is much better to understand the system if you want to excel.

[mbatch729]

This is sounding better and better. Can't wait for the web site to come up. [;)]

[U235]

Will there be an option to play past 1945 or will all combat end then and there? To me nothing is more fustrating than when a box with "Game Over" pops up, just as I'm making my final drive to victory. Understandably, I realize it couldn't go much longer, otherwize it wouldn't be a WWII game (i.e. Hundred Years War), but the real thing could have went to 46, if Japan was invaded.

[neuromancer]

I too would prefer Hex movement over area, but I'm not about to scream "I won't buy it if it is area based!"

[:)]

This sounds like an interesting game, and I look forward to its release.

[Von Rom]

ORIGINAL: U-235

Will there be an option to play past 1945 or will all combat end then and there? To me nothing is more fustrating than when a box with "Game Over" pops up, just as I'm making my final drive to victory. Understandably, I realize it couldn't go much longer, otherwize it wouldn't be a WWII game (i.e. Hundred Years War), but the real thing could have went to 46, if Japan was invaded.

Perhaps there could be an option, such that the player has a choice to have the game end on Sept 1/45 and all points are totalled for a winner.

OR, the player could check an option to allow the game to play until Sept/46. This might be acceptable, especially if the player is playing the Axis and is doing reasonably well against the Allies.

[Burkowski]

Yah, me too.... hex- based is more.... well, precise? Comforting, controllable, somehow, like turn-based? But, Neuromancer, I agree, the area-base is not an interest-killer for me.... as was pointed out earlier in the thread, we can't have everything we want, but it sounds to me like things are really looking up for us "BIG-game" fans, no? If WITP becomes real this summer [&o](when I have lots of extra time), and we might have a "lite" alternative to world domination as Joel is describing it as well, I think the next year or two should be really great fun (assuming the budget allows)...


Burkowski

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: U-235

Will there be an option to play past 1945 or will all combat end then and there? To me nothing is more fustrating than when a box with "Game Over" pops up, just as I'm making my final drive to victory. Understandably, I realize it couldn't go much longer, otherwize it wouldn't be a WWII game (i.e. Hundred Years War), but the real thing could have went to 46, if Japan was invaded.

At this point the game ends at the end of 1945, but that may change before we're done. We'll be responding to input from outside testers once we start testing in a month or two.

[Baleeted]

Come on guys, HOI wasn't that bad.

That being said, I'm really looking forward to this game coming out, because I also need a good PBEM game based on WWII. I've mainly been playing Diplomacy. [:)]

[neuromancer]

ORIGINAL: Baleeted
Come on guys, HOI wasn't that bad.

Unfortunately, yes it was.

[Baleeted]

How so?

[tiredoftryingnames]

Bug ridden (released as a beta by the way it performed out of the box), still bug ridden, poor design in many areas, and poor combat routines for the scale of some unit types. It is too easy to game the game and not play a historical feeling game. Read the AARs at their website and you can't help but laugh at the mere fact you can conquer Europe with Denmark.

[Greyshaft]

One of the "advantages" of living in Australia is that by the time games are released here the first patch is normally available for download so we miss the joys of version 1.00 for most games [:D]

[Von Rom]

HoI:

Out of the box, yes the game was unplayable.

With the latest patches it's not a bad game.

With some good mods applied and with the addition of new events, it's actually a pretty decent game.

HoI has an event system, whereby modders can design events to eliminate a lot of the problems.

Heck, the game is actually open enough you can reduce unit movement so it plays more like a turn-based game.

If anyone is going to play HoI - use mods.

Cheers!