Page 3 of 3

RE: Refund

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 6:59 pm
by mikmykWS
Okay just took a look.
ORDERS FOR CMDR SPANISH OPERATIONS

Humint from agents in Rabat indicate that a second NAIL amphibious force has been dispatched to the Canary Islands; it is composed of 3 to 4 troop transports and their escorts.

Several NAIL submarines have been detected while taking up position off the coast of Morocco; satellite recon shows both main airports in Gran Canaria and Tenerife are being used by NAIL air units.

Proceed with Grupo Delta close to Santa Cruz de Tenerife and land the TEAR (TErcio de la ARmada, Spanish marines). Expect attacks from sub, air and surface units.

Use Grupo Alfa to provide air and ASW cover for the amphibious group.

The enemy amphibious group must be destroyed before it reaches the landing area, to accomplish this task you will need the help from air force units based at Rota, Moron and Torrejon. Use these air units to attack also Moroccan airbases and try to reduce their operability.

A couple of submarines are in the archipielag already to gather information about NAIL defenses, they will also help as early detection of raids coming from Los Rodeos and Gando.

Protect our troop transports at all cost; we will need every single man to recover our islands.

The landing area is marked by Ref Points Landing Zone. Scenario duration is 2 days and 6 hours.

The briefing tells you to approach the specific island but no mention of the specific reference points you need to get between although they are all named landing zone which would help users. Definitely not concise but not exactly a huge error either.

I've added a note to update it in the future. Sorry for the trouble this seemed to have caused you.

Mike

RE: Refund

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 8:31 pm
by Shemar
I feel my comments have been taken as way more severe than meant to. This problem afflicts a few scenarios, this was just the one most vivid in my memory. Unfortunately I see a tendency in briefings to avoid being 'technical' (maybe fear of losing immersion?) but it is better to break character and talk about in-game mechanisms in the briefing than have the user try to guess what the specifics are. The alternative breaks realism in a much harsher way.

In the specific scenario there are multiple issues, one with the recon unit (I don't remember if the specifics are given in a popup message but since there is no way to go back to that popup message it doesn't matter even if they are) and one with the fact that even when one makes the easy logical leap of taking the landing craft within the area designated as landing zone, the zone itself is defined with the waypoints in the wrong order, creating the hourgralss/infinity type area where half the area one thinks and sees as clearly within the zone is considered out of the zone by the game engine and that problem is compounded by the fact that it is not enough to get within the zone but you must stay there a specified amount of time (if I remember correctly) which may extend to after the end of the scenario and cause a loss, even though nowhere in the briefing is that indicated.

The way I would do it is, first of all, fix the area so it works properly, then add to the briefing something like "make sure you begin your landing early enough so all the troops can make it to shore" if you don't want to get technical about time, then when the ships are actually in the area have an additional event that says something like "landing has started, you will be notified when it is complete".

But beyond these specifics I don't think that expecting to be able to play a scenario for the first time and win (or lose because of enemy action, not because of some event that didn't fire properly) without looking through forum posts or opening it in the editor is unreasonable. I am actually a lot more tolerant than it may appear and I have played many games with a lot of user/custom content, so things like that don't make me not like or appreciate the game, but I can definitely see how someone with different expectations would react more severely (as in not liking the game overall).

RE: Refund

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 8:38 pm
by erichswafford
Sorry but I'm willing to bet big money that the game may have been deleted off the guy's drive, but I bet he kept his serial # and install files.

I'm very impressed that Matrix would even do a refund, given that the serial number will always work. It's not as if the installer "phones home" to check anything.

To the guy who was annoyed about not knowing how to "win" a scenario, I would say you're missing the point of Command. Just like all my other wargames, I have my own internal definition of what constitutes a victory, irrespective of some arbitrary scoring system. And like any good, serious wargame, Command is not going to spoon-feed you and explain every detail of every conflict it simulates. You get back from this sim exactly as much as you're willing to put in, especially in terms of researching the conflict in question.

This having been said, there are many low-complexity fun scenarios in which you just need to blow $hit up. I like those too :)

RE: Refund

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 9:07 pm
by mikmykWS
ORIGINAL: Shemar

I feel my comments have been taken as way more severe than meant to. This problem afflicts a few scenarios, this was just the one most vivid in my memory. Unfortunately I see a tendency in briefings to avoid being 'technical' (maybe fear of losing immersion?) but it is better to break character and talk about in-game mechanisms in the briefing than have the user try to guess what the specifics are. The alternative breaks realism in a much harsher way.

In the specific scenario there are multiple issues, one with the recon unit (I don't remember if the specifics are given in a popup message but since there is no way to go back to that popup message it doesn't matter even if they are) and one with the fact that even when one makes the easy logical leap of taking the landing craft within the area designated as landing zone, the zone itself is defined with the waypoints in the wrong order, creating the hourgralss/infinity type area where half the area one thinks and sees as clearly within the zone is considered out of the zone by the game engine and that problem is compounded by the fact that it is not enough to get within the zone but you must stay there a specified amount of time (if I remember correctly) which may extend to after the end of the scenario and cause a loss, even though nowhere in the briefing is that indicated.

The way I would do it is, first of all, fix the area so it works properly, then add to the briefing something like "make sure you begin your landing early enough so all the troops can make it to shore" if you don't want to get technical about time, then when the ships are actually in the area have an additional event that says something like "landing has started, you will be notified when it is complete".

But beyond these specifics I don't think that expecting to be able to play a scenario for the first time and win (or lose because of enemy action, not because of some event that didn't fire properly) without looking through forum posts or opening it in the editor is unreasonable. I am actually a lot more tolerant than it may appear and I have played many games with a lot of user/custom content, so things like that don't make me not like or appreciate the game, but I can definitely see how someone with different expectations would react more severely (as in not liking the game overall).

Ok added more items to be updated.

Thanks!

Mike

RE: Refund

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 9:14 pm
by mikmykWS
Guys if its okay I'm locking this string. This really isn't about a refund [:)]

If you need a new string, by all means[:)]