Status?

[Ratzki]

ORIGINAL: junk2drive

I don't work for Matrix but if I had a game company I would make something hardcoded so that you would buy the next game in a series.

Slitherine's BBC BA is so wide open you can do anything with it. They are still selling expansions because some people don't have the talent or desire to make their own stuff and are willing to pay for more content.

We have discussed these kinds of things but nothing is written in stone.

I think that you might be able to have the best of both worlds. Leave the bulk of the vehicle/terrain/soldier mods to the players and continue to add features, like landing craft, better the air support model, etc. I think that players would continue to buy feature upgrades while still giving those that like to make mods and skins and add vehicles the ability to do so. I think that feature mods would alow WW1 and other time periods to come along, and the programming team could more focus on the hard coded core game, leaving the mod stuff to us if they wanted. I really want this game/upgrade to work well as I think that this shows much more promise then does Battlefronts next release, and I will probably buy it as well but the East is where its at for me.

[junk2drive]

One of the problems these days is backwards compatibility and the rapid change in hardware.

The average gamer probably had a 2004-2006 computer when the economy started going downhill and didn't get to replace it around 2008 when planned. Someone will be along quickly to tell me I'm full of it. Anyway the plan always was to keep any future builds compatible with the old so that new features would work in the older games. I'm afraid that this won't be possible with the next generation. Who knows. If the next one takes a year or two to complete, the 2004 graphics won't look so hot and current graphics like TOW and CMBN will require something fairly recent and powerful to run.

[Mad Russian]

ORIGINAL: diablo1

Just to clear things up even more Koios started working on the patch before this team got ahold of it. Matrixgames lost Koios in 09 and then you picked it up and started work on it. So the patch is for a near 3 year old game regardless of who's been working on the patch lately.

To clear things up even more Koios left. We had to start from scratch. Whatever work they did on the patch was of no value to us when we started. Everything you see coming your way is post Koios.

The problem, to me, seems the game is infinitely improvable, leading to an indefinite release date. I'm almost afraid to come on here and request new features that will further push out the release date to implement.

That's absolutely one of the problems. Matrix will decide how far we go before they release it to you. There was a base line criteria and we have met that now I believe and then added the last improvements. There is nothing left to do but make sure they all work as advertised, finish the demo's and release the patch. Not monumental stuff. But some of it can get time consuming.

Your requests at this point should be considered for PC4 and PCO. We are pretty much past the point of taking requests.

If we just say "Go ahead, take your time, do it right, etc," then this game would never be released.

No, we have already taken our time and done it right. There needs to be things left for PC4 which will be NWE if I understand it correctly.

Look at the Kharkov release! Wow, certainly an unpolished gem, but really, how much polishing are you guys going to actually do before it is ready?

PCO is a more polished gem but still not completely there. It's far closer than when we started though.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Jacko]

ORIGINAL: junk2drive

LOL we all have ideas and some of them match.

I lobbied for the Finns a long time ago as a mod. The hardcoded things would still say German but the symbols and icons can be modded to Finn as well as taking the German and Russian AFVs and reskinning them. To look right someone would have to make a soldier model too.

I think most of us would like to go West.

Imagine a Panzer Commander 1946-module. A whole new series of German tanks and vehicles, like the Panther II, the E-series, new Flakpanzer and the Waffenträger-series thrown into battle in a desperate attempt to stop the Russian advance to Berlin... And now I stop dreaming. [:)]

[Richie61]

PC 1946?

Hmmm... Maybe Patton rearms the Germans and together they drive East

[:'(]

[diablo1]

ORIGINAL: Richie61

PC 1946?

Hmmm... Maybe Patton rearms the Germans and together they drive East

[:'(]

Yes and let's just turn this game into Panzer Command:Making History III [:)]

[Richie61]

ORIGINAL: diablo1

ORIGINAL: Richie61

PC 1946?

Hmmm... Maybe Patton rearms the Germans and together they drive East

[:'(]

Yes and let's just turn this game into Panzer Command:Making History III [:)]

Just PLEASE stay away from North Africa [&:] WWII games in North Africa are so boring - IMO. And who would have thought that my first AH game was Tobruk[:D]

[Mad Russian]

With map maker all you need are the area textures to be able to make any area's terrain. For instance, you wouldn't want Pine Trees in the desert. Someone would need to make some palm tree textures and you're good to go. Same thing for jungle.

Then of course the modders can go to work on the vehicles and infantry of whatever war you are wanting to model. Add in the xml files for the weapons effectiveness and you are there.

PC is very much a construction kit with the addition of the map maker.

Good Hunting.

MR

[diablo1]

ORIGINAL: Richie61

ORIGINAL: diablo1

ORIGINAL: Richie61

PC 1946?

Hmmm... Maybe Patton rearms the Germans and together they drive East

[:'(]

Yes and let's just turn this game into Panzer Command:Making History III [:)]

Just PLEASE stay away from North Africa [&:] WWII games in North Africa are so boring - IMO. And who would have thought that my first AH game was Tobruk[:D]

I love North Africa and Tobruk by Avalon Hill was my 2nd Wargame (Stalingrad my first). I like it cause it didn't have so many units to move per turn and certainly nothing boring about it. Of course I really want this engine to turn to the Pacific with Guadacanal as a feature scenario.

[diablo1]

For instance, you wouldn't want Pine Trees in the desert. Someone would need to make some palm tree textures and you're good to go. Same thing for jungle.

So you will do that for us Mad Russian..Yes?! Just a Guadacanal scenario will be fine. [&o]

[collegeprof]

I loved the game tobruk. I thought it did an excellent job of modelling things like directionality of hits, hit versus penetration versus kills, simulated the effects of hull down, and so on. Although all the dice rolling and chart consultations just to find out my Stuarts shells were bouncing off those Pz-111j tanks, were disappointing and time consuming to say the least. Even today, not all computer 3-d games accurately reflect angle of impacts, slope factors, line of sight, vehicle facing, armour thicknesses, and so on. I am glad that PzCommand Karkov and winterstorm take these into account, as does the combat mission series by others. Some games though, like Battlefield academy while quick, dont take into account things like track shots that can immobilize a unit, or rear shots having a greater effectiveness. Still, PC games are much quicker than the 4 to 5 hours i'd spend just on one tobruk scenario with all the dice rolling. Now i can play a battle in less than an hour, and not even have to physically be with my friends, now that theres PBEM or mmopg kind of games. But yeah, i loved tobruk - to me it set the bar high for vehicle battle realism.....

[Richie61]

I loved Tobruk by Avalon Hill[&o] I let a friend use my copy to get her son into board gaming and he destroyed the game[:@]

I don't like the North African battles in CMAK, TOW2 or CMSF. With no cover to hide behind your forces engage in a slug fest that's grinds up your troops quick. I would rather have hills, cities, towns, trees or yes Islands to battle on or in.

[collegeprof]

Yeah, the ability to put a stuart or crusader in a hull down position, either behind a dirt barrier, or a sandbag wall, can mean the difference between life and death for the crews when coming up against a superior armed and armoured panzer. open slug fest like richie 61 posted above is a short coming to be sure. I'd love to see a desert campaign of pz command released someday. I have tried COTA, but i prefer to work on individual tank scale in 3-d rather than the type presented there.

[Mad Russian]

ORIGINAL: diablo1

For instance, you wouldn't want Pine Trees in the desert. Someone would need to make some palm tree textures and you're good to go. Same thing for jungle.

So you will do that for us Mad Russian..Yes?! Just a Guadacanal scenario will be fine. [&o]

[X(] The LAST thing you want is for me to do any modding. I can barely draw stick figures! You need to talk with Ben about those kinds of textures. He's by far and away the best texture guru I've seen.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mobius]

ORIGINAL: diablo1

ORIGINAL: Richie61

ORIGINAL: diablo1




Yes and let's just turn this game into Panzer Command:Making History III [:)]

Just PLEASE stay away from North Africa [&:] WWII games in North Africa are so boring - IMO. And who would have thought that my first AH game was Tobruk[:D]

I love North Africa and Tobruk by Avalon Hill was my 2nd Wargame (Stalingrad my first). I like it cause it didn't have so many units to move per turn and certainly nothing boring about it. Of course I really want this engine to turn to the Pacific with Guadacanal as a feature scenario.

That game was so hyped. I bought one of the first 500 signed copies the cover wasn't even in color and played it maybe 6 times. There were so many die rolls and so many hits that disappeared into the ether of space. There just was not even a location listed for them.

[heinrich55]

Wow. I saw that box and thought I was suddenly in a time warp. I've still got it, with all the pieces intact. I did enjoy it, but I never could get my Mark IIIJ's close enough to destroy those damned Matildas. What were they made of anyway, Cryptonite?

Stalingrad was my first game, of course. I eventually accumulated most of them, enjoying some more than others. Things really started to take off with Panzerblitz and Panzer Leader, but once SL and ASL hit, there was nothing else....until PC games arrived.

Heinrich55

[Mad Russian]

Yup, mine wasn't in color either and it was also one of the signed copies. I still have it. I played it at most 10 times. Too much die rolling and I only had one opponent back then. He didn't like it so we played Panzerblitz instead.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Richie61]

ORIGINAL: heinrich55

I did enjoy it, but I never could get my Mark IIIJ's close enough to destroy those damned Matildas. What were they made of anyway, Cryptonite?

Stalingrad was my first game, of course. I eventually accumulated most of them, enjoying some more than others. Things really started to take off with Panzerblitz and Panzer Leader, but once SL and ASL hit, there was nothing else....until PC games arrived.

Heinrich55

The 88's were good for taking out the Matilda's[:'(]
I agree with the SL and ASL was the place to be till the PC games started. I really enjoyed the board games, but trying to find people willing to play was tough. PC games at least had AI to kick around [:D]

[FNG]

I still have my 1970 edition of PanzerBlitz and 1972 edition of PanzerLeader. Some great memories of real counter-fests

[WilliePete]

Its almost February. Please tell me release is imminent.