Matrix Games Forums

Hello all

Need help to decide which game to purchase Commander EaW vs. CG WAW AWD. Both look like very good games. I've read the forums some and still can't decide. Wish there was a demo, but no.

Any input would be helpful.

Well, you will get many replies, believe me. Maybe even a fight or two about what some say. [;)]

I have all three games. I don't play WAW anymore but instead I play AWD. EAW is more simple than AWD with less options to choose from. All games you mentioned are excellent. However, if I had to pick just one I would pick AWD. Two months ago I would NOT have said this as I was having trouble understaning this game. Sticking with it and reading the manual some, I have come to really respect it a lot and found it's not hard at all. That is it's not hard to understand, but it IS hard to conquer.

EAW is a simplified game if you want to start right away and play. It is NOT simplified in terms of beating. Oh no, it will give you good time trying to beat the AI.

If you like lots of options and menus to help make decisions, AWD. If you want a game to get right into without much trouble, EAW. Keep in mind that if you choose AWD then you will have to do some reading and fooling around to get the hang of it. It really depends on what kind of a gamer you are. [&:]

Thanks LarryP, your overview is a big help.

The type of player i am is for "Detail", and would like AWD but the reality is, I never get to play those games do to the time needed for learning then playing.

I'm now leaning to go with EAW.

before purchase EAW, can someone comment to the following:

1. replayability (per each scenario, not modding)
2. flexible outcomes (not always locked to historical)
3. AI (I'm totally solo player) can address all aspects of the game
4. game mechanics (combat, etc) follow common sense/realistic results
5. Dev support
6. graphics and UI
7. chess like challange
8. reports, etc.

I'm sure alot of these can be answered throughout other threads, so i apologise in advance. Thanks all.

one thing can be sure is the developer support is very good

replaybility is there with different difficulty settings and the oil on/off rules

Al is not that great at the moment but at highest setting it do give some sort of challenge

EAW is a easy game to get into , you dont have to spend reading pages after pages to complete the first turn yet it offer enough depth to keep playing and with the strong support from the dev , things will get better in future

Go ahead and buy this game , it is a game that will make you miss lunch and probably dinner !!!

AS a matter of interest I'm looking for "grogier" games of this era....what are CG WAW AWD??

Thanks

ORIGINAL: SMK-at-work

AS a matter of interest I'm looking for "grogier" games of this era....what are CG WAW AWD??

Thanks

He actually misspelled CG as it should be GG (Gary Grigsby's) WAW (World At War) AWD (A World Divided). I get mixed up quite often with all the abbreviations on the forums. [;)]

Thanks

I tried Grigsby WAW and as usual found it below anything comtemporary.  Spent about 3 days playing it and never lost a game.  Think I could beat that game when I was 3.  Axis & Allies is better and that game is hokey.
 
 

ORIGINAL: targul

I tried Grigsby WAW and as usual found it below anything comtemporary. Spent about 3 days playing it and never lost a game. Think I could beat that game when I was 3. Axis & Allies is better and that game is hokey.

You're a heck of a lot smarter than me then. [&o] Did you play as the Germans? [&:]

Yes I tried the Axis.

If you have not bought the game allready .. I suggest you do ...
IDG

ORIGINAL: targul

I tried Grigsby WAW and as usual found it below anything comtemporary.  Spent about 3 days playing it and never lost a game.  Think I could beat that game when I was 3.  Axis & Allies is better and that game is hokey.

Targul have you tried AWD, I concede that playing against the AI once you know how the game works is useless, you will defeat it no matter what.
But as much as you have complained about the lack of pbem playability of CEaW it surprises me that you don't point out that GG AWD is the perfect game for pbem.

Well Tombo if you haven't yet bought any I would recomend CEaW if you want to go for a start right away game, but if you want a game that will make you think and discover more strategy possibilities I would buy AWD.

Anyway if you have the money get both, personally I liked AWD more.

Not sure what AWD is so I probably have not played it.  That man (GG) is IMO the worst of all the programmers so I really try not to buy his stuff but his titles are always so interesting I buy it.  Try it.  Toss it.
 
I must admit though his WITP is a great adaptation that I have been unable to spend adequate time on to really test it.

I'll forgive GG any other mistakes if he'll jsut redo USAAF [&o][&o][&o]

His Guadalcanal, bomb Alley and Nth Atlantic 86 were among hte first comp games I played way back when - early 80's?? In 40x40 block mode on the Apple II - they were fantastic at the time

Never owned an apple so didnt play Apple games.  I believe Guadalcanal was also PC and that I did try it.  If it the one I remember it played really well until it would simply explode to desktop.  He had another that did the same thing.  I remember complianing to the company I think that was Electronic Arts at the time for a patch so I could play the game but I am still waiting those patchs which they did promised.  In those days they would put the patch on disk and send it to you.
 
There were actually a total of four of his titles that had this same problem.  They played well and then I believe a memory leak would suddenly explode the games.  After I spent a few hundred dollars on his stuff and they didnt work I should have learned but no I kept trying.  Eventually that problem disappeared as his game quality got worse.

AWD is GG A World Divided - sequel to the earlier GG World at War , suppose to have better gameplay and tougher Al

I have that but yet to play it , currently busy with AGEOD Blue and Gray , one of the finest game for ACW if you can get past the game interface

CHeers

Okay I did not know he had an expansion since he permanently removed from my buy list  GG will need to find a different sucker then me.
 
I bought that Blue & Gray spent 3 days and still couldnt figure out how to move.  Finally gave it up as too complicated for me.

ORIGINAL: targul

Never owned an apple so didnt play Apple games.  I believe Guadalcanal was also PC and that I did try it.  If it the one I remember it played really well until it would simply explode to desktop.  He had another that did the same thing.  I remember complianing to the company I think that was Electronic Arts at the time for a patch so I could play the game but I am still waiting those patchs which they did promised.  In those days they would put the patch on disk and send it to you.

There were actually a total of four of his titles that had this same problem.  They played well and then I believe a memory leak would suddenly explode the games.  After I spent a few hundred dollars on his stuff and they didnt work I should have learned but no I kept trying.  Eventually that problem disappeared as his game quality got worse.

Here are Gary Grigsby's games:

Guadalcanal Campaign (1982)
Bomb Alley (1982)
North Atlantic '86 (1983)
Carrier Force (1983)
Objective: Kursk (1984)
War in Russia (1984)
Reforger '88 (1984)
Kampfgruppe (1985)
Mech Brigade (1985)
USAAF (1985)
Battlegroup (1986)
Warship (1986)
War in the South Pacific (1986)
Battlecruiser (1987)
Panzer Strike! (1987)
Typhoon of Steel (1988)
Overrun! (1989)
Second Front (1990)
Western Front (1991)
Carrier Strike (1992)
Gary Grigsby's Pacific War (1992)
Gary Grigsby's War in Russia (1993)
Steel Panthers (1995)
Steel Panthers II (1996)
Steel Panthers III (1997)
Battle of Britain (1999)
12 O'clock High (1999)
Uncommon Valor: Campaign for the South Pacific (2002)
War in the Pacific: The Struggle Against Japan 1941-1945 (2004)
Gary Grigsby's World at War (2005)
Gary Grigsby's World at War A World Divided (2006)



Targul are you complaining about a computer game from 1982?
Are the four other games you claim crash to desktop also from the eighties?
I have played War in Russia (1993) maybe it had flaws but I didn't noticed the sproduction system and replacement for cassualties was complicated and I didn't make the effort to understand them; War in the Pacific (1992) this one I just couldn't understand it was either to complicated for me or the manual was not clear enough; War in the Pacific (2004) I've seen it and semm pretty complicated so I just haven't invest time in it; World at War (WAW) and A World Divided (AWD) are great games you may spend sometime trying to understand how they work but at the end they're not so complicated, AWD greatly improves the first one so much that the designers decided to make it a new game.

The point is, if you think Gary Grigsby is the worst of all programmers because of the games he did in the 80s I don't think it's fare, does his new games crash to desktop? not the ones I've played none of them. Even more all the ones I've played are highly adictive and as to the AI we have the same old problem no programmer has yet done a perfect one or to the taste of everybody.

His company was according to wikipedia SSI and now is 2by3 games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Grigsby
It really surprised me such a statement, imo he's one of the best game designers and programmers, nonetheless I might be influenced since I'm beta tested AWD and I'm actually testing his new to be game on the American Civil War, that will run with the same engine as WAW, hopefully I will also beta test his next project based on WWII East Front.

Well last to say is that I respect your opinion but if you let me say it, give Gary Grigsby's games a second chance, I would recomend you A World Divided for e-mail playing, that if you like the UI of the game, you can make yourself a good idea of how the game is by reading the AARs from the two tournaments running right now:

tt.asp?forumid=382

Hope you change your mind [;)]

Regards.

GG has a American Civil War game coming ?  ! Yahoo...I did not  know about this ...that is a great news ...

So it is time for me to learn the GG AWD system  , just that  I am all over Blue and Gray now

ORIGINAL: targul

Okay I did not know he had an expansion since he permanently removed from my buy list  GG will need to find a different sucker then me.

I bought that Blue & Gray spent 3 days and still couldnt figure out how to move.  Finally gave it up as too complicated for me.

What about dragging and dropping the unit figures that are on the map ? [8D]
Irk, and some say you were smart ? just kidding [:D]

Back to EAW vs WaW-AWD, I only have the latter but found it an elegant design, mostly bug-free, easy to play but having many options. For example there are many political/diplo effects, the supply system is good, and the naval war is correctly modelled, things that don't seem to shine in EAW.
Didn't play much vs the AI but had a sound beating when I tried pbem (I was USSR and my western "ally" played even worse than me ! [X(] )

Plus I did play maybe 90% of all GG games starting in 84 up to now and really don't remember they were any worse than others bug-wise....