First Impressions

[TheWombat_matrixforum]

The ickiness of being sick today balanced by the neatness of this game releasing--karmic balance.

I went through the tutorial, and apart from a few typos in the text, and the usual nothing goes exactly according to plan variances, it worked fine. The game is in general, and after admittedly only a brief experience, pretty much what was advertised, and really "feels" right.

I have a couple of wishes, I guess. The mouse wheel scrolls some, but not all, scrollable windows; it would be nice if it worked consistently. It would also be mega-cool if the mouse wheel scrolled the map zoom levels. Also, while moving the mouse to the edges of the map to scroll the map works fine, allowing the arrow keys to do the same would be helpful as well.

I still need to read the full manual and get better at properly selecting units and giving them orders. In the tutorial, I found that I _thought_ I had ordered all the subunits of a formation to go someplace, but only half of them actually got orders. Turned out ok, as the laggards avoided death at the hands of a Hind, but I'm still not exactly sure what I did wrong. And I was never able to get the arty to fire at multiple targets assigned as the tutorial suggested, with multiple hexes clicked on in succession. But I'm guessing I misread something or the like.

Once I get the feel for all the little display areas and their different information flows I suspect it will all come together. But it's like the original Flashpoint Germany but better in every respect, so thumbs up so far.

And for those worried about the graphics, IMO they are fine, and work well, in a very boardgame sort of way. They ain't Wargame: AirLand Battle level, but they are instantly familiar and generally facilitate gameplay I think.

[cbelva]

If you hold down the left mouse button, you can move the map around with the cursor.
 
The map graphics work very well in the game. Yes, they are not as pretty as the original, but they are a lot more functional. And easier to map new maps with which was impossible with FPG.

[CapnDarwin]

The arrow keys should move the map. If not, let us know and we will see if it broke.

As for typos, that would be me. If you point them out I will fix them and update the PDF.

Thanks.

[cbelva]

I just checked and the arrow keys work during turn resolution if the mouse pointer is on the map. They do not work during the orders phase. I know in testing that Rob had problems with arrow keys and the mouse wheels scrolling all the windows.
 
I doubled check arty to make sure they are firing their assigned orders. I found no problems with them. Seems to be working. There was a problem several months ago with that happening. Just checking to make sure it did not slip back in. However, I saw no problems with it at this time.

[TheWombat_matrixforum]

You guys are certainly on the ball! The typos are not a big deal--stuff like "ordinance" for "ordnance," and the random unnecessary word (usually an article), so no biggie. I haven't been noting them down, but I might if I get bored!

Thanks for the tips on the other stuff. There's a lot of info in the game and it's a tough challenge to display it all well, so you have my respect!

[CapnDarwin]

I will note the typos and update the PDF documents and we can post updates down the road. I'm an engineer by trade, so if more than 50% of the words are spelled right I consider it a miracle.

[TheWombat_matrixforum]

ORIGINAL: Capn Darwin

I will note the typos and update the PDF documents and we can post updates down the road. I'm an engineer by trade, so if more than 50% of the words are spelled right I consider it a miracle.

When I was in college (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), the smart kids from my high school went to Georgia Tech; the rest, like me, went to Georgia. The engineers, though, had a bumper sticker that said "Four years ago I couldn't spell "engineer." Now, I are one!"

BTW, played "A Time to Dance" or whatever the scenario is called, as the Black Horse. Very intense stuff. Makes me very, very happy none of this ever actually happened!

[CapnDarwin]

A Time to Dance is one of my favorite scenarios. Tense, action packed, really shows off the command cycle system. You start off with long delays as your forces wake up and by the end you can be well inside the Soviets loop.

[DBeves]

Well - despite the usual problems with download speed - my initial impressions are. Very nice. Lots od detail and the interface is very nicely done. Not sure how the game plays so far - but its immediately apparent a lot of thoughtful work has gone into this.

[MikeAP]

Mouse wheel functionality for map zoom would be nice.

I've noticed that many of the sounds are off-sync with their actions or simply don't play. For example, mortar firing FX. You will see the splash of the mortar rounds and maybe a little later you will hear them fire. It's kind of weird.

[CapnDarwin]

Mouse wheel and zoom was a request on the list to be looked at more. Unfortunately it's not a simple fix based on the graphics engine and the mouse interface. We'll keep you posted.

I'll make a bug report for that. We thought we had that issue nailed down but I guess it is still off for indirect fire. Thanks for the info!

[Panta_slith]

I have just downloaded FPC a few hours ago and also played my first scenarios. The game retains enough elements from FPG to make the learning curve quite flat, at least for me, but all the issues that were wrong with that version seem to have been corrected. The interface goes very well, the map is infinitely superior and the AI looks fine, at least so far. A minor issue is the floating or flying popup, in my second scenario it seemed not to work, but I will make another try later on to be sure. [:)]

[cbelva]

You can change the "map mouse hover delay factor" in the User preferences. It defaults at 1000 which I find too slow. I have mine set to 500 which is perfect for what I want. If you adjust the delay down it may solve the problem. I don't think the problem is it not working but it is just a little too slow for you. I am a little impatient that is why I have it at 500.

[Monkie]

Just finished my second play through the tutorial mission and had two very differen't attacks from the AI. Second tried heavy armor from the north approach followed by Mechanized from the south approach both of which were followed by another heavy armor attack from the north which caught me off balance. Luckily I had my British Mech infantry dug into the city leaving many T-80B's burning on the outskirts of town.

Enjoying the game very much, very easy to get into play and not feel overwhelmed or lost during the action phases.

[Panta_slith]

Brilliant, now it works fine, there is a lot of things to be tuned for a smoother performance. BTW, I installed FPC on my netbook to see if it works and the only inconvenience I found was that the screen height is too low and you cannot click on some menus' buttons, but I will make a test with a bigger monitor as secondary, I guess that with small scenarios, at least, it will work reasonably well.

[BletchleyGeek]

Just finished playing the Tutorial as the Soviets over lunch (after going through it with the British). I really like the Command & Control aspect that gets FP beyond being a mere exercise in causing attrition, and the way variable length simulatenous turns really works well at simulating real-time. Probably this is the most realistic and playable hex-based wargame I have ever come across.

Just two question and a little request.

The request would be to get some form of explicit notification when units orders execution gets aborted or delayed beyond the ETA (maybe that appeared on the log, but if it did, I missed that). I had one Motorized Rifle Coy sitting down for almost two hours after the deadline to start its assault expired and until the scenario finished I didn't understand that the Assault wasn't getting started because there were enemy units between the forming up position and the objective.

The questions are about orders delay and the length of the command cycle.

In the manual it reads that

These are base delays and will vary based on training level of the forces,
readiness of the forces and command and control losses.

What are "command and control losses"? Does it refer to losses in HQ subunits?

Regarding the Command Cycle length, I am at a loss at understanding how to affect it. During my playthrough as the British, I always kept my cycle length under 20 minutes (and by the end of the scenario, it was of about 10 minutes). As the Soviets, I started with a quite lengthy 25 minutes cycle, which improved as the game continued. I always kept my units within command radius, and tried to keep my HQ's out of harms way (and moving them from time to time, just in case).

Since I've been doing basically the same as either side, I wonder if the length of the cycle is affected by 1) how many orders are being currently planned and/or executed or 2) the number of units in the force. For obvious reasons, both 1) and 2) tended to go down as the scenario progressed

Great game, thank you very much [;)]

[LittleDogmaOne]

I decided to give it a spin. Tutorial Scenario

As 1st Armour commander, I decided to let element of 12th Guard Tank Division to rolling into the objectives unmolested, (Town of Nordheim ver der Rhon, and the bridges), and then surround them with vengeance. 1st Armour made 12th GTD to pay heavily for real estates around the objective(s, but unable to regain the objective(s) back under NATO's control. In end of the day, 1st Armour reported that they only lost three tracked vehicle, two tank and one Recce. Well done!

Player 1 (me) Enemy loss: 1973 vs Player 2 (12th GTD) enemy loss: 256. Outstanding! At least, 1st Armour halt 12th GTD movement toward west, and making them to think twice before mess around with 1st Armour : )

Well Done, FPRS dev team! I find it very addictive to play and want to play more scenarios : )

[Talon_XBMCX]

I like it! Great game guys. Well worth the wait and can't wait to get into the editor to start playing around!

The over all feel reminds me of CO:BFTB meets Combat Mission with a splash of Armored Task Force. I never played the original FPG so I can't compare. The WEGO system really adds to the challenge/excitement/frustration when things don't quite go as planned. That damn helo in the tutorial got me more times than I care to remember ... and why did I continue to leave my AA so far in the rear [:@] Just when I thought I had everything under control ... I lost it. I know ... the tutorial manual warned me ... but did I listen? [:-]


I like the interface. It's clean, took a little getting used to when assigning orders, but overall doesn't get in the way of the game play. I could get to everything that I needed in a click or two. One thing I'd change is having the mouse scroll zoom the map. The more I play the less of an issue it becomes. That may change with larger scenarios.

Everything in the tutorial worked as designed with the exception of my poor battle plan and getting a few surprises from the AI. Looking forward to many hours of fun with this title and to what the next module(s) hold. When are they coming out? [;)][:D]

[cbelva]

Thanks for the kind words. We feel good about the game, but want to improve on it going forward. We have definite plans for where we would like to see this engine go. I will try to answer some of your questions inside your post.

ORIGINAL: Bletchley_Geek

Just finished playing the Tutorial as the Soviets over lunch (after going through it with the British). I really like the Command & Control aspect that gets FP beyond being a mere exercise in causing attrition, and the way variable length simulatenous turns really works well at simulating real-time. Probably this is the most realistic and playable hex-based wargame I have ever come across.

Just two question and a little request.

The request would be to get some form of explicit notification when units orders execution gets aborted or delayed beyond the ETA (maybe that appeared on the log, but if it did, I missed that). I had one Motorized Rifle Coy sitting down for almost two hours after the deadline to start its assault expired and until the scenario finished I didn't understand that the Assault wasn't getting started because there were enemy units between the forming up position and the objective.
I don't believe that there is a direct notification if a unit's orders get aborted or delayed beyond what is normal. Sounds like a good idea and something we can look at. I don't think units between the assaulting force and its objective would cause a delay for an assault order. Assault orders have the longest delay since there is usually extra planning and preparation on the part of the unit. I would suspect its moral or readiness was low or it was too far from its HQ to be the problem causing the delay. We will keep an eye on this to make sure that the delays are reasonable. Don't be hesitant to point out when you think their not.
The questions are about orders delay and the length of the command cycle.

In the manual it reads that

These are base delays and will vary based on training level of the forces,
readiness of the forces and command and control losses.

What are "command and control losses"? Does it refer to losses in HQ subunits?
I will let Capn D correct me since he wrote the manual, but command and control losses to may thinking would normally refer to HQ units themselves. But yes, loses of subunits both in HQs and in line units can affect the length of your command cycle.
Regarding the Command Cycle length, I am at a loss at understanding how to affect it. During my playthrough as the British, I always kept my cycle length under 20 minutes (and by the end of the scenario, it was of about 10 minutes). As the Soviets, I started with a quite lengthy 25 minutes cycle, which improved as the game continued. I always kept my units within command radius, and tried to keep my HQ's out of harms way (and moving them from time to time, just in case).
I think it is easier to control your command cycle in smaller scenarios. There are many variable that can affect your command cycle: The level of EW jamming; force readiness--as units become scattered, disorganized, as their readiness and morale falls can all affect it; the structure of your command and control units (i.e. HQs) and their locations and status can impact it. These are just some of the factors in the equation. As scenarios get larger, it gets harder to control these variables. Oh, enemy arty is always hunting for your HQs, so even tho moving them can impact your command cycles, sometimes you have not choice in order to protect them.
Since I've been doing basically the same as either side, I wonder if the length of the cycle is affected by 1) how many orders are being currently planned and/or executed or 2) the number of units in the force. For obvious reasons, both 1) and 2) tended to go down as the scenario progressed
Yep, these factors impact the command cycle too.
Great game, thank you very much [;)]

Again, thanks for your comments and please continue to let us know what you think good and bad.

[BletchleyGeek]

ORIGINAL: cbelva
I don't believe that there is a direct notification if a unit's orders get aborted or delayed beyond what is normal. Sounds like a good idea and something we can look at. I don't think units between the assaulting force and its objective would cause a delay for an assault order. Assault orders have the longest delay since there is usually extra planning and preparation on the part of the unit. I would suspect its moral or readiness was low or it was too far from its HQ to be the problem causing the delay. We will keep an eye on this to make sure that the delays are reasonable. Don't be hesitant to point out when you think their not.

No, I don't think anything unreasonable was happening. Maybe the ETA for starting the assault was being pushed back for some reason (by the way, the British mechanized AT platoon did a "shoot & scoot" run on that company, rushing out of Nordheim to get adjacent, destroying a few APC's and then retreating, that was quite one of those "aaargh" moments that make a wargame memorable), and the original estimate wasn't getting updated on the unit data panel.

Will keep coming with more comments - this title certainly deserves attention! [:)]