initial thoughts
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2016 1:45 pm
Hello,
I just wanted to give some feedback after having defeated France as the Axis. I am playing on 100% difficulty and .5 opponent experience bonus. My apologies if any issues are already being worked on.
1) Bugs- The MPP number in the research screen seems to get jumbled at times when switching between Italy/Germany. In the options page for scripts the text goes outside of the boxes. I have gotten a runtime error on a few occasions that crash the game. I will attempt to get a screenshot the next time it occurs.
2) Difficulty- I would assess the difficulty as appropriate at this stage. While Poland fell in about three weeks it took until 22 November 1940 to defeat France. Primarily this was due to the fact I thought I could walk my armies/tanks across Europe but over half did not quite arrive by May 1940.
3) Balance between Axis/Allies- It is still early to comment on the balance but it seems appropriate as of now.
4) UI Clarity- My primary issue with the UI is the menus disappearing when moving the screen. I think there should at least be an option to keep the menus up at all times. Another suggestion would be for a tooltip/description to pop up when hovering over the research categories. Or even put the description in the table somewhere. It is distracting to have to refer to the manual constantly. The same could be said for the various options on the option screen. Lastly, I've always felt there should be the option to load a game from in the game and not at the main menu.
5) AI behavior- A positive note was that the French put their strongest unit, a tank group, in Paris to defend. I have never seen them do that in previous versions of SC. However, I find it very unrealistic that a fighter group from England can intercept a flight of Stuka bombers flying from northern France and attacking targets near Paris. Perhaps a distance analysis could be done to determine if an intercept could actually take place as those bombers would likely already be back at their base by the time the fighters from England showed up.
Launch- The game does take 10 seconds to initiate but once it does it is a quick and smooth process. I think the pictures and graphics are clear and give a sense of the historical period. The music is also appropriate for setting the mood. It is not too heavy or clashing, just subdued which I think is nice.
5 minutes in- The game was easy to figure out after a few minutes although that is likely due to playing a lot of SC in the past. The map looks excellent with the terrain being particularly spot on. However I am still not sure where the undue button is. My last impression was that the combat loss ratios match well with what is predicted.
30 minutes in- After saving the game several times I realized it would be nice to have a time on it for when I saved. I wasn't sure what ships were in production so perhaps a tooltip showing what type of unit it is in production would be helpful.The ability to move planes even after they have attacked is a great addition. Also the ability to move ships to a location then move them again is very helpful especially for going in and out of ports.
1 hour in- It was frustrating trying to conquer France with un-upgraded infantry/tanks. This was in part due to the long time it took to move from Poland to France. But it was also because there is still no ability to upgrade a unit that is next to an enemy. I know it has been part of SC for a long time but I wish there was a way to upgrade/reinforce a unit simultaneously, when next to an enemy unit, or after moving. Also, it would be nice to have the forced march button appear as opposed to clicking twice since it took awhile to figure this out. Lastly, I continued to get a message saying I needed two units within 10 hexes of Warsaw despite having three in the area. I finally moved a unit into Warsaw itself and this stopped the message. Perhaps specifying that a unit has to be in the city itself would help.
That's all for now. I will continue to play through the game and provide another update.
Thanks,
Dcobra
I just wanted to give some feedback after having defeated France as the Axis. I am playing on 100% difficulty and .5 opponent experience bonus. My apologies if any issues are already being worked on.
1) Bugs- The MPP number in the research screen seems to get jumbled at times when switching between Italy/Germany. In the options page for scripts the text goes outside of the boxes. I have gotten a runtime error on a few occasions that crash the game. I will attempt to get a screenshot the next time it occurs.
2) Difficulty- I would assess the difficulty as appropriate at this stage. While Poland fell in about three weeks it took until 22 November 1940 to defeat France. Primarily this was due to the fact I thought I could walk my armies/tanks across Europe but over half did not quite arrive by May 1940.
3) Balance between Axis/Allies- It is still early to comment on the balance but it seems appropriate as of now.
4) UI Clarity- My primary issue with the UI is the menus disappearing when moving the screen. I think there should at least be an option to keep the menus up at all times. Another suggestion would be for a tooltip/description to pop up when hovering over the research categories. Or even put the description in the table somewhere. It is distracting to have to refer to the manual constantly. The same could be said for the various options on the option screen. Lastly, I've always felt there should be the option to load a game from in the game and not at the main menu.
5) AI behavior- A positive note was that the French put their strongest unit, a tank group, in Paris to defend. I have never seen them do that in previous versions of SC. However, I find it very unrealistic that a fighter group from England can intercept a flight of Stuka bombers flying from northern France and attacking targets near Paris. Perhaps a distance analysis could be done to determine if an intercept could actually take place as those bombers would likely already be back at their base by the time the fighters from England showed up.
Launch- The game does take 10 seconds to initiate but once it does it is a quick and smooth process. I think the pictures and graphics are clear and give a sense of the historical period. The music is also appropriate for setting the mood. It is not too heavy or clashing, just subdued which I think is nice.
5 minutes in- The game was easy to figure out after a few minutes although that is likely due to playing a lot of SC in the past. The map looks excellent with the terrain being particularly spot on. However I am still not sure where the undue button is. My last impression was that the combat loss ratios match well with what is predicted.
30 minutes in- After saving the game several times I realized it would be nice to have a time on it for when I saved. I wasn't sure what ships were in production so perhaps a tooltip showing what type of unit it is in production would be helpful.The ability to move planes even after they have attacked is a great addition. Also the ability to move ships to a location then move them again is very helpful especially for going in and out of ports.
1 hour in- It was frustrating trying to conquer France with un-upgraded infantry/tanks. This was in part due to the long time it took to move from Poland to France. But it was also because there is still no ability to upgrade a unit that is next to an enemy. I know it has been part of SC for a long time but I wish there was a way to upgrade/reinforce a unit simultaneously, when next to an enemy unit, or after moving. Also, it would be nice to have the forced march button appear as opposed to clicking twice since it took awhile to figure this out. Lastly, I continued to get a message saying I needed two units within 10 hexes of Warsaw despite having three in the area. I finally moved a unit into Warsaw itself and this stopped the message. Perhaps specifying that a unit has to be in the city itself would help.
That's all for now. I will continue to play through the game and provide another update.
Thanks,
Dcobra