Matrix Games Forums

I never knew the free version of the game so I have a limited grasp on its evolution. That said, it surely looks innovative in many ways and fresh in its approach. I wish it was WWII. Cold war and modern has never really grabbed me too much because of the 'if you see it, it dies' aspect. Maybe I'm wrong about that and there are indeed slugfests that can degrade to a closer engagement? I'm not sure. I'm leaning on a purchase but the thing that keeps me from pressing Buy Now is a concern for another Matrix title that was also a hobby title until release and that is Tigers on the Hunt. I really enjoyed that game for quite some time, warts and all, just for the fact it played like a simplified Squad Leader title. The Modding community has been great also BUT, it has never progressed past its initial state. All releases since it came out are scenario packs. No UI updates, no ease of use improvements, no added features etc and it seems like the developer is not interested in tweaking the game to add features. it is almost exactly the same this many years later. It is a diamond in the rough that was never cut and polished beyond its initial discovery.

With this being a hobby product also, and one that has been worked on for ages, my fear is that it will be the same. Maybe I'm just used to games like Graviteam Tactics where dlc's are released with MAJOR updates and added features. Even their time between dlc's are spent adding features and user defined wishes, all from a small team.

If a game takes this many years to materialize, is there any hope for feature updates in a timely manner? Or will it become a stagnating TotH?

mo reb

I guess the problem with TOTH is that you can create new maps/scenarios and mod the graphics but not much anything else. Also the developer doesn't seem to have that much time for the project so updates are pretty rare and small in features. Lots of missions and it's a pretty neat game overall, but the user interface is far from great.

Armored Brigade seems to be much more moddable: New maps, scenarios, graphics, sounds, units and factions can be created, and maybe some other stuff too. Also I think that this game is easier to "pick up and play" and might grab a bigger audience. It's definitely a much more polished product. The freeware version already had several mods and I would imagine the commercial version will have even more.

Also worth mentioning, as both are single player games, I think AB's Artificial Intelligence gives you a much more believable opponent...

my TotH experience also had me gun shy. just bought an hour or so ago. built a scenario and played it without looking at manual. meeting engagement 1977 in winter. US/USSR. got a draw. much better than TotH. gameplay is fairly easy to grasp. i can understand your hesitancy concerning future support.

a lot of fun. hope modders like it

There have been various phases in development over the years. For example at one point I abandoned it for a year to finish my university studies. Currently I don't have other day jobs than this project, and if the game will sell well I'm going to keep focusing on it 100%, so certainly there's a very good chance for more updates and content coming up soon.

Thanks for the replies. Purchasing now.

Sounding good, hope a good tutorial is available like Steel Division Normandy 44, the best tutorial to play a game ever, for me