Matrix Games Forums

I know these things can be a pain in the ass, does one still exist? I cant seem to locate it. Is it of any use to the development team?

ORIGINAL: sithlord_shag
Is it of any use to the development team?

No, they don't care about what the players think/want. Really.

Lol

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1540287

Wow. Started 14 years ago and last post was over six years ago. Makes me feel old. [:D]

I was late to the TOAWIII party; it took me FOREVER to find that forum. They hid it well.

When I called Matrix b/c I could not order III on the site, the robot man said,
"THAT PRODUCT HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED."
Seems like Matrix actively tried to kill III. Weird.

I finally got a copy, but it was really strange that they literally REFUSED to sell me TOAWIII.

Those guys seem like they're a little short on the customer relations / marketing department.

"Those guys seem like they're a little short on the customer relations / marketing department."

I heard the entire organization is coming apart at the seams. They seem to be losing money hand
over fist. According to a blogger on the wargamming grapevine, I forget where I read it now but
it seems accurate.

L0L joke's on them. I still have my ACOW disc / manual etc. and keep them locked in a floor safe. I still have the urge to fire up ACOW now and then.

After buying a copy back in ... 2000? Never had a chance to really get into it until now. They coulda' made a mint, but NOOOOOOOOO!

"That product has been DISCONTINUED, Fool, now go buy PanzerPlanes, our newest offering with flying Tanks in ante-Napoleonic Warfare!!"

kek say how's it been going, Larry? you playing that new War in the World West, that newfangled game?

I took a look at the WITW but it seemed way too complicated for my taste. When I want to be inundated in detail I fire up WITP-AE. I received a 50% off coupon from Slitherine for my longevity and I used it to purchase WITE2. Talk about detail. Again I was in over my head. I like the way WITE2 looks and it plays just fine....it's just not the beer and pretzels kind of game that I'm used to. I'm back playing TOAW IV again and I love it. There are things that I wish TOAW did differently but the level of abstraction is just about right. IMHO. I've been playing TOAW starting with the COW issue and was on the beta team that ported TOAW to TOAW3 and have been beta testing ever since. I've seen a lot of good changes over the years. I'm really excited about the new version in the pipeline. New features and lots of bug fixes. I've been testing it for several months now and there's still the occasional CTD but it mostly does just fine. I hope that it comes out sometime this summer but that may be too much to hope for. We'll see.

No, I'm sorry but these guys aren't the ANA ( Afgan national army ) but they do perform that way.

Bob, thanks for that. My first reaction was "wow". Thats an incredible doc. You obviously respected the opinions of the posters to compile it in the first place. Well done.

I am just wondering if having a new thread on this for TOAW 4 would aid the development team in anyway? I am not suggesting you be on the hook to work up a document like that again and I know that some people can make suggestions that might never occur due to development team resources.

I wonder if there is scope for a Q&A style format in the forum maybe for discussions of new features???

I don't have any firm fixed views on it but it would be nice to have a place float some ideas, even take some examples from that doc and discuss whether they are still viable.

ORIGINAL: sithlord_shag
...

I am just wondering if having a new thread on this for TOAW 4 would aid the development team in anyway? ...

Quoting from another game:

ORIGINAL: sithlord_shag

I am just wondering if having a new thread on this for TOAW 4 would aid the development team in anyway?

There is no team. There is one lone individual (Bob) doing all the work.

team
[tēm]
NOUN
a group of people working towards a common goal.

ORIGINAL: sithlord_shag

Bob, thanks for that. My first reaction was "wow". Thats an incredible doc. You obviously respected the opinions of the posters to compile it in the first place. Well done.

I am just wondering if having a new thread on this for TOAW 4 would aid the development team in anyway? I am not suggesting you be on the hook to work up a document like that again and I know that some people can make suggestions that might never occur due to development team resources.

I wonder if there is scope for a Q&A style format in the forum maybe for discussions of new features???

I don't have any firm fixed views on it but it would be nice to have a place float some ideas, even take some examples from that doc and discuss whether they are still viable.

Past development and future development plans were derived directly from that document. So it was very useful to the development team. But you can imagine the backlog of develpment that it has generated. More ideas may need to hold off till the pipeline gets emptied out a bit.

Regardless, I no longer have the time to maintain it. That was done before my coding tasks were added to my workload. Someone else would have to take up the burden.

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

I heard the entire organization is coming apart at the seams. They seem to be losing money hand
over fist. According to a blogger on the wargamming grapevine, I forget where I read it now but
it seems accurate.

I have no inside info, but I find that hard to believe. They have independent contractors developing wargames and those contractors are paid entirely in royalties. Their sales are mostly digital copies, so there isn't even much in the way of inventory. How do you lose money under that business model?

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

I heard the entire organization is coming apart at the seams. They seem to be losing money hand
over fist. According to a blogger on the wargamming grapevine, I forget where I read it now but
it seems accurate.

I have no inside info, but I find that hard to believe. They have independent contractors developing wargames and those contractors are paid entirely in royalties. Their sales are mostly digital copies, so there isn't even much in the way of inventory. How do you lose money under that business model?

Depends how much money you spend on acquisitions vs the return and how much you spend on keeping the business running. (mind you, no idea what's happening with Slitherine, but just answering your question)

"I have no inside info, but I find that hard to believe. They have independent contractors developing wargames and those contractors are paid entirely in royalties. Their sales are mostly digital copies, so there isn't even much in the way of inventory. How do you lose money under that business model?"

I could be misinformed. It's entirely possible that I'm wrong. I've been wrong before. I realize that I need to be careful where I get my information. Just yesterday I read a brand new quote on the internet that was allegedly posted by Elvis Presley.

Many interesting replies here.

Bob, when you say the pipeline needs to be emptied out a bit are you saying that the ideas in the original wish doc all have merit and that you might aspire to implement the bulk of those?

In any event I'm going to shoot off with a request, which after a close look at the original wish doc is sort of covered.

Generally I like the pestilence event. What I dont like is that its a bit of blunt tool. A couple of things...in a scenario with weekly turns the minimum 1% pest loss can turn out to be quite the hit when aggregated over say 100-200 turns. I began looking at it closely when trying to model mechanical attrition but the way it currently works it could probably do with some moderation.

What might improve it would be a troop type (eg. maintenance squad) with like a repair/maintenance function. While I was thinking about it occurred to me that you the living victims of the pestilence effect would benefit from a simular type of function analogous to a mechanical maintenance squad. So basically a medical squad. Both changes would help pestilence to be a bit less of a blunt stick.

The wish doc makes some mention of both. I think it has merit, happy to hear from others as to how they have dealt with the above issues.

I'm sure that what I have proposed would require some hard coding changes. Not an easy thing to accomplish with your limited time Bob. Its a shame you are not provided more resources to be able to make some of the requests happen.

ORIGINAL: sithlord_shag

Many interesting replies here.

Bob, when you say the pipeline needs to be emptied out a bit are you saying that the ideas in the original wish doc all have merit and that you might aspire to implement the bulk of those?

Not sure if "bulk" is the right word - some of those ideas are steps backwards. But, as long as you don't put a date next to "implement"...

Bob, obviously the idea of having commanders is getting a run, what else in there are you interested in implementing?

ORIGINAL: sithlord_shag

Bob, obviously the idea of having commanders is getting a run, what else in there are you interested in implementing?

Matrix frowns on my discussing future plans (or even what is immediately in development) too far in advance. Just rest assured that they are extensive.