sounds, endgame, the bomb, options and other chrome

[bmodified]

Been away for awhile, and I see the release date is near. A quick search didn't reveal anything about sounds...Is GGWAW going to have "movement" and "battle" sounds? What about music, and can the volume be adjusted or the effects toggled?

Also, are there anything like cut scenes or graphic notices of events such as declarations of war, etc? How about when the game ends, is there a summary? Victory screen?

Can you have the war replayed for your viewing pleasure once the game ends? Is there a way to capture stats?

Is there an atomic bomb option built in to the weapons research? Are partisans a given or can occupation policy modify how many are created?

I'm sure you are not busy getting the game ready and have plenty of time to entertain such questions....[;)]

[Oleg Mastruko]

Lots of sounds, and first class sounds at that. Yes I am among those who actually listen to wargames [:D] Excellent sounds in this one. Animations, cut scenes, you name it.

Personally I am not that crazy about so called "combat animations" but watching a movie about fall of London/Berlin/Moscow/Chungking/you-name-it is special pleasure every time [:D]

Every nation has its own music during the turn...

My personal favorite in sound department are subtle background "ambient" sounds, ie. when you're on the production screen you hear clanging of your machinery in the background etc.

Atomic bomb is in the game, and it's mostly "yes" to your other questions as well, but I'll be happy to leave to others to elaborate if they wish [:D]

Oleg

[pzgndr]

Personally I am not that crazy about so called "combat animations"

Is anyone crazy about this and sees it as an asset to the game?? This feature does not appear to do anything. I commented about this in JP's AAR thread, and I realize it's optional and can be ignored. But it still begs the question why something like this is included in a grand strategy wargame of this scale. I mean, you can see individual trees and airplane shadows on the screenshot!

I would like to think if a game has a feature, that it provides a useful purpose and does something that compels me to use it. To that end, here are a few suggestions:
- Make the background terrain features larger and match the region's terrain; ie, larger forests, mountain ranges, etc.
- Make the units larger, like groups of tanks or aircraft rather singles, or offer military symbols
- Show units attacking and defending in appropriate orientations; ie, if you're attacking from the north show the units attacking from the north (Make it interesting!)

If the animation is just going to be an automated generic dice rolling sequence which can be reviewed easily enough already in the combat results screen, then this feature really adds no value to an otherwise fine game oriented toward wargamers. And I do emphasize an otherwise fine game, it's just this particular frivolous feature that appears inconsistent with the rest of the game. [&:]

[Oleg Mastruko]

This feature is totally unimportant and optional. If you hate it so much you can turn it off. I am not crazy about it, but personally see absolutely no problem in that it's there. Newbies might like it.

O.

[CPTBrown]

I personally think that it's a great feature. It adds an element of suspense to a battle. Instead of just seeing numbers change, a little animation is a nice touch that helps make GGWaW a complete game. Granted, it would still be an outstanding game if it wasn't included, but I like the fact that 2by3 put in some extra effort to make it more palatable to newcomers. Drawing new gamers into the genre is never a bad thing! Besides, if you dislike it so much, why did you list all those suggestions to improve it?

CPT B
FLY ARMY!

[pzgndr]

C'mon Oleg. As a playtester you're admitting this feature is totally unimportant and you're not crazy about it, which is also my point. It's not a question of whether we hate it or not, but why it's even in there at all. Newbies might like it?? Some newbies might also like Spongebob Squarepants dancing across the screen but if it doesn't add any material value to the wargame then one should question the marketing decision to add such eyecandy to maybe attract an extra customer or two. I'm calling a spade a spade, that's all. That's just my $0.02 worth. I'll hush up now and wait for pre-orders to begin. [;)]

[jjwi]

I really do not understand some peoples insistence on keeping the war strategy genre as ugly as possible. I believe these sorts of features are long overdue in games such as these. Their purpose is to make the game more visually attractive and more enjoyable to play. I do not see why this is so hard to grasp, these are important considerations in the development of any game. Maybe the word "game" needs to be bandied around here more often.

Iwould have loved to see it play out like a little movie similar to MOO2 when you invade a planet. Maybe it already does, it's hard to tell from still screens.

[Oleg Mastruko]

ORIGINAL: jjwi
Iwould have loved to see it play out like a little movie similar to MOO2 when you invade a planet. Maybe it already does, it's hard to tell from still screens.

Invading planets in WAW is strictly forbidden, sorry [:D]

Movies are played when you capture enemy capital and/or when someone capitulates. Also, in case of final victory (or draw). Also, when US and USSR enter the war.

O.

[CPTBrown]

I completely agree with jjwi. There is a stigma in the wargaming community that if something looks "too nice", then the developers must have left something out. True, some developers try to hide flaws with glitzy effects or graphics, but judging by all the evidence, it doesn't seem like 2by3 left anything out of this game. So what exactly is the problem with a game being visually appealing? Would WitP or SSWaW be any less of a game if there were battle animations or movies after critical events?

CPT B
FLY ARMY!

[Oleg Mastruko]

I hope Joel won't mind, but I simply must post a screenshot from pseudo-documentary "Fall of London" video, showing German tanks (Panzer IIs? [&o]), trucks and BMW motorcycles on a bridge over Themse (sounds German enough?) driving towards Big Ben [:D] [X(] Tell me this isn't every wargamer's wet dream? [:D]

Videos are lots of fun. I guess not many Axis players will get to see "London Falls" video in game itself, without "cheating" (ie. playing both sides to "allow" Germans to take London just to see the movie [:-]

NOTE: screenshot below is *physically smaller and of much lower quality* than what you get in game! I had to reduce quality *a lot*, to be able to make screen capture (otherwise, usual screen capture software won't capture picture from a movie because movies are played in hardware overlay, blah, blah boring technical stuff).

Oleg

[Hanal]

Glad you went through the effort Oleg....I was going to post one of the "movietone" screens but only was able to produce a black box...a black box just didn't cut it....[:D]

[bmodified]

Well now, this all looks good! Without becoming embroiled in the "grog vs. glitz" debate, all I can say is that there is something completely illogical and extremely gratifying about having a game throw me a bone in the form of a nice video or animation when I achieve some milestone while playing. I admit to being disappointed when after hours of struggle, a game ends with a bland "Germany surrenders, game over" text message.

The old "Close Combat" series from Microsoft had some outstanding video clips with it, and I confess that I remember being fascinated with them!

I agree with Oleg that sounds are a big part of the overall game, but I always worry that what is novel the first few times might become grating with repetition. A toggle for sound effects might be just the ticket, but I am more likely than not to leave sound effects on unless they are truly annoying. I'm going to guess that the sounds will be very moddable anyway.

As to the controversy about the battle animations, I would say that I'm glad they are there, but perhaps happier yet to read that they are completely optional. For my part, I am going to turn them on at first just to see what the fuss is about, probably turn them off, and if you are able to toggle them on the fly, just might turn them on before truly epic or key battles.

The two elements of my salvo of questions that haven't been answered involve stats and replay. I will jump to buy GGWAW regardless, but these two features would give the game some added appeal. A statistical summary of a turn or game would give us logistics freaks something to chew on, provide a method of comparing performance, and would be fodder for discussions and newsletters about ongoing PBEM campaigns.

The replay idea is more of an icing on the cake issue, but watching your version of WWII unfold after a glorious victory or bitter defeat would be something I'd truly enjoy. Perhaps this is really a holdover wish from Battlefront's classic "Combat Mission" where this feature was the most requested feature that was never implemented.

Looking forward to this game!

[Joel Billings]

We have two things for you. First, there is the game history, that shows you the strategic map and the changes in ownership (in color) that happened as each turn played out. You can review this at any time so you can see graphically the history of your game. Second, we have a "stats" page that shows the number of each type of unit for each player that has been damaged and the number of those that has been desroyed to date.

[bmodified]

Outstanding! [:D] Now, if the stats section had a history of production, resource allocation, and more details for the stats freaks to mull over, we would be nearing gaming nirvana[&o].

BTW, I want to see this puppy released, but as far as I'm concerned, take your time and don't let the great unwashed pressure you in to releasing it before it is truly done.

When are you realeasing it, anyway[;)]

[Maginot]

I think we can look at Risk 2 as an example. While the battle resolution was really annoying (who wants to watch 30 vs 30 men shoot at each other for 10 minutes), there was also a fairly attractive video whenever a player was eliminated or when someone won. I personally love those sort of cutscenes, and with the ability to turn battle resolution on/off hope 2by3 hit the nail on the head.