So . . . how is it?

[Joram]

I agree with Hard Sarge 100%.  There are a lot of oddities.  The game has a lot of potential but it's also extremely frustrating. 
 
Here's one example.  I was literally right next to a guy with a shotgun using "normal" rounds.  I put normal in quotes because I really think they are magic fairy pixie dust rounds based on what happened.  Anyway, I shot the guy point blank to the torso, do 2 pts of damage, he hesitates like some bad action movie and then he goes flying up over my head, bounces off a wall and somehow lands on the roof to the left of the merc!  But wait, on his turn he's now kneeling on the top of the wall, looking down like he's super freaking spider man and then he shoots my merc in the head!   Argh, very frustrating.
 
Another example with the "OC" rounds which must be russian for "freakin useless" because even hitting the lowliest militia, it is very rare for the round to do more than 2 pts of damage.  I once popped a civilian just to see what kind of damage it does and either the civilian is wearing body armor or the round bounced off his sun-baked skin.  Maybe they are all mutant turtles, I don't know.
 
The only gratifying thing I've seen in the game so far is the knife though it is somewhat laughable when your opponent goes flying back a few meters when you stab him.  But to quote one of the mercs, "I'm not psycho but that was satisfying!"
 
Ahh well, I'm not considering it a waste because I do have some enjoyment and I really like how they put in a strategic layer but not sure how much I can stand some of these oddities.  Shotguns in particular are the worst but none of the weapons really feel right.

[Joram]

Just one more thought for the moment.  A lot of people been complaining about grenades but to be honest I don't really mind them.  My only issue is that the enemy just has so many of them and you have almost none.  That combined with the fact that you have little decent long range weaponry so it's near impossible to keep them out of grenade range, makes the enemies grenades all that more an issue.  I've fought about three battles only but only lost one person to a grenade.  I've had a lot wounded by grenades but if you keep your head down and stay behind cover, it helps a lot.  I would still tweak the game to either reduce the enemy grenades or slightly shorten their range or even alternatively, just give me some rifles with plenty of ammo.  But it is a bit unbalanced right now.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Hard Sarge
I wonder what kind of training camp the Programmers went to ? High Acc and the bum can't hit the side of a barn, if it fell on him, a M-10 with a Lazer sight (you really got to be a moron to not be able to hit something with a Lazer sight from 10 feet away)

Are you aiming at all? Generally shots from 10 feet away are pretty easy even without aiming, but with aiming they become a guarantee in my experience. I highly recommend that new players set maximum aim for all mercs to start with.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Joram
Here's one example.  I was literally right next to a guy with a shotgun using "normal" rounds.  I put normal in quotes because I really think they are magic fairy pixie dust rounds based on what happened.  Anyway, I shot the guy point blank to the torso, do 2 pts of damage, he hesitates like some bad action movie and then he goes flying up over my head, bounces off a wall and somehow lands on the roof to the left of the merc!  But wait, on his turn he's now kneeling on the top of the wall, looking down like he's super freaking spider man and then he shoots my merc in the head!   Argh, very frustrating.

I can't say I've seen these flying spider-people, but it sounds like some kind of rare physics bug.

The minimal damage generally means that your opponent had some kind of armor on that your shot didn't penetrate. Normally a shotgun at close range is extremely deadly though. My most effective merc my first time through was a shotgun wielder with a high accuracy and strength and full kevlar jacket and helmet. He could pretty much fight all day long with little risk while knocking people down with shotgun slogs reliably up to medium range.

[Hard Sarge]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: Hard Sarge
I wonder what kind of training camp the Programmers went to ? High Acc and the bum can't hit the side of a barn, if it fell on him, a M-10 with a Lazer sight (you really got to be a moron to not be able to hit something with a Lazer sight from 10 feet away)

Are you aiming at all? Generally shots from 10 feet away are pretty easy even without aiming, but with aiming they become a guarantee in my experience. I highly recommend that new players set maximum aim for all mercs to start with.

Erik, really, I am pretty insulted at that question, yes, I got max aiming turned on, and at most games, I am normally seen as at least a better then Ave player, so I do know how to play games (and I loved the JA games when they first came out, so know the basic system too)

I think a big part of the trouble is we got programmers who are the types who have never seen any of this stuff in real life

really a bullpup, and the bad part is the HIGH RECOIL ? I don't think there is any bullpup made that ever had HIGHH RECOIL (basicly, since that is part of the bullpup design is made for to start with, even worse since it is a 5.56 round)

and the whole idea of burst fire, being HARD to control and aim ? most of these weapons were designed to be fired with burst mode, very little training is needed to hold on target for the whole burst

I think it is going to be a good game, but it needs work

[Erik Rutins]

No offense intended Ron, I've just had good success with close range shots while aiming, so I had to ask.

[SlickWilhelm]

Geez guys, go easy on Erik. He's here trying to help. He's got to ask some basic questions. There might be folks playing this game without reading the manual and they might not know about the "max aim" toggle.

Anyway, I'm starting to have more fun playing HG, especially now that I've made the adjustments to the system.cfg for the camera. That made a huge improvement in situational awareness. I also finally managed to make nice with the officer by having Dagger go up and speak with him, unarmed, while the rest of the mercs stayed well back.

This does have potential, and so far I've not yet run into the breath problem that others have run into. But it's early.

[Hard Sarge]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

No offense intended Ron, I've just had good success with close range shots while aiming, so I had to ask.

No Hassle buddy, I know, it just hit me wrong when I seen it, if I had waited a bit, I would of replied different (I was trying to get back to the game: )



(just seems odd, shotguns seem to do better aimming at the legs, even from very close, aim at the leg and blow the top of the guys head off)

[Joram]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: Joram
Here's one example.  I was literally right next to a guy with a shotgun using "normal" rounds.  I put normal in quotes because I really think they are magic fairy pixie dust rounds based on what happened.  Anyway, I shot the guy point blank to the torso, do 2 pts of damage, he hesitates like some bad action movie and then he goes flying up over my head, bounces off a wall and somehow lands on the roof to the left of the merc!  But wait, on his turn he's now kneeling on the top of the wall, looking down like he's super freaking spider man and then he shoots my merc in the head!   Argh, very frustrating.

I can't say I've seen these flying spider-people, but it sounds like some kind of rare physics bug.

The minimal damage generally means that your opponent had some kind of armor on that your shot didn't penetrate. Normally a shotgun at close range is extremely deadly though. My most effective merc my first time through was a shotgun wielder with a high accuracy and strength and full kevlar jacket and helmet. He could pretty much fight all day long with little risk while knocking people down with shotgun slogs reliably up to medium range.

Actually, likely two separate bugs. One is the ragdoll physics that somehow lifted him up the wall and onto what I thought was the roof. The other bug is either his spider-like qualities or some kind of clipping issue where he doesn't know he's looking straight down the wall. Or I suppose still physics related where he can now defy the laws of gravity thanks to the pixie dust.

For the shotgun, fair point but I'm fighting militiamen and I'd expect a good portion of them to be unarmored or no more than a camovest, which doesn't really count as armor. In my experience it sometimes feels like they are all wearing assault armor (which I found once, love it!). Alternatively, it could be the shotgun itself that is messed up which is where I'm leaning based on other experiences.

[zknight]

Haha maybe it's a sci-fi twist like in JA2... we are actually fighting super power mercs modified though nuclear experiments. I had some weird physics things too, had a box fly up into my screen when I was zoomed out all the way until it took over the whole screen, then it started spinning and doing crazy things (after I shot it with a shotgun). So the common thing here is the shotgun generating some physics bugs...

[milkweg]

ORIGINAL: ShadoWarrior

The jeep is not visible. It think it's supposed to enable you to travel faster on the strategic map, though it seems my troops move just as fast by leg.

Yea, thanks, I see now my mercs move between sectors by jeep. I guess using the jeep instead of foot would effect tiredness too?

[milkweg]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins



If you don't use your action points, your merc(s) with unused action points will have a chance (not a guarantee) of getting a reaction during the enemy's turn.

OK, thanks, have had that happen a few times now and it is called an "interrupt" which jogs my memory now and is how it is in JA2.