Making COTA more accessible

[AlexB]

In games like Rome: Total War there is a short description of every unit type you can select. Part of every description is against which type of enemy unit it is most effective. If you don't know a lot about all the estabs or unit types (like me) included in the game, you don't really have a clue whether you're doing the right thing by selecting particular units for a certain job...
So, I guess what I'm saying is that it would be nice if you could select a unit on a map and read a short general description telling you against what type of enemy units you can let it fight, and what kind of actions it is really good at, and in which situations it is vulnerable and the like...

I think this would make COTA much more accessible to people who are not into all the types of guns, armored or not-armored tanks...
I must confess most of the time I don't really know if I'm sending out the right units for the right job...

[Arjuna]

AlexB,
 
That's good feedback. Thank you. Have you seen the data on each unit and weapon estab that is accessible from the ScenMaker? If not, check it out by opeing the ScenMaker, open one of the existing scenarios and then selecting one of the estabs from the Estab tab on the side bar. Is this the type of info you would like to see? Or are you really after something more basic or generic - eg. "this is an armour unit, use it to destroy other units but best used in open terrain" or something like that?

[MarkShot]

BTW, you will find an example of how to get this information out of SM while playing COTA in the Mini-Guide here:

tm.asp?m=977049&mpage=8&key= (page 8)

If Eddy did the 5 minute guide to COTA, then I guess I have done the 5 day guide to HTTR/COTA.

[JeF]

Alex,

You're right. It's not easy to grasp the effectiveness of the different units at first sight. I have to admit that I categorize my units in : guns, arty, armour (light, heavy), infantry (std, elite) and base my judgement on the FP info box.

Having more info of particular equipment available in game (and not in SM) is on the wishlist since a long time.
But here, if I'm not wrong, you're looking into qualitative information about a given unit (and not equipment). Like : "armoured company with medium tanks, use to destroy ennemy at a distance in open terrain" or "field gun battery, best used against soft target", etc.

A good idea.
I wonder if there can be some schemes that can be derived automatically from the stats (APerFP, Arm, etc.) and the equipment list.

Cheers,

JeF.

[kgsan]

It would be nice if one could pull up the information from the scenariomaker while in-game by clicking on the item in the equipment list (at least if programming this isn't too time consuming).

[barbarossa2]

This, with a good picture of the main piece of equipment in operation, would be nice. A guide to operational doctrine would be wonderful. The people at Total War (Rome, Medieval, etc.), my OTHER favourite game, publish a tips book. I know this is already done in this forum. As Mark Shot has done. But I would like to see a comprehensive guide to operations (e.g. typical battalion level defence of town, typical placement of anti tank companies, typical regimental level river crossing attempt). I have the advantage of having a one time General's Aide (dad) to go to and ask questions...but not everyone does.

As I have stated, "Company and Battalion Tactics" by Osprey is okay. James Dunnigan's "Making War" is an excellent book (better suited to strategic and modern operations, but the mathematical insights were tremendous for me). "The German Armed Forces Field Manual" published by the American Army in 1944 is VERY good. But I am still looking for the definitive all round operations/tactics guide. Please note, I have just guessed at these titles, and they could be different than the ones I have penned here.

[Helpless]

ORIGINAL: kgsan

It would be nice if one could pull up the information from the scenariomaker while in-game by clicking on the item in the equipment list (at least if programming this isn't too time consuming).

count my vote [:)]

[Txema]

... and as Dave knows very well this proposal has also my vote. In my opinion this feature is very important to make the game more accesible and to avoid the problem that I have heard when I have shown the game to some of my friends "the game feels too abstract". For them, having all the data and the photographs of the equipment accessible in game would increase the inmersion factor a lot. I think this feature will definitely attract much more players to this excellent game system. [:)]

Txema

[Arsan]

I agree.
We have a wealth of information (even images!) about all the equipment but the way to acces to it is very inconvenient.
I don´t understant how Pather didn´t make it availible from the main interface since the first game.
Arjuna stated that it was complicated to do this, but i dont understand well why.
From the outside it seems something easy
An old game like Steel Panthers have similar information.
It´s a shame the game use all this details and realistic statistics about every piece of equipment but you did not percieve it because its hidden in the scenmaker.
For me it could add a lot to the gameplay and i suppose it will be even better for someone without much knowledge of ww2.
Just my opninion.
Cheers

[AlexB]

ORIGINAL: JeF

But here, if I'm not wrong, you're looking into qualitative information about a given unit (and not equipment). Like : "armoured company with medium tanks, use to destroy ennemy at a distance in open terrain" or "field gun battery, best used against soft target", etc.

Yep, that is exactly what I mean [:)]
Thx for all the answers... I tried looking at the Scenario Maker, but it crashes after I pick a map so I haven't been able to see the estabs yet... (Don't worry, Arjuna, I think it's my comp - I need to do a complete Windows reinstall really but I dread the day I will have to...)

[Arjuna]

AlexB,
 
Noi there is a known bug when creating a new scenario in the SM. It's fixed for Patch 2 ( coming soon ). In the meantime, just open an existing scenario.