A Public AAR?

[Missouri Rebel]

Gil, any chance to post a complete AAR any time soon? I figured your testers were almost done doing the less showcase details and maybe had time to churn one out for the masses. I guess what I'm really asking for is a BONE! Lets drop this baby off the jack and take a test drive around the block. If it purrs, take it on a road trip.

Also, will there be any tutorials that ship with the game? Even though I never played it, GGWBTS had some great video tutorials that shipped with the game. I actually prefer the hands on kind though. Click to advance etc..

How big is the manual and is it written by the same person who did the excellent FoF manual?

Lastly, would there be a chance to ever upgrade the graphics in HW that would not require too many resources?

mo reb

**Edit to add a question mark at end of topic. Didn't want to mislead.**

[Gil R.]

The testers are free to do an AAR any time they want. A complete AAR would be hard to do, since the standard scenario can easily take 100+ turns to play out. At some point I might do a simple AAR for a few turns to show what the game is like.

The good news is that there will be about 10 tutorial videos, which are already being prepared by us. FOF came out before Camtasia (= software program for "videotaping" one's screen) made it relatively simple to make them. (They're still intensely time-consuming, but at least they're not complicated.)

The manual's length is probably around 150 pages, though many of the rules only apply to the "Advanced Economy." If you're playing "Standard Economy," which is the new and simplified economic option, then you don't need to worry about trade, most development, feudalism, etc. etc.

HW graphics have to stay as they are. Due to the number of playable countries and the number of units and thus uniforms, it would have taken at least half a year to get those graphics implemented. We would, of course, like to have our land units look as slick as the naval graphics, but an investment of 6+ months would have delayed multiple other projects and not necessarily led to that many more sales.

[Missouri Rebel]

ORIGINAL: Gil R.

The testers are free to do an AAR any time they want. A complete AAR would be hard to do, since the standard scenario can easily take 100+ turns to play out. At some point I might do a simple AAR for a few turns to show what the game is like.

That's great news. Hopefully someone can take a little bit more of their valuable time and do just that. Their commitment is appreciated by those waiting for the game.

The good news is that there will be about 10 tutorial videos, which are already being prepared by us. FOF came out before Camtasia (= software program for "videotaping" one's screen) made it relatively simple to make them. (They're still intensely time-consuming, but at least they're not complicated.)

I can only imagine the work involved. Tutorials are great to get the initial feel and flow of a game. But then comes the task of digging in; getting your rear handed to you and learning from the mistakes made. FoF seemed daunting to me for a while. As a matter of fact, its complexity kept it installed but not played for a short time. That subsided when I finally dove into it for the first time and quickly realized that it was fairly simple in execution, yet very deep where it mattered. A couple restarts later and the result has been many hours of enjoyment. I expect EE to be similar.

The manual's length is probably around 150 pages, though many of the rules only apply to the "Advanced Economy." If you're playing "Standard Economy," which is the new and simplified economic option, then you don't need to worry about trade, most development, feudalism, etc. etc.

That is about 25% smaller than the FoF manual. Are the game mechanics more simple than FoF or have you streamlined the rules a bit? Or maybe less picture/examples? The FoF manual was well laid out, but I could see where one might be able to save a few pages, especially in the Detail Battles section.

So how does CC or CCEE for that matter compare to FoF in terms of Start-up options, in-game choices and general complexity?

HW graphics have to stay as they are. Due to the number of playable countries and the number of units and thus uniforms, it would have taken at least half a year to get those graphics implemented. We would, of course, like to have our land units look as slick as the naval graphics, but an investment of 6+ months would have delayed multiple other projects and not necessarily led to that many more sales.

That is perfectly fine and as far as I am concerned, it certainly will not influence my purchase . Would have been nice to 'pretty' them up a bit, but I understand the decision why you didn't. I too look forward to the naval battles.

Having never played CC, I am curious as to how the detailed battles differ from FoF. Map size, terrain etc...

Actually, I am curious about the gameplay difference in general.

Thanks,
Mo Reb

[Gil R.]

So how does CC or CCEE for that matter compare to FoF in terms of Start-up options, in-game choices and general complexity?

We've made the options screen much simpler by not really having one. [:)]

Essentially, there are two ways of playing: with the "Advanced Economy" setting the game is highly complex, with trade, many types of resources, more development types, etc., while with the "Standard Economy" setting there is less to worry about, other than military and diplomatic affairs. So by choosing one or the other you're essentially adding or avoiding a whole bunch of what in FOF are individual options. HOWEVER, in COG and COG:EE you can have parts of the game run for you by AI experts. So, for example, you can play with the "Advanced Economy" but turn on the Trade Expert and let him make all trade-related decisions -- which means, then, that you can somewhat simplify the more complex game by putting parts on autopilot.

Overall, it's a different approach from FOF, but still lets you avoid areas of the game that are of less interest.

[Gil R.]

Having never played CC, I am curious as to how the detailed battles differ from FoF. Map size, terrain etc...

Actually, I am curious about the gameplay difference in general.

Perhaps once there are some AAR's that will become more clear.

[Joram]

  The testers are free to do an AAR any time they want. A complete AAR would be hard to do, since the standard scenario can easily take 100+ turns to play out. At some point I might do a simple AAR for a few turns to show what the game is like.

 
I'm taking that as a partial release Gil so "Hi, I'm a tester!"  Now that I'm past step 1 of the 8 step process, I can try to put together an AAR.  But as Gil said, it will be difficult to do a complete one as there are essentially three distinct games within this one game. 
 
1) There's the Strategic Layer which there is a lot to cover even on simple economy (which personally I prefer). 
 
2) There's the Land Battles which of course any veteran of either game will be familiar with though there's new improvements to the rules, new upgrades and the option for doubling the scale. 
 
3) And finally there's the new Naval Battles which for me is the hardest element of the game because I'm a landlubber.  But if you don't laugh hysterically at my tactics I can still put one together.

Each one of these would take many hours to put together so I guess I'd ask if there was a particular aspect of the game people wanted to see? 
 
The only thing I'm going to rule out is anything showing the 'advanced' economy (aka the economy of original CoG) because I was always bad at that part.  Thus my love of the new simple economy option. 
 

[Hard Sarge]

didn't we post some AARs on the HW side and game play ? we only kept the SHW out of it, even got you a victory screen posted

[Missouri Rebel]

ORIGINAL: Joram

  The testers are free to do an AAR any time they want. A complete AAR would be hard to do, since the standard scenario can easily take 100+ turns to play out. At some point I might do a simple AAR for a few turns to show what the game is like.

I'm taking that as a partial release Gil so "Hi, I'm a tester!"  Now that I'm past step 1 of the 8 step process, I can try to put together an AAR.  But as Gil said, it will be difficult to do a complete one as there are essentially three distinct games within this one game. 

1) There's the Strategic Layer which there is a lot to cover even on simple economy (which personally I prefer). 

2) There's the Land Battles which of course any veteran of either game will be familiar with though there's new improvements to the rules, new upgrades and the option for doubling the scale. 

3) And finally there's the new Naval Battles which for me is the hardest element of the game because I'm a landlubber.  But if you don't laugh hysterically at my tactics I can still put one together.

Each one of these would take many hours to put together so I guess I'd ask if there was a particular aspect of the game people wanted to see? 

The only thing I'm going to rule out is anything showing the 'advanced' economy (aka the economy of original CoG) because I was always bad at that part.  Thus my love of the new simple economy option. 

That would be excellent Joram. There is not a particular part that I feel I MUST see so anything you decide on would be just dandy. I guess I would be most curious though on things that FoF doesn't have so I can see where this title differs. Actually anything that was exclusive to the original CoG would be welcomed too as I have never played it and know virtually nothing about her.

Thanks a bunch for taking the time to make an AAR and I promise not to snicker too loudly at your maritime follies. [:)]

mo reb

ps-plenty of screenshots is definitely a good thing.

[Joram]

Ok, will do my best though please understand this may take awhile as I have work, beta testing and my personal life to share time with.  Thursday I'm supposed to go out to the 'Nelson' for drinks.  There's tons of bars, excuse me, 'pubs' named after Nelson/Trafalgar in UK.  I sometimes wonder if that without battles, the English would have a hard time naming their pubs!