Is Game an Orphan?

[kennonlightfoot]

Has this game been dropped?
People need to know this so they don't waste time on it.

Is there any chance you could open source it so someone else could make upgrade and new battles for it?

[Rosseau]

+1

[Yogi the Great]

Yes sad thing is that if they do come back to make another like they said they would it may very well be too late. Their behavior which has pretty much been nothing and complete ignoring of the customer and potential customer posts does not give confidence in the company or the product.

Too bad, because this truly is a gem with the potential of being one of it not the best American Civil War game series.

[salazarus]

I like this game but I'm disappointed with devs. This was my day 1 purchase with next (if we get one) I will wait for sale.

[zakblood]

as soon as there is something to announce, it will be i'm 100% sure, i can't say what either or when either as i also have no idea myself, as under the NDA all testers sign up to, whatever is or isn't being done or what direction or projects are or aren't in progress will only be mentioned once a statement is ready for general release by the boards press section, all i can say is the developers are still here, and still very active.

i agree mostly with most comments made in this section and most of the threads here as well, but as i'm only a member same as everyone else, have no chance of altering anything even if i could,

once built i test, once released i play, anything else is just helping out where and when i can, i'd like to do more, but don't have the skills either or i would offer them...

[kennonlightfoot]

If that is their plan, someone needs to sign them ups for a marketing skills class.

This will be a dead product before it makes a single sale. People notice lack of support in the forums.

[zakblood]

there's always staff around, and the developers are lurking, just hidden in another forum, one full time staff members is always on, and then there are forum mods, with developers around in the the week mostly

[Rosseau]

All they had to do was release one "free" scenario as a patch to tide us over, but absolutely no effort was made. For me it was the worst $50 I ever spent at Matrix. The game UI was almost as bad as Tigers and the modding was a total pain.

Also, no point in being a first-day buyer here ever again. Even the new Afgan '11 was on sale 30% off within three months.

[bazjak]

The devs are crap
I hope they go under the ignorant sw***s

[zakblood]

no real comment to that tbh, don't agree but it's a free world and comments of all sorts are expected, but a bit harsh imo. not a forum mod on here so can't do much about it either

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: bazjak

The devs are crap
I hope they go under the ignorant sw***s

No they are not - they have built a very playable fun regimental scaled Civil War game engine. Since it is also hex and turn based I find it far more approachable than a RTS style treatment.

It is a pity that they started where they did in the sequence as the current games do have limited replayability but it is one of those titles I keep on coming back to.

I'd love to see the series expanded but I am grateful for what they did produce - and I could never wish a business failure on anyone who clearly was committed to producing the game.

[zakblood]

agreed, and war game developers are low, so any we lose we all suffer from less games to play[:(]

[bazjak]

That remark I made was in the hope that perhaps we would get a response from the devs
I know some people are loyal but it's not right to be taken for granted and your remarks supporting them won't help

[zakblood]

i'll pass them on and see if anyone replies and leave it and this then

[ericbabe]

Thank you for your continuing interest in this game. A map for II Manassas is finished and Gil has been working on the OOBs for that battle, but I can't say for sure what the schedule for a sequel might be -- Gil's schedule is very much uncertain right now. My role in this project is limited. In any case, it's unlikely that we will be able to justify completing the entire series as we originally had hoped. I know it's regrettable to be a fan of a game that doesn't do as well as its fans would like and therefore isn't as supported or as sequeled as the fans would like, but it's sadder still for the developers when this happens, and I appreciate those of you who are able to empathize with that.

[bazjak]

WOW
A reply from someone to do with the game
Not bad as i and others have been asking for some sort of a response for a very long time
zakblood perhaps what i wrote earlier hit home
Shouldn't have to be nasty to get a response from them but it worked even though it wasn't what we needed

[Gil R.]

Thank you for your ongoing interest, and (quite possibly undeserved) loyalty. I suspect that an apology will fall flat among some, but nevertheless do apologize for my silence, and the general lack of updates. Eric has already addressed this a bit, but I should too, of course.

First, the good news is that, as Eric wrote, we do indeed intend to continue BAB, though unless sales are markedly better we would have to scale back the number of releases, focusing more on the major battles and having fewer of the lesser ones (which can take about as much time to develop, but don’t lead to greater sales). Personally, I hope that our next release sells well enough that we can keep to our original plan, since I tremendously enjoy working on all of these battles, even ones as small as Mill Springs. (I would right now add something about enjoying it so much that I would produce maps and scenarios without any hope of compensation, if I didn’t know that Eric might read this thread again.)

Now, of course, I recognize that our lack of response in the forum will make it that much more difficult to succeed, and there is no good explanation, other than that until quite recently for the past year or so I’ve had to disengage from all WCS activities for professional and personal reasons, but that is now behind me; as for our total silence for the past several months, I will just vaguely write that there was some confusion regarding the care of the forum. In fact -- scout’s honor, if you’ll take the word of a mere cub scout, and a failed one at that -- just this past weekend, oblivious to the existence of this thread, I was discussing with Eric changes that I need to have made to the map-editor so that I can continue with our 2nd Manassas release.

To sum this up:
* I have every intention of doing everything I can to have our next release come out this winter (though sooner would be nice).
* The disenchantment with WCS (though not our games, I’m glad to see), is understandable, and we will do what we can to win back everyone who needs to be won back. To which I’ll add, in response to the comments about customer service, that WCS has historically been outstanding in terms of our customer service and listening to feedback and implementing suggestions into patches -- a few minutes skimming through the old “Forge of Freedom” and “Crown of Glory” forums should demonstrate that.
* When BAB does come to a close we will announce it formally -- we will not simply walk away from it.

Finally, I’ll add that even if I am not on the forum I do respond to e-mails sent via this website, as well as to pm’s. Though in the case of the latter it looks as if my inbox might be full -- if anyone did try to reach me but heard back nothing I apologize for that. I have never knowingly failed to respond to a direct message.

[Zap]

Sales will be there with the right battle selection. That is what hampered sales with the first games of the series.

[bazjak]

All I have been asking for is a decent tutorial to learn rather than the one that you have in the game, now then perhaps I'll dust it off and start playing as it does look like a good game but I can't seem to get my head around it

[zakblood]

ask any question you like, there's always someone on to answer it, and yes, all the testers, me included are to blame for the tutorial or lack of a better one so sorry for that, as when we put the time in, without a manual btw, none of it even thought it was needed or wanted and as it takes about the same amount of time doing it, as it does a battle etc, nobody thought it was needed until it got asked for on here, the manual, is excellent but playing teachers you more than any amount of reading, well it does for me, so on hindsight, it's something that needs to be done better on the next one now it's been asked for some many times[:(]

if any of the testers had the time or inkling, i'm sure one of us could knock together a half decent one in a couple of days[&:]

it's not like most war games i've tested or played before either, as you don't have 100% control, at times it feels you have even less than that, but that's the fun and good part as it does portray the battles included as a kind of mist etc, not FOW etc, but lack of overall command, is the key to how the games is better than most out there, as you're never 100% sure even if a command will or won't be done, 9 out of 10 times it doesn't matter, as they do something, but not always where or what you wanted it or them to do or go either.

lack or overall command or control and the inability to be 100% sure any unit will do as asked, as key to the design and makes playing on any level a challenge but saying that, it goes the same way for the AI as well, which also has the same faults or flaws, and for the time, when riders gave orders or signals etc or flags, over some distance or sometimes closer for that matter, the orders don't get carried out.

firing is the hardest for most to master, as you have no or little control on what they fire at, it's their choice, the unit at the time no matter that you wish for, if they feel something else is better or closer or easier even, they do that, which at times frustrates the hell out of you and your overall plans, but once you understand the concept, you agree with it, as in the day on the battle, units almost always did there own thing, with a general given an overall command, it was each unit to chose what and where and how to do it.