Likes/Dislikes of Beta Testers

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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> Uncommon Valor - Campaign for the South Pacific >> Likes/Dislikes of Beta Testers

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Likes/Dislikes of Beta Testers - 3/25/2002 10:08:05 PM

WW2'er

Posts: 177
Joined: 4/20/2000
From: East Dundee, IL, USA
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We all know that it is very hard to comment on or get a "feel" for a game that we haven't played and that hasn't even been released to the public yet. So I thought I would ask the Beta Testers to please let us know what they like best about the game and also what they don't like about it.

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not asking anyone to "bash" Uncommon Valor, (I want it, and Matrix as a whole, to be very successful!) but I would appreciate honesty. If you love the maps and graphical representations, praise them! However, if the AI is below your expectations and the only good games you have had is by playing another human via email, then let us know that too.

Perhaps I could ask for 3 Positives and 3 "Needs improvements" from each beta tester???

Thanks!

_____________________________

WW2'er

"That [state] which separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting by fools." � Thucydides, 'The Peloponnesian Wars'

Post #: 1

- 3/26/2002 1:43:36 AM

Snigbert

Posts: 2956
Joined: 1/27/2002
From: Worcester, MA. USA
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Likes:

1. Level of detail

2. Art/Sound/Music give it a nice, appropriate feel

3. Historical accuracy and realism of units, how they behave, how they fight...

I could list more, but I'll keep it down to three. Brevity is the soul of wit, right?

Dislikes:

1. Ground combat could use some fleshing out...more options would be nice. I understand they are working on this for WitP.

2. No LAN play yet

3. AI could be improved (but you could say that about almost any game out there. You wont find a better opponent than another human)

All told, this game really rocks. I'd put it in the top ten wargames I've played in my 17 or so years of gaming. Possibly top five.

I'm not just saying that because Matrix was kind and gracious enough to allow me to beta test. If you're a grognard, you're going to like this game. It's a law of nature or something.
Everyone can find something about a game they don't like, but in this one you're going to have to look a lot harder :)

Just my 2 cents.

(in reply to WW2'er)

Post #: 2

- 3/26/2002 2:57:35 AM

WW2'er

Posts: 177
Joined: 4/20/2000
From: East Dundee, IL, USA
Status: offline

Thanks Snigbert! That helps get an idea of what I'm in for when I play. I appreciate your response.

Others?......Waddayathink?

_____________________________

WW2'er

"That [state] which separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting by fools." � Thucydides, 'The Peloponnesian Wars'

(in reply to WW2'er)

Post #: 3

- 3/26/2002 4:42:41 AM

siRkid

Posts: 6650
Joined: 1/29/2002
From: Orland FL
Status: offline

Well this will sound strange but the thing I love about the game is also the thing that frustrates me the most and that is the level of detail. Examples:
1. I had my bombers set to attack some ground units just before making a land attack. My land attack wiped out the Japs and I gained control of the base. Well I forgot to re-assign my bombers and for 10 turns I could not figure out why they were not attacking. Pay attention to the details.
2. I had several bomber SQs assigned to naval attack and the Jap carriers were in sight and range. My mouth was watering but my bombers would not attack. Well I found out that your SQs will not make suicide runs against heavily defended targets. The Japs had a strong CAP and I had no escorts. No matter how much I jumped up and down the bomber pilots would not throw away their life on the off chance they might get a hit.
3. I am a control freak so I took full control of my subs and assigned them their missions. However, I got so engrossed in a battle for a base that I forgot about them. Well, they stayed on station as ordered even when they ran out of fuel.
4. I landed some engineers at a forward site and quickly built an air base lvl 1. I rushed my fighters in so I could conduct fighter sweeps only to find out that a lvl 1 base can not support that level of operation.

Well the point is the game is so full of detail that I am still learning the ins and outs. My suggestion is to read the manual and keep it beside you while playing the game. If something is not working the way you want it to, look it up you are probably doing something wrong.

Rick

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Post #: 4

- 3/26/2002 11:53:01 PM

FAdmiral

Posts: 378
Joined: 12/20/2002
From: Atlanta,GA, USA
Status: offline

Yes, details,details,details, ya gotta love them & hate them too...

Jim Berg, Sr.

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Post #: 5

- 4/2/2002 6:30:35 AM

kiwi1404

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Joined: 2/12/2002
From: Christchurch, New Zealand
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3. I am a control freak so I took full control of my subs and assigned them their missions. However, I got so engrossed in a battle for a base that I forgot about them. Well, they stayed on station as ordered even when they ran out of fuel.

What happens when a ship/sub runs out of fuel. Is there a default overide which allows the vessel to return to its base port or do they have to be refueled at sea? In the case of subs, is this possible given that there are no sub tenders in the game?

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Post #: 6

- 4/2/2002 8:39:36 AM

siRkid

Posts: 6650
Joined: 1/29/2002
From: Orland FL
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by kiwi1404
[B]
What happens when a ship/sub runs out of fuel. Is there a default overide which allows the vessel to return to its base port or do they have to be refueled at sea? In the case of subs, is this possible given that there are no sub tenders in the game? [/B][/QUOTE]

They slowly make their way back to home port. There are no sub tenders but you can form a replenishment TF and refuel at sea. However, this can be a problem for subs because they are oftene deep in enemy territory.

Rick

(in reply to WW2'er)

Post #: 7

out of fuel ships - 4/2/2002 8:45:37 AM

mogami

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Hi, too bad ships don't just go DIW (dead in water) if they run out of fuel. Make the player pay attention to fuel status and have to hope the sitting ducks can survive intill a refuel or tow comes along. An out of fuel sub would not have much chance. How do they keep moving out of fuel? (rig sails/row?)

_____________________________

I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!

(in reply to WW2'er)

Post #: 8

- 4/2/2002 9:18:25 AM

Ron Saueracker

Posts: 12121
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From: Ottawa, Canada OR Zakynthos Island, Greece
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Any historical examples of ships running out of fuel because the High Command forgot to tell them to come home, it's late and getting dark? I doubt it, and am hoping that a bit of mis-micromanagement will not be allowed to ruin ones game.

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Yammas from The Apo-Tiki Lounge. Future site of WITP AE benders! And then the s--t hit the fan

(in reply to WW2'er)

Post #: 9

- 4/2/2002 9:23:08 AM

mogami

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there are examples of DD's capsizing from being unable to refuel do to weather. (7 in one typhoon off PI late in war) A ship has to move faster then the current in order to steer. When they ran low they did not fill the fuel tanks with sea water because they wanted to do underway replenishments. So they were riding high and top heavy. Halsy kept delaying the un-reps and then was caught by the storm.

_____________________________

I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!

(in reply to WW2'er)

Post #: 10

Re: out of fuel ships - 4/2/2002 9:43:29 AM

siRkid

Posts: 6650
Joined: 1/29/2002
From: Orland FL
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mogami
[B]Hi, too bad ships don't just go DIW (dead in water) if they run out of fuel. Make the player pay attention to fuel status and have to hope the sitting ducks can survive intill a refuel or tow comes along. An out of fuel sub would not have much chance. How do they keep moving out of fuel? (rig sails/row?) [/B][/QUOTE]

Well, they only move one square at a time and it is a very big ocean. Fuel reserve maybe...?

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Post #: 11

- 4/3/2002 12:45:50 AM

byron13

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Joined: 7/27/2001
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No, it's like Jaegermeister says - no real captain is going to stay on station until is fuel bunkers run dry. The exception would be a suicide type mission ala Capt. Rock Torry's suicide search for the Pearl Harbor striking force in "In Harm's Way," but wanting a ship to stay on station until fuel runs out is too uncommon to model in the game. So the captain of the ship returns home on his own initiative when the Dumb A-- Commander in Chief forgets where he left his ships.

If the ship really does return at one hex per turn, that seems like an inordinately steep penalty to me. Seems to me it should stay on station until it has just enough fuel to reach the nearest port, nearest port with fuel, nearest port with anchored ships, or whatever parameter makes sense, and then sets sail for that location at regular cruise or maybe at a slightly reduced speed (to, duh, conserve fuel). But one hex per turn?

Playtesters: What happens after a surface battle when you've got a couple of cripples that need to be escorted to, say, Australia? If I recall in PacWar, the cripples split from the fleet and returned to their home port without escort. Once there, you could form a new task force that included the cripple and a couple of escorts and then send the task force to the U.S. for repair. Thus, the cripple was unescorted from the time it was crippled to the time it reached its home port which, of course, is the most dangerous time. In UV, can I assume that you can (i) create a new task force right after the battle and near the battle area that might comprise of, say, a crippled cruiser and two destroyers, (ii) send it on its way so that the cruiser is escorted from the moment it heads for home, and (iii) leave the rest of the task force of which the cruiser was a part on station to patrol?

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Post #: 12

- 4/3/2002 12:50:38 AM

siRkid

Posts: 6650
Joined: 1/29/2002
From: Orland FL
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by byron13
[B]
Playtesters: What happens after a surface battle when you've got a couple of cripples that need to be escorted to, say, Australia? If I recall in PacWar, the cripples split from the fleet and returned to their home port without escort. Once there, you could form a new task force that included the cripple and a couple of escorts and then send the task force to the U.S. for repair. Thus, the cripple was unescorted from the time it was crippled to the time it reached its home port which, of course, is the most dangerous time. In UV, can I assume that you can (i) create a new task force right after the battle and near the battle area that might comprise of, say, a crippled cruiser and two destroyers, (ii) send it on its way so that the cruiser is escorted from the moment it heads for home, and (iii) leave the rest of the task force of which the cruiser was a part on station to patrol? [/B][/QUOT

Yes you can do all of the above. Your damaged ships repair fire and flood damage enroute and system damage can be repaired in port. For major repairs your ships must be sent back to Pearl.

As for running out of fuel, in UV the number of fleets are not that great and you should be able to keep track of them. For WITP the Beta Testers have requested that the TF commanders request permission to return to port when they are low on fuel and ammo. We will see.

Rick

(in reply to WW2'er)

Post #: 13