GoodGuy
Posts: 1506
Joined: 5/17/2006
From: Cologne, Germany
Status: offline
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Well, I started to play CC when the very first installment was released, and I bought all the sequels as well, except for the last one (CC 4 or 5? heck i can't remember - which was the last "original" one? ), and I had a lot of fun playing 'em, since they almost played like a "real" RTS (like Command and Conquer, etc), and even better - this series offered a really realistic approach regarding armor strength/penetration, suppression and morale/fatigue.
I didn't get COI as i thought it would "just" be a collection of mods and tweaks (dunno if that judgement was correct) and I didn't think a full price would be justified.
Anyway, when the first CC was released, I wasn't impressed with CC's cumbersome menu (as it wasn't like doing a single click [activate] and point [direct, go to] thing like in RTS games), but the implemented shortcuts made up for that, halfway.
Also, back then, i wasn't impressed with the movement, like let's say one of my tanks (with a regular rotatable turret) had spotted an enemy tank, it would not rotate the tank accurately (means it was jerky/choppy) in order to turn the (heavily armored) front of the vehicle towards the selected target, to have maximum protection.
To top it all, the gun kept flipping back for a sec, means it started to turn towards the enemy, but when the driver started to turn the vehicle, the gun swung back to the original spot it was pointing at, sometimes 45 degrees or even more. It shouldn't be like that. Let's say the tank makes a 90 degree turn to the left side to face a target, the gun should turn to the left with the same speed, or even faster if the turret is being turned as well.
Ok, back to the present.  I bought CC WaR, especially since some of the maps/towns look like the real historical locations (I'm not sure how much time was invested to research them), and, since I live in Germany, close to the Eifel (a 1-hour-ride by car), where the Ardennes offensive had its FUP, I know quite some locations, maps and aerial photos.
So i thought it'd be fun to see how the armored units in the game would handle the rough terrain.
CC WaR still does these things I described above, though. Even worse, tanks don't turn their front towards enemy tanks anymore (correct me if i am wrong, but i think the original series did that at one or another point)
Pathfinding
- The pathfinding still has some flaws. I'm not totally sure, but i tend to think that it wasn't such a hassle in the original installments to make vehicles cross a bridge:
Vehicles: If you issue a single "move" or "move fast"-order and if you place that marker/waypoint at a point behind the bridge (without setting a path using several waypoints), the waypoint will be canceled, often, accompanied by a msg like "I can't go there". If you're lucky, after several attempts (since the waypoints keep being deleted), a given vehicle will move to the middle of the bridge, at least, if you put the waypoint right ON the bridge. Then you have to issue another order to get the particular unit off the bridge. If you are using multiple waypoints, you get better results, but only if the segments are put correctly (mostly placed on the middle of the road). Sometimes, it takes up to 20 mins to move a column of 6 tanks across a bridge.
That's a real hassle. I thought I wouldn't have to dance with these kinda issues after all these years, oh well, to err is human.
Waypoints:
- The waypoint-system is a cool feature, I can't remember whether it was part of one of the original installments or not. Thing is, let's say you want to drag/move one of your tank's existing waypoints, the whole set of waypoints will be deleted if another friendly vehicle moves/resides right under one of these waypoints. Cumbersome, unnecessary, frustrating... that should be addressed.
Also, there seems to be a limit regarding the number of waypoints, but i couldn't find anything about that in the manual. Setting more than around 15 (?) waypoints would result in the whole set of points being deleted. There should be at least a system message/warning thingy to tell the player about the limit.
Other than that, the maps are nice, the motor/car pool as well (haven't seen Tigers or KingTigers in the game yet, though. Are there any?). If the game would feature realistic sizes of vehicles (compared to the size of inf/soldiers), the game would be even more fun. There's nothing like a KingTiger tank being drawn in original size blocking and defending some narrow alley in a small town. Also, it would be cool to have some cobble-stone roads in small towns, where a KingTiger, in combat movement (turning, accelerating all the time), would turn these roads into rubble and sink in, due to its weight.
Oh and yes, I'd appreciate a Zoom function on the strategic screen too, as mentioned by others.
Oh 1 more thing...
- I don't seem to get what the COMMAND button does (next to the NEXT button, on the strategic screen. Let's say i didn't save and I hit this button accidentally, will i loose game progress, as it brings you back to the save game selection screen?
< Message edited by GoodGuy -- 11/1/2008 4:54:57 AM >
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December 22nd, 1944
Bastogne
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Tim Stone
8th of August, 2006
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