Dundradal
Posts: 753
Joined: 6/9/2007
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To be honest, what I'd like to see is fairly complex in its simplicity. After having a discussion with another CC fan I thought their ideas were great and should be put out there. Now certainly it would require work, but I think it would also produce the best CC yet. Also, this is in no way a bashing. I would instead call it inspired constructive criticism after a good discussion about CC yesterday.
But before I do that, I'd like to also put a note in for allowing the MMCC3 application to be maximized so the whole strat map could be seen in it as well. It's pretty annoying that you can only enlarge it so much before it gets weird. Now with the servers back up I play fairly often and this drives me batty.
Now back to the main event....
There are more than 10 CC games out now all with their own ups and downs. LSA is no different. Each game has great features and some that we want to blow off the face of the Earth. One has a scenario editor that is absolutely amazing but isn't used in any subsequent game.
I think it's time to move away from the modified/enhanced/etc CC5 engine and instead start from scratch but build towards the CC gaming experience. Build an engine that incorporates the best features from each game. That way you aren't hacking into/onto the CC5 engine which is what I imagine is happening now. Instead of trying to "fix" almost 15 year old code, you could create code more suited for a modern computer. You could code a pathfinding and map routine that doesn't make my hair fall out faster than it already is. You could do a variety of things that I think would not only create a better game, but also a better product. I don't want to sound rude or like an ass, but it's obvious to me that LSA and the other games needed more testing before release. There are some moderate to serious issues that if I had been a tester I would have lodged high level bug reports to get looked at. I will state that I understand Matrix is a small firm with very limited resources, but that can't always be a reason to explain it away.
Clearly LSA and the other re-releases have issues...some serious...some more of annoyances. They are the same issues seen over and over again. I appreciate that you continue to release titles for this franchise, I'd much rather see a solid engine that isn't a patchwork of hacks and code insertions then every few years a new game using the same broken engine (and I will say it's broken...it might run but that doesn't mean it runs well...I'm sure most of us have heard the POS car that only worked if you jiggled the window button, left the radio on 93.7 FM, and pumped the gas). While it might require a bit of money upfront for the labor of coding a new engine (and in the US as with the rest of the world time's are tough, but that doesn't mean they will be forever) the long-term benefits would be greater.
Now do I know what features/options need to be in this engine? Not entirely.
I know a few things that are absolute musts.
Pathfinding
Strategic/Tactical AI
Custom Scenario/Map Editor (and I mean one fully loaded so that modders will literally die with joy...I know there is better one that has fallen by the wayside)
GUI improvements (strat map zoom, etc)
Just for a few.
I hope you guys just don't read it and say "yeah he has some points" and then forget about it. My hope is that you might already be considering (if not already doing) it yourselves and if not, maybe this can light a fire under somebody to start lobbying for it.
So I thank you guys for your hard work and am about to start an hour session of LSA...but you have to realize that this engine has been hacked so much with so many half implemented features it's becoming obese and needs to be put out to pasture.
Thanks again.
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If I could wish for one thing... - 
Not going to happen and it's not a promise that any one of us can or will make. You have to trust that we're taking the ideas seriously and be happy if one of your ideas happens to appear in any possible future releases. 
And we sincerely do appreciate the suggestions. Keep them coming!
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