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Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 6:17:07 AM

general_solomon

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ok guys I would like open this for us to discuss gameplay and other thoughts.

for me, i love the snow. it brings another level of immersion. especially the snow animation? can you set the animation to heavy snow?

a job well done and congrats to devs and matrix for standing behind this product.

< Message edited by general_solomon -- 5/7/2011 6:19:03 AM >

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 6:28:02 AM

junk2drive

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Weather is added to the scenario xml after completion. The scenario designer can adjust the density and speed and other things.

Edit: Rick is correct, the map xml has the weather info.

< Message edited by junk2drive -- 5/7/2011 6:50:54 AM >

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 6:35:39 AM

Jacko

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First impression. The game looks smashing. I'll have to learn to play it yet, but I LOVE the looks of it! Well done, guys. To a golden future!

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 6:43:28 AM

rickier65

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quote:

ORIGINAL: general_solomon

..... can you set the animation to heavy snow?

a job well done and congrats to devs and matrix for standing behind this product.

That is a medium snow if I recall. There is a 'stock' light snow, and heavy snow. But you can also make your own snow texture to suit your taste. And as Paul pointed out, you can also change the wind speed and direction, and volume too. You can even adjust it so the snow changes direction. Those are all map specific.

Glad you like the snow, it is kind of hard to show in a screen shot.

Thanks,
rick

< Message edited by Rick -- 5/7/2011 6:46:49 AM >

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 6:49:23 AM

general_solomon

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Rick

quote:

ORIGINAL: general_solomon

..... can you set the animation to heavy snow?

a job well done and congrats to devs and matrix for standing behind this product.

That is a medium snow if I recall. There is a 'stock' light snow, and heavy snow. But you can also make your own snow texture to suit your taste. And as Paul pointed out, you can also change the wind speed and direction, and volume too. You can even adjust it so the snow changes direction.

Glad you like the snow, it is kind of hard to show in a screen shot.

Thanks,
rick

that is awesome news. for a ostfront game to not have snow is just really not much fun. when the scenario loaded i was like what the hell is up with those dots, i thought it was game bug. then when i hit the start action button, it was like a "ohh no you didnt" moment.

forgot to mention that i am glad you kept the " dan dan dan, dan dan dan tada dan" for those not familiar, its the music that plays when the game loads to the main menu.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 7:05:19 AM

Mad Russian

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All the Eastfront games I've ever played had snow in them. If they had winter. What they don't have is snow actually falling. Or that you can set the rate of snow fall or the LOS parameters with it.

PCO has a full range of weather for rain, fog and snow.

Good Hunting.

MR

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 7:45:28 AM

general_solomon

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Mad Russian

All the Eastfront games I've ever played had snow in them. If they had winter. What they don't have is snow actually falling. Or that you can set the rate of snow fall or the LOS parameters with it.

PCO has a full range of weather for rain, fog and snow.

Good Hunting.

MR

I cant wait to get my hands on the full game. you guys have done a great job. cant wait to see where your going to take it now.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 8:58:51 AM

Noypi53

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Downloading demo now!

Sorry if this question has already been asked: Will the final game version be a stand alone game or does PC:Winterstorm have to be installed?

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 9:16:20 AM

Jacko

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I've just killed some T-34/85s with one of my Jagdpanzer IVs. Awesome. My other Jagdpanzer was finished off by a IL-2, which is less awesome. I like the feel of this game, although it takes some getting used to. And guys....this game looks much better than I expected!

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 9:23:50 AM

Mad Russian

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Noypi53

Downloading demo now!

Sorry if this question has already been asked: Will the final game version be a stand alone game or does PC:Winterstorm have to be installed?

It will be a stand alone game.

Good Hunting.

MR

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 11:06:11 AM

L�tzow

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Well, I dislike the platoon focus. Otherwise it would be a safe purchase for me.

Frankly, I don't get why everybody thinks he has to reinvent the wheel, instead of just delivering a CM redux with better graphics. Achtung Panzer suffered from the clumsy interface, for new Combat mission titles right-click control got removed, and Panzer Command doesn't let me control single vehicles.

/edit: missed the point that one can issue orders to sub-units. Will give the demo another run.

< Message edited by L�tzow -- 5/7/2011 2:41:20 PM >

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 12:11:41 PM

Rik81

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Actually, it DOES let you control single vehicles.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 12:27:23 PM

HintJ

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There are a few unexpected, pleasant surprises.

The camera finally hugs the ground as I move around at level 1. I try to stay exclusively at level 1 when navigating around the map, and this really helps.

Bino view is better. If I press "1" from bino view, I get a look-around 3rd person view. I'm not quite sure what "2" and "3" are for from that view, though.

Every improvement pretty much works as advertised. Its pretty damn good, and I can't wait for the main game.

Here is a criticism: There's too much grass in the demo. Way too much! Yes, we all know PCO now has grass (and I think this is a good thing), but you've overdone it, like putting too much salt, pepper, or hot sauce on food. It absolutely kills my computer performance. I remove the grass (backspace key) and PCO is silky smooth. To be honest, I am playing this game on an older laptop.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 12:55:09 PM

Jacko

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If you computer can't handle it, grass perhaps isn't a good thing, but I like it. It looks superb and gives my troops the perfect cover when they need it.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 1:20:05 PM

Erik Rutins

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quote:

ORIGINAL: L�tzow
Frankly, I don't get why everybody thinks he has to reinvent the wheel, instead of just delivering a CM redux with better graphics. Achtung Panzer suffered from the clumsy interface, for new Combat mission titles right-click control got removed, and Panzer Command doesn't let me control single vehicles.

Hi L�tzow,

You can give orders to individual vehicles. If you want maximum flexibility, use the Engage base order for the platoon and then assign your sub-orders however you want.

With that said, we are planning an overhaul of the orders system for the next release, to include a more straightforward orders mode for those who prefer the CM style and don't want the command layer.

Regards,

- Erik

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 1:22:18 PM

Erik Rutins

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quote:

ORIGINAL: HintJ
Here is a criticism: There's too much grass in the demo. Way too much! Yes, we all know PCO now has grass (and I think this is a good thing), but you've overdone it, like putting too much salt, pepper, or hot sauce on food. It absolutely kills my computer performance. I remove the grass (backspace key) and PCO is silky smooth. To be honest, I am playing this game on an older laptop.

Grass is pretty well optimized for modern systems with recent graphics cards, but it's definitely an option I would turn off on older systems, along with Shadows. We tried to make sure that PCO would still run on every system that could run Winterstorm and Kharkov, which includes some very old hardware. However, you can't have all the new bells and whistles and smooth performance if you are on the low end of the system specs.

Regards,

- Erik

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 1:35:20 PM

Grim.Reaper

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

quote:

ORIGINAL: L�tzow
Frankly, I don't get why everybody thinks he has to reinvent the wheel, instead of just delivering a CM redux with better graphics. Achtung Panzer suffered from the clumsy interface, for new Combat mission titles right-click control got removed, and Panzer Command doesn't let me control single vehicles.

Hi L�tzow,

You can give orders to individual vehicles. If you want maximum flexibility, use the Engage base order for the platoon and then assign your sub-orders however you want.

With that said, we are planning an overhaul of the orders system for the next release, to include a more straightforward orders mode for those who prefer the CM style and don't want the command layer.

Regards,

- Erik

Next release? Entirely new game or a patch to PC:O ?

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 1:42:42 PM

Erik Rutins

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That will be in the next major release. We are also planning some expansions to Ostfront and there will also be post-release updates based on the feedback we get on the full release.

Regards,

- Erik

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 1:46:05 PM

Jacko

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Let me compliment you on the demo. Excellent choice, good variety of vehicles, nice map. I was already planning on buying this game, but now my mind is made up entirely. I also noticed it is possible to place tank wrecks before the battle, something I was waiting for. It makes the battlefield look so much better.

< Message edited by Jacko -- 5/7/2011 2:06:24 PM >

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 2:20:52 PM

Grim.Reaper

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

That will be in the next major release. We are also planning some expansions to Ostfront and there will also be post-release updates based on the feedback we get on the full release.

Regards,

- Erik

Thanks Erik. Sounds great that you plan to build on this game with expansions and other full blown releases. Too bad you could not surprise us today and release the full game today :)

< Message edited by Grim.Reaper -- 5/7/2011 2:21:50 PM >

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 2:29:37 PM

junk2drive

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Jacko

Let me compliment you on the demo. Excellent choice, good variety of vehicles, nice map. I was already planning on buying this game, but now my mind is made up entirely. I also noticed it is possible to place tank wrecks before the battle, something I was waiting for. It makes the battlefield look so much better.

In the NR scenario, not only is there a wrecked T60, but it has added smoke/flame, and ambient sound of the fire.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 2:38:54 PM

diablo1

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quote:

Here is a criticism: There's too much grass in the demo.

Nooooo?! Don't tell me there's too much grass? No way! Why they spent 3 years putting all that grass into this game surely it's not too much?

I forget now who got the credits as lead designer on "grass"?

Kudos to whoever came up with the idea of animated snowing.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 2:40:11 PM

diablo1

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quote:

Too bad you could not surprise us today and release the full game today :)

My goodness some of youse guys are soooooooooo greedy. Give you a candy bar and you want milk too.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 3:05:53 PM

Jacko

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quote:

ORIGINAL: junk2drive

In the NR scenario, not only is there a wrecked T60, but it has added smoke/flame, and ambient sound of the fire.

There is also a wrecked T-34. Not burning. And a wreck of a Stuka. The T60 isn't burning either though, is it?

< Message edited by Jacko -- 5/7/2011 3:06:59 PM >

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 3:14:25 PM

junk2drive

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Start demo. Pick NR as Russians. Setup then Orders. No smoke, no fire. Not on the building either. WTH? Did we leave it out?

Turns out you have to be in playback to see it and hear it. There is a building in the middle of the village that is on fire too.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 3:21:48 PM

Mad Russian

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Yes, smoke, fire and sound do not work during the orders phase. Only when the game is actually playing.

Diablo1 - grass was the last thing added not the first. It took us about 2 months to work in all the grass. Nowhere near 3 years. Sorry, it was all the other content that took the 3 years.

Like falling snow.

Grass and weather took about the same amount of time to implement. The difference being there are a lot more scenarios with grass in them than there are with falling snow.

Good Hunting.

MR

< Message edited by Mad Russian -- 5/7/2011 3:43:43 PM >

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 3:44:24 PM

TheGreatRadish

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Oh boy, the demo really makes me want the full game. Fortunately, not long to go

The tutorial turned out completely different for me than it did in the guide - I lost 2 tanks almost as soon as they emerged from behind the trees, taken out by the AT guns at the end of the road. Good fun though. I haven't had time to play the other scenario yet but the game 'feels' good.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 4:04:53 PM

general_solomon

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Eric, I love the grass as it really changes the maps and gameplay. do not remove because most people do have better riggs with over 1gig video cards.

i play this game with the highest graphics possible.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 4:11:14 PM

general_solomon

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Eric, on the next release please focus on more eye candy and overhauling the infantry graphics.

i know it should not be important from a gaming standpoint but it sure adds to gamplay and immersion as you have to watch the sceen for hours. might as well have good graphics if at possible.

I have said this before, the grass and weather are awesome and really changes the feel of the game and i thank the team for taking the time to code the weather system.

what also would be cool is to have different levels of snow on the ground.

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RE: Demo first Impressions - 5/7/2011 4:16:39 PM

benpark

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quote:

ORIGINAL: diablo1

quote:

Here is a criticism: There's too much grass in the demo.

Nooooo?! Don't tell me there's too much grass? No way! Why they spent 3 years putting all that grass into this game surely it's not too much? I forget now who got the credits as lead designer on "grass"?

Kudos to whoever came up with the idea of animated snowing.

We all worked on getting the grass right. It greatly improves the infantry, in that it keeps them from being spotted immediately. When the maps were completely flat (in Pz:Command Kharkov), this wasn't the case. This isn't a case where we were simply making things look better.

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