DingBat
Posts: 106
Joined: 11/16/2015 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: jwarrenw13 I was a beta tester, and from the start it gave me that original Squad Leader board game feel, more than any other computer game I've played, and I've played a lot, really since the beginning, since Pong. It is not overly complex, but the basics of fire and maneuver apply to the game, just like SL. The scenarios are small compared to many games, and they are short. You can play from either side and the AI does a good job. Depending on how fast you play, 30-60 minutes for a scenario would be my guess. There was great improvement in the AI during the beta period. Yobowargames was very responsive during beta testing and worked extremely hard on honing the AI. As with all such games, the AI plays better on defense, but it now can give you a challenge on offense. The AI can now, for example take Pegagus Bridge as the British in that scenario, something it could not do when I became a tester. If you want the elegant Squad Leader feeling without layers of complexity, you will like this game. Edit. To address some criticisms: 1. Lack of a zoom. I've lobbied for the full board zoom from the start, along with other testers. I think it is coming. 2. Music and sound effects. There are varied opinions on the music and game sound effects. I don't like them, but then I play nearly all games with the sound off anyway. 3. Undo button. In this game I think an undo button gives the player an unfair advantage. I became a more careful player after getting bitten by the lack of an undo button, but I think it serves a good purpose not having one. 4. Cheating AI dice. I've also noted a complaint that the AI gets better dice rolls. I've played dozens of games. It evens out. The AI does not cheat on the dice as far as I can tell. I've lost when I thought I should have won and won when I thought I should have lost. 5. Fixed starting positions. I have no problem with that. You as the leader find yourself with a mission and troops on the ground, sometimes in contact, sometimes not. You have your mission and a time limit. If on the defensive, your setup is probably already near optimum. If on the offensive, your "setup" is the time it takes you to move your troops to their jumping off point. I often take 1-2 turns when on the offense just to set up my attack. James was a fantastic help during playtesting. I think its safe to say that it would be extremely difficult for us NOT to have gotten the message wrt zoom. It's coming, it's just a matter of when. Cheers, /bruce
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