Kizsam
Posts: 9
Joined: 7/27/2004
Status: offline
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Hello people!
I have been around these forums from time to time over the years, mostly to find out some info about Pac War. However, this is the first time I have taken the time to register and post. (Don't want to wear my two little fingers out by posting.) 
I have been a passionate wargamer for many many years, I started out with board wargame like European Theater of Operations and Pacific Theater of Operations. In recent years (15years or so ) I bought a computer and proceeded to buy every and any "War" game I could get my grubby little hands on. That's not to say I have played them all, far from it most likely. Anyway, about three weeks ago I found myself with heaps of time (on holidays) and not much to do. So I boot up my PC and decide to have a go at Panzer General 2, a game which I had previously collected dust on my bookshelf after at least two unsuccessful attempts to "get into it". Two scenarios into the grand campaign was all I could take, too simplistic and too small. So then I thought "hey, how about the monster Barbarossa scenario for TOAW". I promptly headed over to warfareHQ to look for the said scenario. A few minutes later I had found it and whilst going over the scenario notes I remembered that it was not set up for AI, being too big and too complex for it to cope, which left one option...PBEM...which was too much down time for my appetite at that particular time. Besides I had this niggling feeling that I needed something more, I wanted a grand strategy wargame rather than an operational or tactical level game. So I started thinking; Star Wars Rebellion... BAH!; War in Russia...Never ever figured this one out (GG's Pac War being the prime reason)  ; Pac War...been at least two years since I have played that and it is a bitch to play, I would have to learn all over again. I thought "hey!, they were making a newer version of that" (Been at least two years since I had been here) I figured waltz on over here and see what was going on. To my utmost delight and great deal of excitement, I discovered that it was released and available for download! (yeah, this is getting a bit longwinded and pointless, but this is my introduction so bear with me, I will get to the point, after which you will be flat out getting two words out of me. ) So I grabbed the credit card, purchased a copy and proceeded to download the game (CD to come by post). Two hours into the download my PC locks up, Grrrr. Reboot and try again, two hours and 45 minutes later the download completes! WOOHOO...burn a backup copy...install...crank it up...Fatal error: 722...WTF! I stuffed about trying to figure it out, nothing works.  I figure, maybe a file was corrupted during download, so off I toddle and start the download again...three hours later... install...Fatal error: 722.  The next day I think , perhaps the game does not like my video card or something... I take the burnt copy and try to install it on my wifes PC, her CD rom proceeds to chuck a wobbly (It's and old 24x that has stuck with her PC through many upgrades but which does not like to read burnt CDs ). Half way through pulling the cases apart (I am getting desperate) so I could put one of my CD ROMs in her case and install the game my wife walks in...
Wife: What are you doing?
Me: Putting one of my CD ROMS into your PC so I can install this game, because your CD ROM won't read the burnt CDs.
Wife: Why won't mine read it?
Me: Because it's old...(no idea really, just my guess  )
Wife: Why haven't you put a new one in?
Me: because this one works just fine...(big hole in my argument here )
Wife: How much are CD ROMs? ( anything more then twelve months old is past it's use-by-date in my wife opinion )
An hour later I have a her sparkly new CD ROM installed ( and she has a big sparkle in her eye ) and War in the Pacific installed ... kick start the game... Fatal error: 722... Grrrrrrrrrrr
I get on the web and try to get some support from Matrixgames...click support link, scroll down, click Tech support... blank page! OMG!
Check the downloads section for a patch...Nada!
Next step, send an e-mail with all relevent information to Matrix support (I have an address from the e-mail they sent me when I purchesed the game). Then I sit down to wait...do an odd job..check e-mails...pace...sit...check email...so on and so forth.
Wife: who is this company?
Me: they are a small group of people who make war games.
Wife: And you can't buy the game in a shop?
Me: No... they are a small company who make war games for a small group of people.
Wife: You've been ripped off!
Me: No I haven't. They have been around for a while now and I have known about this game for a few years. And that's too elaborate to be a hoax.
Wife:
Two days later Tech support link still dead and no reply to my e-mail. I am getting desperate. I had not been completly idle these past two days either. I had read every post in the "Tech support for gamers by gamers forum" to see if anyone else had experienced this "Fatal error: 722" and if they had found a way to fix it.....nothing. The majority of posts were about other games entirely, the few that were about Witp were simple little problems anyway, nothing like my "Fatal error: 722". What the hell would a gamer know about this problem anyway? So I resigned myself to my fate and decided it was time to post on the forums and see if by some miracle someone could help me out (I really don't have a problem posting on a public forum, I am not some paranoid scitzofrenic or anything, it's just that in my experience someone has already asked the question and some other person has answered it... and I prefer to read then to type ). So I give my two fingers a bit of a warm up and proceed to the forums. On my way into the "Tech support for gamers by gamers" forum I think, there are only what? three posts about Witp in there, why not cut straight to the chase and post it in the Witp forums? Clickety click and in I go...Sub Forums!  OMG! WAR IN THE PACIFIC SUPPORT!..My heart stopped!...Clickety click and in I go...at the top of the forum...Top: [FAQ] Interim Update: Fix for Fatal Error 772 and Tutorial Crash I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  My next thought...
So between slapping myself around the head and telling myself what a ****ing idiot I was and jumping up and down for joy, I downloaded the patch. I installed it and, holding my breath, kick-started the game. Woop! Woop! Woooop! Away she went, didn't miss a beat.
Now your all probably thinking "what a fool" . Well in my own defense I must say, I didn't think to look beyond "Tech support for gamers by gamers". They have a Tech support forum and then a tech support sub-forum, who would have thought?(Yeah, Yeah, I know, you all would have ). I didn't get a reply to my email and the Tech suport forum link was dead (fixed now btw). My thinking went something like this... small company...can't afford to have proper tech support so they set up a forum and let the gamers help themselves, with a little imput from the tech guys from time to time. After all, doesn't the manual say to go to the forums if you have any problems?
Anyway, enough of amusing you (or boring you) with my little dilemma.
The reason I crawled out of my little hole to post here is because I agree wholeheartedly with some of the things that have been said in this thread. I have spent the better part of three weeks playing or learning to play Witp. First off, let me say it is a huge improvement on pac war. The game looks great and the and detail and scope have me drooling. Perhaps because I have played pac war in the past it was easy for me to get a grip on the workings of the game. As far as setting up task forces and sending troops to XX,XX destination, giving planes orders and whatnot, I have no problems. Making a task force to carry 15000 load points of troops on APs...no sweat. However, trying to find the ships you are after in a list a mile long is a bit of a pain (no biggie), but if extra filters could be put in place that would be great. Something like the selection/deselection in the auto-convoy screen except insted of toggling yes or no, it makes the selected types of ship/LCU/plane appear or disapear from the list. I can live without this but it would be nice. Someone mention having the scroll bar only cycle down one page, when you click it on the blank part (not the arrows or the slider, the bit in between) instead of going to the point in the list corresponding to where on the scroll bar you clicked. This would be a nice alternative, or possibly both could be done ( I have no idea if any of this is possible without too much effort and recoding...).
Being able to minimise base screens etc would make thing easier. Having to close a screen check the map, reopen the screen is cumbersome and it is something I seem to have to do quite alot which amplifies the issue. Furthermore, the database and LCU lists etc do not remember where you were when you closed the screen which makes the aforementioned problem into a nightmare. Perhaps this will decrease with familairarity though. At the moment though I find myself dreading the thought of having to close a screen just to have a look to see the units location or whatnot.
The combat animations screen covers the hexes which contain the troops/ship/planes that are fighting. As it is I believe that the hex in which combat takes place is centered, although I am not entirely sure. I would like to see a system in place where the combat hex is offset to the left of the combat animation screen so that you can see it and get a better point of reference.
The Sigint and OP screens need some help. As far as I am concerned , they may as well not even be part of the game. I never use it, and I never will as they stand now. Someone tell me where hex 76,89 is without looking at the map? Pretty much says it all... Perhaps the sigint and OP screens can be cut in half vertically , so we can see the map, and set the XX,XX co-ord so you can just click it and zoom you straight there without having to close the respective screens.
Well that's my 2 cents worth, would be nice if it happened, but I am not holding my breath.
Happy wargaming people.
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