My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete)

My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (Full Version)

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RyanCrierie -> My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (11/2/2008 5:10:59 PM)
Shep's Review of TOAW 3: Part One The Operational Art of War is presently on it's fourth incarnation. The history of the series goes thusly: 1998: The Operational Art of War I: 1939-1955 1999: The Operational Art of War II: Modern Battles 1956-2000 2000: The Operational Art of War: Century of Warfare (This was the "Gold" compilation of the series, and was more than just "let's put all the scenario packs together!" bundle, it did some bug fixes, allowed more complex scenario trees; and actually extended the database out to about 1914~ and had a few World War I scenarios; so it was essentially 1914-2000.) 2006: The Operational Art of War III (Matrix brought the rights to TOAW from the last publisher, and updated it to work on modern computers, removed the annoying copy protection, etc; and added new scenarios, bug fixes, additional features, etc, as well as support for custom databases and graphics for each scenario. It contains all the scenarios from Century of Warfare, as well as a ton of new scenarios done for this release.) TOAW 3 is available from Matrix Games on their website in several forms. Costs are: Download ($39.99 USD, $45.99 AUS, $40.99 CAN, Ł19.99, 27.99 EUR) Physical Shipment plus Download ($49.99 USD, $56.99 AUS, $50.99 CAN, Ł24.99, 34.99 EUR) Digital Download is just that; you get a link to a FTP site to download the installer. Current file size for the v3.012 installer is 223~ MB; that's about: 8h 36m @ 56k 45m on 640kbps DSL, Satellite or Cable 19m on 1.5mbps DSL or Cable Physical Shipment is what it says; a boxed DVD case containing the game and a physical CD. NOTE: Matrix have not updated their installer yet; the current patch is v3.2.29.27; which is a comprehensive update clocking in around at 17 MB. So you've downloaded the game and patch; and you start to install it. You see the standard "Oh hi, this is the TOAW 3 installer", the EULA, etc etc; then you come to the copy protection, which is standard across the Matrix Games Line: [image]local://upfiles/18450/A1E65DBF0B2043BC8310019F8EE7633A.gif[/image] Yes; I know the picture is of the Harpoon CE screen. I don't have the TOAW 3 installer handy on my computer right now. But they're the same. They also ask you for your serial in patches; and update their blacklist of serials which have been "cracked" or released into the wild with each patch. For a niche product like a wargame, this works really well, allowing security for the publisher, and ease of use for the end user. With the Game + the latest patch you get the following scenarios: TOAW 1/2 and Century of Warfare scenarios Balkans 1912 (1st Balkans War) Balkans 1913 (2nd Balkans War) France 1914 Serbia-Galicia 1914 Tannenberg 1914 St. Mihiel 1918 Meuse-Argonne 1918 Nomonhan 1939 France 1940 Greece 1940-1941 Crete 1941 Barbarossa 1941 Smolensk 1941 Crusader 1941 Typhoon 1941 Luzon 1941-1942 Singapore 1942 Kharkov 1942 African Campaign 1942 Malta 1942 Tunisia 1942-1943 South Front 1942 Burma 1942-1943 Kasserine 1943 Attu Island 1943 Kursk 1943 Sicily 1943 Kiska Island 1943 [hypothetical] - This assumes the Japanese did not abandon the Island before the invasion. Italy 1943 Korsun 1944 Overlord 1944 Normandy 1944 Normandy - Rommel 1944 [hypothetical] - What if Rommel had been given total control over dispositions and locations? Cherbourg 1944 St Lo 1944 Cobra 1944 Mortain 1944 Falaise Pocket 1944 Dragoon 1944 Market Garden 1944 Arracourt 1944 Bulge 1944 Iwo Jima 1945 Patton 1945 [hypothetical] - Soviet offensive against the US Third Army from Czechoslovakia, to seize portions of southern Germany. Olympic 1945 [hypothetical] - Invasion of Kyushu Israel 1948 Korea 1950-1951 Chosen 1950 Nghia Lo 1954 - Start of French Indo China War -- Conventional Phase Dien Bien Phu 1954 Fulda 1955 [hypothetical] - Attack by the newly formed Warsaw Pact against NATO forces to seize Frankfurt. Middle East 1956 - “Operation Kadesh”, which was a surprise invasion against Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula. NATO-Warsaw Pact 1962 [hypothetical] - Third World War, triggered by the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuba 1962 [hypothetical] - “Operation Scabbards”, a hypothetical invasion of Cuba by the United States in 1962, triggered by the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ia Drang 1965 Bong Son 1966 Middle East 1967 (Six Day War) Tet Offensive 1968 Vietnam Invasion 1969 [hypothetical] - “Operation Inchon”, a hypothetical US invasion of North Vietnam. Sino-Soviet 1969 [hypothetical] - Soviet Union attack against Chinese forces along the Amur River. Middle East 1973 - Yom Kippur War Fulda 1976 [hypothetical] NATO-Warsaw Pact 1978 [hypothetical] Grenada 1983 Iran-Iraq 1984 - Iranian “Operation Dawn V”, which consisted of human-wave assaults on fortified Iraqi armored units. Germany 1984 [hypothetical] Desert Storm 1991 Kuwait 1991 Kashmir 1999 [hypothetical] - Hypothetical war between India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir province. Yugoslavia 1999 [hypothetical] - Invasion of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by NATO in June, 1999. Korea 1999 [hypothetical] Bulge 2000 [abstract] - This models a massive fictional battle resembling the Battle of the Bulge. Russo-China 2000 [hypothetical] Libya-Egypt 2000 [hypothetical] Hungary-Romania 2000 [hypothetical] - Hypothetical Hungarian war to liberate the Transylvanian region in Romania, taken from Hungary following WWI Middle East 2000 [hypothetical] - Arab Coalition Attack on Israel Seoul 2000 [hypothetical] - North Korean sneak attack towards Seoul. US Civil War 2008 [hypothetical] Pre-20th Century for TOAW 3 - some were fan made, and have been updated to work with the new game Waterloo 1815 Killer Angels 1863 - Gettysburg Campaign This models the Gettysburg Campaign from the American Civil War. This version uses the historical set-up. Killer Angels 1863 - Jackson Variant [hypothetical] - Jackson is presumed not to have been mortally wounded at Chancellorsville. Battle of Adua 1896 - This is a tactical-scale simulation of the humiliating Italian defeat at the hands of hordes of Ethiopian primitives Early 20th Century (WWIish) Double Eagle/Rising Sun 1904-1905 The Great War 1914-1918 Home Before The Leaves Fall 1914 Tannenberg 1914 (Updated version of classic scenario) Serbia-Galicia 1914 (Updated version of classic scenario) Mons 1914 Marne 1914 The Battle on Mount Cer 1914 - This is the decisive battle that foiled the initial Austro-Hungarian offensive against Serbia in the First World War. Forgotten Battles - Lodz 1914 - This scenario is the first of three covering different parts of the Eastern Front campaign in 1914 - the most mobile part of WWI. Forgotten Battles - Komarow 1914 - The second scenario of the series simulates the most interesting part of the battle of Galicia - the Battle of Komarow. Forgotten Battles - Cracow 1914 Gallipoli 1915 Eastern Front 1915 Brusilov 1916 Strafexposition 1916 - Central Powers “Strafexposition” offensive against Italy. Caporetto 1917 - Central Powers successful “Caporetto” offensive against Italy. Cambrai 1917 Kaiserschlacht 1918 Kaiserschlacht 1918 (mini) - Quarter-scale copy of the above scenario. So players can pick whichever scale they prefer – the detailed monster or a small “beer and pretzel” version. Polish-Soviet War 1920 WWII MTO Italian Offensive In Tunisia 1940 [hypothetical] - Italian invasion of Tunisia in 1940. Campaign For North Africa 1940-1943 (Complete Campaign) - This scenario is the first of six covering the Campaign for North Africa from different starting points. Campaign For North Africa 1940D-1943 (O’Connor’s Raid) - Starts with O’Connor’s Raid in December 1940. Campaign For North Africa 1941-1943 (Rommel’s 1st Offensive) - starts with Rommel’s First Offensive in March 1941. Campaign For North Africa 1941N-1943 (Crusader) - starts with the Commonwealth Crusader Offensive in November 1941. Campaign For North Africa 1942-1943 (Gazala) - starts with the Battle of Gazala in May 1942. Campaign For North Africa 1942O-1943 (El Alamein) - starts with the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. North African Campaign 1940-1942 -Entire campaign for North Africa from Graziani’s offensive to the end of 1942. Rommel in North Africa 1941-1942 Italian East Africa 1941 Crete – Operation Merkur 1941 Tobruk 1941 Malta – Operazione C3 1942 [Hypothetical] - Hypothetical Axis invasion of Malta. It includes detailed modeling of the opposing naval forces. Malta - Operation Hercules 1942 [hypothetical] - (Revised Version of Classic Scenario) El Alamein 1942 - Minefields are innovatively modeled using “contaminated” terrain. Operation Torch 1942 Race for Tunis 1942 Last Stand in Africa 1942 Bitter Victory Sicily 1943 Rhodes 1943 Leros 1943 Sicily to Brenner Pass 1943-1945 - monster simulation of the entire Sicily, Italy, and Southern France campaigns. Italian Campaign 1943-1945 Road to Rimini 1944 - British 8th Army’s part of the Allied “Operation Olive” offensive to breach the Gothic Line in Italy. Gothic Line 1944 - The Entire Allied “Operation Olive” offensive to breach the Gothic Line in Italy. WW2 ETO Vesting Holland 1940 Sealion 1940 [hypothetical] Operation Roundup 1943 [hypothetical] - Planned “Operation Roundup” invasion of France in 1943. Two Weeks in Normandy 1944 France 1944 (D-Day) France 1944 (Cobra) Western Front 1944-1945 West Wall Campaign 1944 - 1st and 9th US Armies West Wall Campaign 1944 - 21st British Army Group Holland – A Bridge Too Far 1944 Ardennes 1944 Rundstedt’s Plan Martin 1944 [hypothetical] - This is the “Battle of the Bulge” with a hypothetically maximized German force mix. All German forces that historically could have been made available are employed in the offensive. Operation Nordwind 1945 - This simulates the last German offensive on the Western Front. WW2 Russian Front Fire in the East 1941-1945 - Monster simulation of the entire War in the East, from the start of “Barbarossa” to the fall of Berlin. Soviet Union 1941 - Barbarossa at the beer-and-pretzel scale. Finland 1941 The Road to Moscow 1941 I - Crossing the Border The Road to Moscow 1941 II - The Battle of Smolensk The Road to Moscow 1941 III - Guderian moves south The Road to Moscow 1941 IV – Kiev The Road to Moscow1941 V - Center-Bryansk and Vyasma The Road to Moscow1941 VI - At the Gates The Road to Moscow 1941 VII - Soviet Counteroffensive The Road to Moscow 1941 VIII – What if… [hypothetical] - German continuation to Moscow after Smolensk, instead of the diversion to Kiev. Operation Typhoon 1941 Operation Barbarossa 1941 Operation Blau 1942 Operation Zitadelle 1943 Operation Bagration (To Berlin) 1944 2nd Battle of Kharkov 1942 Sevastopol 1942 Wintergewitter 1942 Stalingrad to Kharkov 1942-1943 Frozen Steppes 1942-1943 -Uranus to 3rd Kharkov Clash of Armor - Kursk 1943 Kursk 1943 (Revised from Classic) Karelian Isthmus 1944 - Soviet 1944 summer offensive to retake the Karelian Isthmus and knock Finland out of the war. Petsamo-Kirkenes 1944 - Soviet autumn 1944 offensive in the Arctic. Hungarian Campaign 1944 WW2 PTO Sino-Japanese War 1937-1945 Burma Campaign 1942-1945 Guadalcanal 1942 Papua-New Guinea 1942 Imphal-Kohima 1944 - Japanese Invasion of India in 1944. Inkangahtawng 1944 - “Merrill’s Marauders” in Burma in 1944. Okinawa 1945 Tarakan 1945 - The costly and needless Australian amphibious invasion of Tarakan. WW2 Misc Fall Grun 1938 [hypothetical] - Britain and France call Hitler’s bluff in Czechslovakia. Europe Aflame 1939-1945 Trotsky’s War 1939-1945 [Hypothetical] - Trotsky takes on the entire west, including Nazi Germany. Fall Weiss 1939 - German invasion of Poland in 1939. Poland 1939 Weserubung 1940 Yugoslavia 1941-1945 Germany 1945 – Last Stand - Beer and Pretzel Scale. Germany 1945 - Race to Berlin - Beer and Pretzel Scale. NATO vs. Warsaw Pact The Next War 1979 [hypothetical] - It starts with a “pre-turn” to allow the Warsaw Pact player to choose between “Tension” and “Sudden War”. Red Thunder 1988 [hypothetical] Global Conflict 1988 [hypothetical] Operation Jutland 1989 [hypothetical] - NATO liberation of a Soviet occupied Denmark. Germany 1990 – North German Plain [hypothetical] Germany 1990 - British Army of the Rhine [hypothetical] Germany 1990 – Southern Germany [hypothetical] Highway to Helsinki 1990 [hypothetical] - Soviet thrust towards the Finnish capital city. Karelian Pine 1990 [hypothetical] - Soviet offensive in Eastern Finland. Nordic Light II 1992 [hypothetical] - Russian invasion of Finland and Sweden in the autumn of 1992. Middle East Six Days of War 1967 West Bank 1967 Sinai 1967 On the Banks of the Suez 1973 Yom Kippur - Golan Heights 1973 Chinese Farm 1973 Lebanon 1982 The Christmas War 2001 [hypothetical] Saddam’s Final Gamble 2003 - Monster simulation of Operation Iraqi Freedom. October Surprise 2004 [hypothetical] - Hypothetical entry of Iran into the Iraq conflict. Next War in Jerusalem 2005 [hypothetical] - Surprise attack on Israel by Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq in October 2005. Israel’s Next War 2006 [hypothetical] Arab/Israeli War Modern Asia Indochina 1951-1954 Campaign for South Vietnam 1965-1975 Boonie Rats 1965-1972 Vietnam 1965-1975 Vietnam 1965 Defense Campaign Part 1 Vietnam 1965 Defense Campaign Part 2 Vietnam 1966 Defense Campaign Part 3 Korea 2005 [hypothetical] Taipei 2015 [hypothetical] - PRC invasion of Taiwan, Part I: Taipei. Kinmen and Matzu Islands 2015 [hypothetical] - PRC invasion of Taiwan, Part II: Kinmen and Matzu Islands. Modern Misc. Walvis Bay 1991 [hypothetical] - A breakdown in the negotiations for Walvis Bay resulted in the Namibian government deciding to take the enclave by force. First Chechen War 1995-1996 Ecuador 1995 [hypothetical] - Historical/hypothetical hybrid of the conflict between Ecuador and Peru in 1995. Jungle theater operations are historical. It also covers a hypothetical Peruvian offensive along the western coastal border, which nearly occurred. Zimbabwe 2003 [hypothetical] - invasion of Zimbabwe by South Africa in an attempt to cause the downfall of Mugabe. Operation Lion de mer 2004 [hypothetical] - conflict between a US/UK coalition and some European Union members. The Second Battle for France 2004 [hypothetical] -conflict between a US/UK coalition against France and other European Allies. Aegean 2004 [hypothetical] - crisis in the summer of 2004 in the Aegean. Greece and Turkey go to war over disputes in the Aegean and Cyprus. Hypothetical Studies Revisionist War 1937 [abstract] - Two fictional forces (Imperialists armed with French period equipment, Leftists armed with Italian and Soviet period equipment) vie for control of a fictional continent. Blitzkrieg 1950 [abstract] - Two fictional forces (Great Blue armed with US period equipment, Big Red armed with Soviet period equipment) vie for control of a fictional continent. Deep Battle 1930 [abstract] - Two fictional forces vie for control of a fictional continent. Similar to the above Blitzkrieg scenario, except set at the dawn of Soviet “Deep Battle” doctrine. Anonymous Heroics [abstract] - Two fictional forces both armed with Soviet equipment circa 1943 vie for battlefield control, with equally balanced forces and terrain.

Toby42 -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (11/2/2008 5:41:48 PM)
You must really like this game to put this together?

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (11/2/2008 6:02:02 PM)
I'm bored, and I need something to keep my mind sane after a on-line RPG I was involved with went pear shaped. And yes, I do like TOAW. It's a pretty damn good game.

Toby42 -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (11/2/2008 6:06:22 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie I'm bored, and I need something to keep my mind sane after a on-line RPG I was involved with went pear shaped. And yes, I do like TOAW. It's a pretty damn good game. How is the AI in the re-done game(s)? I had all of the original ones and if I remember the AI wasn't all that challenging!!

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (11/2/2008 6:10:30 PM)
- AI logic improved (Will now repair bridges, has better pathfinding, will not shift around forces as much for no reason, encircles units better, assaults better; won't send rear echelon units to the front, and computes it's turn faster)

Toby42 -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (11/2/2008 6:19:43 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie - AI logic improved (Will now repair bridges, has better pathfinding, will not shift around forces as much for no reason, encircles units better, assaults better; won't send rear echelon units to the front, and computes it's turn faster) Well, it sounds like they have made improvements! I may have to make a purchase.... I kinda of hoped that Commander Napoleon would work out, but it looks pretty bad for solo play....So, I may have to revisit TOAW. Thanks for the info.

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (11/2/2008 11:04:11 PM)
TOAW Review Part Two Why Should I buy this if I already have Century of Warfare? NOTE: This list assumes a TOAW 3 patched to the latest version. Fixes useful to players - Will now work on more modern PCs, including Windows XP and Vista - You get a lot more scenarios. A LOT more. (149 to be exact). - Improved algorithms to reduce the bookkeeping phase time. - Memory Issues involving memory leaks in general, and specifically crashes under Windows XP Fixed. - AI logic improved (Will now repair bridges, has better pathfinding, will not shift around forces as much for no reason, encircles units better, assaults better; won't send rear echelon units to the front, and computes it's turn faster) - Improved Anti-Armor Combat Model - Nuclear effects are properly scaled per hex size; and receive flanking bonuses, for more collateral damage. - You can now see how far your units can bombard with the DBR feature on. - Three Additional Zoom Levels (Huge, Tiny, and Ultra Tiny) - More Realistic weather patterns. Fixes useful to scenario designers - F4/F5 will now export/import the entire armies, along with formation, units, and objectives in XML format. - Number of available events allowed doubled to 999 - Number of supply points that may be placed in the scenario editor was raised to 99. - Visible AI logic for the selected unit (troubleshooting the AI for your scenarios), and "What would Elmer do?" So What is TOAW? Put simply, TOAW is an operational-level wargame. What's the difference between Tactical, Operational, and Strategic Levels? -Tactical Level - You control the movement of small units, e.g. a a platoon of tanks, at a very close in scale. -Operational Level - You control the movement of large units, e.g battalions or divisions at a medium to large scale. -Strategic Level - You control the movement of large units and make decisions at the highest levels (do we build Panzer IVs instead of Panthers? Do we launch an offensive this Summer?) Put simply, in most TOAW scenarios, you step into the shoes of the commanding General after the units have been allocated and the supplies have been built up. You can't call off the offensive, etc, or say "can we wait six more months?". Okay, so what Scale is TOAW at? This one is really tricky. TOAW is variable-scale. You can select the following scales: Map Scales 2.5 km/hex 5 km/hex 10 km/hex 15 km/hex 20 km/hex 25 km/hex 50 km/hex Time Scales 6 Hours 12 Hours 24 Hours 3.5 days (Half week) 7 days Unit Sizes Squad Platoon Company Battalion Regiment Brigade Division Corps Army It's theoretically possible to play it down at squad/platoon level, but at that scale, the game rules start to get a bit squishy, and generate ahistorical results IMHO. Enough talking, get on to the game! Okay okay. To help demonstrate the game, I'll pick a nice generic abstract scenario; Blitzkrieg 1950, which is an adaptation of the classic Avalon Hill game "Blitzkrieg/Blitzkrieg '75" to the TOAW 3 engine. I'll play as Great Red against the Great Blue computer. From comparing the boardgame map and the in game map, you can see that this is a pretty good recreation of the game map. [image]local://upfiles/18450/E98B9BB2E41742E989AC2EE7C0147B16.jpg[/image]

alazonline -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/2/2009 11:37:01 PM)
Will you continue your review RyanCrierie? I'm really informed of it. Waiting for the next.

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/3/2009 4:33:35 PM)
Sorry for taking so long. Here's the Blitzkreig map in TOAW 3: [image]local://upfiles/18450/30B995BABE4D44A7A18B9D9892A9374A.gif[/image]

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/3/2009 4:54:21 PM)
TOAW Review Part Three, Section One We've loaded up Blitzkrieg 1950; and this is what essentially the game screen looks like: [image]local://upfiles/18450/89BD9A38228A40EDB81ED20AC25E277E.gif[/image] Your screen will no doubt show a LOT more of the map at stnadard zoom; I had to rescale my window down a bit to get within the forum's 200 kb per picture embedding rule.... So here you see the game interface is nothing special. NATO Standard symbology, etc, looks like your traditional wargame with attack/defense ratings, etc. Don't worry about the buttons to the right; they're mostly for setting up map options, zooming in and out, bringing airfields, etc to the top of the map, etc. Most of your work will be done via the mouse and both buttons (Left/Right clicking).

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/3/2009 4:57:29 PM)
TOAW was one of the first wargames to really embrace the Windows 95 context-sensitive menu concept, and this is one reason the design remains playable today, nearly a decade later. In fact, many games still don't have this. Selecting and then right clicking on a unit brings up the unit menu; which is: [image]local://upfiles/18450/96022EF1703F4B8C90C81AE97FE7DCE1.gif[/image] You can see how the non-revelant actions which cannot be executed are greyed out for clarity.

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/3/2009 5:19:23 PM)
Unlike a traditional paper wargame, the attack-defense ratings are an agglomeration of the ratings of the unit's equipment: [image]local://upfiles/18450/4541A814712A410085B2DAE3BC5D49DE.gif[/image] Right now, the 3rd Tank Division for Big Red is at 100% status, with 120 out of 120 authorized T-44s, etc etc. This will change later in the game of course. This also allows for various "tricks" to be used by scenario designers to simulate longer campaigns in the "monster" scenarios. For example, at the beginning of a scenario, a unit might have 0 out of 200 M-26 Pershings assigned; and the Pershings would not be available in the "equipment pool" until a set turn; upon which they would slowly trickle out as replacements to the units.

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/3/2009 5:24:18 PM)
Movement is handled by clicking on a unit, then dragging the cursor over where you want to move it. You can see how an arrow appears, showing how many movement points it would cost to move there. When you've decided which hex you want to move to, you place the cursor over that hex and click on the right mouse button, which brings up this menu. [image]local://upfiles/18450/882122B418864F49AE755A11E14D104E.gif[/image] You can move either a single unit, or a whole stack of units in that hex at once, which makes big scenarios with a lot of units much easier to control.

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/3/2009 7:20:47 PM)
Attacking is handled similarily, you select the unit (or stack of units) that you want to attack with, then drag the cursor over the enemy unit or enemy stack you want to obliterate; and then select which type of attack you want from a pop up menu. You can also plan an attack from multiple angles with air, artillery, and naval support via the "Plan an attack" menu. [image]local://upfiles/18450/10C6950540C34F0B97AE25C974A21C3C.gif[/image] Here, you see how two Infantry divisions and an armored division are assaulting an enemy port defended by a single regiment. They have two air units supporting them in their assault.

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/3/2009 9:36:53 PM)
Once you've planned all your attacks, you click the "END TURN/RESOLVE ALL ATTACKS" button. To speed up gameplay (I am an impatient person), I start TOAW3 with the "-nodelay" argument, which speeds up on-map movement and attacks significantly, and on my computer, the game blows through attack and defend phases and then presents me with an after battle summary for each attack phase I've planned: One of the cool new features to TOAW 3 is the Attrition Divider. It allows you to scale up or down the amount of "fierceness" that occurs during a combat session to match the scale of the scenario being played. It's why I was so slow in putting out the later stages of the review; I kept trying to find a good match for the scale of the game.... You access it in the scenario editor by loading the Force Editor, then going to the EDIT > SET ATTRITION DIVIDER item in the top menu. The default value for TOAW3 is 10; the minimum is 1, and the maximum is 100. Teh effect of the divider is: 1 divider -- 10x losses 2 divider -- 5x losses 5 divider -- 2x losses 10 divider -- 1x losses (DEFAULT) 20 divider -- 0.5x losses 50 divider -- 0.2x losses 100 divider -- 0.1x losses Here, we see that we've successfully destroyed that regiment guarding the port; but have taken some relatively big casualties in doing so: [image]local://upfiles/18450/0DDE3602116D4B29B204AC89A8045FDC.gif[/image] Whoops. Maybe I shouldn't have attacked with so many units.

PnHobbit -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/4/2009 1:20:50 AM)
You are...patient. On the other hand, I'm reading and will continue to read this with interest. Thanks!

leastonh1 -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/4/2009 11:02:08 AM)
Me too, this is fascinating. Please carry on Ryan [:)]

SMK-at-work -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/5/2009 10:58:58 AM)
quote: To speed up gameplay (I am an impatient person), I start TOAW3 with the "-nodelay" argument, which speeds up on-map movement and attacks significantly, and on my computer And just to show that someone else is reading it - what does this mean? Ie how would I go about achieving this?

Curtis Lemay -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/5/2009 3:29:27 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: RyanCrierie One of the cool new features to TOAW 3 is the Attrition Divider. The Attrition Divider is not new to TOAW III. It was in ACOW. Now, the MRPB, on the other hand...

Curtis Lemay -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/5/2009 3:35:32 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: SMK-at-work quote: To speed up gameplay (I am an impatient person), I start TOAW3 with the "-nodelay" argument, which speeds up on-map movement and attacks significantly, and on my computer And just to show that someone else is reading it - what does this mean? Ie how would I go about achieving this? You add it to the command line like in this screenshot: [image]local://upfiles/14086/D0EC14A46AC84B8E8161223DD9A26524.jpg[/image]

Telumar -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/5/2009 10:31:01 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: SMK-at-work quote: To speed up gameplay (I am an impatient person), I start TOAW3 with the "-nodelay" argument, which speeds up on-map movement and attacks significantly, and on my computer And just to show that someone else is reading it - what does this mean? Ie how would I go about achieving this? I use CAPS LOCK.. [:)]

RyanCrierie -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/5/2009 11:44:24 PM)
What does noupdate do?

Telumar -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/6/2009 12:12:33 PM)
From the Opart CW help file (within the TOAW3 directory): quote: noupdate - Useful for debugging scenarios in computer vs. computer play mode, this option turns off many of the screen updates in the game. The effect is most noticeable on slower machines. This option should not be used when playing the game, as some of the updates are necessary for normal play purposes. A combination of nodelay and noupdate can speed computer vs. computer scenario test dramatically. You can, instead of adding a command line switch like in the further above example, set noupdate to Y in the Opart3.ini (within your TOAW3 directory).

ralphtricky -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/7/2009 4:44:05 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Telumar From the Opart CW help file (within the TOAW3 directory): quote: noupdate - Useful for debugging scenarios in computer vs. computer play mode, this option turns off many of the screen updates in the game. The effect is most noticeable on slower machines. This option should not be used when playing the game, as some of the updates are necessary for normal play purposes. A combination of nodelay and noupdate can speed computer vs. computer scenario test dramatically. You can, instead of adding a command line switch like in the further above example, set noupdate to Y in the Opart3.ini (within your TOAW3 directory). Minimizing will also implicitly apply both those flags. The next patch will add the option of creating an autoxxxTzz.sal per turn and a jpg per turn. This is intended to help designers test their scenarios, although it can also be used by people that want to fine-tune their gameplay, or for watching a new scenario to see how Elmer would play both sides.

a white rabbit -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/8/2009 4:17:15 PM)
..a grognard's review ? ..a nothing special, bench-mark game.. ..no bells, no whistles, short on flashing lights and special effects.. ..your move..

a white rabbit -> RE: My Review of TOAW 3 (incomplete) (1/8/2009 4:22:30 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: ralphtrick quote: ORIGINAL: Telumar From the Opart CW help file (within the TOAW3 directory): quote: noupdate - Useful for debugging scenarios in computer vs. computer play mode, this option turns off many of the screen updates in the game. The effect is most noticeable on slower machines. This option should not be used when playing the game, as some of the updates are necessary for normal play purposes. A combination of nodelay and noupdate can speed computer vs. computer scenario test dramatically. You can, instead of adding a command line switch like in the further above example, set noupdate to Y in the Opart3.ini (within your TOAW3 directory). Minimizing will also implicitly apply both those flags. The next patch will add the option of creating an autoxxxTzz.sal per turn and a jpg per turn. This is intended to help designers test their scenarios, although it can also be used by people that want to fine-tune their gameplay, or for watching a new scenario to see how Elmer would play both sides. ..good news... ..now there's just the net-link to give Elmer access to all accessible played games of a given scenario... ..still trying to win Silvanski's war in the East....

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