|
Missouri_Rebel -> RE: Tigers on the Hunt Features (11/28/2015 3:41:36 AM)
|
Color me very curious.
There is no doubt the basis for the look and style of TotH being attributed to the earlier successful boardgame Squad Leader. Comparing the two will certainly be a constant. And how couldn't it be? Gamers have been clamoring to play SL/ASL for years. That eventuality may yet still occur one day depending how the rights holders future assets are arranged. But, and its a big but, this game can not be it. The threat of lawsuits demand it. Then again, it doesn't have to be.
So where will TotH reside? IMO it'll take its place among other squad based tactical boardgame feeling products in its attempt to be ASL-esque while trying to be just different enough to carve its own niche. Recent titles that have represented current boardgames converted to computer include Conflict of Heroes, Lock and Load, Heroes of Nomandie etc. Those titles did their best trying to mimic systems already in place with CoH initially deviating from the base game to the displeasure of more than a few players. Subsequent patches brought it more in line to the physical game. IMO LnL was a very well made game although the spotting rules turned off numerous gamers. Imo, LnL has fantastic production values concerning counter art, map graphics, small special effects, and on screen die rolls. Not sure about HoN, it being too limited focus to push me enough to purchase it. The videos I've seen though show some great immersion effects added to things from the simple act of picking up and selecting units to explosive counter animations. Little things that this genre of games are in dire need of. In this day and age a simple clicking noise leaves me wanting.
Squad battles was on the other end since it didn't have an existing boardgame to follow and port. That certainly has the benefit of not alienating long time players of a more established following. World in Flames is a great example of a dedicated base of fans and the struggles of trying to port such a project. So imo TotH will fall more along the lines of Squad Battles where there are ample similarities with ASL but no rigid reason to not veer the game where they wanted it to go. The problem with SB is it is too generic. Way too bland imo where there wasnt enough individuality to the units. You seen one unit (or possibly two) you've nearly seen them all. Between that and a relic of an UI there is just too much lacking for any kind of interest from me in years.
So what do I know of TotH? Almost nothing at this point. After looking at the 3 screenshots on the product page a few obvious things right now are:
1) The map look and scale is similar to ASL. That's a good thing. I want it to resemble what I know and love. I see Paved Roads, Dirt Roads, Wooden Buildings, Stone Buildings (do units have to exit and reenter adjacent hexes in the same building icon? If so can DC be used to breech the hexside/'wall'?), Shellholes (not sure if they are dynamic), various types of vegetation i.e. Woods, Light Woods, Orchards, Grain/Corn, Trenches, Rubble (and what looks like building rubble that may be dynamic? Not sure why there appears to be two different types). So far so good.
2) Units in the screen reveal more than what the product page tells of the many types of units. It also shows that there must be varying experience levels. That is good news and will create more variations throughout. Whats also evident are the way counters change to reflect situations in game as evidence by the Wounded counters, what I think might be Out of Command, and also the stacking of carried support weapons. Good things.
What the screens also reveal is that there are no hexdots. That leads me to believe that Line of Sight will be drawn from hex to hex and that the type of terrain in the hex will hinder or block los. I would have liked there to be hexdots for more accurate los modeling. Instead of tracing a line through a hex where a stone building in that hex may not block los to a unit somewhere beyond it, Im led to believe that merely a line drawn into the entire hex will block los. I guess that has to be the case just to allow map making in the editor as anything other than full hex los and blocking would require too robust of an editor and, for that matter, in game los code.
What that also means is that there is no possibility of Bypass Movement. For those that dont know what bypass movement is, its the ability to move 'through' a hex without paying the full cost of the terrain in the hex by moving along the hexsides. i.e through a hex containing a building. Not a game breaker by any means but, imo, it was one of the best features ever added to a boardgame that really made movement and los in SL/ASL ahead of its time and more realistic. Oh well.
Getting back to the unit a couple other points need to be talked about. Before that I must say that the counter artwork looks excellent so far. Where it falls short is in 2 areas;
1)Since the vehicles are side profiles and not top down there is no facing changes of the counters except for the arrows (too small I might add). I would have much preferred a top down and rotating view for the counters. Looks much better and easily relays the info more clearly.
2) More importantly and one thing I hope gets changed is the lack of stats on the counters.
My biggest fear, especially since I havent seen any of the UI, is that the game mechanics, stats, and various die modifiers will remain unseen and under the hood. IMO this would be a HUGE shortcoming. As a game that obviously goes out of its way to virtually simulate a tabletop game, one of the most important aspect to those types of players is to see ALL the stats in game. That would of course include counter stats.
For some of my thoughts on stats and the UI in general I have to acknowledge that this area in this genre of gaming is the one that needs the most attention. Why are wargames so slow to evolve? Even current games from Matrix use outdated and in many occasions clunky UI's. Too much clicking. Hidden info. Single color, spreadsheet style stats pages etc. Just so yesteryear. With all the effort involved in making a game its such a shame that more of that development time is not devoted to better UI's.
Below is my shameless dream UI for TotH.
1) Clear stats being displayed on the counters and on screen display of modifiers on the board as one traces los, if it is in fact visibly traced by the player
2) A combat resolution popup/screen that shows every modifier being applied with line shaded rows for clarity
3) Visible die rolls. Loved this in LnL. CoH had it although in a more crude form. Toggle turns it off for those that think it a distraction.
4) In game access to the manual ala World in Flames and others
5) User defined delays for information popups across the game.
6) Easily available Charts and Tables. What would be great would be the ability to see the charts on the fly with the needed die roll highlighted in the chart itself.
7) A fully functioning OOB like Command Ops 2 has.
8) Visual display of player interaction with the counters. Take a look at HoN for a good example
9) Visualization and animation of counters as they are hit (and possibly missed)
As an example look what Lock and Load Publishing is developing and how nice some of these features would look in other games.
https://youtu.be/fxd9LrR_a8k
Now the combat animations may be over the top for many but imo that UI looks fantastic. There is a visible display as the pointer moves highlighting hexes along the way. Units expand when clicked. Rolls made on screen(much too fast imo) sound effects. etc. I feel very immersed when watching that. These guys are thinking outside the box for sure. Look at some videos of Heroes of Normandie. I love the production value they bring to the game and they too are forward thinking in relation to in game immersion. Its very bleeding edge even if the game is just too small for a guy like me. Kudos to them. Will they ever make it a larger game with bigger maps and more units? Not sure. Id buy it right away if it wasn't such a short time scale game with a rush it forward feel from what I read.
Ive rambled on long enough. In conclusion I am very excited about the chance to play a game that clearly draws much of its inspiration from a venerable favorite of mine. So my expectations are pretty high. So will my disappointment be im sure. Yet, there are many small things that add up to a bigger package that would make this an instant classic. Do the developers have it in them to make it so? Time will tell. I do however wish them the best.
mo reb
|
|
|
|
