Difficulty of game (Full Version)

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demyansk -> Difficulty of game (11/24/2016 9:54:36 AM)

This game has intrigued me. I played Harpoon back in the 1990's.

My question

How hard is this game for a brand new player?

Are tutorials adequate?

Thanks



Cik -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/24/2016 10:40:19 AM)

if you jump right into the biggest scenarios where you have to manage the order of battle of a country or five, it's not easy.

luckily there are a bunch of much smaller scenarios to start out with that are still fun.

the built-in tutorials don't cover everything, but if you use the ones provided you will get the basics of air ops / ship ops in a few hours, especially if you are familiar with the concepts from other sources.



AlGrant -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/24/2016 10:47:17 AM)

Command is a definite step up from Harpoon, but if you've played that they you'll certainly understand what the game is all about, even if you're not sure how to make it happen.

Sounds obvious but the best place is to start off with the tutorials, they'll get you through the basics and beyond.
I'd avoid the bigger scenarios until you've done ALL of the tutorials and then a few of the smaller ones.



ultradave -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/24/2016 10:54:43 AM)

Agree with the above. There are lots of smaller scenarios, especially in the downloadable user created scenarios, and people create new ones all the time. Play LOTS of the smaller ones so you can focus on a manageable amount of assets and get used to the mechanics.

If you've played Harpoon, I think you'll actually feel at home. CMANO is a bit of Harpoon on steroids and updated. Many of the concepts and mechanics will seem pretty familiar. That being said, the complexity level and detail is a big step above Harpoon (IMO).

There is a ton of information on line to help. Baloogan's site, many many youtube videos that will demonstrate concepts and after action reports. There is lots of help. And also, this forum, which has some of the most involved, knowledgable and helpful people of any that I've been on. You'll always get good answers, and in many cases I find, get an education about real life capabilities.

Dive in. The water is fine! :-)



ColonelMolerat -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/24/2016 1:43:28 PM)

Before CMANO, I'd only played Naval War: Arctic Circle (very similar, but much much simpler). I'd not played Harpoon or similar.

I found CMANO easy enough to jump into - I had to learn quite a bit, but I didn't feel 'stuck' or clueless like I have in some other games.



kevinkins -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/24/2016 3:32:18 PM)

Never played Harpoon. Did keep abreast of trends in modern warfare over the years. I would say if you go through the tutorials, and use the editor to experiment with them, you should gain confidence within a week or two. The editor allows you to learn pretty quickly how the different systems work and work together since the tutorials are good starting points. Just remember to use save-as to avoid overwriting the original file. You will notice we all reco those YouTube videos.

Kevin



mikkey -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/24/2016 8:21:24 PM)

As mentioned before, an excellent source for beginners is Baloogan site and YouTube channel. Other interesting information can be found in *** NEW PLAYERS - READ HERE *** thead.



Sybaris -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/25/2016 1:40:32 AM)

If you got well versed in symbology, weapons, tactics and units through Harpoon then your greatest difficulty will probably be learning the new interface.



demyansk -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/25/2016 11:37:18 AM)

Thanks guys for the replies, I just bought a 1070 card and then I will download.



Cik -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/25/2016 1:58:50 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Sybaris

If you got well versed in symbology, weapons, tactics and units through Harpoon then your greatest difficulty will probably be learning the new interface.


yeah. nice things about sims is that as long as the ones you are familiar with model reality well enough, picking up new ones is just adapting yourself to the interface; everything else should work mostly the same. even sims that have very little in common (flight sims vs. command for instance)

if you know how aircraft work in combat, wrapping your head around air combat in command just involves observing a few combats and figuring out how to give orders.



stolypin -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/26/2016 5:31:29 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: demjansk

This game has intrigued me. I played Harpoon back in the 1990's.

My question

How hard is this game for a brand new player?

Are tutorials adequate?

Thanks


Here's what I posted to Grogheads a while back:

Old guy here.  There are a lot of newer games that I struggle to learn (e.g. Grigsby's War in the East/West, AGEOD's newer titles, Graviteam's stuff).  Rather than spend the time and effort to learn something new, I find myself constantly firing up Steel Panthers, TOAW, or a Tiller title -- systems I learned 10-20 years ago. 

But I made a New Year's resolution this year to learn Command.  And I have been pleasantly surprised at how well the system has clicked with me.  I'm not sure if it's because of the number of excellent videos on Command which I spent time watching (e.g. Baloogan's) or the good forums devoted to the game, but, for whatever reason, learning Command was nowhere near the chore that I thought it would be. 



wodin -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/26/2016 6:28:25 PM)

MY severe lack of knowledge on modern weapons and defensive systems are a major reason why I've stayed away from CMANO



Cik -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/26/2016 6:33:34 PM)

it's not so bad. most scenarios stick steadily to one time period, so you'll only have to worry about a decade and change in either direction, and wikipedia is generally pretty helpful. (at least, you will know what sort of guidance the weapon uses and other very general facts)

you can compartmentalize easily enough; stick to one time period and one set of units (surface, undersea, air) and learn them one at a time. then once you feel confident you can branch out.

it's a fun game



magi -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/26/2016 7:02:29 PM)

i am a dyslexic with a bought high school diploma.... its no problem.. just evolves some time... as there is considerable depth and flexibility in the game...



fvianello -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/26/2016 8:40:28 PM)

I must say that last decade scenarios are full of surprises for me ("Whoa, a submarine with cruise missiles! And what the hell is that Air strike loadout?")



Peter66 -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/28/2016 10:25:34 AM)

I was a stubborn idiot and skipped the tutorials. My advice? Don't be like me. Do the tutorials because even if you are familiar with weapon systems and unit types, it gives you information on tactics; something I was overlooking.

However I find that my favourite part of Command is in fact learning. There's something for every kind of enthusiast in Command. The difficulty then is how hard you make it as the editor can allow 1v1 to learn all the way up to user made scenario's of huge proportions.



Bert Blitzkrieg -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/29/2016 10:59:30 AM)

I bought this game late last year, but I'm still very much a blundering novice. Played the tutorials (except the airattack one) but still felt out of my depth. Although I eventually managed the submarine tutorial I couldn't figure out why and how my submarine was discovered and sunk in the first attempts.
Since then I have started to play the scenario's which are low in complexity. So not too much units. And that helps to get a better understanding of the game. And don't forget Baloogan's Youtube tutorials!!



Primarchx -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/29/2016 4:23:10 PM)

The biggest challenge is getting the basics down. The good news is that there are many scenarios that offer experience in a particular facet of air and naval warfare, so you can pick an area of interest, learn, and move on. The great thing about Command is mastering the game. There are many nuances that you can pick up on that make the game better and better, especially since the design team is still hard at work providing more and more realism all the time.



SeaQueen -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/29/2016 4:44:32 PM)

I don't think it's that bad.

I've heard Command sometimes referred to as "death by options," which is unflattering, but not necessarily untrue. In the beginning you probably won't use most of them, though. Instead you'll start off relying on defaults. Eventually you'll start monkeying with things like, "I don't want my fighters to mess with helicopters, I want them to focus on bombers and 5th gen aircraft." All the options allow you to really sculpt the AI's behavior and intelligently manage increasingly large scenarios.

I think the best way to learn it is to work through the tutorials, but then focus on the things that are really interesting to you and make your own small scenarios, then branch out from there.


quote:

ORIGINAL: demjansk
How hard is this game for a brand new player?

Are tutorials adequate?

Thanks




mikmykWS -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/29/2016 5:00:17 PM)

The options were all requested by the community. We know they can look intimidating at first sight but hopefully users will get a sense of the power they have once they use them.

Mike



Primarchx -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/29/2016 5:04:08 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: SeaQueen

I don't think it's that bad.

I've heard Command sometimes referred to as "death by options," which is unflattering, but not necessarily untrue. In the beginning you probably won't use most of them, though. Instead you'll start off relying on defaults. Eventually you'll start monkeying with things like, "I don't want my fighters to mess with helicopters, I want them to focus on bombers and 5th gen aircraft." All the options allow you to really sculpt the AI's behavior and intelligently manage increasingly large scenarios.

I think the best way to learn it is to work through the tutorials, but then focus on the things that are really interesting to you and make your own small scenarios, then branch out from there.


IMHO, the options are part of the Mastering the Game part of Command. You can start out with the defaults but as you become more sophisticated and look under the hood at what's available to you it becomes apparent that a very high-fidelity experience is there for when you want it or are ready for it.



SeaQueen -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/29/2016 7:22:05 PM)

At this point, I live and die by the options.

If I set up a fighter sweep near an enemy aircraft carrier, do I care about the ASW helos? Personally, no. I'm doing the sweep to take out their defensive fighters so my strike packages are more likely to get through. Having the options in the WRA menu to say, "no, don't go after helos, don't go after cruise missiles, just focus on the fighters," is perfect. The tutorials, though, are mostly focused on just getting people managing an individual platforms weapons, sensors and movement.

Huuuum... maybe there needs to be a fairly deep mission editor tutorial?





quote:

ORIGINAL: mikmyk
The options were all requested by the community. We know they can look intimidating at first sight but hopefully users will get a sense of the power they have once they use them.




mikmykWS -> RE: Difficulty of game (11/29/2016 8:37:07 PM)

Sure added to my list.

Mike



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