Von Rom -> RE: Extrem short AAR of HoI 1.06 (4/22/2004 9:28:31 AM)
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OK, after reading through the HoI forum about the praises on the patched game, I decided to take the plunge. I had bought HoI about 2 years ago. But after its initial disaster, I put the game away. INSTALLATION This is essentially what you need to play HoI properly: 1) Install HoI 2) Install patch v1.06 (27 MB) 3) Install CORE v.08 (27 MB) When you do decide to install these three files be prepared for an 1 1/2 to 2 hour installation time! I kid you not. To say it all installs real sloowww, would be an understatement. While these files are being installed, watch a good movie or have a long supper. INITIAL IMPRESSIONS Is the NEW HoI worth the lengthy install time? In a word, yes. I played as Canada in the 1936 scenario. I basically took a hands off approach to get a feel for the game. Impressions: 1) There are now between 2,500 to 3,000 NEW events using CORE. These provide a rich and detailed world that cover many, many historical events. 2) New counters were designed by fans and CORE uses them. All I can say is they look terrific. I would suggest not using sprites and use the counters instead. Now it feels like a wargame. A few examples (the counters have different colours and use national flags): [img]http://members.rogers.com/eprichard1704/Germany.bmp[/img] [img]http://members.rogers.com/eprichard1704/SouthAmerica.bmp[/img] 3) There are new fortifications, ports and naval bases. 4) CORE presets the pop-ups so only a few actually pop-up now. 5) I am playing on the slowest setting, and although it is continuous time, I have had more than enough time to casually read the events as they appear as well as do all the things I need to do. Plus, you can pause the game at any time. 6) After I had made all the changes to Canada that I wanted, I decided to take a world tour to see what other countries were up to. All I can say is it has been a long, long time since I have been able to scan the entire world in a wargame. And it is a BIG, rich, colourful world. It is dynamic and changing. I visited Ethiopia and arrived in time to see Britain and Italy marching troops into several provinces. I then travelled to Singapore and saw the mighty fortifications and British garrison there. I then went to France and Britain, and saw how they were building their military forces. 7) Although I only played an hour (3 months in game time, bringing me to March, 1936), HoI left a very favourable impression on me. It now feels like a mature wargame. This is what HoI should have been within months of its release. That HoI has attained this level of maturity is due primarily to its dedicated fan base, who have put in hundreds of hours to tweak and test this game. Overall, I am impressed with what I experienced. Granted, I did not play long (it was getting late), but I am anxious to resume my game. As I continue playing I will let you know what my impressions are. I should note that they still have not fixed the tech slider (it keeps popping back to the beginning after every tech selection. A minor annoyance, to be sure, but they have had two years to fix this). Cheers!
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