Looking for more information

Ask, comment, read.
AgentZigzag
Newcomer
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:03 am

Looking for more information

Unread postby AgentZigzag » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:29 am

Hi guys

I found this site from the Kotaku article a while back and am very interested in the game. Only thing is that I'm not one to spend £25 on a game I know very little about. I like the concept very much and what I have read sounds really interesting but for the price I feel like I need a little more information.

Are there any videos about other than the little trailer? Ideally I'd love a demo but I realise that is a big ask for an independent developer.

I'd just love to support this game and you guys, I just would like to see a little more "hands-on" material about the game before spending £25.

Peace,
ZZ

User avatar
Tomislav Uzelac
2x2 Games
Posts: 2211
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:24 pm
Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Re: Looking for more information

Unread postby Tomislav Uzelac » Wed Nov 16, 2011 2:03 pm

Hi ZigZag,

we're working on transfering some of the AARs (After Action Reports) and possibly other stuff created by testers from the private forum to public. These should be up shortly. If there are testers reading, you are welcome to select some of your posts and re-post them as public yourselves.

Two of ComradeP's AARs are already available on matrix games forums, you might want to check that out.

Also, this might be interesting to you: http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=3237


Cheers,

Tomislav

RadioactiveMan
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2011 4:46 pm

Re: Looking for more information

Unread postby RadioactiveMan » Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:58 pm

I was part of the beta test, and I can provide my opinion here:

This is a great game. If you enjoy turn-based strategy, I would say it is absolutely worth the pricetag. I find the graphics and interface to be clean and accessible. Every aspect of the game is either directly displayed all the time, or is one click or mouse tool tip away. In spite of this, once you've learned the interface, it does not feel cluttered in my opinion.

The game play emphasizes using the proper units for the proper roles. Although there are only a few basic unit types, they are modified by nationality, experience, and attached specialists. For example, the difference in combat effectiveness between a veteran German SS division with armor support and a green motorized Italian infantry division is vast. However, your veteran SS division will get butchered just as readily as the Italians if they get cut off and cornered on the wrong side of a river. The scenarios often do a very good job of presenting you with a variety of units, many of which are only suitable for certain roles. Not all your troops are going to be able to lead a flanking maneuver or defend that critical river crossing. The AI is very good, and will ruthlessly exploit any unit mismatches it can find. That being said, the scenarios are designed to be completable with the troops you have, although the method for doing this is not always immediately apparent. That's where the fun bit is- You have to devise a strategy to utilize what you have to achieve your goals. Its quite fun, and some of the smaller scenarios can play out almost like a puzzle. In the larger scenarios, the slightly randomized nature of combat and weather mean that no two playthroughs will come out the same.

Gameplay also emphasizes the role of suppply. Having troops in supply increases their combat effectiveness and movement rate. Units that are cut off from supply for too many turns become an easy target. Preserving your own supply is critical for victory, and cutting off the enemy supply is often very helpful. Supply is modified by terrain and weather, in a manner that makes sense to me and provides some added complexity. For instance, rivers will limit your ability to resupply troops, unless you build a bridge across them. Rain will diminish the range over which you are able to resupply. The weather changes randomly, so its hard to predict how much it will influence your operations in any given scenario. The supply mechanic in the game provides a great opportunities for piercing or flanking, encirclement, and threatening of supply lines. As I understand, this was a big part of the real Eastern Front of WWII, and I think it is modeled nicely here.

So. I would say the interesting variations in units and the supply mechanic are two of the best things about the gameplay. Other points to make: 1) The AI is almost always excellent, 2) the Russian and German sides play quite differently, 3)terrain provides a neat mechanic without dominating the gameplay, 4)there is a nice range of scenarios, and 5) the most desirable victory conditions are difficult to achieve, and this helps make scenario replayability quite high.

Things are not entirely rosy, however. A few gripes: 1) There is, currently, no Undo button. Sometimes, you just wish you had one! During the beta this was brought up, and it sounds like the Developers are thinking about adding it. 2) I find the gameplay slightly Over-Destructive. To explain: at the beginning of a scenario, the map might be covered in units. But by the end, almost all of these units will have been completely destroyed- at least on my opponents side, if I am winning :) The simplest path to victory is often to destroy everything in sight. This is somewhat unrealistic, in my opinion. Destroying divisions entirely is perhaps too easy. 3) As a related problem- the campaigns lack any carryover of unit experience, casualties, or specialist attachments. This is unfortunate, but I can understand why it is difficult to implement.

To conclude this long and ramble-y post: There is a lot about this game that is great. I recommend that you purchase it. Fundamentally, the gameplay mechanics and interface are very solid. The game has been thoughtfully produced, to a high degree of polish, and with an eye for both playability and historical fidelity. There is room to add more options, and more scenarios, but hopefully these things will be added if the game sells well.

Imperial Dane
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 72
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:12 pm

Re: Looking for more information

Unread postby Imperial Dane » Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:58 pm

I can only echo Radioactive man's words. This game is great :D And yeah, the bit about destructability and empty battlefields by the end is true. Then again, if there was some way for troops to recover. The battlefield might get cluttered and the flow of the game lost. But i suppose i could imagine a system of cohesion were some divisions might find their way together or more Ad-hoc formations could be formed in the form of March battalions or kampfgruppen i suppose.

User avatar
Tomislav Uzelac
2x2 Games
Posts: 2211
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:24 pm
Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Re: Looking for more information

Unread postby Tomislav Uzelac » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:21 pm

@RadioactiveMan, @Imperial Dane... we will in fact add the undo button for sure. Turns out, it's the most sought-after feature in this first wave of feedback post relese. Kind of reminds of the situation we had with the tooltips in the beta test. ;)

The issue of "destructiveness" is something to be chewed on in the long term. First of all, these "destroyed" units do not mean every last soldier is KIA, it's just that the unit stops being an effective fighting formation. In that respect, playing e.g. Case Blue creates a perfectly plausible result. Soviet units dissolved in chaos there, which is really the same as being destroyed in the "game language".

The other thing is that, since there is no carry over in the campaign, offensive player lacks the motive to preserve his troops for the future engagements, true. But I don't have an alternative for this atm, and I prefer leaving it like this rather than going for some other (more contrived) scoring/campaign system. Let's think about it some more, maybe something really elegant comes up eventually that we can use to improve this 8-)

User avatar
2xPelin
2x2 Games
Posts: 416
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:12 pm
Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Re: Looking for more information

Unread postby 2xPelin » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:54 pm

Hi AgentZigzag.

Here are some screenshots from our testers.

I will make new post and copy/paste testers comments and impressions so you (and others) get better idea about the game. Link

Meanwhile, you can check out Reviews and other links about UoC.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Imperial Dane
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 72
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:12 pm

Re: Looking for more information

Unread postby Imperial Dane » Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:13 am

Well it's good enough that i made a quick recommendation on my youtube channel to my viewers :) Dunno if that will help your sales though :P

pcaravel
Cadet
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 11:44 am

Re: Looking for more information

Unread postby pcaravel » Fri Dec 02, 2011 11:58 am

Hi everybody.
I'm also looking for more info about the mechanics of the game before buying it. AARs and reviews do give me a general idea about it but don't come close to a demo.
I understand that a demo isn't something that will be available any time soon, but how about a download of the game manual?
It's already in pdf form, (I hope) it provides the info I'm looking for and it won't hurt the promotion of the game if it's freely available.

User avatar
Tomislav Uzelac
2x2 Games
Posts: 2211
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:24 pm
Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Re: Looking for more information

Unread postby Tomislav Uzelac » Fri Dec 02, 2011 3:45 pm

Hello,

did you check out these blog posts?

https://unityofcommand.net/blog/2011/09/ ... in-a-unit/
https://unityofcommand.net/blog/2011/09/ ... he-matter/
https://unityofcommand.net/blog/2011/11/ ... of-supply/

I included some diagrams from the manual there. This should give you some further idea.

We will not be posting the manual as a free download, but if this is indeed the only thing holding you from buying the game, send us an email to info at unityofcommand.net and we'll email you the PDF.

pcaravel
Cadet
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 11:44 am

Re: Looking for more information

Unread postby pcaravel » Fri Dec 02, 2011 5:09 pm

I have never played any "serious" wargame and I would like to start with something not very intimidating at the operational lever of warfare.
To be honest, I'm between "Unity of Command" and "Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris". Being on a tight budget, I can't buy both.
I'm leaning towords UoC, but I'd like to make sure that the mechanics of the game won't be to "heavy" for a rookie.
So, I'll email you for the manual, thanks in advance!