Never act on initiative

Close Combat - Cross of Iron is based on Atomic Games award Winning Close Combat Series. Close Combat is a real time game were you take command of German or Soviet squads on the Eastern Front during World War II. This version is being developed by CSO Simtek and will include many new features and improvements.
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CaptRio
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Never act on initiative

Post by CaptRio »

Do you guys play with this option ON or OFF?

What would this option influence the general gameplay experience?
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Muzrub
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RE: Never act on initiative

Post by Muzrub »

Havent tried that one- but when playing as the Germans I make the Russians always follow orders, it seems to make them more agressive and stops their tanks from doing circle work.

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Harvester
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RE: Never act on initiative

Post by Harvester »

Hi,

Still very new to the game but when I play with soldier initiative active my soldiers will begin to advance towards objectives when they aren't under a commanders influence sphere.
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Louis Jones
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RE: Never act on initiative

Post by Louis Jones »

Your troops will indeed start to act on their own after a few minutes of static play. Particularly if there is action going on somewhere else.Or a vlc location near by.
It is important to re-command your troops to ambush or defend every few minutes if they are outside of a commanders radius.
Find the radius by pressing space bar.
They're acting own there on is usually followed by the audio cue "Bailing Out" and the visual cue of smoke [;)]
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Korzun
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RE: Never act on initiative

Post by Korzun »

ORIGINAL: Muzrub

Havent tried that one- but when playing as the Germans I make the Russians always follow orders, it seems to make them more agressive and stops their tanks from doing circle work.


I would agree. Got "outflanked" by the AI on the first map of the Grand Campaign "Fugers Östliche Wut" when the tanks came in from two directions to my Scorpion Vorposten. I fled *sigh*[8|]
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vonB
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RE: Never act on initiative

Post by vonB »

Your troops will indeed start to act on their own after a few minutes of static play. Particularly if there is action going on somewhere else.Or a vlc location near by.
It is important to re-command your troops to ambush or defend every few minutes if they are outside of a commanders radius.
All your Teams and Units are responding to the battle, whether you have given them any commands or not.  You have to keep an eye on your battle group, or...
 
 They're acting own there on is usually followed by the audio cue "Bailing Out" and the visual cue of smoke [;)]
.. this can be too often the result!
 
A common mistake I used to make was to deploy an HMG Team to guard a particular sector of the map.  THe theory being that it will spot incoming and powerful enough to keep infantry suppressed enough if I needed time to get support to them.  Then I focused elsewhere on the battlefield.  At some time the HMG Team would pack up and start advancing on thier own initiative, either to blow thier cover or get nailed by something nasty!
 
Moral of the story?  Keep an eye on all your Teams and Units regularly, or suffer the consequences.
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squadleader_id
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RE: Never act on initiative

Post by squadleader_id »

Turn it off for your troops for the realistic battle experience [:D]
But if you're playing against the AI...experiment with turning it on for the AI.
AFAIK the AI will perform better with "initiative" off, "always obey orders" on.
You certainly want to turn AI "initiative" off if the AI's defending and you're attacking, otherwise the AI will not stay put and tend to attack instead of staying in their defensive posts. But since in CoI the scenarios are a mix of offense and defense, just experience on what works best.
Comrade_Blabsky
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RE: Never act on initiative

Post by Comrade_Blabsky »

The game is designed to respond to the individual soldier's morale, and anything less is a handicap one way or the other.  If the AI always obeys orders, then it sends more teams to slaughter that would have retained a few members to refit.  The AI loses experienced units at a much higher rate.  Turning initiative off spoils the different abilities of more experienced troops to move to intercept the enemy or join a fight where they could reinforce, so the AI is ultimately more vulnerable.  The massed infantry attacks are fun to gun down, but further removing CC from simulation to game.
 
An important reminder on command units---apparently, Cross of Iron integrates a need for command and control more than TRF.  Units on ambush will stay put for a much longer time if in command radius.  And they will act more cohesively, using initiative, in a firefight alongside other units all under a command radius.
 
 
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vonB
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RE: Never act on initiative

Post by vonB »

An important reminder on command units---apparently, Cross of Iron integrates a need for command and control more than TRF.
That's a definate, and was included with the AI adjustments in development.  The 'need' for Command Units has always been there anyway, but it is a more sensitive issue in CoI.  For example, I have noticed an increase in Prisoners taken, and that goes for both sides.  I also now tend to have 1 more Command Team that I would usually have done with CC3.
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squadleader_id
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RE: Never act on initiative

Post by squadleader_id »

The AI in CC is not that sophisticated...eventhough there are some AI tweaks in CoI (and the AI in CC3 is not as bad as CC4-5)...giving the AI an advantage will usually lead to a more enjoyable gaming experience. At least now the AI attacks when it's supposed to and put up a bit of a defensive fight when needed.
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