playable yet? Part II

Empires in Arms is the computer version of Australian Design Group classic board game. Empires in Arms is a seven player game of grand strategy set during the Napoleonic period of 1805-1815. The unit scale is corps level with full diplomatic options

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bresh
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by bresh »

A couple of the items I think the game lacks on the pbm part.

Most is mentioned before.

A better secure way for battles, both land and naval, the "reload is to fragile, and leaves unwanted questionmarks on players, if someone has to reload their file because of some bug, or other mysterious reason".


I would like to see options, where you can say no to "1 corps-defend quick battles, ",
In a battle i might select 1 chit to defend vs 1 corps. but another vs 2+, this gives a bad effect on gamebalance.

Naval battles, like break blockade box, or naval battles, should require fileexchange to.
I seen someone break out of a blockade they had less than 5% chance of, on first and only try.

Dice rolls, should always be hidden till casulties need to be taken. (Dont know when outflank/guard commitment show-rolls in battles)

As the system works:
1. the attacker selects chit,
2. then defender (and the defender sees rolls and dice, but why ???)
Each round.
3. Attacker takes casulties
4. The defender takes casulties.

This way the defender/attacker wont be able to somehow cheat the system.

Lend forces, should still be able to be attacked by their "enemies", again currently its for the players to houserule this.

Btw the reload feature is this only land or also naval-phase ?

Regards
Bresh
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borner
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by borner »

the thing is still bug ridden. in two games in recent weeks, the Russian transport fleet, and the corps it was carrying disappeared, as did the Danish corps once it marched to Hamburg. I guess some players do not mind such minor issues when they play.   Marshall, with respect, why in the heck is Matrix looking at changing the naval system and such when things such as this keep coming up. It's been over a yer now, and there are still such basic bugs appearing in games.
bresh
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by bresh »

ORIGINAL: borner

the thing is still bug ridden. in two games in recent weeks, the Russian transport fleet, and the corps it was carrying disappeared, as did the Danish corps once it marched to Hamburg. I guess some players do not mind such minor issues when they play.   Marshall, with respect, why in the heck is Matrix looking at changing the naval system and such when things such as this keep coming up. It's been over a yer now, and there are still such basic bugs appearing in games.

Ouch, though do you use the official 1.05 patch or the unofficial 1.06 ?
Pbm games should only use the official patches, the new-ones often reveal new bugs, and can stop/ruin games.

Regards
Bresh
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Mardonius
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by Mardonius »

Bresh's policy is wise. Don't use unofficial patches for PBEM. Bugs always appear.
"Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant" -- James Madison
"Yes, you will win most battles, but if you loose to me you will loose oh so badly that it causes me pain (chortle) just to think of it" - P. Khan
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borner
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by borner »

Yes, regular updates only, no beta
Tanan Fujiwara
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by Tanan Fujiwara »

NO
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borner
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by borner »

Well, now a game has a problem where Russia loans fleets to GB. Russia and Fr show them as loaned, but GB does not have control. Please, can the powers that be stop trying to figure out how to change things such as naval builds and combat, and put everything into getting these bugs fixed. It has been over a year already, and these issues still come up. With respect to the work that has been put into this game, it must be considered a failure at this point. This was advertised as a finished product when released, not a beta version.
mr.godo
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by mr.godo »

Seems more like someone's hobby than a developing product. 
Mr. Godó
NeverMan
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by NeverMan »

Yes, Mr. Godo it seems that way.

Well, it's been well over a year since this game has been out and there are still many game stopping bugs.

I think it's fair to say that Matrix Games totally screwed the pooch on this one and that I HIGHLY doubt this game will ever get to the place where game stopping/changing bugs don't exist.

There was another poster who said that it seems there is a fundamental problem in the code design of this game/engine and I think this is a very accurate statement, which is the reason these game stopping/changing bugs will probably never end.
pzgndr
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by pzgndr »

I think it's fair to say that Matrix Games totally screwed the pooch on this one

Fair enough, for what has happened in the past.
and that I HIGHLY doubt this game will ever get to the place where game stopping/changing bugs don't exist.

There was another poster who said that it seems there is a fundamental problem in the code design of this game/engine and I think this is a very accurate statement, which is the reason these game stopping/changing bugs will probably never end.

I disagree about the future prognosis. I am doubtful things will be resolved in the "near future" at the rate this game has been moving along but optimistic they will eventually be resolved. As for the purely speculative comments about the code design, nobody really knows except Marshall and this isn't worth a whit arguing about at this point. Unless you prefer to wait many more years for a different product?? Personally I prefer to help nurse this one along and get it done, however long it takes.

For those who are continue to be so negative about this game after all this time and appear firmly decided that it is unplayable and never will be playable, it is pure insanity to keep on beating a dead horse and whining about it. [:-]
Bill Macon
Empires in Arms Developer
Strategic Command Developer
NeverMan
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by NeverMan »

ORIGINAL: pzgndr
Personally I prefer to help nurse this one along and get it done, however long it takes.

I guess the point of my last post was to question if indeed it is possible to "nurse this one along and get it done". I am definitely questioning this. For every bug solved there is at least 1 more that pops up..

I honestly do hope this game gets done and comes along, it would be nice to spend my hours playing this game not wondering if the game was cheating me of PP or VP or corps or factors or territory or alliances, etc... and not wondering if the next move I make will halt the game for days or weeks or how long it will set us back.
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Marshall Ellis
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by Marshall Ellis »

Hey guys:

I don't think we're getting enough testing time currently. I may have to let a version cook a little longer at this point which I hate but it seems that when I release a BETA right now that it just isn't ready. This is nothing against the testers since I may be rushing this at this point. This would explain the fix and break theory which I tend to agree with at this point. I should probably also make future patches somewhat smaller. 1.06 is the biggest code change so far! The problem with bugs seeming to come back is that it is frustrating BUT it's not always the same cause. It is frequently different issues with the asame symptoms / results (For what it's worth).
Thank you

Marshall Ellis
Outflank Strategy War Games


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borner
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by borner »

Hery pz!! how about current events??? a comment from a player in another game I am in is attached below.
 
This idiot game.  The Austrian land phase works, but then it goes to the
land combat phase and does not recognize that I'm involved.  It just opens
looking for a land combat file.  I'd like to draw and quarter the designer
at this point.
NeverMan
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by NeverMan »

ORIGINAL: borner

Hery pz!! how about current events??? a comment from a player in another game I am in is attached below.

This idiot game.  The Austrian land phase works, but then it goes to the
land combat phase and does not recognize that I'm involved.  It just opens
looking for a land combat file.  I'd like to draw and quarter the designer
at this point.

That is a bit extreme.

Personally, I blame MatrixGames much more than I blame Marshall. Marshall is just the developer tasked (or asked) with the job and I have no doubt he is doing the absolute best he can.

For a project of this size MatrixGames should have and could have done more or at least made sure the project got into the hands of a more experienced developer (no offense Marshall).
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borner
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by borner »

I agree, on all counts, and the comment i am sure was toung in cheek, but it bring up a good point. The game is still not playable, as bugs derail the flow of the game or bring things to a halt multiple times.
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Marshall Ellis
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by Marshall Ellis »


I take no offense Neverman. I think the basic problem is that we tried to make this more than it should have been. We added where we shouldn't have then didn't add what we should have! I'll take the blame because much of this was me. I cannot blame Matrix here. Could we have had more developers? Sure. Could we have done things differently? Sure. The PBEM system is the real headache and I hear you guys. I'm hoping that 1.06 will address much of this!
Thank you

Marshall Ellis
Outflank Strategy War Games


pzgndr
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by pzgndr »

Hery pz!! how about current events???

My recent comment was about the future direction. I won't argue about the current situation, which remains problematic. But I remain optimistic that issues can and will be resolved. To see some comments posted that issues cannot and will not be resolved, and that the game will never be playable, well that warrants a rebuttal. In my opinion.
Bill Macon
Empires in Arms Developer
Strategic Command Developer
lavisj
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by lavisj »

Well, I came here after over a year to see if the game was finally off unofficial "beta" status.... it is not. So I will continue to wait.
What I am surprised at though is that the game is still being advertised and sold as a finished fully functioning product while everythings I read here today make me believe that it is still in test and major adjustment status. This I think is a major issue from a commercial standpoint.
 
I will check again in a few month. Keep up the good work.
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borner
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by borner »

There has been talk and talk for a year about the quality of this product, and i will admit to be one of the move negative voices on this forum about things. People going back and forth at each other and the game for the problems. Good players that bought the game quitting saying they will be back when things work. Ect. The question I have now is what is the cause of all these bugs beleived ot be, and where are things in regards to a realistic timeframe to get a playable product? This is not a finished product, but has the makings of a good game, but now what i would expect a beta test version to be.
lavisj
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RE: playable yet? Part II

Post by lavisj »

The main problem for me, with this whole story, is not that the game is still not working as it should, it is the fact that Matrix is charging 70 dollars to sell a game that is by the admission of its developers is not yet finished. Based on the fact that this is clearly false and misleading advertising, that matrix has been unwilling to provide refunds to customers even though the product did not match advertised specs .... this makes me very wary of Matrix in general, and it is clear that I will never buy any of their product until the community at large has given its stamp of approval.... and magazine review obviously do not matter here. For exemple, even though I am waiting for MWIF with expectation, it is clear that I will not buy the game upon release... but instead will wait to see if it delivers, because obviously this company does not have a good track record on that level.
The only redeeming factor is that the developers are trying to fix the game (for now) even though it would probably not increase their sales even if they manage to suceed.
ok... rant over. I will leave the developers to do their work now.
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