A lot of stuff missing..

Close Combat: Panthers in the Fog is the first new release (not a re-make of a previous games) in years in the critically acclaimed Close Combat series. It details the desperate German counter-attack at Mortain, the last chance of the Wehrmacht to stave off defeat in Normandy. Can you match the tenacity of the American defenders of Hill 314? Or can you succeed where the Panzers failed, driving through to the sea and changing history? Improved 32-bit graphics and the ability to control more squads than ever bring the Close Combat engine to a new level.
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godsmackrrc
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 8:54 am

A lot of stuff missing..

Post by godsmackrrc »

Hi guys!

i just some things to say about the game, and i was wandering if i'm alone with this opinion or maybe there are others that think the same.
Having been a fan of the series, i had some expectations of the installment. Quite frankly, having played the historic grand campaign, i'm quite disappointed by a lot of missing content.

Let me detail that a bit:
1. Missing movies, intro, animation, briefing etc.
i was looking forward to the feeling brought by the historic movies. It gives (me at least) a better immersive experience. Thought that maybe the movies would now reflect the on-going campaign (if you capture a key zone, or deny some supply route to the enemy etc.).
But i didn't expect the game to not have any animation. AT ALL. Not even an intro!!! Or at least some written briefing, describing the situation and mission (Panzer Korps style, for instance).
Frankly, i don't remember a game not having any animation. Even games that were released on diskettes back in the early 90s had some kind of intro.
Very disappointing!!!

2. To that end, there seems to be no info about the sector in which the fighting takes place. In other games of the series, you were given some info reg. the importance of the strip, key features etc. - "vital bridge in the eastern part", "a lot of fighting around the railway station" etc.
Why not bother to write a few lines of text for each sector map???

3. There is no info about the units in the selection screen.
For instance, the Germans have a "Grille" unit. Being somewhat up to speed with WW2 units, i (think i) remember that this was a stop-gap unit, used as an open-turret infantry gun. But i'm not sure.. i mean, i believe a lot of guys don't even know that much, and that info doesn't help me either as i don't know how it was implemented into the game. What is that? Can it be used as an tank-killer? is it vulnerable to rifle fire? has it got a longer range? has it got a larger explosive shell? etc. etc. Some info about units would be nice, an encyclopedia with some pics would be even better.

4. There seems to be a lack of info about a lot of game decisions.
For instance, why/when should you merge 2 corps? Will the new unit have more selection points? Will it have more fuel and ammo, and less cohesion? etc. etc.

5. You can't access any menus during play. This is plain weird - not being able to change the volume while in game is just another feature i haven't encountered before in any game..

6. There (still) isn't a clear sorting of the saved games. Furthermore, i don't seem to be able to tell which save game referes to a specific timeline in the game. You should be able to see, in order, for example, saved games for day 2, 10:00 to 12:00 hours.

7. i can't seem to move around the information screens during play. Since the soldier info is always in the bottom left part, and you can scroll past the edge of the map, if a lot of action happens in that region (which it does, as there usually is an entry point there).. well, you get the point.

There are some more things to write about, but i think it's enough for one post.
i mean, if the game was a new indie arrival, some things can be overlooked. But to take a well-established series, and actually put less stuff in - that seems like lazy work to me, to say the least. After all, it's priced at 40$ plus tax, so it's not a discounted 5$ game that nobody has any expectations from.

Btw, i'd appreciate it if someone with more insight in the future plans of the developer could give us some info reg. what could be added later on etc. Thanks!
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SteveMcClaire
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Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:31 pm

RE: A lot of stuff missing..

Post by SteveMcClaire »

Hi godsmackrrc,

Thanks for your feedback. To responded to your points in order:

A new intro movie was not in the cards for this release. It would have been something that was nice to have, I agree.

The per-map informational text was cut for two reasons: It was not generally something most players would read, and we needed the space for the message monitor on the strategic screen where it used to be.

Additional information about team types and weapon names will be added to the Battle Group screen in the next update.

The strategic-level commands are covered in the game manual. A tooltip for these wouldn't be a bad idea, but it is also potentially a large amount of text that the user often does not want to see.

The game options dialog can be accessed at any point in the game by hitting F9. This works in battle too.

Additional info on saved games would be nice to have. It's something we can look at for a future version/update.

You can move any of the in-battle UI components by SHIFT+Right click, and then click again to drop it.

Steve
chemkid
Posts: 1238
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:02 pm

RE: A lot of stuff missing..

Post by chemkid »

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godsmackrrc
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 8:54 am

RE: A lot of stuff missing..

Post by godsmackrrc »

ORIGINAL: Steve McClaire

Hi godsmackrrc,

Thanks for your feedback. To responded to your points in order:

A new intro movie was not in the cards for this release. It would have been something that was nice to have, I agree.

The per-map informational text was cut for two reasons: It was not generally something most players would read, and we needed the space for the message monitor on the strategic screen where it used to be.

Additional information about team types and weapon names will be added to the Battle Group screen in the next update.

The strategic-level commands are covered in the game manual. A tooltip for these wouldn't be a bad idea, but it is also potentially a large amount of text that the user often does not want to see.

The game options dialog can be accessed at any point in the game by hitting F9. This works in battle too.

Additional info on saved games would be nice to have. It's something we can look at for a future version/update.

You can move any of the in-battle UI components by SHIFT+Right click, and then click again to drop it.

Steve

Hi Steve!

Thanks a lot for your answer. It's nice to receive an update so fast.

Also thanks for the info reg. some features that i didn't manage on my own. Believe it or not, i was pressing ESC for in-game menu! ;) :) Now that's clear.

Nice that save game info and unit info is coming soon. Those features will simplify a lot of things.

But still i feel that some movies/slideshow/text cards would greatly improve the experience.
As i said, some text for (at least) some specific important areas, previous or after the battle, would, in my opinion, make it a much better experience.
Right now, i have the feeling that it's just a grindhouse to get to the end of the map, no questions asked, with all sectors/battle just needed to be played out.
So if movies are not on option, some text briefings/debriefings for important sectors, or for the end of each day etc. shouldn't be much of a problem. i'm sure even the community can help with some texts & historic data.
chemkid
Posts: 1238
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:02 pm

RE: A lot of stuff missing..

Post by chemkid »

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godsmackrrc
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 8:54 am

RE: A lot of stuff missing..

Post by godsmackrrc »

ORIGINAL: chemkid

@ godsmackrrc - i'm missing an intro or some side information, too...
at the end of the manual, there's a note on suggested further reading.
please check it out! one of the books is even 'open' (like free to read or download).
lot's of information on topic. even the archive.org has some texts on the counter-attack at mortain.

so long and hope for the best. maybe some more info is finding it's way into pitf...
cheers!
chem!

Hi chemkid!
i'm doing my historical reading on the matter, don't worry! ;) :)
But i wish the play-through would reflect the historical setting and vice-versa, so u get a better feeling of the campaign..
chemkid
Posts: 1238
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:02 pm

RE: A lot of stuff missing..

Post by chemkid »

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godsmackrrc
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 8:54 am

RE: A lot of stuff missing..

Post by godsmackrrc »

ORIGINAL: chemkid

@godsmackrrc - acknowledged! [;)]
btw, i'm new to all of this and i'm still excited to find that much material in places i never heard of before... [8D]

so, cheers! and hope to meet you on the field... someday.
chem!

sure, why not? although i must admit i'm in heavily on the single player front..
topper6
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:18 pm

RE: A lot of stuff missing..

Post by topper6 »

Gonna wack you all in mp if we ever are online at the same time!

Cheers! :D
godsmackrrc
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 8:54 am

RE: A lot of stuff missing..

Post by godsmackrrc »

ORIGINAL: topper6

Gonna wack you all in mp if we ever are online at the same time!

Cheers! :D

:) :)
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