Looking to Try Again

[MPHopcroft1]

I haven't attempted to play EiA in a while and with the impending release of World in Flames I was wondering about picking it up again. But I never learned the game properly.

At the moment the impression I get is that the design is openly hostile to new players. There is very little in the way of tutorial, and as far I can tell virtually nothing in the game itself. The manual is very large and difficult to refer to during play. And the lack of shorter scenarios means that yo have no choice but to dive into the full game straight away -- and when playing against the AI I find that I have no idea what I am doing. Plus the game starts in January of 1805 which is out of season for the military campaigns.

I want to start but have no clue where to begin. If anyone still plays this can they offer any suggestions?

[Kai]

Play against the AI for several games. That's the best way to learn (or re-learn.)

[Agathosdaimon]

I was like you also - new to the game and found it impossible to figure out - firstly, get the latest patches for the game and there also a number of different campaigns people have made that add to the options also.

Also read Murats tutorial - it is easy and is a massive help - once i came to understand how i have to fill the pieces with armies and such it made soo much more sense. I still dont understand all the diplomacy options, but i can play the game now and really nut out some great battles against the AI - i am playing aN 1813 campaign someone made which is brilliant

[pzgndr]

I'd like to see Murat's tutorial added to the next patch. I've made a pdf version so maybe that will be helpful to new players. The user manual has also been updated with clarifications, plus the player guides in the back. As complex as the game is, the manual does step through the turn sequence pretty well and explains how to do something. So my advice has been to review the manual and then just get into a game versus the AI, which is good enough to learn the game system by. When you get stuck and wonder how to do something, check the manual and do a search if necessary. In general no single thing is all that complicated. It's the gameplay that will get you!

Update. I inserted the link to Murat's tutorial. I think it's still helpful to show new players basically what to do and how to do it for many routine game actions. Beyond this, what seems to be the sticky points in picking up the game?

[Agathosdaimon]

in playing against the AI too i find it great just to read back through the activity log of what the AI did - i learnt about rying to take control of regions that way - ie not through combat but through the political/diplomacy screens - i still dont understand what exactly this means and perhaps i should just tick every box requesting ownership of every region in the off chance i gain some more. - perhaps Murats tutorial goes more into this,

[pzgndr]

Yeah, I added quite a bit of new content to Chapter 6.4 in the v1.08 manual update with the intent of helping players understand some of the nuances of diplomatic peace conditions. There are still some things I would like to add in the next update whenever we get there. There a a couple of Mantis issues proposing changes to the surrender conditions that Marshall needs to look at, and if any of that gets implemented then the documentation will get updated. Some more info about the diplomatic reactions screen would also be helpful.

[Hrothgar]

Where is the updated manual? I had to reinstall--new computer--and I installed from the disc, then ran the 10804 and 10807 patches, but, when I looked in the "Manual" folder, it was empty.

[pzgndr]

Check /data/docs. Enjoy!

[Hrothgar]

Thanks!

[pzgndr]

FYI, the Murat tutorial pdf is in fact available for download in the Members area. I'm not sure how long it's been uploaded there; I just noticed it today. I'd encourage folks to download it and add it to their \data\docs files or wherever you want to put it.

I'd also like to ask those trying again or starting fresh to comment about the latest game version (with all of the improvements since initial release) and whether the tutorial and updated user manual are helpful enough for newbies to get started. Yea/Nay? Yes, the game still needs some more improvements, but it is stable and playable and there are folks at GHQ still looking for new players for this classic game.