Worst interface ever made?

Achtung Panzer:Operation Star is an Eastern Front wargame with solid graphics and sprawling battlefields that really emphasize the scope of WWII tank combat. The gameplay is a remarkably realistic turn-based and real-time operational/tactical hybrid wargame that continues the series begun by the acclaimed Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943.
Sh*tOnAShingle
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Worst interface ever made?

Post by Sh*tOnAShingle »

The interface of this game is perhaps the worst I have played.....EVER. Now, when you add this to a manual that does a horrible job of teaching it and what we have is a possibly great game that I (and I suspect many many others) cannot/will not play.

I dont mind a detailed, complicated interface IF there is a manual that native English speakers can understand and learn from. I play ASL, a board game that might be the most detailed, complicated tactical wargame ever created and I love learning the details but after 15 minutes with the interface of this game I ran out of gas. I tried again this morning and ran out of gas again after another 10 minutes.

DO NOT BUY this game until a proper manual is produced unless you already know the IF or you just like to be frustrated.

Waste of $30.00
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KEYSTONE07950
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by KEYSTONE07950 »

I purchased the Gamers Gate edition, and while I found the UI non - intuitive and the translated manual cumbersome, with enough patience you can learn to play and enjoy the sim.

I would have purchased the Matrix edition if they had polished up the manual.

My experience with the sim is to stick with it; you have a great game in there somewhere.

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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by GBS »

ORIGINAL: Sh*tOnAShingle



DO NOT BUY this game until a proper manual is produced unless you already know the IF or you just like to be frustrated.

Waste of $30.00

That's not very nice.[:-] You can download a 80 something page Tactical manual from the developers site which helps a lot. Also forums on Simhq and Graviteam feature the devs constantly who fight through a language barrier to try as hard as they can to explain a lot of things. I'm not sophisticated at all and I play the game exclusively over CM now and after a while I found it to be quite intuitive. Anyway I want these developers to be successful so they can continue to bring new games to market. They appear to be highly talented to me.
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Sh*tOnAShingle
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by Sh*tOnAShingle »

ORIGINAL: GBS

ORIGINAL: Sh*tOnAShingle



DO NOT BUY this game until a proper manual is produced unless you already know the IF or you just like to be frustrated.

Waste of $30.00

That's not very nice.[:-] You can download a 80 something page Tactical manual from the developers site which helps a lot. Also forums on Simhq and Graviteam feature the devs constantly who fight through a language barrier to try as hard as they can to explain a lot of things. I'm not sophisticated at all and I play the game exclusively over CM now and after a while I found it to be quite intuitive. Anyway I want these developers to be successful so they can continue to bring new games to market. They appear to be highly talented to me.

GBS:

I made no inference at all about the talent of Graviteam. By many accounts they are a good group and the product might be fantastic...IF you know how to use it. My issue is with putting a product up for sale in any country without a good guide on how to use the product wrtitten so native speakers in that country can understand it. Clearly, this is not the case with this game.

Who should have handled this I cannot tell you. Perhaps Graviteam's partners here in America could have made sure this happened. I suppose it depends on the arrangements made between the parties.

Success is not ONLY only about programming. It is also about the proper documentation to use it.

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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by Redmarkus5 »

The interface isn't the most intuitive, but do give this game a try. Start by following one tank around and mastering the view controls, then move on to issuing orders.

If you setup a mission in the editor where you have a tank and the enemy is on the far side of the map with only a rifle platoon, you'll have time to practice without heavy combat getting in the way.

The key controls to master are the zoom ones (quite tricky) and the follow-unit one. Once you've got that sorted, the others are easier to execute.

It's a steal for $30 and by far the best game of this type I have played - ever.
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Misconduct
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by Misconduct »

Sadly I agree it was a waste of $30, the manual is no hope - and the "training interface" doesn't work half the time, you have to alt+end to get past the broken areas and figure it out on your own.

The campaign editor might be alright if I can figure out how to add more then just 1 unit to each side, so far nothing on the graviteam's forums or the manual is any help.

I hope maybe perhaps Graviteam can fix some of the issues, then the game has promising hope, I would surely wait on buying it until more patches come out.
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Mazzah
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by Mazzah »

Holy crap i cant turn tutorial off!
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apd1004
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by apd1004 »

ORIGINAL: Mazzah

Holy crap i cant turn tutorial off!

You enabled it when you created your profile and selected "yes" for training mode. Just create a new profile and select "no" when it prompts you for training mode.
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mbar
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by mbar »

Click options then click "game and realism settings" Tutorial can be turned off/on there.
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by leftydad »

I can't ge the tutorial to play. I press ALT/PAGEDOWN and nothing happens.

If I got to QUICK BATTLE, I' stuck there and can't escape out.
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by leftydad »

I own practically every Maxtrix game ever made, that this one is a mess!
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by leftydad »

I can't even use English very well, I'm so frustrated.
James
zzzuke
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by zzzuke »

WOW - wish I would have read this thread before purchasing this game. The interface and manual are ridiculous, disappointing that Matrix would allow this to be sold on their site.

Matrix - please advise what your plan to correct this problem is or allow disatisfied owners the opportunity to return defective product

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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by 7thcav »

Don't like the interface ? Then don't use it !! select a unit and hit the spacebar,list of commands pops up in english...select what ya want that unit to do then click on the map where ya want the lads to go and your done.Use key board short cuts for the other stuff like formations.You can minimize the various interface panels bye clicking on the little box with the arrow in it thats next to them and they disappear just like magic. Just keep the ones up that you want, I tend to leave them open for controls that the quick command interface doesn't have.Where pray tell did I find that little useful tidbit? Its in the controls PDF in the same folder as the tactics_manual.Go to the games root directory ,open the docs folder then the support folder and its in there. There is a key board short cut for everything this game does....134 of them in all. Ladies it ain't nearly as complicated as you would like folks to believe. Thats not to say there isn't a learning curve because there is but a little patients will go a long way.

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apd1004
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by apd1004 »

I'll second what 7thcav says. The learning curve is steep only because the documentation is translated to English from Russian and is not an easy read nor is it even a good translation IMO. The interface is not that difficult if you take the time to learn it. There is a tactics guide written for Steel Armor Blaze of War (link is in another thread on this forum) but it also does a good job of representing APOS because they use the same engine. There are a lot of unwritten/under-written things with the game that you pretty much have to figure out on your own, which is a turn off for those people that like to see everything laid out perfectly for them in an outline-style manual. Read some of the other threads in this forum as well, you can pick up a lot of pointers. If you have the patience to get beyond the quirks, APOS is actually a solid product and very enjoyable. If you absolutely have to have a perfect manual like in WitP or WitE, then this game is definitely not for you and I wouldn't try it.

Refund? Try the demo before you buy. If I was able to get a refund for all the crappy games I've purchased since I bought my first computer in 1986, I would be a wealthy man. APOS is one of the games I would keep.
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by PS Pita »

My God, are you girls really struggling that much over this game? You think that matrix never should have released it? Look at the oh so perfect "War in the East and "War in the pacific" nobody whines about what a mess this games is to learn. The manual rephrases and iterates everything you already know and tells you nothing useful about what you'll actual use to play or win the game, it is horrible. Learning to play these two games is an esoteric secret kept be you and your kind of special, elite wargamers. (Why can't someone do a series of video tutorials on Youtube like they did with command ops!)It's probably really not too difficult it just that you snooty "grogs" want to keep it that way.

I don't understand how you couldn't understand the interface. I learned it in a few nights when the first Achtung Panzer came out and then brushed up on it with the manual and the tutorial again when
APOS came out. It just gives you alot of detail which is a good think.
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by vonRocko »

Calling them "girls" and "ladies" doesn't alter the fact that the interface sucks. Or are personal attacks the only way to defend the interface?
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by Missouri_Rebel »

vonRocko, would you consider the interface to be so bad as to warrant skipping this title? I'm on the fence on this game.
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KEYSTONE07950
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by KEYSTONE07950 »

Hey guys! It took me several evenings trying things out, but I eventually figured out the UI. I'm no threat to win the Nobel Prize! - if I can figure it out, anyone can with a little patience.
The game play is great - don't pass this one by.
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RE: Worst interface ever made?

Post by vonRocko »

ORIGINAL: Missouri_Rebel

vonRocko, would you consider the interface to be so bad as to warrant skipping this title? I'm on the fence on this game.

I only have the first one, but looking at the screenshots, I don't see any difference.( I never did really learn the game because of the manual) If it had a decent manual, then the interface can be overlooked. In the thread titled "demo", Txema provided a link to the english manual and I still don't get it.
I don't shy away from complicated games, but it must have a proper rulebook for the inevitable questions. I have a feeling the game isn't really that complicated, if it had proper documentation. Personally, I don't want to go through the time and aggravation of trial and error just to learn it.
If Matrix would rewrite the manual, I would buy it today, but until I can read and understand the manual, I will pass, although I'm very tempted to buy.[:'(]
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