Feedback

Commander - The Great War is the latest release in the popular and playable Commander series of historical strategy games. Gamers will enjoy a huge hex based campaign map that stretches from the USA in the west, Africa and Arabia to the south, Scandinavia to the north and the Urals to the east on a new engine that is more efficient and fully supports widescreen resolutions.
Commander – The Great War features a Grand Campaign covering the whole of World War I from the invasion of Belgium on August 5, 1914 to the Armistice on the 11th of November 1918 in addition to 16 different unit types including Infantry, Cavalry, Armoured Cars and Tanks, Artillery, Railroad Guns and Armoured Trains and more!

Moderators: Lord Zimoa, MOD_Commander_The_Great_War

User avatar
warspite1
Posts: 41896
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:06 pm
Location: England

Feedback

Post by warspite1 »

Here is some feedback on the game so far.

First off, let me say I am having great fun with this. Just a couple of minor points:

1. I cannot get used to the Russians in grey. Please change!
2. It would be good to be able to see the original borders rather than just the fluid borders (which i really like by the way). Some sort of toggle button would be good.
3. Need an undo button - unless I've missed it....
Now Maitland, now's your time!

Duke of Wellington to 1st Guards Brigade - Waterloo 18 June 1815
User avatar
Lukas
Posts: 349
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 6:40 pm

RE: Feedback

Post by Lukas »

1 & 3 should be addressed in a patch.

2: You mean original nation's borderlines? They're marked with darkened hex edges. Perhaps the effect is too subtle with hex grid on?

Image
Attachments
borders.jpg
borders.jpg (50.05 KiB) Viewed 218 times
Image
User avatar
jack54
Posts: 1428
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:25 pm
Location: East Tennessee

RE: Feedback

Post by jack54 »

Hi all, Keep in mind I just bought game this a few hours ago.

I find the movement system is something I have to get used to. There is no ingremental movement alowed.For example if you activate a unit and the map displays you may move that unit 5 hexs then you click and move it 2, thats it, that unit is done, no more movement. Along with the inability to move after firing makes things difficult, IMHO.

I am not saying this is wrong and these very issues may be what gives the game a WWI feel. Move, fire, move would probably feel like WWII.

I would love to see 'SOME' diplomacy a little arm twisting for flavor, so far I haven't found any. Also a multi-hex attack option.

Anyway a lot of effort has obviously gone into this game, I like the look and feel so far ... all the best to everyone involved!
Avatar: Me borrowing Albert Ball's Nieuport 17

Counter from Bloody April by Terry Simo (GMT)
User avatar
warspite1
Posts: 41896
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:06 pm
Location: England

RE: Feedback

Post by warspite1 »

ORIGINAL: Lukas

1 & 3 should be addressed in a patch.

2: You mean original nation's borderlines? They're marked with darkened hex edges. Perhaps the effect is too subtle with hex grid on?

Image
warspite1

Lukas - good news about 1 + 3.

Re 2 - yes, the difference is too subtle - at least for my rubbish eyesight.... It definitely needs something (I think a toggle button so that you can check every now and then by means of say thick black lines).
Now Maitland, now's your time!

Duke of Wellington to 1st Guards Brigade - Waterloo 18 June 1815
Tophat1815
Posts: 1824
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:11 pm

RE: Feedback

Post by Tophat1815 »

I haven't bought the game yet but from the screenshots I'd agree with Russian unit counters needing a different color and the original borders needing to be darker for older players eyes.[;)]

My major issues(though its not gonna stop me buying the game later today[:D])is the GERMAN FLAG! Why in heavens name is not the Imperial Battle Flag used to represent Imperial Germany?
User avatar
warspite1
Posts: 41896
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:06 pm
Location: England

RE: Feedback

Post by warspite1 »

More feedback

Love the sound effects - wife just gone out so put up LOUD. Nice! [;)]
Now Maitland, now's your time!

Duke of Wellington to 1st Guards Brigade - Waterloo 18 June 1815
Blubel
Posts: 287
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:39 pm

RE: Feedback

Post by Blubel »

The music theme works very well!
User avatar
jack54
Posts: 1428
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:25 pm
Location: East Tennessee

RE: Feedback

Post by jack54 »

Yes some nice design decisions... my concerns from post two about movement are now OK... I am getting use to it and it indeed gives more of a WWI feel. The swapping position option with neighboring units is very nice. :-)

One thing I have a problem with is crossing the channel... ([turn 1 embark only] [turn 2 move] [ turn 3 disembark only]) At 2 week turns its 6 weeks till land and 8 weeks till you are moving again. (Constructive criticism only). Maybe half movement after embarking or disembarking. ( I'm not sure. )
anyway thanks again...

Avatar: Me borrowing Albert Ball's Nieuport 17

Counter from Bloody April by Terry Simo (GMT)
Pizzaspy
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2005 6:49 am

RE: Feedback

Post by Pizzaspy »

This is a great game. I can't put it down!

I love:
Simple to play, yet strategically deep. Very tense decision making the whole way through
AI plays in a believable and intelligent way, much more-so than most other wargames
The game feels very balanced...more experience needed to truly judge that of course
Visuals and audio are excellent, immersive
The ammo mechanic is brilliant...saving it up and using multiple artillery batteries to make a breakthrough in the line feels amazing. Running low is stressful
Attention to historical detail with the writing and events, introduction

Couple things I would change/fix:
I'm fine with no movement after attacking, that feels right. But not being able to use movement points step by step feels very limiting. It makes using a sub and scouting into the fog especially painful.
When holding down LMB to drag the map while a unit is selected, it will move when I let go of the button. Once the map moves it should not register as a movement command as well.
I would LOVE an undo command ( assuming no fog was revealed ) for those times I misclick ( use case tends to be rolling over many hexes looking at combat odds and then deciding to click the map to deselect forgetting it will move. Something I will get used to, but a little extra help is always a good thing )
Show commanders stats in the pop-up when they become available...I often don't have them memorized and suddenly have to make a decision with no info! ( or if Im missing some workaround to this, make that more obvious )
"Are you sure?" popup when cancelling focus...I have done that by accident twice now and lost my focus completely until a new round of research.
Tooltip for having to press control to swap places would be good for new players, I spent a lot of time figuring that one out ( was too lazy to look it up during the excitement of a game )
A reminder icon in the research tab to tell me I have unused focus
A reminder icon in the production tab to tell me I have troops ready ( or a reminder popup end of round like the one that comes up if you dont move an empires units )

So basically a lot of minor usability items...
User avatar
warspite1
Posts: 41896
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:06 pm
Location: England

RE: Feedback

Post by warspite1 »

Having just finished an AAR as the Allies, I thought I would note some of the things I came across:

First off congratulations team on a really fun game. I am really pleased I took the plunge. The game looks really nice and plays well. Just a few things (in no particular order):

1. The reason I gave up and did not finish off Turkey is because I would have needed to order each unit each turn to go long distances. Is it possible to have a memory like with CIV where you give a unit a path and he follows it until he comes across the enemy?

2. AI. I don't think the AI was bad but a few things were off. The Bulgarians appeared everywhere, as did a few Turks. I'm not too worried about gameyness, but from a commonsense perspective, the home country should have the bulk of its units defending its own country or interests. What happened instead? Sofia was completely unguarded - there was not one Bulgarian in the country evn though Romania's entry was imminent.

3. AI. Again a few cases (not many though) where individual units went off and got themselves out of supply and surrounded.

4. A few tiimes the city did not change colour when ownership passed - hopefully cosmetic and nothing more serious like the ownership not actually changing.

5. Must have an undo button

6. Should have an ability to move, stop and then move again (if within movement range).

Now Maitland, now's your time!

Duke of Wellington to 1st Guards Brigade - Waterloo 18 June 1815
User avatar
wodin
Posts: 10709
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2003 3:13 am
Location: England
Contact:

RE: Feedback

Post by wodin »

After reading warpsites excellent AAR it seems the German Army could do with some beefing up. Having heard people struggle from the CP point of views aswell it probably isn't an AI issue. I think it may need looking at. Not sure what it is but I feel it needs abi more work somehwere to make it play like WW1 rather than a mix of WW1 and WW2 which is how it felt not long into Warspiets AAR.
Tophat1815
Posts: 1824
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:11 pm

RE: Feedback

Post by Tophat1815 »

Seems to me that 1 AAR and some initial word of mouth feedback is a rather small sample to go and make game changes over. Not saying something doesn't need tweaking,just that the jury is still out on this. On a plus side of things i now know what side to pick for my first foray into the game. Central powers here i come..........
User avatar
catwhoorg
Posts: 686
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2012 3:47 pm
Location: Uk expat lving near Atlanta

RE: Feedback

Post by catwhoorg »

#3 Undo button - must have in an early patch.

My workaround is to reload the autosave and play the turn the same way, but that gets time consuming
Image
LuckyJim1010
Posts: 260
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2010 4:08 pm

RE: Feedback

Post by LuckyJim1010 »

Pizzaspy - +1 from me.

You hit all the niggly little things I was going to post about. Especially the Focus thing

Also agree with the 'I love' paragraph in the same post.

Great game that I don't have to read a huge manual to play
Blubel
Posts: 287
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:39 pm

RE: Feedback

Post by Blubel »

An undo button would be great.

As for balancing, I think it is really good. The CP have to take out one or two of their enemies, or they will go down before 1918.
The plyer can do this easily enough, but the AI may need some help to decide to prioritize taking out the Serbians...
User avatar
parusski
Posts: 4789
Joined: Mon May 08, 2000 8:00 am
Location: Jackson Tn
Contact:

RE: Feedback

Post by parusski »

Not sure what new I can say after beta testing for a year.

Oh yeah, I paid FULL PRICE, never thought of taking the kind offer of a discount for beta testers.
"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast."- W.T. Sherman
User avatar
NefariousKoel
Posts: 1741
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2002 3:48 am
Location: Murderous Missouri Scum

RE: Feedback

Post by NefariousKoel »

ORIGINAL: warspite1


Re 2 - yes, the difference is too subtle - at least for my rubbish eyesight.... It definitely needs something (I think a toggle button so that you can check every now and then by means of say thick black lines).

A toggle would be ideal as I like the lighter hexside coloring as it is. If it were darker, it'd be easily mistaken for the front line and add more clutter to the map. [:-]
User avatar
warspite1
Posts: 41896
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:06 pm
Location: England

RE: Feedback

Post by warspite1 »

Feedback on playing the CP.

The AI seemed to put too much emphasis on Egypt. My Turks coud not make a real impression - the British had loads of units - Infantry and Garrison, but also an artillery. That of course is fine except there was too little to stop the Germans in France.

I think the AI needs to be programmed to save France first and foremost.

Generally

Playing CP was just as much fun - though different types of warfare - as playing the Entente. I absolutely love this game - money well spent!

Now Maitland, now's your time!

Duke of Wellington to 1st Guards Brigade - Waterloo 18 June 1815
User avatar
Grim.Reaper
Posts: 1337
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:08 pm

RE: Feedback

Post by Grim.Reaper »

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Feedback on playing the CP.

The AI seemed to put too much emphasis on Egypt. My Turks coud not make a real impression - the British had loads of units - Infantry and Garrison, but also an artillery. That of course is fine except there was too little to stop the Germans in France.

I think the AI needs to be programmed to save France first and foremost.

Generally

Playing CP was just as much fun - though different types of warfare - as playing the Entente. I absolutely love this game - money well spent!


Warspite, just curious if you have tried playing on the most difficult levels yet? Wondering if that would help enhance the AI.
User avatar
warspite1
Posts: 41896
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:06 pm
Location: England

RE: Feedback

Post by warspite1 »

ORIGINAL: Grim.Reaper

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Feedback on playing the CP.

The AI seemed to put too much emphasis on Egypt. My Turks coud not make a real impression - the British had loads of units - Infantry and Garrison, but also an artillery. That of course is fine except there was too little to stop the Germans in France.

I think the AI needs to be programmed to save France first and foremost.

Generally

Playing CP was just as much fun - though different types of warfare - as playing the Entente. I absolutely love this game - money well spent!


Warspite, just curious if you have tried playing on the most difficult levels yet? Wondering if that would help enhance the AI.
warspite1

No, I've just done the mid-level dificulty. I will have a crack at this though. Not looking forward to playing the Russians on that level [X(]
Now Maitland, now's your time!

Duke of Wellington to 1st Guards Brigade - Waterloo 18 June 1815
Post Reply

Return to “Commander - The Great War”