Main First Impression

[Jagger2002]

Ok, I have had a chance to play the tutorials and two scenarios, Lessons of War and Hunting in the woods. I played both scenarios from both sides and really enjoyed both of them. I did notice bugs but I am assuming, like Red Storm, the bugs will disappear with time and the final version should be pretty clean.

My main positive impression was the reduction in lethality vs Red Storm. The survivability of both infantry and APCs vs artillery and direct fire has improved substantially increasing their value within the game. They still get hurt and still can be wiped out with time but they now have a bigger role on the field. I really like how the SOPs offer options impacting survivability in particularly related to APC/IFVs but really everybody. I also found the scoot function allows for probing attacks in close terrain. Move forward, exchange of fire and then fall back. Recon guys much more valuable and survivable. For me, the combat modeling and SOPs are really big improvements over Red Storm.

Biggest difficulty has been learning how to find information and getting use to interface. Both are improving as my play time increases.

Overall, really enjoying the game!

[cbelva]

Thanks for the review. I'm curious exactly what bugs you noticed. Just to make sure that they are bugs and that they are properly noted.

Southern Storm provides a lot of information that was not available in Red Storm. Most of the information is found in the Staff buttons on the Commander Panel. It is possible to play the game based strictly on the info in the staff panels without looking at the map, if anyone dared to do so.

[Jagger2002]

I have only noticed two bugs which are definite bugs. The first is the bridge bug which you are aware of and the workaround of unchecking SOP concealed movement is effective until the bug is fixed. The second is periodically the shift-left click for checking LOS from a non-occupied hex will stop working. My workaround is to save turn, exit scenario and reload. It is periodic and not common but does happen. Same thing use to happen to me from time to time in Red Storm.

[cbelva]

Thanks for the reply. As you stated we are aware of the bridge bug and are working on a fix. However, we did not know about the "shift-left" for checking LOS from a non-occupied hex. I have never come across it myself and Rob had not heard of it either. Can you give us some more details about this bug? How long do you normally play before you see the bug? Any info will be a big help. We have to see it if we are going to fix it. I don't remember seeing it in Red Storm either. Thanks

I have noted this bug in JIRA, FPSS-4559

[Jagger2002]

If no one else is reporting the problem, it may be my particular computer setup. Considering my solution to the problem is to save, exit and restart the scenario, I suspect providing a turn save would be useless but maybe not. Just the process of saving and reloading corrects the problem. And I definitely had the same problem in Red Storm. I will watch over the next couple games I play and try to get an idea of how often it happens and see if I notice any commonalities with occurrences.

[WildCatNL]

If no one else is reporting the problem, it may be my particular computer setup. Considering my solution to the problem is to save, exit and restart the scenario, I suspect providing a turn save would be useless but maybe not. Just the process of saving and reloading corrects the problem. And I definitely had the same problem in Red Storm. I will watch over the next couple games I play and try to get an idea of how often it happens and see if I notice any commonalities with occurrences.

For me, when keeping a modifier key (such as shift or alt) pressed for a long time, sometimes my wireless keyboard 'times out' and no longer tells the computer that this specific key is being pressed. Releasing the modifier key and pressing it again will do the job.

[HobbesACW]

If no one else is reporting the problem, it may be my particular computer setup. Considering my solution to the problem is to save, exit and restart the scenario, I suspect providing a turn save would be useless but maybe not. Just the process of saving and reloading corrects the problem. And I definitely had the same problem in Red Storm. I will watch over the next couple games I play and try to get an idea of how often it happens and see if I notice any commonalities with occurrences.

I have experienced the same problem. I was going to report it but after trying again things seemed to work OK. But this was after I had exited and restarted the game. There may well be a random problem here I feel.

Chris
P.S. when I was looking at this bug I had a feeling it might have something to do with the elevation of the last unit I had clicked on. But I didn't get any further with checking this.

Another P.S. When you say it's not working do you mean you get inaccurate LoS or no LoS shown at all? With me I thought it was inaccurate sometimes - but I would need to test more. I might be wrong.

[cbelva]

I think I might have stumbled across this LOS bug. I was trying to see if I could trigger it. I had shift-clicked multiple times across the map and finally it did it. It would not show the LOS from any location. To clear the bug, I clicked on another unit and it worked. I went back to my original unit I was using and it was working too. I didn't have to save, close, and reload the program. I don't know if this is the same problem or not. If you run across it again, see if changing to a different unit clear the problem. When you "shift-click" on a hex to check LOS from that hex, it uses the LOS capabilities of the unit that you have selected.

[Jagger2002]

Another P.S. When you say it's not working do you mean you get inaccurate LoS or no LoS shown at all? With me I thought it was inaccurate sometimes - but I would need to test more. I might be wrong.

I couldn't get a new LOS at all. The last one selected remained.

It would not show the LOS from any location.

That is what I would get but the last LOS selected remained. Mine would not clear by clicking on another unit. As to further testing, I am on hold until the fix is complete for a killed APC/IFV taking out unloaded infantry as well.

[CapnDarwin]

Guys, I failed to crash the LOS tool on two different systems running the latest unreleased 2.1.3 code. I clicked everywhere, fast and slow, and did not break things. Questions I have, is what OS and mouse (brand and type) are you using? Are any other programs running in the background that might use/see/intercept a mouse message? Thanks. Hopefully, we can figure this one out.

[HobbesACW]

I'm trying to reproduce the problem I thought I had but I'm not able to. I think my post is likely a red herring but I wasn't getting the same problem the others described.

Chris

[hank]

I'm a new player to FC:SS but I played Flashpoint Germany many hundreds of hours.

My main reason (for this first post here in decades) is to ask about hex stacking limits.
Is the limit six counters (or units) or is there some other calculation.

So far all I can stack in the same hex in the deployment phase is 6 units. I'll try to overstack depleted units so see if that makes a difference. I searched but found nothing so far in the manual or in search results. I know its probably my search terms (so far).

The only thing I've found odd is in the "Steel Rain" sce, during the deployment phase some of the units have no LOS. I don't know if that's by design due to some kind of environmental or equipment factor or not.

GL HF and have a nice day

[cbelva]

Hey Hank, thinks for your post and your questions.

Stacking limit is based on number of subunits in a hex and not the actual counter. Off the top of my head I think it is 35, but I could be mistaken. We are looking into a possible bug right now regarding stacking where the AI is stacking units prior to crossing a bridge or other obstacles. The AI should spread the stack out. Even tho the program allows 35 subunits in a hex, we don't really want the AI to do that. That makes a nice big juicy arty target. Players should be aware for the same reason.

Regarding Steel Rain and LOS in the deployment phase, the limited LOS for some units is do to the environment and the type of sights the unit has. The scenario starts at 2 in the morning. It is dark with very limited visibility with the illumination at 0%. Units with thermals (like the Abrams) can see out several hexes. Units without can't.

[hank]

Thank you for the quick reply. You knocked it out of the park. So good to see hex map strategy games are not dead.
Have a wonderful week

[Duck Doc]

I also experienced the LOS bug when playing. Running Windows 10. Was able to get around it by clicking in an empty hex then re-selecting. Was more than mildly annoying.