Counter Information

[Massattack]

I wonder would it be possible to have some way of marking A company or B company etc, somewhere on the counters?
In my playthrough of the bootcamps, I have no way of distinguishing which company the units belong to when they are all mixed up together.

[berto]

Select a unit. Then try either/both of

[*]Press F2 to summon the Unit Handbook. That will tell you the Company etc.
[*]Press the Highlights > Highlight Organization button (else the z hotkey). That will highlight all of the units in that selected unit's organization.

[Massattack]

Thank you and I am fast getting used to using the F2 button frequently. Perhaps the information could be included in the Unit Info panel on the left or right side of the screen, in a similar fashion to Panzer Campaigns? That way, when you click on a unit on the map, all the info is there and no further clicks necessary. Of course I am not a programmer, and do not know how possible this would be to implement. Regardless I am having a blast with this wargame, my first in the Campaign Series, and look forward to the ME one when it gets upgraded to the Vietnam standard.

[theWombat]

I think what would be very useful would be to color-code the NATO symbol background by company or battalion, or something similar? Like in the Panzer Campaigns games where each division's counters have a different color fill for the type symbol? I personally like to tall at a glance where my formations and their subunits are. Yes, the info is there as it is, but it could perhaps be available in clearer, more effective ways. I find in general that with all wargames the UI/UX areas are where they tend to lag behind the rest of the gaming world.

[berto]

I know about the org info in the PzC Unit Card. See my sig. [:D]

The thing I don't like about that is the itty bitty space we have (and PzC has) for that org info. Lots of abbreviations, tiny text, truncations, etc. Maybe we should widen our Unit List?

Our NATO counter icons are color coded the way they are for good reason. The CS has more than 400 painstakingly researched NATO icons! The colors help to differentiate and categorize the icons.

What we might do in future is to color code same-org units in the counter left side, like how is done in the CWB series (also see my sig).

So many games, so little development time! <sigh>

[theWombat]

Yeah, I didn't think about the coding by type; good point there, do not want to lose that. But something should be possible to make it easier to keep companies and battalions together. Especially as the scenario briefings get pretty specific about who the game wants to do what and where.

On another somewhat (info) related note, I'm guessing it's entirely by design that playing with enhanced FoW you pretty much never, ever, get any info on the enemy other than general type and strength? While it might be a tad extreme, I do think it really highlights the frustration of trying to fight in this environment, especially from the non-Communist side.

[berto]

In more open terrain, as little as there might be in this conflict, the enemy will not be so much or at all concealed. So occasionally you will get lucky and see actual SPs and Direct Fire results etc., maybe identify the unit, but most often not. It's a continuum that tends by design to obscure.

[devoncop]

Now I have played with Enhanced FOW I cannot imagine playing without it. It adds a huge amount to the tension in this theatre....especially when you can hear all those marching sandals but cant see further than your nose [:)]

In fact you can of course gain perhaps more info than you should by being able to see VP's adding up from opponent losses turn by turn.

Given how unreliable military estimates of opposition casualties were (and remain so) there may even be an argument for that particular aspect to also be kept under the FOW or just be "estimated" losses until the actual numbers are revealed at the end of the scenario.

[theWombat]

I do like the uncertainty. I don't like the sound clips, not because they sound bad--they sound fine--but because for whatever reason, the game will not accept inputs, especially key presses, while the sound effects are playing. Say I move a chopper, then go to move another helo. If the sound effects from the first chopper are still playing--and they play for a while after the unit arrives at its destination--the game will not recognize commands like load/unload, dig in, whatever until the sound loop stops. Seems it could be a simple fix, but who knows?

[Jason Petho]

Hmm, I don't think that can be modified. I'm not sure, of course.

Although, you could turn the sounds off.

Or change the sounds to something shorter if you wanted to. The vast majority of the game is fully moddable, including the sounds.

[berto]

We are reviewing all sound files to ensure they all run at reasonable length.

[theWombat]

I like the sounds, as they are a nice cue to what's happening. If they were a tad shorter that would be cool. I'm not about to edit them though, too damn much work!