Didn´t buy it, because the AI is generally said no to be cut-throat. I am only interested in SP and want a terribly strong Computer opponent.
We got the message on this one; Slitherine coached us to exert a soft AI-hand over The Player. Our intent now is to deliver the opponent back to the Stone Age. Let's see what we can do to make single-player less soft-handed.
Really glad you put resources into other things than an AI. I know that will draw flack but lets face I have been CPU wargaming since 83 and I have NEVER seen an AI that is better than an intermediate player even maybe not even that good. Usually, it is only good for tutorials unless you want to play a cheating AI. Just my two cents. Surely in this day in age you can find a worthy similar opponent.
Surely in this day and age, an AI should be very challenging!!
Yes, I hear you. The more complicated the game though, the harder the AI is to do. Still, will be making continuous improvements with the AI as with everything else!
/Brian [:)]
We got the message on this one; Slitherine coached us to exert a soft AI-hand over The Player. Our intent now is to deliver the opponent back to the Stone Age. Let's see what we can do to make single-player less soft-handed.
Really glad you put resources into other things than an AI. I know that will draw flack but lets face I have been CPU wargaming since 83 and I have NEVER seen an AI that is better than an intermediate player even maybe not even that good. Usually, it is only good for tutorials unless you want to play a cheating AI. Just my two cents. Surely in this day in age you can find a worthy similar opponent.
Surely in this day and age, an AI should be very challenging!!
You'd think that--but it's not the case. The US Army still uses Decisive Action, Crucible of Command, and Follow Me as training platforms from West Point Cadet to Captains in the Advance Course to Majors in the Command and General Staff Officer Course. Though they have a rudimentary AI, these training engines are human-vs-human game platforms. Why? Cuz AIs suck.
Not really AI that sucks, but the effort and resources required. The fact that an AI can beat excellent chess players gives you a clue as to what AI could do if we all had beasts of PCs at home.
"A serious problem in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine."
AI uses rules. Often Leaders/Armies don't use their own rules. This could be that they don't know them. It could be they know them, and change them when they don't apply to the situation. On the other hand, an army might goose-step exactly through their countries stated doctrine. Depends on the day, the unit/organization, and the commander.
More often than not, real human action defies the idea of artificial intelligence. If you assume your opponent is a professional you will be surprised when he kicks your ass because/while being--he is an amateur; opponents are under no obligation to play by any doctrinal rules. Heck, they might not know what they are.
In my opinion, that's why people say AI's suck. An AI that attempts to portray a particular nation's doctrine is a tough task. Why? Because 80% of any army's leadership does not understand the task and purpose of any operation they are directing. They're pulling it out of their ass as each minute passes. Some are good at this, others are not.
Combat is not chess or checkers; it's bedlam. Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. The last one to make a mistake wins.
I bought it with my Anniversary coupon. Just to support. Have hardly played it at all since there is no campaign. That was a BIG downside for me. I was really hoping for a Campaign for North Africa game but alas this was not it.
I bought it with my Anniversary coupon. Just to support. Have hardly played it at all since there is no campaign. That was a BIG downside for me. I was really hoping for a Campaign for North Africa game but alas this was not it.
The Operational Art of War IV has a CFNA scenario which is very very good. You can play the entire campaign from the Italian invasion through to Rommel's retreat back to the Mareth Line.
I bought it with my Anniversary coupon. Just to support. Have hardly played it at all since there is no campaign. That was a BIG downside for me. I was really hoping for a Campaign for North Africa game but alas this was not it.
Thanks for your support! Thinking about how to do the Campaign for North Africa once again. I think the game engine will be able to make the attempt once Monty's Front capabilities have been realized.
Thanks for your support! Thinking about how to do the Campaign for North Africa once again. I think the game engine will be able to make the attempt once Monty's Front capabilities have been realized.
That would be great. I too was sad to see no campaign game, but I do recall the explanation that it wasn't possible. If that changes it would be excellent.
My gosh, your posts were less than two hours apart, I am handicapped and could not get back online until now. I'm sorry to leave you hanging, I posted last night just before a windfall of health issues and life. My fault. I'm sorry. [&o]
I don't know where to start so I will just start. I own over 60 Matrix-Slitherine games since about 2005 and this is one of the weirdest of them all to figure out. The tutorial is totally confusing and leads to no real direct path. Using the hotkeys, which are many, some don't work as shown. The war-gamers that I know own many games, not just a few, but many games. It's hard to remember hotkeys when you play a lot of games, so games that we favor use the right mouse click for most options. Your game uses hotkeys mostly, right click brings up information on a stack. It would be nice if a R-Click gave options for all.
Now, already I have opened myself up to an eternal war here, many Matrix gamers look for a fight where there needs not be one. Above I am speaking of war-gamers that "I" know, not all of course, so please, if gamers are looking to disagree, do it nicely. I'm sick of forum fights, hence the reason I stayed off this site for several years. God only knows why I'm here now. [&:] If you prefer hotkeys to a right click menu of options, OK. Enjoy. My memory is too short for every game to use hotkeys more than a R-Click menu of options.
The phases are strange to me. It would be nice to have a short description at each phase of what should be done. Also when they play out, the battles for instance, the speed is almost instant. If I missed a setting to delay such, please enlighten me. I am always amazed at how I can be wrong when I think I am not.
The information in the form of tooltips is excellent. I love how much information this game gives. You excelled great in this area. But, every time I highlight a stack, the units show up on the right vertical pane, and I'm always wanting to hover over that pane for tooltips and\or selecting units for moving, but when I move the cursor that direction, it all goes away. I'm just used to other games having that option. John Tiller games are an example of this I believe. I'm used to units on a side pane staying there to manipulate.
My format above is not very professional, I'm sorry it's not better itemized. These are just things off the top of my head. I'm hurrying so you can see I did not post and run. [;)] Ask me anything, I will be very happy to respond, and I will try and be more prompt than last night.
When I bought this game, I thought "oh boy, I've wanted a good hex based game like this and it looks like the one." It just seems to leave me hanging with too many questions and not enough guided direction. The graphics are good, so is the sound, menus are nice, and of course the tooltips are perfect for my liking, and I put tooltips above all else in games.
I hope my rambling on helps. If not, I will go away. [>:]
Thanks for the feedback. We are currently working on our Stalingrad game so your "ramblings" are helpful to that cause. If you want to learn how to play the game let's strike up a PBEM and I can "talk" you through it. I suggest The Rats vs The Ram scenario. It's small, short and will teach you 90% of what you need to know.
I will try that scenario by myself first and if I need further help I will take you up on your offer. That's very kind of you. I am going to go to that right now. Thank you.
Okeedoke. Here's a link to a YouTube video that XTRG did a couple years ago. We've added alot of capability to the engine since then but he does a good job providing an overview on how things work.
My gosh, your posts were less than two hours apart, I am handicapped and could not get back online until now. I'm sorry to leave you hanging, I posted last night just before a windfall of health issues and life. My fault. I'm sorry. [&o]
I don't know where to start so I will just start. I own over 60 Matrix-Slitherine games since about 2005 and this is one of the weirdest of them all to figure out. The tutorial is totally confusing and leads to no real direct path. Using the hotkeys, which are many, some don't work as shown. The war-gamers that I know own many games, not just a few, but many games. It's hard to remember hotkeys when you play a lot of games, so games that we favor use the right mouse click for most options. Your game uses hotkeys mostly, right click brings up information on a stack. It would be nice if a R-Click gave options for all.
Now, already I have opened myself up to an eternal war here, many Matrix gamers look for a fight where there needs not be one. Above I am speaking of war-gamers that "I" know, not all of course, so please, if gamers are looking to disagree, do it nicely. I'm sick of forum fights, hence the reason I stayed off this site for several years. God only knows why I'm here now. [&:] If you prefer hotkeys to a right click menu of options, OK. Enjoy. My memory is too short for every game to use hotkeys more than a R-Click menu of options.
The phases are strange to me. It would be nice to have a short description at each phase of what should be done. Also when they play out, the battles for instance, the speed is almost instant. If I missed a setting to delay such, please enlighten me. I am always amazed at how I can be wrong when I think I am not.
The information in the form of tooltips is excellent. I love how much information this game gives. You excelled great in this area. But, every time I highlight a stack, the units show up on the right vertical pane, and I'm always wanting to hover over that pane for tooltips and\or selecting units for moving, but when I move the cursor that direction, it all goes away. I'm just used to other games having that option. John Tiller games are an example of this I believe. I'm used to units on a side pane staying there to manipulate.
My format above is not very professional, I'm sorry it's not better itemized. These are just things off the top of my head. I'm hurrying so you can see I did not post and run. [;)] Ask me anything, I will be very happy to respond, and I will try and be more prompt than last night.
When I bought this game, I thought "oh boy, I've wanted a good hex based game like this and it looks like the one." It just seems to leave me hanging with too many questions and not enough guided direction. The graphics are good, so is the sound, menus are nice, and of course the tooltips are perfect for my liking, and I put tooltips above all else in games.
I hope my rambling on helps. If not, I will go away. [>:]
I've mentioned before that if we could actually watch the units moving etc like say Command Ops it would make the turn, infact, make the game much easier to understand and work out what's actually happening. When I heard this was WEGO it made me interested but currently the beauty of watching wego turn is negated by the instant unit jumps. This one change would make a massive difference. Make things so much clearer, add tension and excitement, fire imagination and gets the game to show what's great about WEGO.
Also agree with Larry wish unit side bar stayed rather than disappearing with a move of the mouse
