anfedorchuk
02-27-2011, 12:04 PM
Hello everyone,
First of all I'd like to say that I play this game series from the very first game of it (not sure how does it sound in english, it was "Outfront" when minimized"), so I'd say I tracked this games evolution, and it feels my heart with joy to see how this games becomes better with each release.
And now, talking about latest game ( AS ), I can see only few things that, IMO, have to be fixed. All of them are AI tweaks, oriented to make micromanagement easier/ less irritating.
* Main reason why this should be implemented - scale of battles - battlefield now is filled with action, that require players attention, and there is really no time to micromanage properly, while role of micro is still high.
In other words, it was okay for micromanagement to be such an important factor of victory, when you were commanding like 10 soldiers (early MoW/FoW games). But now, when there are dozens of troops and their types on the battlefield, it is next to impossible to micro them properly, and, as a result, your troops act foolishly, run out of ammo quickly, what is almost always leading to defeat.
So, what do I suggest :
1) Additional fire control options for vehicles : apart from "hold fire", "return fire" "fire at will", there, imo, should be "attack vehicles\infantry only\ attack all" and "allow\disallow hull rotation" suborders. This would prevent situations like this :
*(This situation hurts all armor types equally). While being left without attention, your tank wastes all its HE rounds on riflemen, which would be killed by stationary MG down the street anyway, and can't help much when you decide to move up and storm some position, unless re-supplied , what takes time/attention and can lead to another situation like this on another flank. Not to tell this is not historically accurate\this doesn't fit the definition of common sense - tanks normally never used shells to take out infantry, unless clearing key positions\sniper and MG nests.
What are players doing to prevent this :
Switching to "return\hold fire" modes. But both are risky, coz if you won't micro properly, you could miss an enemy armor assault and your own tanks would be in disadvantage - "hold fire" mode is almost certain death, "return fire" mode scores your opponent 1 free hit, which sometimes is enough to take down your unit. So, in fact, players, trying to avoid micromanagement, were doomed to micromanage even more in order to succeed.
* (Specificly for tank destroyers). As TD don't usually have turrets, while set in "fire at will" mode they would turn their hull to take aim at chosen targets, what creates dangerous situation : as an example, your TD turns to shoot some HE shells on enemy infantry and gets hit to potentially weaker side\rear armor from enemy tank.
Player reaction : same as previous - switching firing mode, hoping to notice armor assault in time.
2) Resupply suggestions - actual both for infantry and armor.
2.1)Automatic resupply :implement automatic resupply order, triggering which would make : (MAX EFFECTIVE IF WORKS WITH 2.2))
VEHICLES : 1 crew member (even if he's the last one) leave his vehicle and go for nearest supply source to collect shell\ammo type last vehicle he operated uses. In order to resupply proper ammo type (to prevent bringing AP shells when vehicle needs HE or MG ammo), automatic resupply order could be issued from ammo type selection menu from vehicles HUD.
Same goes for re-fueling (order button can be in "actions" menu (one with gears), as it's not urgent condition)
INFANTRY : generally same procedure as for armor, with few differences - in oder to resupply whole squad you have to bring to supply source all of its members ; in order to resupply specific sort of ammo, order should be issued from HUD part, showing types of ammo your squad is carrying, and only units, using this type of ammo, would go to supply source.
2.2) Automated quantity resupply : would allow to control quantity of ammo is being taken from supply source. (MAX EFFECTIVE IF WORKS WITH 2.1)
Right now, operating with supply source, we have 2 options : take 1 ammo box\grenade (click and drag) or take all (double click\right click). But there are situations, where you are not satisfied with these options.
Example: ammo box has 1000 MG bullets. You are planning to supply 2 squads, each has 1 MG gunner.
Now it's time to present new word - standart quantity. SQ is how much ammo of each type your unit has when it spawns.
So, lets say SQ for MG gunner is 500. But when you approach supply source with your first squad (squad commander is not an MG gunner), you have 2 options - select MG gunner manually and click and drag 5 bullet boxes manually, or, having squad leader selected take all of it, hoping that most of MG ammo reach MG gunner (which normally happens, as long as MG gunner has space for it).
In first case you lose time, in second - another squad's MG gunner doesn't receive ammo.
Now lets use SQ option. You select your first squad, see, that it has like 30 MG bullets left (everything else is fine). You decide to resupply your MG gunner, and for it you click MG ammo icon to bring up automatic resupply menu, and then you can choose quantity of ammo your gunner will take : 0.5 SQ (if there are other MG gunners in the vicinity, needing resupply), 1 SQ or 1.5 SQ (if you're planning an operation, during which resupplying can be tricky)
In this case, even if you take 1.5 SQ, another MG gunner from 2nd squad will have smth left.
Believe me or not, these 2 fixes is all I believe this game needs. I just can't see other, even slight problems (well, maybe weak waypoints on some maps, littered with objects :-P).
Frankly, I've been dreaming about those additional firing options from first games of these series, but it got even more actual now, when action is more intense.
Regarding resupplying - IMO, as commanders (and we do roleplay commanders in this game), we should think about establishing supply routes, not about manually resupplying your troops.
Thank you for your attention.
First of all I'd like to say that I play this game series from the very first game of it (not sure how does it sound in english, it was "Outfront" when minimized"), so I'd say I tracked this games evolution, and it feels my heart with joy to see how this games becomes better with each release.
And now, talking about latest game ( AS ), I can see only few things that, IMO, have to be fixed. All of them are AI tweaks, oriented to make micromanagement easier/ less irritating.
* Main reason why this should be implemented - scale of battles - battlefield now is filled with action, that require players attention, and there is really no time to micromanage properly, while role of micro is still high.
In other words, it was okay for micromanagement to be such an important factor of victory, when you were commanding like 10 soldiers (early MoW/FoW games). But now, when there are dozens of troops and their types on the battlefield, it is next to impossible to micro them properly, and, as a result, your troops act foolishly, run out of ammo quickly, what is almost always leading to defeat.
So, what do I suggest :
1) Additional fire control options for vehicles : apart from "hold fire", "return fire" "fire at will", there, imo, should be "attack vehicles\infantry only\ attack all" and "allow\disallow hull rotation" suborders. This would prevent situations like this :
*(This situation hurts all armor types equally). While being left without attention, your tank wastes all its HE rounds on riflemen, which would be killed by stationary MG down the street anyway, and can't help much when you decide to move up and storm some position, unless re-supplied , what takes time/attention and can lead to another situation like this on another flank. Not to tell this is not historically accurate\this doesn't fit the definition of common sense - tanks normally never used shells to take out infantry, unless clearing key positions\sniper and MG nests.
What are players doing to prevent this :
Switching to "return\hold fire" modes. But both are risky, coz if you won't micro properly, you could miss an enemy armor assault and your own tanks would be in disadvantage - "hold fire" mode is almost certain death, "return fire" mode scores your opponent 1 free hit, which sometimes is enough to take down your unit. So, in fact, players, trying to avoid micromanagement, were doomed to micromanage even more in order to succeed.
* (Specificly for tank destroyers). As TD don't usually have turrets, while set in "fire at will" mode they would turn their hull to take aim at chosen targets, what creates dangerous situation : as an example, your TD turns to shoot some HE shells on enemy infantry and gets hit to potentially weaker side\rear armor from enemy tank.
Player reaction : same as previous - switching firing mode, hoping to notice armor assault in time.
2) Resupply suggestions - actual both for infantry and armor.
2.1)Automatic resupply :implement automatic resupply order, triggering which would make : (MAX EFFECTIVE IF WORKS WITH 2.2))
VEHICLES : 1 crew member (even if he's the last one) leave his vehicle and go for nearest supply source to collect shell\ammo type last vehicle he operated uses. In order to resupply proper ammo type (to prevent bringing AP shells when vehicle needs HE or MG ammo), automatic resupply order could be issued from ammo type selection menu from vehicles HUD.
Same goes for re-fueling (order button can be in "actions" menu (one with gears), as it's not urgent condition)
INFANTRY : generally same procedure as for armor, with few differences - in oder to resupply whole squad you have to bring to supply source all of its members ; in order to resupply specific sort of ammo, order should be issued from HUD part, showing types of ammo your squad is carrying, and only units, using this type of ammo, would go to supply source.
2.2) Automated quantity resupply : would allow to control quantity of ammo is being taken from supply source. (MAX EFFECTIVE IF WORKS WITH 2.1)
Right now, operating with supply source, we have 2 options : take 1 ammo box\grenade (click and drag) or take all (double click\right click). But there are situations, where you are not satisfied with these options.
Example: ammo box has 1000 MG bullets. You are planning to supply 2 squads, each has 1 MG gunner.
Now it's time to present new word - standart quantity. SQ is how much ammo of each type your unit has when it spawns.
So, lets say SQ for MG gunner is 500. But when you approach supply source with your first squad (squad commander is not an MG gunner), you have 2 options - select MG gunner manually and click and drag 5 bullet boxes manually, or, having squad leader selected take all of it, hoping that most of MG ammo reach MG gunner (which normally happens, as long as MG gunner has space for it).
In first case you lose time, in second - another squad's MG gunner doesn't receive ammo.
Now lets use SQ option. You select your first squad, see, that it has like 30 MG bullets left (everything else is fine). You decide to resupply your MG gunner, and for it you click MG ammo icon to bring up automatic resupply menu, and then you can choose quantity of ammo your gunner will take : 0.5 SQ (if there are other MG gunners in the vicinity, needing resupply), 1 SQ or 1.5 SQ (if you're planning an operation, during which resupplying can be tricky)
In this case, even if you take 1.5 SQ, another MG gunner from 2nd squad will have smth left.
Believe me or not, these 2 fixes is all I believe this game needs. I just can't see other, even slight problems (well, maybe weak waypoints on some maps, littered with objects :-P).
Frankly, I've been dreaming about those additional firing options from first games of these series, but it got even more actual now, when action is more intense.
Regarding resupplying - IMO, as commanders (and we do roleplay commanders in this game), we should think about establishing supply routes, not about manually resupplying your troops.
Thank you for your attention.