Observations on the Beta

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Aragos
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Location: Washington, DC

Observations on the Beta

Post by Aragos »

4x USA games so far, initial beta release. Maybe 30-ish hours of play.


Good:

--Very few crashes. Only one catastropic/weird one so far. Very stable.
--Text: I love the new, clearer font. Very nice and easy to read.
--Color: Good color scheme. Brighter than SRCW.
--Unit icons: Some are still placeholders, but in general, good job.
--Zoom: Ok, my fave so far. Love the Flags or Dots at different levels allowing (at high res) to see where units are. Much easier to manipulate for a big country.
--Events: Still Work in Progress (WiP) but so far, pretty cool. Adds to the game.
--GUI: Good changes; in general (outside of WiP issues), clearer and easier than SRCW.

Neutral:
--Some Tech needs tweaking. Nukes are too easy and tanks/planes a bit hard to get. Recom: Increase costs of nuke techs (time and $$) and reduce that of tanks/planes. Ships (at least for the USA) seem pretty historically accurate, etc.
--GUI: Needs to be a bit brighter when you CTRL-click to do a multiple selection. Good deal on the multi-click (CTRL) and scrapping. Saved my mouse finger from a zillion clicks to disband infantry.
--Energy/IG production needs tweaking. Early on, energy especially--about 1/2 my IG facs were off due to lack of power. Recom: More Industrial techs early on--maybe break up the big Improved Electrical Grid tech into 2-3 steps (each giving 1/3 increase in power?) but with shorter research times. As it is, it takes about 2 years to get the energy bottleneck fixed. Appropriate Techs for other production.

Major Issues:
--No-preq tech units. I think most of these have been caught already, but the UK having Lynx attack helos and the French a 2011 era armored car does a job on the Germans.
--AI needs more unit building facilities. I over ran Germany as the US and they had very few units by 1942.
--AI needs Tech changes/tweaking (see above). By 1942, Germany had only PzI's and the UK never built the Spitfires/Hurricanes, and USSR had only the T-35 tank.
--Seems some pathing issues still exist from SRCW. There were pockets along the northern European coast (BE, NETH, FRA) where 7-10 UK subs were running in circles. I'm assuming they were elsewhere as well.
--AI and amphibs. The AI is still sending 1-2 units at a time unescorted to try to invade somewhere. Italy DoW'd the US and tried it at New York. Lots of dead Italians.

Overall
--Really impressive for a Beta. Having done Alpha/Beta testing since the 1980s, it is rare to see one in this playable shape at this stage.
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George Geczy
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Re: Observations on the Beta

Post by George Geczy »

Thanks for the suggestions and comments. The things on your "Major" list (and also your Neutral list) are all on our to-do list, and should be improving in the coming weeks.

-- George.
Aragos
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Location: Washington, DC

Re: Observations on the Beta

Post by Aragos »

From the newest version.

--It appears that the AI is doing somewhat better in getting techs. The Germans had the PzI by 1939 and the PzII by 1940. The Soviets are still building T-26s. In general, a lot fewer units on map than I expected. I don't know if it is due to combat losses (I'm on VH Vol, and the USSR has been fighting Japan since 1937), or just that the AI doesn't seem to be building new Fabs. In general, units are more or less year appropriate.

--At higher levels of volitility, the demand for Petrol and MGs soon outstrips global ability to produce in sufficient amounts. Most armies appear to have come to a grinding halt. I expect this impacts production in the AI countries as well.

--Event-driven DoWs need to be examined. Siam DoW'd the US when Japan entered the war--despite the fact that Siam and Japan were at war.

--Some leaders pics are "interesting." I especially like the Mandarin Chinese guy in charge of Canada :D

Overall, game play is smooth and fast. I noted only one serious game delay--when France fell. I paused/unpaused and the game resumed, but there was no Vichy France. Italy owns most of south/central France and Germany has the rest.
Aragos
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Posts: 1431
Joined: Jan 13 2005
Location: Washington, DC

Re: Observations on the Beta

Post by Aragos »

Newest USA game, Normal Volitility; all settings at preset/normal (no new bonds, etc.)

Game went to early 1949 w/o crashes (I stopped). Good job!

Observations:

--the key is player sell of IGs, and later MGs and Petrol. If the player doesn't horde these goods, the AI will build units, et al.
--Germany. Best tank is the PzII in 1948.
--USSR. Best tank is the T-26 in 1948.
--UK. 1930s tanks and airplanes. Their best is the Gladiator.

I haven't seen upgrades of the armored force for either of these major powers. Some ART and AA is 1942-43 tech. Little to no mech infantry that I can see.

As the US:
--I focused on IG independence and then overseas sales. After 12/7/41, I invested heavily in MG production to support unit building.
--Tech. No nukes by 1948, but would have Nuke Production by 1949/50. Generally historical given that I didn't make it a priority.
--P51Ds, and other 1944 era aircraft by 1947. This may need tweaking, as I concentrated on it.
--M26 Pershings by 1945 and other era tank tech. I made it a priority for research, so I had them in time. My main tank units were M4A1 Shermans and some M6 Heavies.

Overall:
--Most offensives ground to a halt due to MG demands. The AI doesn't seem to stockpile MGs well, so it was not uncommon to see AI units stranded and being killed off by garrision units. The war in Europe pretty much stopped by 1945/46 as all sides just sort of sat there bugging me for MGs. When I would sell them some, they'd go on the attack.
--MG production is being held low by the lack of IGs and later Petrol.

Recoms:
--reduce IG demands overall, freeing up more for production, or increase IG output. Make IG factories cheaper (in IGs) to build. MG factories as well--they have what seems to be a very high demand for IGs for construction.
--increase MG factory output. I suggest tying MG factory output to DEFCON level--the higher the DEFCON, the more they would produce (reflecting expanded work force, 24 hour operations in a crisis, et al). Reduce IG needs for MG production (or eliminate them entirely; maybe replace them with Metal Ore--need for brass, copper, iron and other raw materials for ammo production. It would place a greater demand for Ore--one of those resources everyone tends to have a lot of).
--Increase Petrol output from Oil Fields and other sources.
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