Something about 1.03 I'm worried about

[Huib Versloot]

Just got to understand from the Matrix board something I didn't realize while in the Beta phase of 1.03 (otherwise I would have protested loudly).
It appears that now ALL scenarios have variable visibility; in other words a % chance with each turn that visibility will change + or - 1.
For me this is a near unacceptable change and a huge leap towards making the game LESS realistic as I know that visibility is NOT fluid during the day, other than at relatively rare occasions such as thunderstorms or sudden fog.
It was my impression when I was in the Beta phase that variable visibility was an OPTION for the designer, just like the dawn/dusk attack options you can set in the scn editor header. Apparently variable visibility has become default in 1.03.
Did I understand this correctly? And if so:
My request is to UNDO this immediately and restore the old situation.

Huib

[Herr Straße Laufer]

:chin: Hmmmm....
I read that too and was very disturbed. I would not want to be forced to go into a scenario/game file and have to physically change it back to normal ... each turn.
If they offered it as an option that could be switched on by the scenario designer that may be more acceptable?:conf:

I think this can circle back to my arguments about game scale? If the intended scale is ignored this shows that making changes will create effects that were never intended by the original designers? :rolleyes:

Think of someone like myself, who sees himself as a "purest" where the CS game is concerned.
If I look at the manual and read "six minutes per turn", even if it may be ten or twenty minutes, how do you think that I view variable visibility?
Either that was the quickest solar eclipse or my eyes are blinking more slowly than normal?
Yes, I know that it's only a % chance for +1/-1 each turn. But, really now, it just seems totally unneccessary? Especially, if you have bad dice rolls like mine and would be playing in the dark after a couple turns. :conf:

Or, next we will see variable weather (oh, wouldn't that be cool too!) It's muddy ... no it's dry ... it's muddy ... it's winter ... no it's muddy all in six minute increments? :smoke:

Maybe, if I can slip it in, I can have my erupting volcano? If done correctly it would spew ash and lava on alternating six minute time frames to match my concept of scale. :)

I'll keep beating the drums for a step back to game scale and original intent. It's all I have left to ensure the game does not go wildly off track? :chin:

Herr Huib, I think we can all feel your pain, in one way or another.

[Gordons HQ]

Perhaps it will defeat shooting and scooting armies Hurray !!!:)

[Jason Petho]

Try it for awhile.

Huib, considering many of the playtests we played had the feature enabled, it didn't seem to be that much of an issue then, if at all, so I am unclear why it is an issue now.

Jason Petho

[Huib Versloot]

First I find it principally a step in the wrong direction because it takes control away from the designer and replaces it with unrealistic randomness.
Second when I read this on the matrix board:

ORIGINAL: scottgibson

I am finding the changes in visibilty great. I hate 1 hex visibility scenerios and I play DCG's so never know what is out there. I had one yesterday that I enjoyed. Visibility started and ended at 1, but was up to 6 at one point.

Surely there are other way to increase FOW if that was the intention.

Huib

[Jason Petho]

Visibility started and ended at 1, but was up to 6 at one point.

If the scenario is a true NIGHT scenario (with a visibility starting at one) the maximum visibility that it will fluctuate is between 1 to 3 hexes. While it may say the visibility is larger than 3, you can never see farther than 3 hexes.

If it is NOT a NIGHT scenario, then it will fluctuate.

Jason Petho

[Huib Versloot]

Just tried it on a 1 hex visibility scenario that was included in 1.03 (heavy fog and not night during the morning of 16th dec 1944). The variable visibility ruined the entire scenario by setting it first to 2 and then to 3 after 5 turns. In other words the game engine now forces an unhistorical visibility into my scenario, making it into a "what if the fog had suddenly lifted during the opening of the Ardennes Offensive" scenario.

Let's drop this variable visibility now that we still can.

[K K Rossokolski]

I have said my bit about the totally unrealistic naval stuff in an earlier post. Noting Huib's initial concern about this issue might I ask what other surprises are in store? In particular, will this random visiblity effect all existing scenarios ?

[Hawk Kriegsman]

I am going to have to agree with Huib on this one. I am totally opposed to random visibility. Especialy if you have no way to turn it off. It should be optional only like armor facng. :stir:

Thanx!

[XLVIII Pz. Korp]

Hmmm.... viewing this through the eyes of one who rarely second guesses designers or patches I've got to second Huib's request to undo this feature or at the least make it optional. The impact on many scenarios will be dramatic and quite possibly very unbalancing. Ardennes scenarios like Huib's example spring to mind immediately but there are many others.

For example Don Fox's scenario "A Legend is Born". The Americans gave me fits and ultimately won a very tight game because of the constant 1 hex visibility. If visibility had suddenly and unexpectedly increased by 1 hex I'm quite sure my tankers would've smiled, there'd have been a flurry of Panther guns barking and my opponent would've felt like he was standing naked on a hilltop. "A Legend is Born" is very well balanced but I fear changing visibility ranges will undo the most critical aspect of the scenario.

There are many others where the 1 hex range is not just a consideration of the scenario but a critical and necessary element. "First Strike Towards Butgenbach", and "Third Time A Charm" to name a few.

Just my 2 cents but I vote this definitely should just be an option.