The Competition & Teaser Thread

[Compass Rose]

As someone who is playtesting titles, it is damn hard to find mistakes.
I believe the Blitz community has guys who could start a team and bring there pet projects/battles to life if they knew that that title was not being worked on.

I'm not sure if you are referring to the point that you are currently play testing or have been on play testing teams in the past however, from my experience it is not hard to find "problems" or "issues". Some guys may be "experts" in the historical side of a battle and they know what forces and leaders were present and which ones arrived from the North on a certain date and which ones arrived South on a certain day, etc. Other guys may be experienced in the mechanics of the game. You may have members on a test team who are just "regular" guys who just like to play and don't have a clue about the historical side of a battle. Some guys may enjoy testing large scenarios or campaign games and others may only prefer testing medium and small sized scenarios. Any way you look at it, the time to find problems and issues is before a release, not after.

There also is more to play testing then just play testing the scenarios. You normally have alot of additional items that need to be looked at to make sure they are correct. Such items may include proofreading game manuals, reviewing in-game menus and menu graphics, location charts, weapon charts, game maps, getting started walk-throughs, parameter charts, unit graphics, etc. So until the "fat lady sings", there is always something that needs to be looked at. And depending on how many new builds are released to the playtesters, several of the items that were already looked at and/or tested will need to be re-tested/looked at multiple times.

So from my experience, it is impossible to go through all of that and not find anything that needs attention.

John Tiller has a very strong track record of releasing good quality games right from the start. You do not see them releasing titles that have been half-ass play tested and full of bugs because they were forced to release a title just because of a "due date" that they promised the public, like alot of other companies do. So even if this new PzB title is delayed, rest assured it will be another good quality game that we can enjoy playing for years and years to come.

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

I have to agree about the quality of the titles. The ones I don't mess with are because it just wasn't my cup of tea or the way the game is played like the ancients. But that doesn't make them any less interesting as I still watch for new titles and check to see if there may be a different game play to them. The quality is the reason I have so many JT titles and almost nothing else. I look at plenty of other games, but they just don't measure up to the point I would even purchase one to find out. I have tried a few demos and found them wanting. My game chest is around something like 99% JT titles.

The other thing I find big about JT titles is the fact that if you do fix, change or add to the titles, it is just a patch for that portion and not the whole thing. I've yet to hear of support of this magnitude from anybody else about other games.

As for desert title, I would like any of them since they all have many nationalities, but first would again be Tunisia, but as I said, I don't think any of it would matter as I think all will be good. Just a matter of whether you are interested or not.

[Kuriltai]

John Tiller has a very strong track record of releasing good quality games right from the start. You do not see them releasing titles that have been half-ass play tested and full of bugs because they were forced to release a title just because of a "due date" that they promised the public, like alot of other companies do. So even if this new PzB title is delayed, rest assured it will be another good quality game that we can enjoy playing for years and years to come. Smile

Couldn't agree more with the above...and thats why I will purchase upon release.
As to playtesting, I guess I was trying to say the that PzC testing benefits from the 20 some previous titles making things a little easier,not that there are no glitchs to find.

[Landser34]

Looking forward to this series the middle ground between PZC and SQB and don't know when I'll find the time with the games I'll have going but I'll have to try.

[Tide1]

John Tiller has a very strong track record of releasing good quality games right from the start. You do not see them releasing titles that have been half-ass play tested and full of bugs because they were forced to release a title just because of a "due date" that they promised the public, like alot of other companies do. So even if this new PzB title is delayed, rest assured it will be another good quality game that we can enjoy playing for years and years to come. Smile

Couldn't agree more with the above...and thats why I will purchase upon release.
As to playtesting, I guess I was trying to say the that PzC testing benefits from the 20 some previous titles making things a little easier,not that there are no glitchs to find.

Absolutely.. having a system that's stood the test of time makes it easier I think, but even one of the last games I helped beta for Glenn Saunders I sent a recon battalion along a road going around a small lake and the unit went through the lake :) That got fixed very fast. :)

[Tide1]

Looking forward to this series the middle ground between PZC and SQB and don't know when I'll find the time with the games I'll have going but I'll have to try.

Dennis all the games you've played.... I don't doubt you will adapt improvise and overcome :)

[Xaver]

Ummm PzB seems still in their growing age, at least in the supply part... every time i know more about game i need move my "estimated release date" to the future

I like the arty dialog, you can select alternate attacks here in a much better way than other series but i have a little question about smoke... i think smoke "life" is limited to lets see 1 turn but i find a problem when is the 2nd player who uses smoke, 1st player use smoke and this have effect on 2nd player turn but 2nd player when uses smokes need have it in the next 1st player turn... no???.

Well, Pacific battles with PzC engine have the problem more in time size, campaings are very long and discontinuous but battles are short and relative small (many are more actions than battles), of course are exceptions like Malaya campaign and some actions in China and Burma... apart what if dont have the problem, you can create a Hawai 41 invasion, same for San Francisco 42 or Japan 45/46... but well, PzB scale is better to cover the famous small actions in islands or in the continent.

Tiller problem is lack of map editor, i only know a few number of full mods for his games... Jarama37, Mollwitz battle (EAW serie) and well, the "The eagle was landed" mod that is now part of Austerlitz title (it was a mod but is official now), i think that with a map editor Tiller can use fan base to test engine in other battles or periods (for example i think Spanish civil war using France14 engine is a good option), i think now for example the last AGEOD full game about Spanish Civil War it starts as mod and finally become a full game for example.

Talking about testing... sometimes is more a question of "brute force" in other game i have i hunt a bug that devs were looking for a lot of time but they can replicate the bug

Call me crazy but in the last image, in the left side in the minefield i see part of a red counter with something white

[Strela]

Ummm PzB seems still in their growing age, at least in the supply part... every time i know more about game i need move my "estimated release date" to the future

I like the arty dialog, you can select alternate attacks here in a much better way than other series but i have a little question about smoke... i think smoke "life" is limited to lets see 1 turn but i find a problem when is the 2nd player who uses smoke, 1st player use smoke and this have effect on 2nd player turn but 2nd player when uses smokes need have it in the next 1st player turn... no???.

Call me crazy but in the last image, in the left side in the minefield i see part of a red counter with something white

Yep, I may start another competition - guess the release date!!! :)

As far as smoke, glad you noticed it. Smoke lasts from the time it is fired till the start of the player's next turn. It will always be in play during the other players turn.

Importantly there is a limit to how many salvos of smoke that can be fired during a scenario. The remaining smoke shots are listed in the command report at the start of each player's turn. The scenario designer sets the number of shots. The main reason for this is to prevent the battlefield becoming swathed in an unrealistic amount of smoke.

Here is an example of the command report;




A red counter with a bit of white? I'll go and discipline the cropping elves - it's too early to reveal Santa Claus!!

David

[jimcrowley]

We have removed supply changes in a scenario for all units other than artillery. Units can be setup as low ammo or low fuel at the beginning of a scenario by the designer and they will roll to recover during play.

The rationale is that in periods of a day or less units would be carrying enough ammunition or fuel to handle combat conditions. Some of this was driven around the justification of units not going low ammo when isolated.

Artillery on the other hand could run out of ammunition more quickly and that has the potential to become unavailable at various times. This reflects both the size of the ammunition and the more finite size of supplies.

As mentioned this may still change, but it's not an issue in the battle covered as there were few if any documented supply shortages.

Finally, a word on supply sources. They are in the game primarily to determine supply of artillery ammunition as well as determine isolation. Being isolated will still drop a unit one morale class. This is viewed as the 'psychological' effect of being cut off. The removal of low ammo when isolated ensure that it isn't a drop of two morale levels.

David

I'm trying to get my head around the implications of no 'low ammo'

My worry is that platoon level units can be 'scattered' around the map - essentially out of command - and, unless isolated, will receive no penalties. Could this not lead to unrealistic deployments.

Also, even if isolated, units will still not suffer low ammo? In PzC, if memory serves, the turn after being surrounded, i.e. 2hrs, isolation kicked in, with all the attending negatives. An isolated unit, if it fired, would incur a low ammo penalty.

Potentially, a platoon sized unit not in command and surrounded, could last, ammo wise, for 40 turns (max size of provided scenarios) or 20 hrs. Hmm...really not sure about that.

I'm just concerned that this may contribute to a greater lack of emphasis on C&C. Perhaps there was no mention of ammo shortages in this battle because both sides were on top of their organisational game, so to speak.

I would always favour something that makes life a little more difficult for the player if it more closely corresponds to the realities that C&C imposed on commanders. I know it is a fine line between game and simulation but, especially if you are aiming at historical accuracy, edging closer to simulation is preferable IMO.

Just my two penny worth.

[Xaver]

Good point about smoke, but all arty units can use it??? and if is yes... mortars use a smoke round like heavy arty???.

Maybe i see Crusader over Tunis because in Crusader you can have a big campaign and basic game using same map, Tunis for me needs be a mix of "battles" like Mareth line, Kasserine and something small like El Guettar and or Founduk.


THE RELEASE DATE LOTO!!!! with great prizes like a romantic night with Strela, you know how it starts but not how finish