Kursk patch & Panzer Battles 2. WARNING Image Heavy

[Strela]

Hi All,

Firstly apologies for the silence from the Panzer Battles design team.

We have spent a number of months cleaning up the OB in Panzer Battles 2 and have only just got an updated play test version out to the team. This has been a real labour of love and has meant that many of the current scenarios have required review and in same cases complete replacement.

That said, the game will be better for the additional time and effort. As mentioned previously this is a West Front game and has required a lot of new artwork and other collateral. The good news is that every time we complete these game resources they are available for future games.

With the latest play test version out, I have moved back onto wrapping up the first patch for Kursk. The patch includes a range of fixes and enhancements to the game system as well as a number of scenario updates. This will be the first but not last patch for Kursk. I expect that there will be further patch release when Panzer Battles 2 is done. With that in mind the coming patch will have everything fixed to date included as well as the scenarios that we have had time to go back and retest and adjust. There are still a range of scenarios that need head to head play testing and they will be updated (if necessary) in patch two or beyond.

We are also deciding whether to include a lot of the graphics enhancements that have been done for Panzer Battles 2 as an inclusion in the first Kursk patch.

I'd like to share with you the revised look and feel and get players opinions and interest in including these new graphics. Everything is subject to change but these are getting close to the look we want. There are currently three new types of graphics; Top down (definitely included), entrenchments (possible) and terrain graphics (possible).

Without further ado....


New Soviet top down graphics (right) - compared to the originals (left). Colours have been corrected as well as 'depth' shading & lighting.





New German top down graphics (right) - compared to the originals (left).





New entrenchments (right) - Definitely WIP





Old Terrain - screen 1





New Terrain - screen 1





Old Terrain - screen 2





New Terrain - screen 2





Old Terrain - screen 3





New terrain - screen 3






All the above is WIP, we are hard at work here, but I'd be interested to hear whether people like this new look and would like it included with the first Kursk patch. As a final comment, Mike Avanzini is working hard on the OB for Panzer Battles 3 and that will be yet another variation on what has come before it...

David

[ComradeP]

David, do you have a list of scenarios that will be tweaked in the next patch (or a list of scenarios that won't be tweaked as they need more testing, the list that's shortest would be more convenient for you).

I don't use those top down graphics, but the improvements in colouring look real nice.

Personally, I feel the current entrenchment and strongpoint hexsides/tiles are good and don't need to be changed.

The terrain changes look a bit bland and generic, they remove colour and detail. I like the current terrain a lot, both the terrain tiles and the colours of the different height levels. The current height levels in particular are well done, significantly better than in numerous other wargames.

I don't recall there being any real debate about the terrain on these forums, does the development/test team feel there are issues with the current terrain that require significant changes or do you want to see if you can improve the terrain further?

As always, the continued support is greatly appreciated.

[Fonebone]

I have to agree with Comrade. I don't use the top down counters either, so really have no opinions on those. As for the terrain graphics, I'd stick with the originals as they seem to provide more contrast and I think that's good. I never had an issue with the current terrain graphics.

[Richie61]

David,

I love the WIP images! Well done Sir!!!

[Compass Rose]

I too, am not a fan of using top-down looking counters however, I think that the newly created ones do look better than the originals.

As for the terrain graphics, the originals were really good however, I like the newer ones even better.

Thanks for asking for our opinion.

[Al]

I like the newer graphics all-around. More defined - easier to see.

[Strela]

Hi All,

As far as the overall patch changelog, I'll post something later this week. I need to go through the latest testing notes and check the scenarios and update the changes listing. Before that review, at least 11 scenarios had been updated up to August this year. Please note we have been moving through them in the main, chronologically and will probably look at what can be completed in the next week and then defer the remainder to the next patch.

As for the graphics, not surprisingly they are evoking a range of emotions!

We will leave the defaults in place but include a folder for the new version so players can choose their preferred version. The nice thing is that there are three different files that allow you to mix and match a range of graphic updates. For example its easy to update the terrain but leave the old entrenchments in place as they are in two different files. I'll write up the details soon as we finalise the overall terrain graphics.

Please keep the commentary coming as it is really useful for the team.

David

[USS Wyoming]

I believe the terrain graphics are significantly improved in the new versions.

In terrain #1 comparison, you'll see that hill 225.X has a lighter shade compared to the original graphics. The original includes combinations of terrain that are darker hues in the valleys, then lighter shades indicating higher elevation changes - and then returns to darker shades at the highest elevations.

The other significant improvement is the enhanced building/village terrain that has a much better natural look.

The new unit graphics are superior with better color saturation and improved definition in the art detail.

[gabeeg]

I like all the new graphics better than the originals (that I also liked), except the entrenchment and bunker graphics, for that one I slightly prefer the old. Nice work!

[ComradeP]

Everyone has his own preference, so it's nice that both the new and old terrain will be included.

Personally, I think the new terrain (the actual tiles, without anything on them) is less defined, not more: less use of colour to differentiate height levels, making them less easy to identify (height levels are usually some sort of green). That's particularly clear in the second terrain screenshot, where in the new terrain you might with certain terrain configurations think there are just two important height levels, instead of three, as two of them are green. That's why I'm a big fan of using colours for that purpose.

Villages are more defined in the sense that the buildings are more clear, true, but in the new version they use similar graphics to the current Town terrain graphics. Without the clearly visible patch of soil around the buildings, you can no longer see at a glance what is what. Scattered or Building terrain also no longer stands out for the same reason: without the Village hexes having something that identifies them, the patch of soil, it's less easy to identify them. The new Village terrain graphics have a green patch, but that blends in with the terrain tiles.

The colours used for the roofs also look too European/North American in my opinion, they'd look great in Civil War Generals 2 for example. Soviet stone buildings would have mostly brown-ish/dark red-ish roofs or some dark shade of brown or black-ish, not a variety of colours. Buildings in villages might just be wooden huts. With the new terrain graphics, it's unclear why the one terrain type offers less defensive benefits, whilst in the old you can more or less see: these are wooden huts/simple buildings, and these are not.

The new Swamps contrast too much with the surrounding terrain, they're a bit too "in your face" in my opinion.

Using multiple variations for the same terrain type, like with the fields, can also be problematic, particularly if some of them can be confused with Grass. Currently, all fields are identical. I've never really understood why adjacent fields need to look different in some wargames, considering that it's unlikely that they produce different agricultural products, particularly in a collective farm.