Panzer Battles - Kursk Version 1.01 released

[ComradeP]

It's basically the same engine with different features, yes, but I'd say it will become a good series of its own. Panzer Battles: Kursk Southern Front isn't a bad game, the scenarios for example are well researched as usual. The fact that we're bickering about on one hand crucial but on the other hand also secondary parts of the mechanics is telling enough: the system has, overall, been refined over two decades or so.

It's just that, as this is the first game in the series and it borrows heavily from other series (or rather: it's built on the rules of other series, with some of its own rules added into the mix), some things work less well than they will over time.

The graphics are in the process of receiving a major upgrade, which is nice as well. I don't think graphics are the most important part of a game, but a less "vintage" look certainly helps with bringing new players in I'd imagine.

As to Command Ops 2: I was looking forward to that in 2013, but there have been so many delays that I've lost my interest. I understand that there will be delays for small developers, but Dave O'Connor promised so much on the Matrix Forums before switching publishers in terms of a release schedule that it's just bad PR that he didn't finish any of it at even roughly the time he promised he would. That wasn't a smart move by him.

He intended to release CO2 in parts, each of which would cost a fairly small amount of money, which may or may not have worked as a business model. At the moment, I'm not interested in Command Ops enough to deal with the unpredictable nature of the releases and patches.

I'm currently working on Unity of Command 2 and there have been serious delays there as well, but we didn't give customers a detailed release schedule of when we expected things to be done. You know there will be delays when you've just started with a project, so it's wiser not to mention a fixed release date (an initial release date tends to get pushed back anyway) or schedule before you know you can get things done on time.

The PzC and PB team are much more realistic in that sense: games will be released when they're done, with maybe a rough idea of what quarter or half of the year the next title will be released in.