Strategy Gaming Online Review (9.5 out of 10)

[unmerged(163)]

Glad you liked it, sorry about the ads. None of us like it either, but y'know, bandwidth ain't free.

If it wasn't going against my own advertising, I'd point you to google's popup blocker.

 

[Ibn]

That was one of the most in-depth reviews I've ever seen Styopa, you did a fantastic job reviewing the game
(I just hope you weren't putting a little too much 'Minnesota Nice' in there)

 

[unmerged(26514)]

That was one of the most in-depth reviews I've ever seen Styopa, you did a fantastic job reviewing the game
(I just hope you weren't putting a little too much 'Minnesota Nice' in there)

Cannot agree more, but as some ex-reviewer told us earlier, reviewers have to be overtly flattering, or look for the door.

Well, there is one rebel games magazine here in finland who therefore never gets exclusives.. they almost seem proud of that

 

[unmerged(6160)]

Glad you liked it, sorry about the ads. None of us like it either, but y'know, bandwidth ain't free.

If it wasn't going against my own advertising, I'd point you to google's popup blocker.

I agree, get the Google popup blocker.

 

[Jayavarman]

I'd like to remind everybody to leave their vote on CK's user ranking here: http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/560986.asp

 

[unmerged(16407)]

at beginning of his review, the guy said that paradox gave a mediocre manual with the game, then at the end, he says he got none yet

Good review anyway.

 

[unmerged(163)]

Ah darn it. I thought I removed all those references.

My review actually started with getting the flavor of a late beta but that had some CTDs still.

Then I got the gold release version, and still had not rec'd a manual. It says something for the consistency of systems when I could puzzle my way through most of the game without it, frankly, but finally they sent me a pdf of the manual just as I was finishing the review.

For a game this intricate (and really, Victoria and HoI as well) a much more comprehensive manual would be well served. OK, I understand that apparently the era of giganto-manuals ala Falcon 4 is pretty much over, but Combat Mission still hands out totally complete manuals, and a lot of companies at least give you the "big manual" on-disk.

I'd say that "I could write a better manual", but then they might actually ask me to write it, and then I'd have to put up or shut up.

 

[Gothmog]

Ah darn it. I thought I removed all those references.

My review actually started with getting the flavor of a late beta but that had some CTDs still.

Then I got the gold release version, and still had not rec'd a manual. It says something for the consistency of systems when I could puzzle my way through most of the game without it, frankly, but finally they sent me a pdf of the manual just as I was finishing the review.

For a game this intricate (and really, Victoria and HoI as well) a much more comprehensive manual would be well served. OK, I understand that apparently the era of giganto-manuals ala Falcon 4 is pretty much over, but Combat Mission still hands out totally complete manuals, and a lot of companies at least give you the "big manual" on-disk.

I'd say that "I could write a better manual", but then they might actually ask me to write it, and then I'd have to put up or shut up.

I do agree with you that Vicky could have had much better documentation, but I'm guessing Combat Mission et al has an easier time in some ways, since they only (or mostly) sell over the net (I'm assuming this is still the case...it's been a while since I bought anything from them). But this seems to be an overall problem nowadays. The "real" manuals are called strategy guides.

Then again, Spartan was much better off than Vicky in this regard, so it might just be that Paradox has a bad deal with their publishers...

 

[unmerged(6777)]

I'd say that "I could write a better manual", but then they might actually ask me to write it, and then I'd have to put up or shut up.

Beware! I'm telling Johan you said that.

 

[Gothmog]

I'd say that "I could write a better manual", but then they might actually ask me to write it, and then I'd have to put up or shut up.

Beware! I'm telling Johan you said that.

Uh oh...I think it's time to check what kind of odds the betting firms are offering on Styopa writing the next Paradox manual.

 

[Porcius]

Pardon me for not taking this review all that seriously at this point...

Though well written, it seems to have the a priori assumption that Paradox games are great and this one is only greater. This site rates 70 per cent of the games it reviews higher than the average from other sites (gamerankings info), with all the Paradox games getting exceptionally high marks.

Hearts of Iron got a 9. Victoria a 9. Europa Universalis and Europa Universalis II both a 9.5 And all written by Mr. Lieb.

He may be right on this one (he was on the EU games), but I'm not going to take his word for it. The scores are far too consistent to be taken seriously, especially with the obvious problems with HoI and Vicky right out of the box.

I'll wait for Brett Todd.

 

[unmerged(26932)]

Latin Phrase

In the review, there was a Latin phrase that puzzled me:

"Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austriae, nube"

So I went and looked it up. (All the translations I saw were in German, interesting) If, like me, you didn't know what that meant, here it is:

"Let the others make war, you happy Austria, marry"

That's of course referring to Austria becoming powerful through marriage and inheritance, rather than by conquering.

 

[unmerged(502)]

What kind of crapy review gives Snowball credit ?!

why shouldn't they? I thought Snowball developed the game, didn't they? Or did I miss some major developments?

 

[unmerged(16407)]

Styopa its ok, it was still a very good review.

And talking about battlefront.com, their last game came with a .pdf manual, the reason was that -quote: most our customers have CMBB or CMBO already so there is no need for a printed manual

 

[unmerged(19220)]

Hello All,
Yes Combat Mission manuals are comprehensive. In fact even with quite a bit of tactical combat background in gaming and in the military I was compelled to read it to clarify etc. And it did remind me of the "old" booklike manuals that I would drool over and were always entertaining to peruse thru prior to playing the game.
I am not worried about lack of a "large" manual with CK as points of contention can and will be clarified here however what game companys seem to have forgotten is that "some" gamers view manuals as a intergal part of the game and a good manual properly formulated with charts, maps, diagrams etc only ADD to the gamers pleasure in playing said game.
Sheytan
PS I will qualify that statement {"some" gamers} and define them as those that enjoy to read :} obiviously if there are no pretty pictures in the manual it might alienate that other part of the gamer population that were weaned on FPS or other clickfest games requiring nothing more then the ability to use thier mouse with some dexterity.

 

[unmerged(16407)]

I play RTS and FPS and there is much more to them than a simple click fest.

Sorry to shatter your reality, but some people dont care about the genre of the game and just play whats good . So please dont show disdain for such games and people that enjoy em, or at least keep it to yourself.

 

[unmerged(13520)]

Or did I miss some major developments?

You could say that.

 

[InnocentIII]

RTS and FPS are largely clickfests. Any AI in an RTS that rises above "pile up a bunch of units and attack directly" is hailed as the next Deep Blue. Every game has tricks, learn the tricks and you're set. Same theory as being a dog on David Letterman. FPS strategy consists largely in knowing when to TK and shout "noob" (ok, and learning the maps). It's all in the wrist. There are limited exceptions, but the general rule is that the strategy you learn in your first ten hours in an EU2 type game is more than you'll need in a lifetime of RTS/FPS.

The largest trouble on manuals is that every "suit" has heard the "90% of gamers don't read them" figure on manuals. The next largest trouble is that it's true. It's less true in deep strategy games, but it's tough to justify the nice old manuals (the original SSI manuals had history in the back, the old MicroProse manuals were think glossy things, usually well done). Finally, a good manual hurts the sale of hint books (apparently people will actually read a manual if it's gives them cheats and they paid an extra $15 for it).

The problem with the EU manual was that it was better at explaining what the game mechanisms were meant to simulate than what they actually did. My guess is that the vast majority of EU players still have a primitive understanding of how combat works ("get there the firstest with the mostest" is about what I can gather)(and "if it's late, bring arty to the gate").

I especially like manuals because I carry them with me and reread them when I can't play. I often read them three times. Once through quickly before I play. Once after I have a few hours of play under my belt. A third time after I have played quite a while: I can still pick up little things I had missed.

 

[unmerged(19220)]

ROFL!
Thats not my reality but rather yours friend. Second I will not keep my opinions to myself because first, I am posting my opinion on subjects here just as anyone else does and second its my opinion :} if you dont agree, thats wonderful, god in all his wisdom gave you the brain power to make decisions in respect to what you consider worthy of reading here and what you do not consider worthy :} Just as did not consider your post initally worthy of preview...however you have compelled me to reply so here it is :} In relation to FPS tell me which games you play and which manuals of those games you have read, finally how many pages in the manuals and does it have pretty pictures? Once you reply I will consider your "opinion" and your counterpoints and perhaps mark you as a unique exception under my opioninated rule on this...one final note, I also play FPS, and about all there is in thier manuals is...a "brochure" with one page usually devoted to hot keys and a few "pretty pictures" to keep the attention of anyone who otherwise may have lost interest after turning the first page :rofl:
Sheytan
Virtute Et Armis

I play RTS and FPS and there is much more to them than a simple click fest.

Sorry to shatter your reality, but some people dont care about the genre of the game and just play whats good . So please dont show disdain for such games and people that enjoy em, or at least keep it to yourself.

 

[crazy canuck]

why shouldn't they? I thought Snowball developed the game, didn't they? Or did I miss some major developments?

I'm not sure exactly what happened but at some point about one year ago Paradox took over completely. Sergei had disappeared from these forums a few months before the change become clear.