Which one do you prefer over Commander Europe at War and WW2: Road to Victory
dougb
I've been thinking about possibly buying one of these two games (CEAW
or WW2:rtv) and would like some feedback from members of the group who
have played one or both of these. I'd like a European Campaign game
and I am looking at these two as the most attractive candidates.
There are a few things I'd like particularly to focus on that are of
importance to me.
1) AI - I play most of my games solitaire so this one is the biggy.
Now the challenge of the AI is not only going to depend on the AI but
also on the skill level of the player. I wouldn't call my self
particularly good and thus a moderately good AI would probably provide
sufficient challenge.
2) Faith in reproducing broadly historical outcomes - I'd hope that
the war at a strategic level wouldn't exactly follow the historical
path if the player or AI tries different strategic approaches.
However, I also want to know that the game system produces reasonably
realistic results. If a German player emphasizes naval construction
in an effort to knock Britain out then that should have follow on
effects in other areas - less of a chance to knock SU out early.
3) Interface and graphics - I really need a decent interface as I
have no patience for struggling with poor interfaces. Graphics are
also reasonably important - I'm spending a lot of time looking at the
screen so it's nice if the game art looks somewhat attractive
(particularly the maps).
I'm really interested in hearing feedback on these two games
particularly since they've been out for a reasonable amount of time.
I understand that ww2:rtv is still being patched and is somewhat a
work in progress while CEAW is fairly mature at this point.
Thanks,
Doug
GJK
I've played both, but wouldn't repeat the experience again (sorry
Erik). I'd go with either TOAWIII (also from Matrix and a staple of
PC wargaming) or try the free Hitler's War (http://homepage.eircom.net/
~monalisa/HitlersWar/) I've been enjoying that one for it's simplicity
and playability. It's very "chess like" in that you need to plan your
moves or else you'll find entire armies cut off from supply.
Unfortunately, there is no AI at this point, but I've been enjoying it
solitaire just fine.
eddys...@hotmail.com
> I've played both, but wouldn't repeat the experience again (sorry
> Erik). I'd go with either TOAWIII (also from Matrix and a staple of
> PC wargaming) or try the free Hitler's War (http://homepage.eircom.net/
> ~monalisa/HitlersWar/)
There's a demo out for CEAW, this is the fastest way to check if it's
something you'd like or not. A lot of people do like it as it's one of
those easy to get into games.
If you're looking for an ETO game you might also want to check the
Strategic Command series from Battlefront - SC1 still has those nice
looking hexes and I enjoyed the heck out of that one back in the days.
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx
ERutins
For your requirements, I think CEAW would be a better fit from those
two. Make sure you update to the latest (v1.07) version though as the
AI was substantially improved from the original release.
In the big picture though, you should have a look at Gary Grigsby's
World At War: A World Divided. I think that's probably the best fit
for you in our catalog. You might also want to check back with WW2:
RTV after the next update comes out.
Regards,
- Erik
eddys...@hotmail.com
> In the big picture though, you should have a look at Gary Grigsby's
> World At War: A World Divided.
There's a demo out for the original World at War. The game has been
updated and upgraded a lot, but the demo is still a valid tool to
determine the like/don't like question.
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx
dougb
wrote:
Thanks for the rec Eddy. I actually have SC1 in a case somewhere
around here and I'll have to see if i can dig it up. I think
everyone here pretty much agrees it's unfortunate they decided to go
with squares for the sequel!
Best wishes,
Doug
dougb
Thanks Erik! I have World at War and decided to pass on the sequel -
though I did enjoy the first iteration. I'm going to check out the
CEAW demo which is where I'm leaning at the moment. Looking forwards
to seeing how World in Flames is received when it's released.
Best wishes,
Doug
ERutins
over the original IMHO, but CEAW is also a great and addictive game,
worth playing if you like grand strategy.
Regards,
- Erik
dougb
Hi Erik,
Unfortunately I cannot get the demo of CEAW to work. It installs ok
except for the launcher file which it cannot seem to install. I skip
that and when I try to launch the game from the desktop I get no
response. Perhaps Java has been updated since the demo and the demo
won't work properly now.
Best wishes,
Doug
finbogey
<er...@matrixgames.com> wrote:
>
>In the big picture though, you should have a look at Gary Grigsby's
>World At War: A World Divided. I think that's probably the best fit
>for you in our catalog. You might also want to check back with WW2:
>RTV after the next update comes out.
+1
I bought this as part of my Matrix holiday binge. I'm just getting
into it now and enjoying it. A few scenarios as well as the full
campaigns. I've played through the 42 scenario twice now to teach
myself the game. I'd rate it as intermediate, a bit more complex than
a beer and pretzels game, but not as complex as HOI or Strategic
Command.
-Finbogey
"Once Obama gets Gitmo cleaned out, maybe we can use
it for the Wall Street guys."
-Al Michaels on the Jim Rome show
dougb
getting the game to launch and that the thinking is that Microsoft
have released a fix that has caused problems. Needless to say I'm not
going to be getting a game that won't launch so I'll probably just
wait and see whether Slitherine are able to fix the problem.
Best wishes,
Doug
dougb
I'm not a huge fan of area movement though so I'm not likely to pick
that one up.
Hearts of Iron drove me crazy with its continuous time play. I just
don't think that has any place in the design of a strategic level
game.
Best wishes,
Doug
HR
I've played WW2rtv,CEAW,SC2 and all the others.
They're all quite good for 1 or 2 sittings per side as after that the
AI is is the same for an experienced gamer once you play it once or
twice.
currently playing SC PTO...although some poeple are hung up on squares
lol. Played the allies twice, once at normal and once at moderate.
Just took a little longer on moderate to take Tokyo...mar '45.
Probably wont play that side again as once you play its too
predictable. Will play the japanese side next. Until a new game comes
along. The India and Burma campaign was a lot of fun too...
Now if they ever program a human AI......I'd be in heaven.:)
ERutins
> Unfortunately I cannot get the demo of CEAW to work. It installs ok
> except for the launcher file which it cannot seem to install. I skip
> that and when I try to launch the game from the desktop I get no
> response. Perhaps Java has been updated since the demo and the demo
> won't work properly now.
The demo is probably the v1.00 version - some Java fixes were
introduced in the updates. Note that you don't need Java installed or
any particular version, the game comes with its own. Only other
thought is if you're running in Vista remember to "Run as
Administrator" or the game won't launch.
Regards,
- Erik
dougb
Well I checked and it is the 1.6 version - and judging by some of the
activity on the forums there appear to be some people who are having
problems like the one I'm experiencing. Funny thing was that I
disabled my virus checker for the installation and the launcher
installed. The game did seem to launch properly - can't remember if I
went directly to the game or launched from the desktop. However, when
I tried from the desktop again I got the same non-response to double
clicking.
Best wishes,
Doug
ERutins
> Well I checked and it is the 1.6 version - and judging by some of the
> activity on the forums there appear to be some people who are having
> problems like the one I'm experiencing. Funny thing was that I
> disabled my virus checker for the installation and the launcher
> installed. The game did seem to launch properly - can't remember if I
> went directly to the game or launched from the desktop. However, when
> I tried from the desktop again I got the same non-response to double
> clicking.
Hm - as far as we can tell, the issues you're talking about on the
forum are only affecting a very, very small fraction of the user
base. However, obviously they're affecting you as well. Are you
running on Vista or XP? What security software are you running (even
if it was disabled)?
So it launched correctly the first time but failed to work a second
time?
Regards,
- Erik
dougb
Well here's a little bit more detail.
I'd actually forgotten that I'd downloaded the demo some time back to
have a look. It was the 1.06 demo and I know that when I'd tried the
demo a sometime last fall it had worked. This time, however, I
couldn't get the demo to work.
So I went and re-downloaded the 1.06 demo and tried to install it
again. The first two times it wouldn't install the launcher file when
it reached that point in the install process. Tried a couple of times
and then decided to skip it. Game wouldn't start up when I clicked on
the icon (both desktop and in the start menu).
I then went and uninstalled and re-installed with the virus protection
(Mcaffee) deactivated. I was able to successfully install all the
files and was able to start the demo without any problem (but as I
noted I can't remember where I started it from). I also think that at
that point the virus protection was still deactivated. I then ended
the game and then reactivated the virus protection. Then I was unable
to start the game (it was behaving the same as it had before I
installed with the virus protection off). I decided to deactivate the
virus protection and tried starting the software again but was unable
to.
If I were to hazard a guess I wonder if something is being picked up
and misidentified as a virus or malware. I may have another go
tonight and try and get you some more information on whether I can
repeat this by reinstalling with the virus protection off.
Best wishes,
Doug
ERutins
McAfee is interfering with the game and not entirely deactivating
itself when told to do so. FWIW, we've had more trouble with McAfee
on all our games than with any other protection suite, so I'm not
entirely surprised to hear this.
Can you set up "exceptions" of any kind in McAfee to tell it to
completely ignore the CEAW demo installation folder and the files
therein?
Regards,
- Erik
dougb
Hi Erik,
It definitely looks like it's running afoul of the virus checker some
how. I reinstalled with McAffee deactivated. I was twice able to
load up the game without any problem with the virus checker
deactivated. Once I reactivate the virus scanner I can no longer load
the game, even if I subsequently deactivate the virus scanner. It
doesn't even get to the point where you get prompted for the key, so
is it possible that something in the keyword or activation routines of
the software is causing the problem?
There is unfortunately no way that I can find of telling McAffee to
ignore the folder - I'm not sure that would be a great idea anyway as
it constitute a potential place for viruses to sit. Hopefully they'll
be able to implement a fix to the software - at which point I'll get a
chance to look at the game and see whether I'd like to buy it or not.
Best wishes,
Doug
ERutins
> It definitely looks like it's running afoul of the virus checker some
> how. I reinstalled with McAffee deactivated. I was twice able to
> load up the game without any problem with the virus checker
> deactivated. Once I reactivate the virus scanner I can no longer load
> the game, even if I subsequently deactivate the virus scanner. It
> doesn't even get to the point where you get prompted for the key, so
> is it possible that something in the keyword or activation routines of
> the software is causing the problem?
All it does is check the serial number when it launches, which pretty
much involves it only working with files in its own installation
directory as well as the Windows registry. Just FYI, other anti-virus
software has no problems with this.
> There is unfortunately no way that I can find of telling McAffee to
> ignore the folder - I'm not sure that would be a great idea anyway as
> it constitute a potential place for viruses to sit. Hopefully they'll
> be able to implement a fix to the software - at which point I'll get a
> chance to look at the game and see whether I'd like to buy it or not.
I seriously doubt we'll be able to fix this on our side. I think your
best bet is looking at McAfee's settings and seeing if you can at
least exclude any executable files in the CEAW Demo directory, at
least temporarily to see if that helps. Most anti-virus software does
allow the user to set exclusions, I'd be surprised if McAfee didn't.
It may also be that some setting in McAfee is making it a bit too
aggressive and toning down one setting or another might help.
Regards,
- Erik
dougb
Too bad - I wish there were something that I could find in Mcaffee but
there do not a appear to be any settings that I can change that would
make any difference. I understand that given the variety of different
machine configurations you're not going to be able to address
everyone's issues so at least I was able to find that out with the
demo. I'll keep an eye out on WW2:rtv and see how that comes along -
looks like the developer is open to addressing issues and complaints
and it has gotten some fairly good feedback in this group. Definitely
looking forwards to some of the games coming out this year.
Best wishes,
Doug