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#3585098 - 06/02/12 09:15 PM Re: Review: Battle Academy for iOS [Re: vonKhan]
PipFromSlitherine Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 03/21/12
Posts: 20
Originally Posted By: vonKhan
Originally Posted By: PipFromSlitherine
Originally Posted By: Magnum
PIP... just wanted to say thanks for signing up at SimHQ and answering our questions and concerns... that in itself ALMOST deserves the price of game. IMO

That said... I understand the balance issues and the poor AI statements from others, I often wonder how a certain unit can take 2 shots each from 3 panthers and nothing happen...and other incidence's like that... and my god how the British Home Guard can break so easy, almost not worth having them, lol... a number of balance issues and AI complaints... but still, a damn fine iPad game, one that I play more then anything else on my iPad, probably the only APP I use more is you tube. lol

Now I do hope those features on your forum page for the PC 2.0 beta make it to iPad... that would be great, especially the force selection for MP.

Also, pass on ability to pause or maybe even save a turn replay... please. wink Sometimes I like to see it again from different angles or positions. wink

Thx again... now give us Panzer Corp! wink


You say such sweet things, and then bring up that floozie Panzer Corps! wink It's coming is all I can say...

We've tried to add more feedback to the combat model, as we know that some of the issues people have come from not being able to necessarily see what is going on under the hood with regard to accuracy and so on. All the feedback is definitely useful, and helps us with our constant improvements to the game.

All our versions have to stay in sync, so every feature that you see on the PC and Mac (editor nonwithstanding) you'll see on the iPad. We are just in beta for 2.0 and we have people playing iPad force selection missions as we speak smile. If you have suggestions for 2.1 then please let us know!

Cheers

Pip




Re: Magnum's point, having driven Tigers and Panthers in tank sims - you really need to be a moron to miss at under 800yards with those flat trajectory guns.


The thing to remember is that it is abstracted - when you move a unit and then stop and leisurely turn to fire, you aren't doing exactly that. The model models the move and fire all as one action, so you are basically doing a snap shot from top speed at times, and the target you are firing at may still be 'moving' even though it is stationary onscreen. Not even German optics can offset that. smile The discussion of exactly how accurate a given tank should be are well outside my pay grade, but we were given advice by various professors and so on during development, so I think we are pretty close.

The chance to hit from a Tiger or Panther without any movement penalties verses a large stationary target is pretty high, it just falls off once you start getting things moving.

Cheers

Pip


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#3586482 - 06/05/12 09:12 AM Re: Review: Battle Academy for iOS [Re: guod]
Magnum Offline
Lifer

Registered: 01/27/03
Posts: 25506
Loc: Naples, Florida
I love the game... but I still question some "calculations" in this bad boy... of course if I was on the other side, I would like it... IE: current battle with Airdrop is coming to a end, been one hell of a battle, and i really thought I had it till the last couple of turns... last 2 turns it took 12 shots, 2 shots from 6 tanks, 2 different directions, frontal and flank to finally kill one Panzer tank, the frontal chance to hit was just under 50% while the flank was over 50%, but yet none did anything, 11th scared him, 12th finished him finally... and he still has a KingTiger out there, lol... but one of the things I don't understand is why infantry can't sneak... in the below screenshot, I'm trying to sneak my infantry along the bush wall and a tank still see's me from the other side... come on! lol



Needless to say it has been a costly battle for both sides, lol.
_________________________
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#3586523 - 06/05/12 11:28 AM Re: Review: Battle Academy for iOS [Re: Magnum]
PipFromSlitherine Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 03/21/12
Posts: 20
Originally Posted By: Magnum
I love the game... but I still question some "calculations" in this bad boy... of course if I was on the other side, I would like it... IE: current battle with Airdrop is coming to a end, been one hell of a battle, and i really thought I had it till the last couple of turns... last 2 turns it took 12 shots, 2 shots from 6 tanks, 2 different directions, frontal and flank to finally kill one Panzer tank, the frontal chance to hit was just under 50% while the flank was over 50%, but yet none did anything, 11th scared him, 12th finished him finally... and he still has a KingTiger out there, lol... but one of the things I don't understand is why infantry can't sneak... in the below screenshot, I'm trying to sneak my infantry along the bush wall and a tank still see's me from the other side... come on! lol

Needless to say it has been a costly battle for both sides, lol.


Well, most of my missions would probably end with my men fragging me and then deserting, given my poor leadership smile.

The hedgerow thing is a known issue. It's not working as we would like, but we're having to be very careful with a solution as the LOS code has gotten pretty complex. But you are right that it isn't ideal.

Remember that if you have a 50% chance to hit, that means that one time in 16 you will miss 4 times in a row, which can definitely be frustrating. The German tanks are also pretty tough, even from the flanks, compared to the poor Shermans. I'll try and get Iain to pop his head into the thread, he is the designer on the game and so probably has more insight into the specifics than I - I just work away at the codeface and am happy when tanks only explode when they are supposed to wink.

Thanks for the feedback, it is all useful!

Cheers

Pip

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#3586526 - 06/05/12 11:34 AM Re: Review: Battle Academy for iOS [Re: guod]
Rends Offline
Member

Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 588
Loc: Germany
Same here. I still havn't understand yet when soldiers or tanks are hidden behind Hedgerows and when not.
If you ask me i would say enemies are hidden and my poor guys are always viewable,lol ;-)

Btw: why does MP games always end in silence? What i mean is that you don't get a message of won/lost . The game switch from active to the finished game list without notice.
You need to click and replay the last round to find out how it ended.

And at last: you made this game realistic as possible but why do i have no idea at the mission start that there will be reinforcement in later rounds?
A commander should be informed that there is something on the way?

And at very last: have i told you that i realy realy hate this dubios point system that exsist in some missions?
Win or loose if you capture specific locations (command posts). Yep that makes battles.
Win or loose if you destroy all or specific numbers of enemies. Yep that makes battles.
Win or loose because one side has reached a number Of points. No that's a nogo. That is not a soccer or football game!

You already include the round limitations as a timer.i can live with that because in real life specific operation has to be done within a time frame.
This point system destroys so much of the gameplay. When in battle i always check how many rounds are left. Then i try to bring my units into position if i'm the attacker. This will take some time (rounds). Once done i start one or multiple attack of the command post(s). This counter system destroys the tactical part of the game. You don't have the time to bring the troops into the right position and attack when youbhave prepared your troops to attack. This is the weakest part of the game when playing multiplayer if you ask me.
Thx for reading,
Rends
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#3586529 - 06/05/12 11:39 AM Re: Review: Battle Academy for iOS [Re: guod]
Magnum Offline
Lifer

Registered: 01/27/03
Posts: 25506
Loc: Naples, Florida
us complaining shows were playing... so don't take all this wrong. wink

I would just like to know if I'm hiding or not seen from the enemy, infantry should be able to use terrain to mask there movements, but i also understand theirs a grid play system that needs to be honored, it's how it works. wink
_________________________
Magnum

"Every time I hear/read "Free to Play" I know were going to get screwed in the end with micro-transactions. NO THANKS game developers!"

*Intel i7-2600K processor *Cooler Master Hyper N 520 CPU fan *Asus ROG Maximus IV Gene-Z mobo *8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 DDR3 RAM *Asus ENGTX570 DCII GeForce 570 video card *Western Digital 640GB 7200 w/32MB cache HDD *Corsair TX750M power supply *Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit

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#3586531 - 06/05/12 11:42 AM Re: Review: Battle Academy for iOS [Re: guod]
Rends Offline
Member

Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 588
Loc: Germany
Magnum, how come that you have shadows?
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#3586536 - 06/05/12 11:52 AM Re: Review: Battle Academy for iOS [Re: guod]
Magnum Offline
Lifer

Registered: 01/27/03
Posts: 25506
Loc: Naples, Florida
that was a PC screen... i have both. wink
_________________________
Magnum

"Every time I hear/read "Free to Play" I know were going to get screwed in the end with micro-transactions. NO THANKS game developers!"

*Intel i7-2600K processor *Cooler Master Hyper N 520 CPU fan *Asus ROG Maximus IV Gene-Z mobo *8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 DDR3 RAM *Asus ENGTX570 DCII GeForce 570 video card *Western Digital 640GB 7200 w/32MB cache HDD *Corsair TX750M power supply *Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit

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#3586656 - 06/05/12 03:28 PM Re: Review: Battle Academy for iOS [Re: Rends]
PipFromSlitherine Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 03/21/12
Posts: 20
Originally Posted By: Rends
Same here. I still havn't understand yet when soldiers or tanks are hidden behind Hedgerows and when not.
If you ask me i would say enemies are hidden and my poor guys are always viewable,lol ;-)

Btw: why does MP games always end in silence? What i mean is that you don't get a message of won/lost . The game switch from active to the finished game list without notice.
You need to click and replay the last round to find out how it ended.

And at last: you made this game realistic as possible but why do i have no idea at the mission start that there will be reinforcement in later rounds?
A commander should be informed that there is something on the way?

And at very last: have i told you that i realy realy hate this dubios point system that exsist in some missions?
Win or loose if you capture specific locations (command posts). Yep that makes battles.
Win or loose if you destroy all or specific numbers of enemies. Yep that makes battles.
Win or loose because one side has reached a number Of points. No that's a nogo. That is not a soccer or football game!

You already include the round limitations as a timer.i can live with that because in real life specific operation has to be done within a time frame.
This point system destroys so much of the gameplay. When in battle i always check how many rounds are left. Then i try to bring my units into position if i'm the attacker. This will take some time (rounds). Once done i start one or multiple attack of the command post(s). This counter system destroys the tactical part of the game. You don't have the time to bring the troops into the right position and attack when youbhave prepared your troops to attack. This is the weakest part of the game when playing multiplayer if you ask me.
Thx for reading,
Rends


The Victory Points scoring maps are definitely a gameplay contrivance for sure. We wanted to have something to force people to be mobile, while also being easy to understand. Note that only some of the MP maps available use VPs at all, some are meeting engagements, some have other victory conditions. So if you don't like the points maps you can start up some challenges on maps with setups you prefer smile.

Cheers

Pip

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#3586657 - 06/05/12 03:30 PM Re: Review: Battle Academy for iOS [Re: Magnum]
PipFromSlitherine Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 03/21/12
Posts: 20
Originally Posted By: Magnum
us complaining shows were playing... so don't take all this wrong. wink

I would just like to know if I'm hiding or not seen from the enemy, infantry should be able to use terrain to mask there movements, but i also understand theirs a grid play system that needs to be honored, it's how it works. wink


smile I've been doing this long enough to accept that any feedback is useful - if something isn't gelling with people then it's something to put on our radar!

The hedgerow thing is definitely something we need to fix. There is just a such a complex set of LOS logic from initial development (incorporating hills etc) that it needs careful planning. We don't want to unbalance lots of missions or maps, etc. But I think the time has probably come smile.

Cheers

PIp

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#3593715 - 06/18/12 12:32 PM Re: Review: Battle Academy for iOS [Re: guod]
Slitherine_Iain Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 06/07/12
Posts: 2
Hi guys,

Phil asked me to stop by and answer any design issues/questions you might have. Are there any outstanding queries?

I see some comment about the %'s. One thing to bear in mind is you are looking at the chance to kill and not chance to hit. Chance to hit is then modified by chance to penetrate to generate chance to kill. If you are looking at hit chances then you are not getting the full picture.

Cheers

Iain
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www.matrixgames.com

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