I was kind of sitting on the wall until I saw the $50 price tag which pushed me to the other side of the wall. At that price it's not something I want to take a chance on if I'm not firmly convinced it's for me. I'll have to wait for more reviews and perhaps a price drop.

I believe Best Buy has it for $40 if that makes a difference. I'm planning to wait too because I'm swamped with other stuff and as much as I like Roman-themed games, I like price drops even more. Having seen EUIII and Crusader Kings drop to like $5, I can wait. Perhaps not that long, but a little while.

Matrix Games is making The War Engine Toolkit available for free download. Who doesn't like free stuff? For free, I'll look at it.

Features include:

* Highly tactical – watch your tracks, destroy key terrain, find the objectives!
* Seven full games in one
* Individual scenarios as well as linked campaigns
* Move your army from one battle to the next!
* Weapons, terrain and units are all fully configurable
* Use our graphics or your own
* Excellent AI performs well under the wide variety of situations

Gamespy's review was less favorable than the other reviews so far. They gave 3 out of 5 stars citing a poor UI and army management problems.

I think they mentioned, among other things, that changing an army's marching orders while on the move resulted in the army losing all movement and returning to its start. Also it was difficult, the review says, to make sure that the entire army arrived at a destination at the same time leading to part of the army facing the enemy days before the rest of the troops.

Anyhow, don't kill the messenger: I'm still enthusiastic but I'd like to hear the opinion of someone here who's actually encountered this sort of thing in the game.

As much as I appreciate being made to feel welcome here - in that no one here has wished me any specific harm - I miss OO.

I never thought I'd write that. I didn't even agree with 1 in 100 posts I read there and yet...if it doesn't return, I will miss it. 

(Plus with most of its inmates free to roam the internet...who knows what mayhem will ensue?)

OO Come Back! All is forgiven.

It may not be better; certainly it'll be different. I don't see it as a Heroes of Stalingrad Vs. AOTR situation.

Advance of the Reich is an ok game. I own it and have played at least three dozen scenarios, often more than once. It's just that AOTR's graphics are so minimal, its sound FX dull, and its A.I. barely competent: they get the job done but even for a East Front fan like me, it's not that atmospheric a game. Tank combat is dull - in a Russian Front game! - and the computer frequently doesn't protect trucks/halftracks from any weapons fire, troops leave favorable cover to charge and battle damage (like decimated squads) are not reflected onscreen except by going over a units' stats. It's a decent early 1990s era game but I can understand why it's not inspiring much enthusiasm.

Whereas I think Heroes of Stalingrad's graphics are inspiring;both counters and maps are beautiful. The sounds FX are better than the usual perfunctory wargaming rifle fire and boom of an explosion. I like that Heroes will have two campaigns along with standalone scenarios. What I'm really hoping is that the A.I. will be competent.

If the A.I. isn't up to snuff, then AOTR will certainly be better.

I filed in Feb. because I had TurboTax and all the documents I needed handy. For me, it's easier to do the filing right away rather than constantly see on my TO DO bulletin board my note "IRS TAX" for months.

So this is a computer port of the boardgame?

Not of the boardgames I mentioned (Squad Leader or the John Tiller Squad Battles series) which I merely mentioned to give an idea of the scale and type of wargame HofS might be compared to. It may be based in part on LnL's "Heroes of the Blitzkrieg" which was a boardgame. My understanding of Heroes of Stalingrad is that it is independent of other LnL products and there is no boardgame HoS planned. But I don't read all their forum posts and that may have changed.

As for the size of the map(s) - the examples show just a small screen - I have to think that's due to the person who made those examples using FRAPS and who wanted to emphasize that particular moment.

Anyhow, who knows how it'll be when released? I'm hopeful that the gameplay and AI will be sufficient. I'm certainly pleased with the look and sound so far; maybe there'll be other aspects like plenty of scenarios or challenging tactical decisions that will add even more.

So let's keep our fingers crossed.

Again, it's just an FYI. If I see any new info as time goes on, I'll post. If you all see something, it'd be good to add.

I like GT. It's friendly. Perhaps we should all leave the ocean and venture onto dry land - permanently.

Lock 'n Load publishing is coming out (when? soon) with a PC game called Heroes of Stalingrad which looks very similar to the old time boardgame Squad Leader and the John Tiller Squad Battles PC games. It's a turnbased game deliberately created to evoke the feel of a boardgame, down to the unit counters and rolling dice (optional).

I think it looks very interesting and very attractive too. Hope it turns out well.





Heroes of Stalingrad is not an RTS game and it's not a big-budget AAA production by a large team, but even outside its niche wargaming segment, it appears promising.

http://www.locknloadgame.com/hos/firefight.wmv

http://www.locknloadgame.com/hos/melee.wmv

http://www.locknloadgame.com/hos/armor.wmv

There is a review at Out of Eight that gives the game 8/8. It's a fairly lengthy review.

Troy at Flash of Steel will have a review at CrispyGamer soon; he appears less enthusiastic though he thinks it's a good but not great game. Just FYI.

Short of a disastrous amount of negative feedback, I'll purchase the game within the next month or so.

It's an interesting series, ideal for quick battles. I see a campaign (or three) has been added, so that's a plus too. While the series is definitely dated in terms of graphics, it does have a quirky charm: you've got the boardgame feel, a decent A.I., and (esp. in the older games like Advance of the Reich) gamers have created dozens of extra scenarios.

I also second trying NWS Online for HPS games - and other wargames - I've found them to be fast, reliable, and significantly cheaper.

It's kinda pricey given my interest level. So I'll probably just beat up some kid as he heads to the lunchroom and take his Fallout 3 lunchbox...

Sadness. Didn't find a single penny guide this time.

Walking past the old Octopus Overlords place gives me the creeps! - what with the hastily boarded up windows, neglected front-yard (which truthfully hadn't been tended in years anyway) the shutters banging in the wind and the hint of movement in the darkened second-story rooms.  I'm glad I can come here where it's bright and friendly...

Galactic Civilizations II: Game of the Year Edition is about $20 at CircuitCity - maybe even a bit less - so what one could do is try that and see if its gameplay is at all enjoyable. As much as the game has improved, I still think it likelier than not, that those who don't enjoy the GalCiv2, won't enjoy the latest version. This wasn't true in my case, I admit: I admired the first game but didn't find it "fun" - it's only been with the latest version of Dark Avatar that I've really enjoyed the game. I'm going to purchase Twilight without feeling taken advantage of because a) no one's forcing me and b) I believe that all the additional work will be amazing. I'm in.

Well, I intend to replay Fallout 2 soon as it will distract me from the fall of OO. If I see the dog on the road, I hope he'll join up. And if I meet the Buddha on the road?

BTW, that's a cool screenshot Daehawk. It is now my new wallpaper.

Found Supreme Commander for $7.98 at my local Target.

CheapAssGamers report both Supreme Commander and its expansion at the $7.98 price BUT I scanned the expansion and it showed $29.98.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if I find the expansion at yet a third price at another Target.

"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?"

Anyhow, the time for weeping is past.

It's time now to assign guilt.

Who benefits from OO's "going offline"?

Who?

(BTW: GamingTrend seems like a nice place. I may stay and learn their ways.)

It's been along time for me with regards to the penny guides. I got to go to BB anyway. Thanks for the info.

good thing i checked here. i thought you all had packed up and moved away without telling me. just like my own family did in '04. 

Heh. It would be cool if he showed up in that "Creature from the Black Lagoon" costume and attacked anyone who criticised his game.

I'm single and I find it difficult to find the time to game right now! Gamers with families must be more hard-pressed for time than me - I'm impressed that any game at all.

One thing I've found that works for me - and this works not just for gaming but any activity - is that when I do game, I focus on the game for that amount of time without allowing myself to listen to music or tv or conversation. I know it sounds ordinary but 15 minutes concentration is worth an hour of casual this-and-that "let the time drift by" activity. Haven't you ever been the gym and seen someone spend 10 minutes talking to the fellow next to them instead of working out? Or been at work and let an hour slip past without making much progress? And then, you wonder where did the time go? I may not spend as much time as other people but that 20 minutes on X3 or Mount&Blade or CivIV was intense. Anyhow, I find it works for me.

I've played Gothic 1 and Gothic 2. I enjoyed both games moderately; they had more than their share of frustrating moments (or should I say I had more than a few frustrating moments with both games) but overall I'm glad I experienced them. The atmosphere and the story were very involving; in the sense that I cared about how it came out. So the inconsistencies and annoyances were minor compared to my overall positive feeling for the two games.

However, Gothic 3 just doesn't do it for me. Now, I've played the demo and several hours of the actual game with a friend's Gothic 3 and the game's bugginess and extreme load times were major problems. More disturbing, I suspected that the combat mechanics - even if everything else was patched to perfection - were enough to persuade me that the game would have to wait for an enormous price drop (basically I'd have to get it free) because I was able to do a great deal of mayhem just using the LMB and hoping no one ran through a freakin' wall (it happened, although at least that NPC fought back unlike some of the others) and...

I would've thought nothing could prevent me from buying Gothic3 but I was wrong. If anything, those reviews at 1Up and Gamespy and IGN and...were toooo kind.

I came across the YouTube video and it also sparked my interest in learning about the game and visiting the official forum. I hope that it turns out well and is successful both in gameplay and in sales. We need more space genre games. Or at least, imo, I can't have too many.

I haven't seen  1701 A.D. at a B&M Bestbuy - which is unfortunate since when the inevitable price drop happens, I could buy the game for an extra $5 gamer's gift card coupon discount but oh well...

I definitely would purchase the game but as things now stand, I really can't justify full-price even though 1701 A.D. appears to be the sort of game that I enjoy. Problem is there are other games that I own now that have received their proper attention. Still, I'm such a fan that I'll still read other gamer's impression and Patch Readme's simply out of curiousity.

With regards to "Trends", if the worst are in-game advertising (which frankly doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't interfere with gameplay or atmosphere) and so-called bad launches (hell, I'm not at all swept up with the need to buy something immediately anyway, so launches are amusing PR hypes at most for me) then that's not so bad at all. What I find more discouraging is how more and more photorealistic game graphics become while the essential A.I. in them isn't all that much more interesting. The idea that "it's in multiplayer where Game X really shines" is not necessarily encouraging, I'll play MP but I prefer the SP experience and I'd like the AI to be competent. But then, this is not a new complaint and emphasis is on MP is not a new trend.

I started playing Company Of Heroes because of all the positive feedback I was reading and it won me over: it may not be quite my GOTY but I'm glad that I've experienced it. I sure played a hella lot with it and that alone is worthwhile.

OO is down for me and I'm behind in fulfilling my 1.3 posts/day quota as it is.

Now I feel better. I'd felt a bit guilty about buying Hegemonia and then not playing it. Perhaps the ultra-bargain bin price let me put it on the shelf mostly free of guilt but still I thought: one of these days.

I'll play it eventually if only because I have to find out whether:

a) gamers who gave it thumbs down are just "too demanding" fans of the space genre to give Haegemonia a fair shake cause it doesn't fulfill all those hopes of a great game

or

b) gamers who gave it thumbs down are being too generous and in reality, Haegomonia belongs on the next shuttle to the galactic edge.

[Caylus]

I have to go with card games primarily because they're the easiest to find enough players for and often the most accessible to new players. They don't have to think of themselves as "gamers" so there's no mindset (?) against their playing.

I prefer boardgames if the group is more obviously gathered for a certain amount of time and purpose. If we meet some Friday or Saturday, I'll play virtually any boardgame. Last week, we played Caylus.  I thought that was fun and really easy to get into.

PnP gaming: It's going to probably stay just history for me. Ironically though, it was the most fun but frankly too dependent on the nature of the players involved. I doubt that I could get a group such as the one I was involved with in high school. I used to think every gamer should have tried PnP gaming at some point.

Until recently, I'd not knowingly met many women who played any PC games let alone games that I enjoy like strategy or FPS games - obviously they're out there but I wasn't aware of them in real life.

Then one day, a few months ago, I saw this pretty blonde girl with the old-fashioned black plastic frame glasses and wearing a Serenity t-shirt working out at the gym.

Naturally, I took this as a sign to talk her. I was hoping she wouldn't say "Oh, this shirt? I found it." or "Ehh, it's my brother's old t-shirt. I don't know anything about some tv show. Scram." However, she was indeed a fan of Firefly and a WoW player as well (I found this out later) a Civilization II player and in the past an EverQuest fan. It's destiny! I thought...

She was pretty much a gamer's fantasy girl in looks and style but unfortunately for me and my dream of having a gamer girlfriend who would buy the games I'm too cheap to cough up the cash for, she had a boyfriend who plays a mean CounterStrike game. And me, alack, too busy to go back to WoW.

And those charming PMs Kobra sends to even the most innocuous of posters.

She does have a Brad Pitt like quality going on there. Maybe she kisses herself in the mirror?

"Fortunately I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency." - Daffy Duck
 
And I keep my forums bookmarked for just such an emergency.