demo

[Uxbridge]

Hook - I don't argue that some other process may be interfering with the demo and causing it to minimize. I'm fairly certain it is not due to me hitting the wrong key because nearly all input is via mouse. And others are reporting the same problem. But it's the time jump during minimization that is the real bug.

[Doyley]

When I first played the demo I was dismayed by the problems I was having, vanishing regiments, leaps in time etc. However, after a few battles, and reading the tips on this forum, I have become totally enthusiastic and will certainly be buying the game when it becomes available. Following advice on the forum I fought a battle this morning with OOBs and map geared to the Montebello scenario. I fought a very engrossing and hard fought battle and all the jobs I was to do this morning were forgotten. I was the Coalition and the French were aggressive from the very beginning, no trace of passive AI there. There were no disappearing regiments or other drastic occurances to mar the game. Unfortunately I only managed a draw, but hey, there is a big learning curve here. I think the message is to persevere and get a bit of experience with the system, and things start falling into place. I would like to thank JMM and his team of beta testers very much for their efforts and for making this possible, I am sure that the game will be fantastic!

[Taff]

Taking as a given that there are some problems and they will get sorted out. What about the good things? Just watch cavalry fights, you can loose, you can win but most important both can flee and will reform behind their lines. That is good for realism

[Gunner24]

All the great things we've been reading about for years are all there, no mistake about that, the good things will get better and better as we all understand the "workings" of the system better.

[Hook]

But it's the time jump during minimization that is the real bug.

I know, and I'm able to reproduce it.  That's why I posted in message 180 in this thread that JMM needs to set the game to pause when it's minimized.

What I'm trying to do now is figure out what's causing it to minimize so you can play the game now instead of waiting for the next version of the demo.

Hook

[Field Marshal Blücher]

I'm going to take s shot in the dark and suggest it's an XP issue.

I have Vista 32bit. I set the game to XP SP2 compatibility and that's when all my errors were accuring.

I removed the XP compatibility and now everything works fine.

 

How do you do this?

[JCM101]

Very pleased to grab the demo.  Been waiting a few years for this 

Installed & Loaded the demo without issue.
Played for 2-3 hrs without issue thru the tutorials.  Won the battle inflicting 79% casualties for only 23% loss - as my troops were doing very well at sorting out my basic directions. 
Only problem I had was on exit - monitor remained in sync but nothing but a black screen - hard reset req'd to regain system.  (the system was busy running a windowed Virtual Machine so that may have been why - will try again later....)

Generally a good first impression:-
I liked the way men were both delayed by their orders & by waiting for orders & the way the units are so clearly affected by the AI scheme written for them.  Impressive to see how they obey so many of the period protocols/behavior patterns  - rather than the click-fest req'd in many games.  Editing unit AI is going to produce some fascinating results I think.

The camera actually showed me a few sweeping arcs other games fail to produce, clicking at 45 degrees to the normal 4 directions gives a great panning effect.  I'm not used to it but I do like it - & camera is a critical stumbling block for an RTS. (Anyone recall the ill-fated Close Combat spin-off with terrible camera?)
 
I normally play RTS so the loss of click & drag was a shock  but once I play some more I will get a better sense of what does what I think - I definitely need to study the manual. 

I speak enough French that a few label errors are understandable & 'translatable'.
I would have liked to scroll/zoom the strategy map at times possibly because of the info flag that spent  quite a lot of time over the thick of battle, also I wondered about being able to measure distances by dragging a line without actually selecting a unit.  (Esp. to make assessment on where to put arty.  The 'fire at range' value is fine for independent action of course.)

The scale is huge & tracking units down was interesting - especially as I tended to jump into the crowd rather than hover high enough to get a broader view. 

A positive experience with a great deal of potential evident - this really could transform the genre.
Bravo JMM  - I can see why it has taken so many years.

***

The missing shortcut thing seems trivial to me but FYI for those with limited PC expertise the easiest way I've found to get any shortcut is to copy & paste the install path as you install - it's always shown - then paste that into the Explorer nav bar or the search / run box on the start menu in Vista/7 & hit enter - you should then be at the install location;
Right click the .exe, select 'create short-cut;
Drag & drop it where you want it.

[lodi57]

(Esp. to make assessment on where to put arty.  The 'fire at range' value is fine for independent action of course.)

Colonels know the right distance to stop their infantrymen and open fire and artillery company commanders know where to put their guns and when they can fire and what ammunition to use (what a wonderful regimental AI  ) so as a CC or CinC you don't need to care about this. Just concentrate on tactical operation  .

[Hook]

I'm going to second the wish for a way to measure distances.  Not so that I can figure out where to put artillery myself, but to get some idea of where the AI commanders might put it.  It's just useful to have a map scale, no matter the purpose.

Hook

[Gunner24]

I'm going to second the wish for a way to measure distances

This must refer to on the 3d map - yes ?.....they can be measured on the 2d map with the F9 key (I think) and the distance tab......can that be transferred onto the 3d map I wonder ?.

[Lancier]

Likin the demo more & more,
Vive L'Emperor !
Long live Mr. JMM

[englishoo7]

Does anyone else find the Artillery a little too powerful?

I find I have to engage their artillery with mine for a long time before having a chance to advance my infantry with the hope of getting to grips with the enemy. Of course this might be historical?

[englishoo7]

Just found my guard artillery all settled in the litte redoubt on the hill... Thought they looked really good! 

[YukonJack]

Gentlemen

Okay Im seriously impressed with the game. Honestly there is a gem in here, BUT....

It needs polishing and or I need to get the full version of the game....or Im off base and missing something at this stage.

Biggest challenge for myself is the frustrations I am having in getting my camera angle easily set at the needed height and angle and keeping this setting as I move from the various 2d and 3d modes of view, while attempting to keep my desired focus.

Im finding I get the camera set them change a view then its reset too something completely unusable, when I change modes.

If I set my camera above and behind a corp I want to keep the focus as I flip through the various 2d and and 3d views. The program needs to realize that most battles happen along a continuous front and that a view above and behind a corp looking towards the line of battle is the most relevant view 90% of the time. 

I am constantly having to readjust my camera and this is not how I want to spend my time within a game. IN online games fighting to get a good view will be very distracting and time consuming which is not a good thing. Seriously not a good thing in a strategy game.

I will at some point provide detailed feedback about this aspect of the game.

In fact we should start a relevant thread just for feedback and suggestions on the camera controls for the game.

My second point of contention is the scaling of the troops.

We live in the age where very very powerful graphics cards are the norm. Jmm could instantly increase the drama and excitement and realism by giving is an option to scale the toorp unit ratios up to and including 1:1.

I would love too see a 30, 500 to 1000 man battalions forming up and marching into action.

Im very confident this is possible with the computers we have today.

A 1:1.75 scale would be even cool... anything that allows us to get the feeling of how huge these armies where....

Ive enjoyed learning to game, as its feels as unique and dated as the period involved which is fun and something I can live with....LOL

Jmm thanks for your efforts thus far and I look forward to getting my hands on a full copy and playign head to head on the internet with people.

Jack

[_Cambronne_]

Right click on the unit/leader card would instantly move the camera behind the unit/leader.