Quick question for AgeOD, a studio whose games I’ve championed for the last few years:
Why in the name of Mercator would you do a wargame with the continent of Europe as the centerpiece and have the map turned 70 degrees? I thought I could deal with this since a) I’m not a moron, and (b) there are (allegedly) performance reasons that mean the map can run better on lower powered machines if they make it more tall than wide.
In fact, this is harder for my old brain to handle than I thought. Part of the problem is that you don’t usually see the entire map when you are moving your units. So it feels a little unnatural to move your units in an unexpected direction, especially in the Balkans. Yeah, in the great scheme of a dimensionless universe there is no up nor down. But you tinker with conventions at your own peril.
As for World War One itself, print out the manual and have it readily available. There is no way you will figure this out by going through the Click To Proceed tutorial or by jumping in. And the manual itself is only a couple of dozen pages with generous screenshots. Somehow, I think this is not going to be enough.
“(b) there are (allegedly) performance reasons that mean the map can run better on lower powered machines if they make it more tall than wide.”
That’s a rather amazing statement. I’d love to hear some details about those performance reasons.
I lost the link, but I’m looking for it, Chris. It was on the Wargamer forum. A player was quoting someone from AGEod re the peculiar orientation. It didn’t make much sense when I read it, and I have no idea why I didn’t include the link in the post.
Especially since they recommend 2 GB of RAM and there are many other performance issues that have nothing to do with the map.
Sounds like Ageod is losing its way. While I haven’t played their games, this is the stuff of being too nerdy and logical while sacrificing the player.
I highly recommend Birth in America and Napoleonic Campaigns; they have a good basic model.
World War One, however, is an adaptation of a boardgame that comes off looking cluttered and is poorly explained. For some reason AGEod sent a 23 page manual though if you buy through Matrix you get one twice as long.
I’m not ready to call it a dog, yet. And it’s good to expand their skills beyond the model they’ve been so successful with. But I’m not embracing it the way I hoped I would.
World War One is easily the least polished and least compelling product from AGEOD.
World War One is easily the least polished and least compelling product from AGEOD.
Unless you count Great Invasions, which is unplayable on just about any level.
I don’t. What a mess of a game that was. I consider that more of a fringe product on the outer reaches of the AGEOD empire. Montjoie!, another “fringe” product, was quite fun, in contrast.
Great Invasions is quite playable with the latest patches, actually. Sort of like a Paradox game.
http://www.wargamer.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=318513
Good to hear this wasn’t a title developed by AGEod. Looks like someone else’s engine.
While it’s a shame that it is so buggy that they are offering a refund that’s at least fairly classy. Good luck on getting your money back on any game put out by EA or Actilizzard!
Yeah, the refund is a classy move, but this game is so far from ready that Matrix and AgeOD should both have known it from the beginning. Indie games have an undeserved reputation for lack of polish, and stuff like this only reinforces that impression.
I understand the desire to make the target date, especially a meaningful one like Armistice Day. But this isn’t a company that has retailers counting on that shipment or shareholders to answer to. Holding it back a month or so wouldn’t have made much difference in the short run.
Articles About Everything » World War One: The Great War 1914-1918 Review // Jan 2, 2009 at 9:19 am
[…] certainly falls behind the heavy hitters of the genre and even AGEOD’s past efforts. In addition, some people are complaining about Europe being turned on its side where East is up on the map, but I didn’t […]