I like many people here bought histwar for a reason, I am getting a little bit concerned about the requests for the 'dumbing down' of this game. I know there can never ever be true 100% realism, but this game can be tailored to any players tastes already. Talking about realism always seems to evoke criticism, Napoleon wouldn't have had a 2d computer generated map, but he would have had maps, how else could you relay orders to a computer game, the 2d map idea and drawing deployment lines seems perfect to me? Increase and decreasing time helps how please? Once the orders are given doesn't matter how quick time is portrayed.
Whether I would play this game in real time for realism is neither here nor there, and the chances of finding someone to play against me in real time would be impossible.
I too want to see JMM make a lot of money for the hard work and dedication that has been shown since I first discovered this game many years ago on the --------- site and to see more people playing. I choose to play histwar because I feel it is the epitome of a Napoleonic battlefield and hope others will buy this game for the same reason.
This is a corps based strategy game, that requires very few/if any individual orders to be given, this is not a micro-management game. Some people writing on this forum think that because people play total war ntw3, they will change to histwar if it was more like ntw3, most players who play total war games do so because they like that type of game, I myself enjoy it, but I also like histwar, more, please no more comparing ntw3 with histwar or vice versa.
I would rather be reading about ideas and observations that would improve upon the strategical realism of this game, rather than the looks, don't get me wrong, I am as excited about the new look as anybody, but histwar for me is not about looks/animations/sound etc, it is about Napoleonic strategies and tactics.
Suggestions:
I would like to see a larger data base for Generals/Corps Commanders/Regimental Commanders etc that could be added to by players as they discover names when building oobs, which in turn can be accessed by players for the building of historical battles.
Reassigning battalions/squadrons from one regiment to another. (In historical accounts ? battalions from ??? assisted ??? regiment).
A more versatile terrain where infantry, cavalry etc can use terrain to shelter from artillery fire (line of sight for artillery as it stands at the moment could be better?).
Entry of reinforcements onto battlefield from anywhere other than lops.
River maps are a bit problematic at times, as many battles involved rivers would be nice to see engineer units for bridging maybe?
No one is comparing NTW3 to Histwar, no one even brought NTW3 into the conversation. Do you speak french? Did you understand my post?
No one is talking about dumbing down the game. But the concept of giving an order and coming back 3 hours later to see what happened is not appealing but to a few players.
This concept is just not appealing by itself, players want something to do while watching the battle.
Giving the option to the player to be more active in the battle is just that: An option. People can decide they want to pick and chose which unit supports which one, or if they support each other at all or they can decide to keep things as they are now. JMM already had talked to me about some ideas to get the player more involved without affecting the overall spirit of the game and i think changes like that would be welcome.
Visual cues would only represent data that is already available to the player anyway, but in a hidden place. A player would appreciate getting an idea of the moral/cohesion of a unit visually without having to look for it. There are so many units on the map, no one is going to be aware of all their status all the time but being able to get this info visually when needed is helpful.
you might not care about the 3D part of histwar but 99% of the players would love nothing more than command the game from the 3d View. The 3D view is gorgeous and offers the most immersion of all the views, however one cannot command effectively from this view.
what would the objection be to improving the interface to allow command from the 3d view? When i play MP, i have to play it from the 2D view which takes away a lot of the immersion.
Every game has settings for novices and grognards. For the novice these changes help them get used to the game and then when comfortable they can try more historical settings.
As long as no changes are made to allow more novice players, even heaven forbid TW players, to be able to get into histwar, the more you restrict the audience.
it would be a shame that such a masterpiece would remain a small niche game when it has the potential to be huge.
As a big fan of JMM and Histwar i think it is my duty to state my opinion the way it is.
VC
