On track?

Tim Brooks · #1 June 7th, 2003, 01:41 AM

Wow Joe 98! That's very interesting that you know so much about what we have been doing with this game! Are you on the development team?

Sean:

We are moving forward. We have almost all the art work - just some tweaks, the missions are being created, maps are 80% complete. We need to add the new voices, soldier data, complete the missions and maps and test the scenarios. We are close, but as always has happened with 82nd, we put it on hold from time to time to make sure our games from other developers are where they need to be. Right now, it looks like Gold in July sometime with an August release. Based on testing, this could slide either way, but I feel confident with these timeframes.

OH, 82nd was developed on XP, so it will handle the new systems - and graphics cards... screenshots in a few weeks!

reimero · #2 June 6th, 2003, 04:25 PM

Tim,

Thanks for the update!!!

Sean Murphy · #3 June 6th, 2003, 05:05 PM

Tim - thanks for the update. I look forward to seeing new screenshots! If I still lived in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area, I'd be able to come to your offices & press my nose against the window to check on progress. And then apologize for the smudges by buying you a beer...

In response to Joe 98, there is a lot more to games than the graphics. A lot of the most whiz-bang games are a downright bore after 10 hours of pretty pictures.

Paul Roberts · #4 June 7th, 2003, 03:47 PM

I also remember the old "June 2000" release date, but I'm still optimistic about the game's potential. Those of us who remember X-COM know that the combination of individual soldiers, skill points, action points, and turn-based play is a potent mix no matter what "state of the art" may be in other genres. I don't expect beautiful 3-D models in 82nd Airborne. I just want a system that captures squad tactics with playability and authenticity.

They could have rushed this one out long ago. I'm glad that they're taking the time to get the balance right. Good luck to Tim and the rest of the design team.

foxtrot · #5 June 7th, 2003, 07:50 PM

I'm very tempted to pre-order this one myself. To bad my birthday's not until Nov.

I'm watching a show on the 82nd airborne ( The True Story of the Screaming Eagles ) on the history channel right now. Its an amazing piece of history that I know very little about.

Joe 98 · #6 June 10th, 2003, 02:35 AM

I am a wargamer.

I too believe in game-play over graphics.

But with recent technology we should not need to choose one over the other.

If graphics were not important we would still have monitors with a black background and green text.

The point about graphics (and sounds) is immersion.

Immersion is the most important thing about a wargame. If you can be immersed in a game you can be hooked and then we get a good game.

But the game is now 3 years over due. The graphics are circa 1996. They are obsolete. This means that only die-hard fans will buy it. There will not be a sequel.

Wargaming is a small hobby. My view is that to increase sales there needs to be an option to use whiz-bang graphics. This will attract the �maybe� wargamers and increase sales. And we might turn them into proper wargamers.

The one genre missing in wargaming, is where you have one squad and you control each man in that squad throughout a campaign. I played 2 board games- Patrol and Ambush. Patrol in particular was a good game and I hoped that 82nd Airborne would be the PC replacement.

I no longer like hexes. 101st Airborne had one innovation � points. There is a grid and men move from one point to another. This is much superior to hexes.

The other feature it needs is for players to play H2H in continous time or by PBEM in a turn based game.

As for Paul�s comment, it is clear that Shrapnel have put the game on hold to sell more profitable games � unfortunately its not a case of �taking the time to get the balance right�.

As for Tim�s comment, it seems there is still a lot of work to do. To complete it all in a month and get it released a month later � perhaps the November birthday is realistic.

I however will await the demo and then wait for the first patch of the game before putting any money up.

[ June 10, 2003, 02:39: Message edited by: Joe 98 ]

Tbone3336 · #7 June 11th, 2003, 01:12 AM

Well I just preordered Combat Command Gold Edition and I look forward to 82nd as I never got to play 101st except finding the demo recently somewhere. I will be purchasing 82nd when available. I do agree that games that are solid and have good graphics are better that way, I feel as long as the game is enjoyable and fun and stimulating I can look past the graphics and play the games over and over. Like Final Fantasy on the PS2, Great game, great graphics, however once I finished the game I never went back to it because of the graphics or gameplay. Solid gameplay minus great graphics will bring me back over and over. Great graphics and great gameplay will do the same. Great graphics minus great gameplay and in the trash bin it goes.