Gameplay Gripes

[{DHU}Screed]

This may be long, and most likely in vain but I feel I need to get my views out on the table. The game very much feels unfinished or unpolished.

 

Ground Combat:

 

By far my biggest gripe with the game. It's repetitive, unimaginative and simply, boring.

 

IMO, the whole ground combat objective system should be wiped clean. Your objectives, as they currently are, are simple and straight forward. Destroy every last remnant of the enemy to win. The combat is purely a rock, paper, scissor match to the extreme.

 

All ground combat takes place on open terrain in some kind of futuristic American Civil War style combat. There are no terrain advantages, there are no "digging in" places (if you count those holes with crates around them as "trenches" then thats pretty sad, seeing how the enemy can run right into them with you), there's no urban combat even on a planet covered by city scape......

 

Im essentially thinking in terms of C&C Generals and Ground Control 2 where you can have troops rapel down onto building roofs (air transports like the ones seen in the Battle of Geonosis in Ep 2)or take cover inside buildings for added cover/better firing positions.

 

Objectives should be given during this battle to weaken or even cripple the defenders or even the attackers. For instance, one of the defenders objectives would be to keep control of the City Space port to keep bombing runs from taking them out. In turn the attackers should try to take the City Spaceport so bombing runs can become available. In addition the space port can be occupied like any other building by X number of soldiers, essentially making it a hardpoint.

 

There's just so much left out of the ground combat aspect of the game...... I would rather have seen the ground combat be left out, until a later expansion and just have a polished space combat as the Gold edition of EaW.

 

 

Space Combat:

 

I like space combat, but ALOT of polish has been left out. One of my biggest gripes is the fact that unit "stances" basically don't exist.

 

1.) The defend unit command is useless. The unit you selected to defend the target will trail well behind the target as it moves, effectively only defending the rear of it....... I tell a corvette to defend a Cruiser, and the thing trails behind while bombers hit the Cruiser from the front and the corvette does nothing.........

 

2.) You should be able to tell star fighters to target specific things and they will follow those orders until the end of the battle. Example: My fleet warps in, I tell my fighters to target other fighters, and I tell my bombers to target capital ships.

 

This actually applies to all ships. I should tell ships to do a basic search and destroy X craft and they should do it while the battle progresses I can directly take control of individual units and ships to target specific things.

 

3.) There should be some kind of HUD that lets you know what units are idle or have completed their given objectives, and you can click ont hose units in the HUD and it will bring you to them so you don't have to search for them on the map.

 

 

Edit: I wanted to add some more but I ran short of time last night when I had some calls come in at work, so here is my unfinished "constructive" criticism.

 

4.) Space maps I beleive are to cluttered with debri. Some obstacles and tactical decisions can be made with the debri, but when over 40% of the map is covered by nebula's and asteroids...... I find it excessive.

 

 

Overall Game Problems:

 

I find it odd, that a game like Rome: Total War can incorporate 10 thousand troops, and a large city into a battle w/o lag issues and when you get a good amount of Star Fighters on screen you start getting a stuttering mess.

 

With my computer sporting some pretty high end hardware, it should be able to handle it with no problem. Only thing I can think of is poor memory mapping within the game code itself. I have also heard that when a certain amount of planets (50+) are added, that the game slows to a crawl also. The problem greatly limits on what modders can do with the game.

 

Hostile planets, they require no garrison what so ever to hold, and there's no way to appeal to hostile planets to make them unhostile.

 

Veteran units don't exist. I doesn't matter if a unit has been through 20 campaigns and slaughtered 100's, he still is the same as a fresh batch straight from the barracks/shipyard.

 

 

As I said before, I would have rather seen them release the Gold edition as a solid, polished, space combat edition and then later released a ground combat expansion pack that is just as solid and just as polished. As the game is, it may offer two different types of RTS games into one, but both versions are subpar to the ones that have concentrated on one or the other.

[stingerhs]

This may be long, and most likely in vain but I feel I need to get my views out on the table. The game very much feels unfinished or unpolished.

and i tend to agree with you more or less on all of your points. to be honest, though, i felt that the game was more or less quite enjoyable. its not the ultimate RTS, and it obviously has its flaws. for me, though, it was was worth the money and the time that went with it.

 

still, i have to admit that i've already moved on. at least till the mod tools come out.

[†Saint_Killa†]

Everthing you say hits the spots. There isn't much new just like RA2 style with fresh new graphics.

[Cox_]

yeah very good points. The one thing i would say is in space combat has anyone noticed that you can send about five bombers at a level 5 space station and it will destroy it (if only the SS is attacking not anything else) I think the SS should be able to be a little stronger then that....

[wedge2211]

I definitely agree with your specific points, but even all of those put together don't really make the game "unpolished." They just make it more like conventional RTS's than innovative.

 

Good call on the 'gaurd' command. That command really ought to slave the guarding ship's movement to the guarded ship's movement rather than have the guarding ship catch up with the guarded ship after it's moved out of a certain range.

[Spiralarchitech]

Good post screed you have summed up a lot of gameplay problems that i have also.

 

EAW is a fun game, while not being exceptional at any one mode (space/land/galactic map) the designers have went for a jack of all trades.

 

The designers could have simply went head to head againist the likes of dawn of war with a pure land battle and being an excellent game that Dow is they would have had an up hill battle, the same could be said of the space battles its not homeworld 2 really is it.

 

And the galactic map mode is no galactic civilazations 2 (another excellent game that is worth trying)

 

EAW does has its problems, you could even compare it to a popcorn movie its enjoyable offers plenty bang for your buck just don't expect it to win any oscars.

[Guest DarthMaulUK]

It's a pity that some of you guys feel like that but the good thing is that Petroglyph do listen to everyones feedback and i am in regular contact with them and Lucasarts telling them of everyones concerns.

 

I look at this way. Empire at War has scratched the surface and delivered a game that is alot of fun with just a few teething problems and it's going to be great to see the game expand and grow as the community does. Both LA and Petroglyph check the forums all the time and are always interested in what the fans say.

 

DMUK

[Orao]

Wait till we put our hands on map editor. Then we will show you the real nature of the force

[popcorn2008]

I dont see why people are always dogging on the land battles. They can be quite fun in multiplayer. It is a lot more fun than the repetitive multiplayer space combat, where you basically race for mines. Though in single player land maps are somewhat boring.

 

I do agree with a few of your points, but I still like EaW. It may not be Rebellion 2 but it still is fun.

[Slocket]

I like the land battles. I wish we can get the LUA editor so we can make the AI useful for changes in game.

[Apocalypse|TFL]

Something that would greatly increase the longevity of this game, would be more modes and options for skirmishes.

 

1. King of the hill style mode - for those that want a really good scrap instead of the usual race for mines style of gameplay

 

2. The ability to increase command points for those users with high end machines

 

3. An option to turn off mines and have a steady income for a different kind of gameplay

 

4. Conquest mode - Allow for an option to turn ON progressive damage, i.e. A ship that gets damaged but survives the mission must be repaired or stays damaged as long as it is in play.

 

There are loads more people can think but one of the main reasons the developers dont give us these options is because they believe it would unbalance the game. I say, give us these options so we can tailormake our own style of games. At the moment, if you don't go for the mine race you lose in Space skirmish, some will get bored of this. More options is what is needed.

[Lord Pickle]

The land and space battle maybe nothing new but the galactic conquest mode is something special.

 

I love how you no longer have to balance resources, base building, and fighting on the same screen. It gives you some time to think and puts a single battle in its proper context. No more one battle somehow decides an entire war. Although there is of course skirmish. But yes the game is a bit limited but for a first try Petroglyph did pretty well. Hopefully we get biggers maps and a wider scope of gameplay for the expansion or EaWII. Although it's probably to early to be talking about a sequel.

[wuyanxu]

ground:

the ground battle is too boring. i mean, they made the most enjoyable RTS game i've ever played (CnC, RA2 and may be Generals) but on EaW, it just doesn't have that feel. may be it's because it's not as fast and furious (sp?) as RA2 and may be that's also where Generals is suffering.

i love the Dawn of War styled "cover" option. i think that's the perfect, simple way to put terrain advantages

 

space:

1. i found that the defending units just attacks what the unit that's been defended is attacking, not the units that ARE attaching the unit (eg, ISD attacking space station, Tartan also attacks the spacestation ignoring the bombers)

2. i like the ideea, but how are you going to implement it without complecating the user interface?

3. again, this is not Nexus (sp?) it plays and feels like Homeworld games.

4. i do agree with this part, the space battlefield is abit too cluttered with obstacles.