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 Post subject: I am very happy with...
PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:23 am 
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Joined: Tue May 22, 2001 4:51 pm
Posts: 3524
Location: Massachusetts, USA
The HPS game series.

I see all the negative comments and the push to add this, subtract that, change those, modify this thing or other, but I enjoy PLAYING the games.

The additional icons are very nice and Bill Peters addition to the maps to make TRAILS much easier to see and use are really great for these wooded campaigns.

Do those people that complain about this or that actually like playing the games? If they do not, why keep playing and BUYING them??

I play these games (in this and other game series) every day year round, except when on vacation and sometimes even then.

Where else can you get this kind of enjoyment for so little?

So, thanks to the game publisher, developer, game designers, map makers, artists, researchers, support staff for all their hard work and dedication to our hobby!![^][^][^]

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands,
Game Player
</b></font id="gold">


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:47 am 
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Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2003 12:17 am
Posts: 352
Location: United Kingdom
Ernie,
I hope that I have never come across as negative in anything I have said or done. I have asked for the unlocking of the games but understand the reluctance not to do so. I find these wargames the best I have ever played and I think I have bought every ACW pc game out there. They are fast moving and you do not have to wait forever for the games to load like some of the newer bigger games like FOF and AOED. I second your thanks to the game publisher, developer, game designers, map makers, artists, researchers, support staff.
I play these games a lot of the time but I also like to mess about with the graphics try and link famous units to their look and battleflag a kind of tribute to those brave men north and south who fought in that conflict and deserve to be remembered. What I do I share and hope that others enjoy these things also. So that said Happy Gaming.


General
Frank (Old Banshee) Mullins,
XVI Corps,
Army of the Tennessee.
Commanding.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:19 am 
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Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2003 12:44 pm
Posts: 1200
Location: USA
I, too, would continue to love and play these games if nothing further ever changed (other than the release of new titles, of course!). I felt the same 2 and 3 years ago before all these recent changes.

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General Jeff Laub
Union Chief of the Army
ACWGC Cabinet Member
http://www.geocities.com/laubster22/UnionHQ/


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:53 am 
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Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:48 am
Posts: 345
Location: United Kingdom
I think that if you are willing to spend the full retail price to purchase even one of these games, then you earn yourself the right to be (constructively) critical of them? Just the same as for anything where you/we are the customer.
I think a great deal about the game series is unsatisfactory and a few things are VERY poor. But overall, they are still very good. The key to this enjoyment is the PBEM aspect and the ACWGC itself. How many of us would continue to buy these games if we were faced with only the A.I opponent? or if there wasn't the club forums available for arranging play against human opponents?
I know there are a few things about the games that REALLY bug me, but I am stuck with them, because I would miss the social side of the club if I ever did go through with my threats to quit playing them. I didn't think I would ever play an old BG game again after Corinth was released...but I still do. The BG engine is much more 'simplistic' than the HPS one, but the old games still hold their charm mainly because of the PBEM experience.
I think the club membership has evolved over the years and we are (most of us) now very keen to try to make the game experience as 'realistic' as possible. Well, not realistic so much as 'authentic' maybe? The arguments seen on the forums for and against this & that various subjects come from people who play a serious amount of gaming so it's only natural that they bicker over the finer details of the game engine itself.

I still think that the game gives the Reb player an unfair advantage because of quality modifiers and command range bonus' attached to his Infantry. Of course, any attempt to change the balance of this would enrage and upset the Reb players. My other gripe is simply the matter of the standard Black & White unit pictures on the unmodified games. My playing style depends on getting the information I need as quickly and easily as possible from the game interface. I find that the black and white unit pictures just do not offer a reasonable amount of information to the player about who exactly is in the stack he just clicked on.
I now own Corinth, Gettysburg, Peninsula & Antietam (plus all the old BG games), so I've spent about £100 ($200) on these games. I think that gives me the right to moan about them a little if I'm not entirely happy with them?...

Capt. Jim Wilkes.
2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, XX Corps.
AoC. U.S.A.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:42 am 
First, I have enjoyed these games from TalonSoft and HPS and appreciate the ACW Club for facilitating our games and player contacts for past years. I don't want to go through the work of learning new gaming systems, which match so well the system that I learned from Avalon Hill starting in 1960.

These HPS and TalonSoft games are commercial products and this is the place to suggest changes for improvement. They are based on real battles, as opposed to chess or checkers, and a lot of the pleasure of playing them depends on the opportunity to try and perform better than the original commanders. Therefore, they need to be a realistic presentation of the problems of military conflicts. If realism is not an issue for you, why not stick to chess and checkers?

I prefer that the games stay simple as possible with plenty of options for those who want more realism. Moreover, I want the game engine to do most of the work.

I appreciate HPS as offering the best in the market place for our gaming pleasure, at present, but when and if a superior product line appears, I will switch "in a heartbeat." I am not married to HPS nor TalonSoft products and am loyal, as long as there is "no better deal." As in "The Godfather," it's not personal. It is just business.

Meanwhile, I will post here about any game flaws that violate my notions of reality and spoil my gaming fun, especially when the flaws might be corrected by a nominal change or an option added, but will have a profound effect on play. Often it is similar to a "fly in the punch bowl" level of dissatisfaction. A game designer refusal to remove it as not worth the trouble, or "it doesn't drink much." will lead me to consider my options, seeking a cleaner punchbowl. So far, there is no better deal according to my preferences.
<font color="yellow">Accordingly, my critiques are not attacks, but my intent is to help the game designers improve their products and keep my future business.</font id="yellow">

My complaints about flaws are always accompanied by suggestions on how to improve that aspect, hopefully with as little trouble to game designers as adding a minor patch to fix it or add an additional optional refinement. I welcome alternative suggestions and improvements on my recommendations, always subject to debate.

Meanwhile, I acknowledge the previous comments of appreciation:
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Where else can you get this kind of enjoyment for so little?
So, thanks to the game publisher, developer, game designers, map makers, artists, researchers, support staff for all their hard work and dedication to our hobby!! <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

BG Ross McDaniel
2nd Bde, 3rd Div, III Corps, AoG, CSA


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:32 am 
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Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 2:09 am
Posts: 128
Location: USA
Im ecstatic over these games. Granted I just got Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and have only recently started playing them but so far I am really enjoying myself. Sure, out of the box the graphics dont look quite as pretty as the old BG maps/units etc, but what amazing control over the larger actions that determine how a Civil War campaign plays out! (not to mention the graphics have been modded by the dedicated people who grace these halls) My only real gripe at this point is how many units there are with the break downs (moving all those single gun units can take forever, but even that isnt so bad because it allows greater options with regard to reconnaisance and being able to post up artillery sections in larger areas making them more effective when firing and less vulnerable to one massed charge. I like single man strength increments, I've wanted that for so long it crazy.[:D]
I'd like maybe an ability to combine the batteries (if of uniform gun type) and then break them down again into sections like the old TS Nappy games had with skirmisher units. And this if only to be able to take less time moving units. Other than that I'm still getting used to the games.
just my 2 cents
Cadet DeStefano


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