Theatre of War

[Tikigod]

New WW2 RTS coming out. Looks interesting.

General Combat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHvHn0_Qxsk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-RBpmJ0YbY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUDl1gGy7wI

Artillery:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiW_6yCxgJc

Swapable Vehicles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drZxJhUwZtc

Infantry Trenches and Air Support
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaw0hl-K1QE

Tank Combat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV-oBpbrihs

Unit Reference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVLg5COI1BA

Funny Promo Movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te50l0AEu7Y

[Corsair]

As a Combat Mission long time veteran, will surely give a go to that one... 1C associated with Battlefront, should give something good...
Not so hot on Combat Mission Shock Force, not crazy about modern stuff.

[GlobalExplorer]

Yeah I am waiting for this one too (since it was announced in 2003 :nope: ) and it looks like it should be a good game.

However, as it is using the IL2 engine, it will not be moddable, which will probably stand in the way of its long term appeal.

But for CC players its the only hope in a world full of RTS and kiddies games.

I think CC2 was the best.

[Tikigod]

These sounds are really good:

http://files.filefront.com/Theater+of+War+Sound+Effects+Trailer/;7233078;/fileinfo.html

[GlobalExplorer]

I hope the first one who gets it (it should be released these days) will update this thread with a short review.

[GlobalExplorer]

Demo has been released:

http://www.battlefront.com/products/tow/demo.html

And here some follow up discussion on battlefront.com:

http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=63;t=000681

[Tikigod]

Nice followup discussion....I can see now why you want a decent review. lol


And here some follow up discussion on battlefront.com:

http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=63;t=000681

[GlobalExplorer]

Yeah I cannot make up my mind about the opinions. The only way will be to try the demo, which I hope to be able to over the weekend.

If this game really sucked it would be a major blow, because I am an old CC player we has been waiting for this for ages!

[Corsair]

Well I guess if it's no good I will keep on playing Pbem Combat Mission as in the past years...

[Tikigod]

Tried the demo. Its not what I expected. The demo is not as bad as that guy made it out to be. It has very smooth frames, has a nice environment, and seems to be polished (no bugs, weird mishaps, or appearance that it was released too soon). The only thing I see so far that I don't like is that I thought the actual battlefield would be much larger. I was expecting something the size of WW2 Online that you would be able to jump around and manage. Instead, this game has restricted borders on each map that limit how far you can travel with the cam. The landscape looks like it goes on but, you are restricted to a square shaped border. You also have a storyline with objectives and waypoints that you have to follow as well as boring cutscenes that interrupt each time you reach a waypoint or complete a task or goal. I was expecting more open ended gameplay, over a huge european map, rather than being told to do A, B, and C within a small bounding box.

I hope this is just the demo functionality and not what the full game will have to offer. Otherwise this really isn't worth getting when you have games like Faces of War and Soldiers: Heroes of WW2 that do the same thing with much larger maps, better physics, graphics, and functionality.

The combat skirmishes do seem a little more realistic as far as hitpoints. The men and vehicles are more sensitive to bullets than in most games. A clear shot from a target standing out in open will usually result in a kill (rather than just damage) Also, there are many formations and behaviors you can put your squads into which is pretty nice.

Your infantry units also have various skill levels, characteristics, and rank which improve as they fight and progress through missions. So, you can place a guy in a tank gun with higher marksmanship to fire more accurately than an individual that is a rookie. You can also swap them around while inside a vehicle rather than telling them all to disembark and remount again.

[flintlock]

I tried the demo and quite enjoyed it. So much so that I ended up purchasing the full game. It really is a nice little wargame.

[GlobalExplorer]

Yesterday I could try the demo. While I could not play a lot, I think the negativity is unfounded. With some patches and mods, this is the right investment for fans of the Close Combat or Total War games.

In the present state, I was not happy with the control and the camera movement and performance, and from what is known, the game comes with a linear and dissappointing campaign.

But surprisingly, the game is very moddable!! All the missions are defined in xml files, and there is an additional skript for events and nice little things like emitters (environment sounds). I predict we will see the game completely changed by new campaigns and missions, editors and campaign generators.

The product is an up to date ww2 tactical engine, that comes with some mediocre missions data. And with the mods I am expecting, this game should rock.

[CCIP]

The product is an up to date ww2 tactical engine, that comes with some mediocre missions data. And with the mods I am expecting, this game should rock.

That's really positive.

I was hoping they improved the code, etc. I never had any hands-on with it, but my friends from Russia where it was released last fall said it came out in one of those... marketed beta relese states :damn:

If the engine's solid, then I'll be very happy. I've indeed been looking for a good WWII tactical ground war fix - so if this one's a recommendation, then I'll get it. Else I'll go back to the beloved CM series :/\\k:

[GlobalExplorer]

The product is an up to date ww2 tactical engine, that comes with some mediocre missions data. And with the mods I am expecting, this game should rock.

That's really positive.

I was hoping they improved the code, etc. I never had any hands-on with it, but my friends from Russia where it was released last fall said it came out in one of those... marketed beta relese states :damn:

If the engine's solid, then I'll be very happy. I've indeed been looking for a good WWII tactical ground war fix - so if this one's a recommendation, then I'll get it. Else I'll go back to the beloved CM series :/\\k:

My observation was based on played a bit with the demo, I don't own the full game.

But I failed to see anything wrong with the engine, and the mod openness looks very promising.

I will wait a bit and see, and then probably order the game.

[CCIP]

I'm probably gonna order it this week unless someone tells me not to (in which case I'll just look at it more carefully and grab the demo before deciding).

Also, cheers to Battlefront for a good distribution method - if I do get it, I will be quite glad to pay the extra 10 bucks for the download + send provided the manual is as good as in CM games and is thus worth it.

Anyone got the game shipped? Is it worth getting the box version, even for the manual?

[flintlock]

Anyone got the game shipped? Is it worth getting the box version, even for the manual? I have a digital version right now, though I purchased both with the preorder. I believe the hard copies should start shipping from Battlefront within a week or so. Insofar as the game is concerned, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. There are three levels of difficulty; novice, regular and veteran. The first two provide the player with an unfair and non-realistic advantage, whereas the latter is where shell balistics, armor levels and other realism settings are detailed (highly recommend veteran to enjoy the game as it was designed to be played). Even one of the developers writes "play at "Veteran" level to complete the correct game image and to have proper impressions."

I'm a huge fan of Battlefront's CM series, though ToW is definitely a different animal (and a very good one at that). As long as you don't go into it expecting it to be CM with updated graphics, you likely won't be dissapointed. Sure ToW has a few niggling issues which are to be addressed in an upcoming patch, but overall it's a very solid release from where I sit. Two thumbs up from me!

:up::up:

[GlobalExplorer]

@flintlock: Good to have somebody here who has actually ordered the game!

Can you check some things?

- is the mission / campaign data in xml files like in the demo?

- is there a way to unpack the models/data? (probably not)

- does the game offer some way to export the battle/campaign result in a way that they could be read from another application?

I ask because I have some ideas about the game, or what could be done with it.

[nx02nx02]

Flintlock how do you get your screenshots to be so bright and vibrant? Do you edit them with photoshop or something or is that how they look in your game?

If that's how they are in your game, what did you edit, change what are your settings to get the game to look like that?

[flintlock]

@GE: I've been busy enjoying the game and getting to know the editor, so I can't answer questions specific to modding at this stage. I can tell you the mission data is in XML files as in the demo. There have been some specific questions regarding modding on Battlefront's two ToW forums, so perhaps your questions may be answered/asked there.

@nx02: The screens are stock, except for cropping, downsizing and conversion to jpg from TGA (some have contrast tweaked a little).

[flintlock]

There's a new review of Theatre of War, on TTGamer. You may access the review by clicking here (http://gaming.tweaktown.com/reviews/810/1/theatre_of_war_pc_review_page_1/index.html).

Excerpt:
Theatre of War offers something that, for the right type of gamer, is basically unmatched. Whether you can't get enough of World War II gameplay or you fancy yourself to be a RTS and warfare strategist extraordinaire, or if you just want a real challenge, Theatre of War is here for you - its emphasis on real world strategy and its ultra realistic approach means it won't be for everyone, but for those of whom it is for, make no mistake, this is quality RTS gaming at its most authentic.

I'm obviously that "right type" of gamer they write about, because I absolutely love this game.

[GlobalExplorer]

I'm obviously that "right type" of gamer they write about, because I absolutely love this game.

I am glad to hear that! From my (limited) testing of the demo, I couldn't understand where all the negativity was coming from. I still have a suspicion that most people on the battlefront.com site are huge CombatMission fanbois, but that this game appeals much more to Close Combat players, who generally seem to dislike CM.

Personally, I belong to the second group, I played CC2 and CC5, but I didn't like CombatMission at all.

[Corsair]

Imho the CM series is a blast against human players (either online or pbem) but the AI is not that good except for playing static defense. I played Pbems for years and still enjoy it...

[GlobalExplorer]

Imho the CM series is a blast against human players (either online or pbem) but the AI is not that good except for playing static defense. I played Pbems for years and still enjoy it...

There must be a lot to like about it, the people are raving about it ..

Its just that it didnt catch with me, campaign, graphics, gameplay .. not m cup of tea.

[GlobalExplorer]

Can someone tell me how large the download is?

I need to know it, because I might have to download from an Internet Cafe. Janitor in my firm has cut through the telefone line :damn:

[flintlock]

It's approximately 1.78 GB.

From my download:
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t287/idachs/ToW/untitled.jpg

[GlobalExplorer]

Thanks a lot. But it's to large! So I have to wait until our telephone line is fixed again.

[TteFAboB]

After playing the demo I thought this was a fantastic game, minor complaints only for the lack of urban combat and some form of enterable buildings, even if as simplified as in Company of Heroes. But without a skirmish mode I prefer to just borrow this game as soon as the nearest owner gets bored instead of buying it.

Then I went to the official forum and found out that they're planning to release a Map Editor some time in the future. Well, that's already a step forward. All I'd like to know is if this Map Editor can also be used to design a mission. Setting up units, perhaps waypoints and what not if the AI lacks even the most basic general programming. I prefer a "dumber" non-scripted AI if that's what it takes to be able to play an unlimited amount of missions than a super-scripted AI that pretends to be super-smart when in fact, as soon as you know what it will do every single time, is not smart at all and in fact turns the game into an interactive movie where all you can do is win or loose by playing along the script or not.

I see that some people are releasing missions. How they edited them is something I don't know. I hope mission editing is made easier because that is all this game needs to be a major success in my book.

IL-2 has a campaign that I consider to be a piece of trash but it has a full Mission Editor, a Quick Mission Builder and by now 3rd party software that can create the missions for you. Distant Guns has a random mission generator that I find to be worthless but it has a great campaign. TOW is lacking everything, nothing saves it, except the engine itself and the graphics. I trust that as with Black & White or IL2, somebody will manage to create a xml editor or a 3rd party software to save this gem. Then I'll buy it.

[GlobalExplorer]

Missions are in XML scripts, so there is hope. Maps however seem to be hard coded, and there seems not to be a real modding community yet, otherwise I would have expected new missions/ campaigns to spring up like mushrooms.

Still, such a thing has potential, and there is the hope that someone creates a new campaign layer with a mission / campaign generator, think how DCG made CFS2 a completely new experience. Give the thing some time, and it might be great.