Jutland Preview at wargamer
 

Jim Cobb over at Wargamer.com has a posted a great preview of Storm Eagle Studios forthcoming naval tactics game "Jutland".

Superb. As a huge Distant Guns fan I've been eagerly waiting for news on this one, which has been hard to come by - but the silence is finally broken and she actually looks even slightly better than I had originally expected :yep:

I'm sure it will come with at least a $60 pricetag again, but as with DG, I think it'll be immediately worth it.

It's also nice that the engine is maturing nicely. DG has largely been rid of all its original bugs, and Jutland looks to be steering clear of them while including improvements on the next set of classic complaints about DG - interface.

Yes, I think it's shaping up well, although I'd still like to be able plot courses on a 2d chart as well as in TF1942, GNB, FS etc.

Well they didn't mention that in detail yet, no? Mind you, all I've heard so far was that they're implementing a lot of new camera controls/options/interface improvements, but they have been awfully secretive on what exactly they've done (except camera controls, there was a post on that from the devs in their forums).

One negative thing though - "battle generator"?! Again? :doh:
I am seriously hoping that they're not going to leave it random as in DG. Being able to select fleets for a quick battle is just really essential, ESPECIALLY for multiplayer. Keeping my fingers crossed that they change that.

Yes I fully agree, the camera controls were really the main negative for me in DG. I'd love also to have a bridge view from the flagship in the new game or view from the spotting top rather than just the "seagulls eye" view of DG.

And yes, I think you are spot on about the generator whilst its good for random encounters I'd like to be able to pick the combatants and op area as well.

Lets hope more of the Jutland improvements find there way back down the line into DG later on too.

I urge members here to support this effort, it's really a great game. Download the Distant Guns demo and try it out !! :up:

It's a very interesting conflict to read about.

I would, BUT the copy protection/activation/update method makes starforce look benevolent. Norm Koger made a BIG mistake hooking up with that guy with the Napoleon complex. :down:

I don't see anything too horrendous with it. Seems to be contained to the game itself and hasn't ever caused me any trouble. I even expected it to cause trouble when I was switching computers, but apparently it all came to naught.

Seriously, it's not that bad. Unless you plan to use the game on multiple systems, in which case yea, it's a bit of a pain... but honestly, given the nature of the game, there's hardly anyone who'd need to do that in the first place.

Seems like a fine method to me for managing it. But SF was never an issue for me either, I mean I did have a technical problem, but they fixed it really fast. :up:

Hey CCIP,

How is the Canal this year? I'm thinking of heading back up for Winterlude & some Beaver Tail's.

Tried Distant Guns but did not like the external camera exclusive GUI format at all. Sent a politely worded reveiw (read as specific observations including praise of the graphics and a caveat that it is understood market forces will contribute to the shape of the final product) and some specific observations to SES. Got an unattributed and sarcastic s**t-gram in reply and now cannot foresee any situation where these people are going to get my business in this lifetime.
Good Hunting

I own neither the DG not the Jutland game .. and never will because a lot of people who bought it can not get it to work anymore because of the copy protection, and secondly because the developers give no support apart from the FAQ. The games look interesting but it seems these people are suffering from megalomania, I have formed an opinion which goes along with Randomizers comments.

PS: I tried the distant guns demo and found it pretty un-fun. Though this might have been to the lack of the campaign mode in the demo. I never play games without a campaign.

What kind of copy protection does it use?