Pacific Storm: Allies

[fire-fox]

when in all that is holy is this in the UK shops/sites??????????????

[Tikigod]

wow...I really love this game....so many different roles and situations you have to react to.....I did my first sub hunt over weekend....sent 4 destroyers out after 6 subs...and thought i was going to die.....

I watched the subs submerge shortly after the intro movie....I figured that was the last time I would see them.....I went full speed to area they were located ...and began my search...not knowing whether or not my early war destroyers would pick them up or not... or even if they would do anything at all.....I couldnt see anything on the water from the surface.......then all of sudden I see trails whisk right by me...."what the heck was that?"

Next thing I hear torpedo hatches opening and firing...then more trails....

I followed the trails and didnt see anything underwater until I was right over top of them....then all of a sudden there they were ....all scrambling some diving...turning.....all fading into what looks like a transparent view underwater....(which I guess means I detected them passively with a hydrophone)...the destroyer then began firing its canisters out the sides and dropping charges off the stern.....which was very cool and exciting to watch.......

I sent all my destroyers crossing every direction until I spotted 4 in the area.....I sunk 1 right away with direct hit....then damaged another watching it roll on its side......and eventually destroyed two more that tried diving deep.......I stayed directly over the last spot I saw them dropping charges.....then eventually they came back shallow where I finished them off with more charges.......

I knew I had sunk 4...but, couldn't find the remaining two, thinking they dove too deep to detect......next thing I know one of my destroyers explodes....and I watch it sink realizing I just lost x and y amount of aluminum, iron, fuel, and the opportunity cost of the time and labor it took in constructing it.... (a destroyer is about 180-200 days of build time at the dockyards in game).....so I took this attack personally understanding the value of my loss.....I could still see trail of bubbles left from the torpedo that hit it....and followed the course with wrage dropping charges....I performed my newly mastered technique of zig-zagging and sending destroyers in every direction ....using my sh3 mindset to make sure they couldnt get a good angled shot on me.....I wasnt going to let this happen again.....I was very dillusional at this point.....fearing another torpedo attack....

after what seemed like hours of crapping all over the ocean floor (seconds if you use time compression).....eventually both subs returned to surface (I guess from exhausting their O2 reserve)....at this point im like "ok, what do I do now?".....then the subs begin firing their deck guns at me....which I didnt expect. My now battlehardened crew returned fire causing them to slowly sink back into the depths from wince they came....

after totalling the final tally of subs I sunk....I grinned in excitement at how many months of production I just sent the japs back....after learning the process and the amount of resources of that goes into the construction of each unit....from collecting material islands....transporting and protecting them them back to homeland....constructing/applying newly researched technologies...then transporting the newly constructed units back to the frontline....There is no greater satisfying feeling than that of "the kill" and this game definately emphasizes that fact.

with my new experience in sub hunting....I am going back to port to upgrade my systems to the new sonar I just completed research on...so the next time I run across this scenerio I can ping them actively rather than risk another ship loss just trying to listen for them blindly....

I really wasn't expecting too much out of the different roles you play in this game at the battle level...thinking maybe they would have been dumbed down or over simplified....considering the size they try to cover. But, the arcade like gameplay still follows alot of the basic rules and behaviors you would learn from a larger sim that would specialize in the genre...

I can't wait to see where they go with the development of this sim.....

[KiloAlpha4]

lol welcome to Pacific Storm

[Tikigod]

This question needs reworded....or at least the answers do....



I tried registering at forums to post bugs I have found.... but, they haven't accepted my registration....I guess the admin manually registers you.

[KiloAlpha4]

yep too many spammers over there which is why they had to do it that way.

[Tikigod]

This sense of time is excellent in this game. Everything at tactical and strategy level moves in real time simataneously. So if you enter battle and leave back to map view....everything is syncronized to where it should be logistically.

Auto-battles also take place in real time on strategy map so if you decide not to go into battle you will see an icon appear illustrating an area of battle that will last as long as the engagement takes place.

You can also use time to your advantage to make your attacks whether they are at day or night....

[Tikigod]

Is there a way to play this game in windowed mode by editing a config file? my fullscreen in releaseconfig.xml is "<string name = "Full Screen" value = "No" />" by default....yet I still have trouble alt-tabbing to desktop and doesnt seem to behave like its in windowed mode. I can't seem to find any other files that may relate to this.

[timetraveller]

Originally Posted by Tikigod

Is there a way to play this game in windowed mode by editing a config file? my fullscreen in releaseconfig.xml is "<string name = "Full Screen" value = "No" />" by default....yet I still have trouble alt-tabbing to desktop and doesnt seem to behave like its in windowed mode. I can't seem to find any other files that may relate to this.

Editing the .bat file alone will do it.

To run PS in windowed mode:

In the main game folder, open the PacificStorm.bat file in a text editor.

Look for this line:
start sm.exe -f -a MainMenu

Change the "-f" (-f indicates fullscreen) to -w:
start sm.exe -w -a MainMenu

Resave the file.

Remember to change the window size in the game (Options) to something smaller than your monitor size so the window title bar and frame can be seen. You might want to do this first, actually.

TT

[Laffertytig]

isnt this game chock full of bugs? and what is the AI like?

[KiloAlpha4]

lmao what game isn't ? actually the "bug" severity depends on the user's config it seems as it does for most games. there are some bugs and some AI issues but every game has them. Some people are having alot of ctd's, I don't have any except the know bug one that will be fixed in the coming patch and it's easily avoidable..don't do what causes it . Patch should fix alot of issues.

[Laffertytig]

have to say that the concept of the game interestes me but am sceptical of how it will perform.

1 - is the flight model really arcady?
2- have heard of some really bad controller ctd issues along with glaring AI issues
3- how does the AI handle the whole game in general?

would be good hearing some opinions from people from the subsim forums who know a decent sim when they see one

[KiloAlpha4]

ave to say that the concept of the game interestes me but am sceptical of how it will perform.

first thing is if you haven't played the demo I suggest you do. I wouldn't classify the game as a *simulation* it's a real time strategy/tactical hybrid..I guess would be the most 'accurate" I could think of to describe the game. And it is very good accomplishment considering all that the game incorporates.

second thing is you have to realize is alot of the bugs are exaggerated and alot are people playing the game not knowing what they are doing which doesn't make them a bug.

I have the same version as people posting alot of these "bugs" and I don't have them and really I can't see everyone's games all being a individual dif version

1 - is the flight model really arcady?

think of battlefield 1942 except the flight model reacts to weight loads etc where as bf didn't.

2- have heard of some really bad controller ctd issues along with glaring AI issues

there is a issue with using usb controllers and is to be fixed in the patch. Onlt other known ctd issue is getting shot while piloting a plane which sometimes ends up in a ctd. I only had it happen once and I fly alot. AI could use a upgrade but to say it's completely useless is a exaggeration.

3- how does the AI handle the whole game in general?

For me making most things automatic it runs pretty good considering. Again alot ( I'd say 50% ) of complaints are based on misunderstanding of users from what I'm reading. One example is to complain AI doesn't shuffle enough fuel around is laughable because for 1 it takes until approx 1944 to have it all bases etc upgraded enough for supply to even come close to meeting demand. That's assuming you don't have more than 10 bases. I think they just have the "it should do it" attitude without really understanding what it is that they should do

for 2 you have to have proper bases upgrades built and upgraded. You need a dock to increase load/unload quantities. You need oil tanks to store produced oil, the more the better and upgrades mean less loss due to leakage etc. You need alot of tankers atleast 6 in each convoy ( right now I have around 100 tankers on the go) and multiple ( meaning a heck of alot) oil producing zones under your control. Then there is the iron and aluminum besides.

that's just one prime example and one major AI complaint. not saying there are no AI issues but they don't make the game unplayable and should be fixed in the patch. I guess it depends on the user as I've seen alot of basic questions covered in the game manual being posted and alot of "bugs" being posted that again are not actual bugs like the complaint that dive bombers don't dive bomb rofl. In the end, getting the game or not is a decision you have to make.I got it and I'm glad I did. I've had hardly any "real" issues with the game in comparrison to say company of heroes for example which is a ctd fest.

remember that MAX only approx 15% of game players will join/post in a forum and of that 15% about 14% only post BECAUSE they have a problem with the game so if you look at forum statistics in general, only 15% of game users having problems with such a large scale and new style of game is damn good.

Some people have the "I'll wait for Allies" attitude but they don't realize that if this game doesn't sell good there will be no Allies. it cost me almost double the shelf price for mine but again it was worth every penny to me and will be to any people who ever played PTO. On our website we posted a good review by a player a couple days ago you should read this as it is a fair and very honest review of pacific storm from a person who knows what he is talking about.

[Tikigod]

Thanks Timetraveler!

Originally Posted by timetraveller

Editing the .bat file alone will do it.

To run PS in windowed mode:

In the main game folder, open the PacificStorm.bat file in a text editor.

Look for this line:
start sm.exe -f -a MainMenu

Change the "-f" (-f indicates fullscreen) to -w:
start sm.exe -w -a MainMenu

Resave the file.

Remember to change the window size in the game (Options) to something smaller than your monitor size so the window title bar and frame can be seen. You might want to do this first, actually.

TT

[Tikigod]

Lafferytig,

The flight model is not like "combat flight sim 3" or "IL2". I wouldn't say its like bf1942 either...the thing with the flight model in pacific storm is the ai planes turn and move slower than normal. Sometimes they seem to be suspended in air (such as the large bombers that may seem to hover when changing direction or the fighters you attack when in a turret position) This may be odd to a veteran flight simmer who is used to more realistic dogfight battles with more fluid and realistic motion of aircraft.

The damage modeling of aircraft is also simplified to an arcade style. Instead of many hit boxes spread across the plane found in different postions (wing, engine, tail, etc.) in pacific storm you just have one large hit box across the entire plane that if you shoot it just a few times it destroys the plane. This is why I described the model as being arcade-like. The planes do have sense of weight from loadouts as kiloalpha described and the interior models of the cockpit are very nice looking (The cockpits are virtual that allow you to look all around with a thumbwheel as you could on most of todays combat flight sims)

The dogfighting is still fun considering the amount of aircraft you have to fly against during a battle. The only downside I think to this style of flight model is sometimes the plane tends to flip when you try to manuever it to its extremes...like if you want to make a tight turn to make a second pass on a strafing run......the model might force you to fly upside down for awhile in order to make the turn effectively. Alot of the manuevers seem to defy the physics of an aircraft you see in normal flight simulators. But, considering this is an rts model which you get to jump in and out of I don't think its bad at all. Just don't expect it to be an advanced dogfighting sim.

The CTD's that happen when you get killed in aircraft is a bug that is known to be replicated. Its discussed on the pacific storm forums. It happeneds to me all the time and I can reproduce it 100% of time. But, like kiloalpha said its the only major know bug that affects gameplay. Most bugs I mentioned I wanted to report are not necessarily bugs. They are mostly spelling errors and weird interface questions like the one I posted above.

Originally Posted by Laffertytig

have to say that the concept of the game interestes me but am sceptical of how it will perform.

1 - is the flight model really arcady?
2- have heard of some really bad controller ctd issues along with glaring AI issues
3- how does the AI handle the whole game in general?

would be good hearing some opinions from people from the subsim forums who know a decent sim when they see one

[KiloAlpha4]

translation from russian to english. They did mention a while back they were going to fix flight models and stats. It's not "exactly" like battefield 1942 BUT it's the closest comparrison and actually they are VERY similar arcade style flight models. let's face it neither are even close to a true flight simulator but with everything going on in combat, all the options of a true flight sim in the game would be too much for most players.