Steve Mini-Interview by ACG About CM Afghanistan

Geordie

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It goes without saying that for every game you will find good and bad reviews.

CMSF is no different there. I don't see the problem with discussing anything related to anything when it comes to that.

This site, last time I looked, isn't owned by and owes BF nothing. All opinions are garnered from reading sites and playing the game as far as I'm concerned.
 
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Mad Russian

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The PzC stuff seems like some kind of insiders club at this point. A couple of years of two guys running around wargaming forums yelling how much fun it is to play a better version than we untouchables have access to.
There has been some of that. I've been one that has been guilty of that.

Unfortunately, at the moment it is very much an insiders club. For our part, those involved are very much bursting at the seams with the way the series plays at the moment. We are very much held on a leash as J2D has said. We DO NOT want to release something that isn't as much a quality release as we can make it.

That means there are a couple of issues we are working on...seems like there always are with games you are actually interested in and are waiting to get your hands on.

All I can say is that everyday this takes, the product that will get released will be that much better. I've been on development teams before but I've never seen anything like the effort this patch is getting. Everyday that goes by on development has more material added.

To give you some idea, I've played a bit of CM since I got them, and even managed to make the editor work to produce a few scenarios. I liked CM. I've not started a game of CM since before Thanksgiving of last year. I've been playing PC exclusively.

It's not because I have to or that I couldn't play CM. I still have a machine that can play it.

It's because at this point in time PC is that good.

I've been right there where you're sitting. WAITING....and WAITING...and they tell you just enough to get your hopes up only to WAIT some more. I've been one of those that has told game developers to not release the product until IT'S READY! Now I'm on the other side of the line and it is EXTREMELY frustrating for us to not be able to release this yet and not flood you guys with screen shots, videos and information. Better yet, it would be great to hear Matrix say, to the entire community, that they were releasing the patch this weekend.

All I can say is the standard, "They will release it when it's ready". I agree with that and when this patch is released you will all see what we've been so excited about.

There are some current screen shots of what the game has developed into from a mod POV here...

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tt.asp?forumid=478

There are multiple posts that are current from June on that forum. So stay tuned. Again the train is in the station. The materials are getting loaded on. More everyday. We're just not sure when the train is going to get permission to pull out and head down the tracks to you.

Everyday it gets closer to release. That's all we can say until we finish the product that we have been working on for more than a year now.

Those of you that have played HSG scenarios before, or have dealt with me in any capacity, will know the kind of detail I put in my work. In this case there is an entire development group with that same attitude. Perfection is the goal here.

You can see why game companies don't want to talk about projects in development. As in this case, there are gamers hopes that get raised, then issues come up and the project isn't released in what the gamers consider a timely manner. Then everyone is frustrated.

When Matrix is ready to release this there will be no doubt in your minds. They are a very quality company that LISTENS to what they are told by YOU. They don't want to raise expectations without being able to produce the product.

It will be more than worth your wait to join the insiders club and you can play it too. We are all ready to fight with you guys when they open the gates!

Good Hunting.

MR
 
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Geordie

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we all feel that where we are going with Panzer Command is where a lot of folks hoped CM would go after CM1
I found this quote interesting. If true, and if it manages to be out before CMN, it may make a difference to a lot of guys choice of game for ladders and PBEM play.

However, I really hope that the 2 x 40 sec turns are dont away with. If not, no matter how good it is, I probbaly wont be playing it much.

Also, no matter what PC I play the game on right now, it doesnt seem to play very fast, which is another factor putting me off.

Mind you, a free patch, bringing a new game does sound alluring.
 

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It's not often I defend Mr D, however.

I think that site and it's members is exactly the kind of new gamer that BF were after with the Rekease of the game and so their reaction to the game should be interesting to the company.
Come on, while they probably were trying to broaden their audience, no matter how successful their new audience would still be in a minority on those kind of sites. To me this criticism sounds more like a "get of my lawn" type of thing. No matter what their plan is/was I'm certain it didn't involve the "lulz I can has cheezburger" crowd and their ilk.
 

thewood

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I think there is truth to both sides of the discussion. They may not have been going after the 14 year old CoD player who just likes shooting machine guns. But I do think they were after the slightly older crowd that played very seriously CoD and BFC was thinking this is the next step for them. I still think the had a military contract in the future somewhere as a plan.
 

Geordie

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Come on, while they probably were trying to broaden their audience, no matter how successful their new audience would still be in a minority on those kind of sites. To me this criticism sounds more like a "get of my lawn" type of thing. No matter what their plan is/was I'm certain it didn't involve the "lulz I can has cheezburger" crowd and their ilk.
Their plan was definitely to increase the audience and expand into new territories, so much so that Steve did warn the regulars at BF that they didnt get the new RT style concept. Though Im not saying that their target audience were the very guys on that site, it cant have been that far off.

According to BF their sales were far more than they expected and the game did spiffingly well. According to the real world and everything Ive read and everyone Ive spoken to, not many people outside BF and its forums are actually or have played CMSF.

You can find a fan site for almost every game ever published. Can anyone point me in the direction of a single one for CMSF?

Outside of the BF forum, this is the only one regularly offering another view, can anyone point me in the direction of another forum?

My personal opionion is that BF went for a younger, newer, RT based gaming group and failed miserably when the game ended up neither good for RT players or traditional PBEM players, possibly with the sniff of a military contract involved, they had a swift re-think and started making the game more affable to the WEGO guys again.

Of course I may be wrong....... often am.....
 

Michael Dorosh

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It's not often I defend Mr D, however..
It's not often you have to, and it's absolutely never that I've asked you to, so that works out well. Then again, you do seem to do it quite a bit anyway. :laugh: Or at least, if you call "agreeing with so completely you'd think they were the same person" "defending".

Case in point:

Their plan was definitely to increase the audience and expand into new territories, so much so that Steve did warn the regulars at BF that they didnt get the new RT style concept. Though Im not saying that their target audience were the very guys on that site, it cant have been that far off.

According to BF their sales were far more than they expected and the game did spiffingly well. According to the real world and everything Ive read and everyone Ive spoken to, not many people outside BF and its forums are actually or have played CMSF.

You can find a fan site for almost every game ever published. Can anyone point me in the direction of a single one for CMSF?

Outside of the BF forum, this is the only one regularly offering another view, can anyone point me in the direction of another forum?

My personal opionion is that BF went for a younger, newer, RT based gaming group and failed miserably when the game ended up neither good for RT players or traditional PBEM players, possibly with the sniff of a military contract involved, they had a swift re-think and started making the game more affable to the WEGO guys again.
Couldn't have said it better myself.

Well, I probably could, but it's well-stated, and I definitely agree. :p
 

Mad Russian

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I found this quote interesting. If true, and if it manages to be out before CMN, it may make a difference to a lot of guys choice of game for ladders and PBEM play.
That is solely my own perception of what I am looking for.

However, I really hope that the 2 x 40 sec turns are dont away with. If not, no matter how good it is, I probbaly wont be playing it much.
The list of improvements is long and varied. You'll just have to try the patch when it comes out and see for yourself if you like the changes.

Also, no matter what PC I play the game on right now, it doesnt seem to play very fast, which is another factor putting me off.
Matrix has a history of supporting older machines so the efficiency with which the game plays is very important. Hopefully the game will play faster on your machine.

Mind you, a free patch, bringing a new game does sound alluring.
There's really no way for us to tell you all the things that have changed....where to start? No. As has been already said, we need to just keep working towards getting it finished and in your hands and let you all decide for yourselves.

The issue is long and ongoing how companies handle pre-game/patch PR. Matirx has it's own way and they will let you know when the time comes. In the meantime, I've more work to do on the patch.

Good Hunting.

MR
 

Michael Dorosh

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There's really no way for us to tell you all the things that have changed....where to start? No. As has been already said, we need to just keep working towards getting it finished and in your hands and let you all decide for yourselves.

The issue is long and ongoing how companies handle pre-game/patch PR. Matirx has it's own way and they will let you know when the time comes. In the meantime, I've more work to do on the patch.
It does sound tantalizing. Thanks for your continued work on it; I hope you will let the others involved know that their efforts are appreciated and are being watched with interest. It must be difficult to work for so long in isolation - you could fire a cannon off at the Matrix forums some weeks and no one would notice. Looking forward to seeing the end result.
 

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A long time ago (perhaps on Usenet in a wargame of the year thread) I predicted that Matrix would move to fill the void left by BF, when they decided against making a true sequel to CM x 1. I hope an improved PzC game or games will accomplish that objective. The effort itself shows that the biggest dedicated wargaming house sees the true CM x 1 sequel as a game with a significant customer base--even if BF no longer does.
 

shell-shocked

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Oh the innocent ones. Let me protect you from the evils of the world: :O

Games seem to pass from BFC to MG. Then from MG to to the ether of nothingness.

I hope PC will be The CM2 we all wanted to be see, but I am not holding my breath.
 

Quellist

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Their plan was definitely to increase the audience and expand into new territories, so much so that Steve did warn the regulars at BF that they didnt get the new RT style concept.
Sure, that was one of the first things that turned me somewhat sour on BFC, the whole "trust us we know what we are doing, but you might not get PBEM" during development and after the trainwreck release they came back with "you don't get it".

Though Im not saying that their target audience were the very guys on that site, it cant have been that far off.
By any reasonable measure I think it is. They can't compete with games that has a larger budget for cutscenes than BFC has for the whole development in except in the area that are their specialized niche. I believe that they might have been going for some of the players that played the Total War games (and others like them) and felt that those were a bit light on the tactical battle side or wanted to play with modern weapons.


My personal opionion is that BF went for a younger, newer, RT based gaming group and failed miserably when the game ended up neither good for RT players or traditional PBEM players, possibly with the sniff of a military contract involved, they had a swift re-think and started making the game more affable to the WEGO guys again.

Of course I may be wrong....... often am.....
Well, I think you are right in general, just that you overstate the distance they have actually moved in view of the larger picture.
 

[hirr]Leto

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I'm still wondering what the Z-man found so "staggering".

-dale
It's sad when a self advertised intellect such as himself can't seem to get any checks cashed...*

Hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmaahhhh?

: )

Cheers!

Leto

*He is what you might call a "douche" zeppelin... the Zonsondenberg... spouting off high minded and severely biased generalizations unsupported by facts and then floating off when confronted by the absurdity of his remarks.
 
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