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Worf
29th Mar 06, 3:38 AM
Reading magazines really pays off, I would have missed on a 3 page preview and an excellent video otherwise ;)
These are some facts from an article in the newest issue of GameStar. They went to visit relic and played an early version of the game. And they weren't just heavily impressed by the astonishing graphics. Here's some info on the gameplay:

Due to the destructable terrain you can rid the enemy of his cover. Which also means you rid yourself of cover if you advance too.

There will be 3 resources in the game: Ammunitions, Fuel and Troop Replenishments (that's been translated from English to German and back by myself, so forgive me any inaccuracies please ;)). But as I understand the article you don't need to constantly resupply your troops with these but you need fuel to buy tanks and artillery and munitions are needed to buy unit upgrades.

There is no economic cycle though, you get these by pushing forwards into the enemy territory and raising flags on strategic points so that you gain a hold over sectors. You better watch your frontline however, if a sector gets cut off from your other sectors it becomes less usefull, like you're not allowed to build some defensive structures anymore. With cut off supply lines your formerly heavily entrenched enemy is easy pickings.

Each unit will have its specific strenghts and weaknesses. German tanks have historically corect better armor and firepower. Allied tanks are faster. Your medics will also be able to drag wounded comrades back into your local MASH which will put them back into action after a few moments.
Some enemies drop weapons like bazookas which your soldiers will be able to pick up and use yourself.

There will be 3 tech trees in the game (you have to pick one of them):
The offensive "Airborne" branch uses parachuters, bombing runs and scout planes.
The "Infantry" branch is better suited for a defensive strategy, meaning you get barrage and cover fire, defense and anti-tank guns.
The "Armor" branch is a mix of both, getting you better tanks and upgrades.

To advance in the tech tree you need command points which you get when your troops become more experienced (c&c generals, anyone? ;)). You can never get all the upgrades though.

Units in the field get experience too. Veterans have better aim, get faster into cover and have special abilities. If the group is reinforced due to losses, veterans even pass on some of their knowledge to the new recruits. According to the author, relic is planning on 4 ranks like private and sergeant.

Buildings are destroyed according to the munitions they're hit with and the location of the hit. According to Josh Mosquera, Lead Designer on the project, no building will get destroyed in the same fasion twice. Once only a wall will collapse, next time the entire roof might fall down and kill everybody inside.

At the moment, 20 multiplayer maps are planned. The world editor will also be included. There will be regular team games, ffas and some special options like "hold this town for 20 minutes" and "Destroy all bridges".

darkelf
29th Mar 06, 3:43 AM
Looks good, worf. I like the idea of being able to destroy a building in a myriad of different ways.

Perhaps you should change the title from REview to PREview? Just a suggestion as that made me think the game was finished and soon to be released without me noticing it.

scmarine
29th Mar 06, 7:36 AM
There will be 3 tech trees in the game (you have to pick one of them):
The offensive "Airborne" branch uses parachuters, bombing runs and scout planes.
The "Infantry" branch is better suited for a defensive strategy, meaning you get barrage and cover fire, defense and anti-tank guns.
The "Armor" branch is a mix of both, getting you better tanks and upgrades.

This is very interesting, i cant wait to see how it works in game. Also any word in the movie maker feature?

Worf
29th Mar 06, 7:50 AM
Who stole that P? *cough*
I'm sorry, scmarine, no word on that.
I forgot about a feature though: The units will have separate "hit zones" however you english guys call that. Meaning that if you hit a tank's main gun it may malfunction afterwards.

Akranadas
29th Mar 06, 7:54 AM
No, hit zones would be the right word,

Nice info worf, juicy enough to keep me happy for another month

DatonKallandor
29th Mar 06, 9:41 AM
Gamestar isnt it? Damn you germans for getting your own magazines before we do.


Daton

Tiresias
29th Mar 06, 10:34 AM
Oh wow exciting, similar resing to DoW it sounds like, but also dependant on keeping them attached to each other :D

Riess
29th Mar 06, 11:24 AM
Supply lines, unit experience, hit zones... I WANT IT!

The Preacher
29th Mar 06, 1:38 PM
Sounds great! I'm really getting excited about CoH.

scmarine
29th Mar 06, 1:50 PM
Was there any hint as to weather picking a single tech tree was for the whole campaign, or just levels, or maybe some other way?

Worf
30th Mar 06, 1:07 AM
I think this primarily refers to multiplayer but the article is not clear on that.

Aces_High
30th Mar 06, 2:22 AM
There will be 3 tech trees in the game (you have to pick one of them):
The offensive "Airborne" branch uses parachuters, bombing runs and scout planes.
The "Infantry" branch is better suited for a defensive strategy, meaning you get barrage and cover fire, defense and anti-tank guns.
The "Armor" branch is a mix of both, getting you better tanks and upgrades.

This actually sounds a lot like how C&C Generals was supposed to turn out. I recall reading that originally they had plans to make it so that the three armies broke further into 3 different branches of specialization each. Each branch would be commanded by a different General, hence the name.
For example:
the US would have the Special Forces, Airforce, and Hi-Tech Generals
China would have the Propaganda, Nuclear, and Armor Generals
then the GLA would have the Stealth, Bio-Weapon, and some other General I don't remember.

For whatever reason they got scrapped and instead manifested themselves as separate armies in the expansion, which sucked lots.The idea was so neat because it meant even if your opponent knew which army you were playing, he still wasn't sure how you were going to pursue victory. Not at least until the lead started flying.

I really hope Relic takes this Infantry, Armor, and Airborne tech tree to its fullest because the potential awesomeness in multiplayer is too good to pass up.

I'm really glad to hear veterancy is in too.

DatonKallandor
30th Mar 06, 4:49 AM
Just bought, read and saw the video aswell. I think Worf mention all points. I DO like to add though, that it really looks frickin awesome. Dozer Bladed Tanks plow through barbed wire to make room for infantry, unit AI, etc.


Daton

Ax3
30th Mar 06, 9:07 AM
Sounds awesome.

Is the video on a CD or website?

DatonKallandor
30th Mar 06, 9:39 AM
DVD to be precise. Gamestar has recently dropped its old CD/DVD versions for a 1DVD/2DVD setup.


Daton

Akranadas
30th Mar 06, 9:47 AM
We'll if the germans have it, then we should get it soon.

By the way, will those tech tree's work for the Axis side as well?

mitch1971
30th Mar 06, 5:23 PM
world editor released too, great!

Is the video a differing one to any released on the net?

No mention of the movie editor! Maybe they have intergrated it with the world editor and left it at that.

DougyM
31st Mar 06, 12:38 PM
I dont know if i should be excited by anything in that article.

After all, soldiers heroes of ww2 prommised those features and for the most part had them.... destructable enviroment, medics, tanks with different hit zones....

but it showed even though it had those features it implemented them horribly.

So ill hold off declaring the game amazingly prommising until after E3 when tons of videos should be released.

guardsman lover
2nd Apr 06, 5:07 PM
Aww sweet experience? This is lke most CnC games and Myth and Total War. Now if DOW 2 actually comes out I hope they will put Exp in the engine.

FIG
3rd Apr 06, 10:40 AM
....To advance in the tech tree you need command points which you get when your troops become more experienced....


Sounds like The Outfit + Warhammer 40,000 : Dawn of War.

Alliance
3rd Apr 06, 1:10 PM
interesting, it basicly forces you to scout out the enemy and engage him, while making sure enough of your troops survive to generate SP for the tech tree.

I hope the soldier AI will be smart enough to understand the positive sides of self reservation, and the computer player should understand that A) the player NEEDS the soldiers to advance, so it should be lenient on lower levels, and tougher on higher levels. B) It still has to preserve its own troops for tech advancement.
one of the anoying things in HW2's AI was that the computer would build one batch of workers and nothing more, so if you ran a blitzkreig early in the game and devistate the miners, it would just send the standard 4 intys, 2 corves, 2 frigates/destroyer at you untill it ran out of money, or in DoW how it would send a few scouts to take over a few points and leave them basicly undefended. I hope the new AI will understand that it needs to build more resourcers (troops in this case) if they get under certian level, and actualy defend its control points.

My 2c.

Tranj
7th Apr 06, 10:56 PM
world editor released too, great!

Is the video a differing one to any released on the net?

No mention of the movie editor! Maybe they have intergrated it with the world editor and left it at that.
The Movie Maker tool is part of the World Editor.

Megajames
8th Apr 06, 7:48 AM
Yay for devs

xtc-alec
12th Apr 06, 3:39 AM
HOORAH KOMRADEN!!

looks/sounds awesome