Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

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mlit77
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by mlit77 »

I'm an absolute fan of Panzer Corps 1. I like it because it's a turn based 2D game. I'm really in doubt if I like the new game because it's a 3D game. I played Order of Battle - WWII and put it back to the side because I do not like 3D. To offer a 2D game again would have been smarter, as all other game providers have also switched to 3D and that is an absolute matter of taste. I fear that the Panzer Corps 2 can not continue with the success, because it is 3D game.
Rudankort
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by Rudankort »

Gwaylare wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 11:40 am Purchasing units:
If you take an opponent city in turn t you have to wait a full turn and are able to purchase a unit in turn t + 2. If a multiplayer game has some delay and there are a couple of days between the turns, you are not sure about counting turns. Fine if you did some screenshots or notes, bad if you did not. Great to have an in game counter or history about changes of city occupation.
Good point. I'm not sure this mechanic will remain in PzC2 though, but I agree with the general premise that there should be no hidden variables.
Gwaylare wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 11:40 am Way Points:
There are many cases I am not happy with the way a unit will take, but there is just one way given to move to a single hex. For example if you want to move into the fog of war and you now about an occupied hex field because of the replay or just imagination, there is no way to move around, even if there are enough movement points available.
Another example is to move a unit to hex keeping out of opponents spotting range. A airborn parajumper for example do have a lot of movement points and it should be possible to change direction while flying. So just give the possibility to mark way points and continue movement to the next waypoint. But all in one movement not like recons beeing able to split movement.
This feature is in the works and will be included.
Gwaylare wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 11:40 am The detailed combat preview with Ctrl + Click is very important to learn about the combat mechanic. But it is not available if you have to move to your target first, this does affect most aircraft attacks. It would be great to chance this to Ctrl + Mouse Over. In the early days it was usual to move and undo move all the time to get an extendet combat preview. But because of the scouting expoit undo was banned from multiplayer.
Added to my wish list.
Gwaylare wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 11:40 am Replays before each turn:
It would be great to see the replay multiple times without sending the turn back to the server and during the whole turn not just at the beginning.

Replays after combat:
Those complete replays of the game are a great idea and I think they are not really hard to implement. I am currently working with them to write an AAR for a tournament game and there are some not really well thought features, I think.
1) Please make the replay available in a more intuitive way. If the game is closed and viewed already, there is no way anymore to get a replay.
2) It seems that the replay function is build for single player, because fog of war is out of the allied perpective all the time. Please give the opportunity to switch or turn off fog of war.
3) Really great would be to have a move by move single step playing forward and backwards to get the write screenshots for an AAR. Missed the write move, oh I have to start at the beginning of the turn again :(
4) First I thought it would be a great idea to make a video out of a replay. But with a multiplayer replay you look at the player thinking. Every single click to a unit of map is visible. Again this is just for allied side, axis turns are fine like we are used to replays in game. So you can make a video, but it is no fun to watch it.
huckc wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:49 pm 5) A button to switch between showing attacker/defender. Currently you have to play through all the moves for the attacker first which is a major pain point.
Incidentally, we are designing the UI for new Replay right now as we speak. I can say that replay feature in Panzer Corps 2 will be much more advanced, and most things which you guys have mentioned will be included. During the game, and this includes both single player and multiplayer, you will have access to the full replay interface, with play/pause/stop/rewind etc. It will be available at any point too, not just at the beginning of the turn. The only difference with "normal" replay will be that this replay will cover the game from the beginning and up to the current point, plus of course you won't be allowed to switch viewing side, disable fog of war etc.
Rudankort
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by Rudankort »

mlit77 wrote: Sun Dec 09, 2018 11:21 am I'm an absolute fan of Panzer Corps 1. I like it because it's a turn based 2D game. I'm really in doubt if I like the new game because it's a 3D game. I played Order of Battle - WWII and put it back to the side because I do not like 3D. To offer a 2D game again would have been smarter, as all other game providers have also switched to 3D and that is an absolute matter of taste. I fear that the Panzer Corps 2 can not continue with the success, because it is 3D game.
Thanks for your support of Panzer Corps and for taking time the to register on the forum in order to give your feedback. At this point, we are way beyond the point of no return with 3D. However, I want to make sure that the transition to 3D is as smooth as possible. Can you tell a bit more? What exactly was the problem with OoB? Did you dislike game aesthetics, or the map was not clear enough, or game pace was too slow, or maybe performance was the issue? Are there any 3D games at all which you enjoyed? :)
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by Kerensky »

Rudankort wrote: Sun Dec 09, 2018 8:45 pm Thanks for your support of Panzer Corps and for taking time the to register on the forum in order to give your feedback. At this point, we are way beyond the point of no return with 3D. However, I want to make sure that the transition to 3D is as smooth as possible. Can you tell a bit more? What exactly was the problem with OoB? Did you dislike game aesthetics, or the map was not clear enough, or game pace was too slow, or maybe performance was the issue? Are there any 3D games at all which you enjoyed? :)
Well I can't speak for him, but for me personally I noticed some serious performance issues with OoB. Playing it for an extended period of time dramatically degraded the game performance. But in general, things like long load times and FPS (frames per second) spikes in my turn base strategy games are really frustrating. I mean I can understand if I'm below system specs on an ultra modern FPS (first person shooter) but that's not the case. I'm at or above recommended system specs, and strategy games like Xcom2 and BattleTech have some really annoying load times and sometimes performance issues as well. These games look great and I love taking screenshots while I play them, but sometimes I think the cost of all those graphics is a little too high. I mean the first casualty is the unit roster of such strategy games. BattleTech couldn't even afford their own units, every Mech in that game is a direct hand me down from MechWarrior Online.
huckc
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by huckc »

Rudankort wrote: Sun Dec 09, 2018 8:38 pm
Gwaylare wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 11:40 am Replays before each turn:
It would be great to see the replay multiple times without sending the turn back to the server and during the whole turn not just at the beginning.

Replays after combat:
Those complete replays of the game are a great idea and I think they are not really hard to implement. I am currently working with them to write an AAR for a tournament game and there are some not really well thought features, I think.
1) Please make the replay available in a more intuitive way. If the game is closed and viewed already, there is no way anymore to get a replay.
2) It seems that the replay function is build for single player, because fog of war is out of the allied perpective all the time. Please give the opportunity to switch or turn off fog of war.
3) Really great would be to have a move by move single step playing forward and backwards to get the write screenshots for an AAR. Missed the write move, oh I have to start at the beginning of the turn again :(
4) First I thought it would be a great idea to make a video out of a replay. But with a multiplayer replay you look at the player thinking. Every single click to a unit of map is visible. Again this is just for allied side, axis turns are fine like we are used to replays in game. So you can make a video, but it is no fun to watch it.
huckc wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:49 pm 5) A button to switch between showing attacker/defender. Currently you have to play through all the moves for the attacker first which is a major pain point.
Incidentally, we are designing the UI for new Replay right now as we speak. I can say that replay feature in Panzer Corps 2 will be much more advanced, and most things which you guys have mentioned will be included. During the game, and this includes both single player and multiplayer, you will have access to the full replay interface, with play/pause/stop/rewind etc. It will be available at any point too, not just at the beginning of the turn. The only difference with "normal" replay will be that this replay will cover the game from the beginning and up to the current point, plus of course you won't be allowed to switch viewing side, disable fog of war etc.
That's awesome, a great feature getting even better! As a programmer myself, my hunch was that it was a ton of work from the ground up so my quibbles were reserved until now :D
ESPADATXI
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by ESPADATXI »

Hello, a request that I would like to make is to include the "minor countries" historically involved in World War II, even if it has a small intervention, the existence of its units (and countries) facilitates the development of additional scenarios and campaigns, in I would like to request that the sides and units of the Spanish Civil War be included.
AndreyBacerage
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by AndreyBacerage »

Would be nice to see some Officers Skills similiar to 1999 PANZER GENERAL ASSAULT 3D
I dont like the Panzer Corps and Order of Battle additions only for attack and defensive points.

Listing of All Leader Specials
-------------------------------------------
Class Specific:
The first Leader Special acquired by any officer is decided by his class.
All officers of the same class will always acquire the same first Leader
Special. Please see sections 5.2-12.2 for detailed descriptions on these
Leader Specials. These specials are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars (5 being
the best).

Infantry : Tactician (*****)
Forces all adjacent attacks by/on the infantry unit to be Hand To Hand
(close assaults). This is very powerful, you can easily turn the tide to
your advantage with this power. Usually, an infantry unit would get
decimated fighting tanks in an open field. With this power, you can actually
easily take tanks down with minimal damage to your infantry units.

Tank : Maneuver (***)
You get a +1 movement on any tank (+1 hex range). Typically, tanks have
4 movement, so this equates to a 25% increase.

Anti-Tank : Positioning (****)
When you issue an Entrenchment order, you automatically entrench to maximum
level (3). This essentially saves you 3 turns. You can easily use this
power to move into a newly captured city and defend it at maximum level in
one order. One trick I use is to use this ability offensively by moving
next to an armored target, entrenching and immediately attacking in the same
turn to drastically reduce my casualties.

Artillery : Expert Support (****)
This unit will automatically fire an additional support fire. Very useful
when defending.

Air Defense: Sharpshooter (****)
Increases attack range of this unit by +1. This helps you attack more enemy
aircraft without having to waste Action Points moving to position yourself.
This is very good if you are using towed anti-aircraft: you don't want to have
to tow your unit closer and then wasting an Action Point dismounting.

Recon : Force Recon (***)
You get +1 Sighting Range. Since Recon units typically have a 4 spotting
range, this equates to a 25% gain, which is not bad.

Fighter : Hawkeyes (**)
You get +1 Sighting Range. I don't usually use Fighter units as recon units
because their vulnerability to Anti-Aircraft and other Fighter units, but a
+1 is still a big deal.

Bomber : All Weather (****)
This ability allows you to attack in any weather. This is *very* good beause
weather is rather unpreditable in this game. Note that if weather is bad,
you will make attacks at half strength. This is bad, but still better than
not being able to attack at all.

General:
The second Leader Special acquired by any offier is completely random and
is selected from the following list at random when the officer is first
recruited. (I.e., no amount of reloading will change which medal you
obtain when you level the officer up to Rank 8.)

Aggressive Attack (***): Your attacks will be more effective. You will
inflict more damage and receive less casualties.
Though it only seems to increase your results by
a small number, every little bit helps.

Determined Defense (**): You will inflict more damage and receive less
casualties when defending. I am not a big fan of
defending, but this is still a good power
nonetheless. Though it only seems to increase your
results by a small number, every little bit helps.

Sixth Sense (***): You never get ambushed and you ignore reserve fire. This
is good when you do not have a Recon unit available or
your Recon unit got destroyed.

First Strike (****): You always strike first in battle, unless the enemy
officer has the same special. Enough said.

Resilience (****): Your unit received less casualties and your firing/move
attributes are more difficult to damage. Well, since you
will almost always be taking some form of damage in each
mission, this power will definately come in handy.

Influence (****): Your unit has more strength than normally (i.e., you have
more troops in your unit). This means that you can deal
more damage and receive more damage before your unit is
destroyed.

Fire Discipline (***): You use up ammunition at half the normal rate. This is
good for units like Artillery who normally have very
few shots and their veteran orders cost even more ammo.

Ground Taker (*): Your unit will cause more retreats than usual. This is a
horrible power since as long as you are in an adjacent hex
to an enemy, he cannot repair and resupply. If you cause a
retreat and you cannot chase after him, on his turn he will
repair and come back to full strength!

Mountaineer (**): This ability reduces the penalties for moving through bad
terrain. It also gives you a bonus for fighting uphill
battles (normally, you would get a penalty).

Blizter (***): Gives the unit the ability to Overrun (as per Tank units).
Basically allows you to destroy weak units without using any
Action Points.

Assaulter (**): Units acts as if it were Close Supported by infantry (i.e.,
when an infantry unit is beside it). Basically allows the
unit to ignore Hand To Hand combat, where more units are
penalized.

Maneuver (**): Increases unit's movement rate by 1. Every bit helps.

Skilled Recon (*): Increases spotting range.

Recon Move (****): First move is free (at no Action Point cost). Useful for
Bomber and Artillery units.

Tank Hunter (**): Boost attack and defense of the unit when fighting Tanks.
(For air units only)

Street Fighter (**): Increases unit's effectiveness in Hand To Hand combat.

Overwhelming Attack (***): Any suppression damage dealt by this unit causes
equipment damage.

Infiltrator (***): Unit ignores enemy zones of control. (I.e., comlete
freedome of movement.) Useful for agility, circling and
flanking.

Camouflage Expert (*): Makes unit harder to spot.

Ferocious Defender (**): Unit automatically entrenches to maximum level in a
single Entrench order. Useful for Infantry.

Overwatch (****): This Leader's Unit will always provide support fire for any
friendly adjacent unit (if the enemy is within range).

Devastating Fire (*****): Each of this Leader's attacks are at full effect.
(Normally, each shot after the first loses 25%
effectiveness.)

River Assaulter (**): No penalty for attacking from a river and reduced
movement cost to traverse a river.

Shock Tactics (**): Unit does long term suppression as Artillery. (I.e., any
suppression caused by unit will remain until end of turn.)

Quartermaster (**): Your Strength attribute does not decrease by one for every
refit command issued after the first. If you play with
the Enhanced Refit difficulty setting, this Leader Special
is rather useless, very useful otherwise.

Sharpshooter (*****): All this Leader's attacks are considered long range (like
Artillery) and his ranged attacks are at full Strength
(not at the usual half Strength). I never got this Leader
Special, but if it's as good as it sounds, it basically
means that the enemy will never retaliate against this
unit when it attacks.

Smart Gambler (***): Battle estimates will never be wrong: you will either
do/receive that much damage or you may even do better than
the battle projections.

Skirmisher (***): Reduces the overall effectiveness of enemy fire.

Fast Assaulter (***): Allows this Infantry unit to avoid support fire. (Immune
to support fire from Artillery and all other support
orders/units.) Very good for taking cities, even if they
are defended with Artillery.

Liberator (*): Kinda hopeless. You only get double the victory points if this
Leader captures a city. I don't know what victory points are
used for other than high scores.

Supply Training (**): +4 ammo is definately useful for low ammo count units
like Artillery. But then again, if you play with the
Unlimited Ammo difficulty setting, this Leader Special
is rather useless.

Survivor (**): Guarantees that if your Leader's unit is destroyed, the Leader
will return to your headquarters at the beginning of the next
mission.

Night Drop (**): Paradropping Infantry cannot be fired upon by enemy ground
units in transit.
AndreyBacerage
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by AndreyBacerage »

The map terrain design looks not much better like the old PANZER GENERAL ASSAULT series. The streets and rivers have no details - I see only a change between forest and base ground terrains - the citys needs more realistic WW2 details and where are the small citys, villages and industrial regions ? I can recognize the biggest problem is the terrain Ups and downs - this is an example for realistic hills:
Image
and deepened river valleys together with more details like different ground colours, plantations, paths, doubled high ways.

Hopefully they work outh more on this game - for now its nothing outstanding !
ESPADATXI
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by ESPADATXI »

AndreyBacerage wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 12:39 am
Smart Gambler (***): Battle estimates will never be wrong: you will either
do/receive that much damage or you may even do better than
the battle projections.
This is absurd, there is no real human capacity for "someone will never have bad luck" or "things always go well", for me this special ability should disappear as absurd and unreal
ESPADATXI
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by ESPADATXI »

CaesarCzech wrote: Sat Dec 08, 2018 4:04 pm

Alas, although french unit roster was expanded slightly, this does not include ARL44 or any other heavier and more advanced tanks than they already have. We felt that as a country which fought mostly in 1940 France was already well fleshed out, with lots of native tanks and aircraft. So, priority has been given to countries like Italy, Hungary and Romania which fought through the entire war, although other countries, like Poland, Slovakia and even Belgium and Netherlands also got expanded.
Please, do not forget the two sides of the Spanish Civil War, many times unfortunately unfairly removed from the games of the Second World War
jeffoot77
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by jeffoot77 »

"This is absurd, there is no real human capacity for "someone will never have bad luck" or "things always go well""

--> that 's not absurd because some guy can have just luck . it is rare but it exists.

For example, Hans Rudel 's plane was shot down 32 times ! but he never received deadly shot ! So he was very lucky and could get this capacity!
my custom mini-campaign in order of battle :
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=374&t=79333&p=676302#p676302

Panzer corps mods archive : http://jeffoot.freeboxos.fr:41226/share/KmCyju7JFZX6dD2B/
markwood007788
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by markwood007788 »

I think the primary concern individuals appear to disregard is that recons in pzc2 will never again need to (I am read many mangas and removed link. This is my favorite manga.) rival tanks/refined for openings since they will cost less "organization asset" whatever that ends up being called. So in the event that u can handle 2 or possibly 3 recons for 1 tank, they turn out to be really great, isn't that so?
Last edited by zakblood on Mon Dec 17, 2018 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: removed link
GabeKnight
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by GabeKnight »

markwood007788 wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2018 8:57 pm (I am read many mangas and removed link. This is my favorite manga.)
Oh come on, Zak, you could've at least kept the name of the manga. Now I really want to know what this guys favourite manga was... :wink:
jo005597
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by jo005597 »

LOVE the idea posted to be able to mark the map where you suspect / know enemy units are but can no longer see them. I've wished for this a ton in PC1. I'd like to suggest an option for the defender to be able to spend points on entrenchment too. You would have to weigh the pros and cons of buying an additional unit, or allocating some points to camouflage or entrenchment bonus's to units. This would only apply during deployment. Camouflaging a unit for example could reduce its chance of being spotted. I believe this is already used for units in towns.
jo005597
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Re: Panzer Corps 2 - Dev Diary #6

Post by jo005597 »

Another suggestion when it comes to spotting units. When aircraft overfly the map there is a chance they would spot enemy activity below. Would it be viable to add a feature such that when aircraft return to base question marks appear on the map where spotted activity they flew over was? Making the question marks appear immediately in flight is not realistic as pilots rarely had the ability to radio ground units, but returning to base "intelligence" could be issued to the troops on the ground. While in the air units that have spotted enemy units on the ground would gain a counter informing the player that this air-unit has seen "x" ground units. This feature could add several nuances to game play. As the victim of an airstrike you may feel compelled to move entrenched units that were spotted rather than have them face a coordinated attack and losing the ability to ambush. As the player with the aircraft you would also have the tough decision of leaving your air-units on station for another attack next turn, or getting them back to base to reveal what they saw. Finally in air combat such an air-recon feature could lead to some interesting air battles as the "spotted" side attempts to take down an enemy unit before it lands...the afore mentioned counter would be visible to both players - as ground units know they've been overflown.
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