The Groginati Sales Thread

[Dimitris]

You miserable ingrates.  As a user of an OS for which CMANO is not yet available, I can only watch the discussion thread in envy...and here you are refunding due to piddly UI issues! :P





(Hope it's obvious already, but I jest ;))

Maybe we should have done it the (usual) Linux way. Focus on the kick-butt sim engine and let others build whatever UIs on top of it to suit their fancy.

Of course in that case it would probably also follow the usual Linux way of not making any significant sales

[Dimitris]

*cough*dualboot*Cough*







(J/k- I know you don't want any windoze ickystuff coming near your minty-fresh box of liberation :)))

CMANO actually runs pretty good inside a VM (except with gargantuan scens), particularly with fast storage.

So until the native Linux port (did I say that out loud?), he can use a lean host (TCL? Lubuntu? Other?), run a miminal-XP VM on top of it, and have loads of fun.

[JudgeDredd]

The 'Windows XP' UI is indeed horrendous. Ordinarily that alone would keep me from buying but the price was so good and there is a moderately encouraging post on the Steam CMANO forum from a very talented modder who exampled some ways of upgrading the UI. His examples are fantastic -- a massive improvement on the existing UI. But I think that was sometime in 2014 -- so it may be a dead letter after all. Shame, as I think it would enhance the game experience a thousand-fold.

Not dead letter by far  :)

And for those who've been with us since the late 90s, there is an inherent irony on the "I don't like the UI because it's too much Windows-y" viewpoint.

For years, the most common criticism leveled at H3's UI was that it did not conform to the Windows UI conventions (little wonder, since it was DOS-based and conceived when Windows 3.1x was the norm).

So CMANO comes out and has an unmistakably Windows-based UI..... and it turns out some people hate this with a passion :)

I'm sure you know this - but just to clarify for anyone else - you won't ever please all the people all the time. Some people would love the familiarity. Others didn't like the interface and hoped for something else. You would always get that split.

For the record, my original beef with the UI was never about how it looked  ;)

I'm hoping to give your game another look some day.

[sandman2575]

Not dead letter by far  :)

I'm very pleased to hear this, Dimitris. I for one would be delighted to see a modified UI along the lines the poster in the Steam forums provided.

To Judge Dredd's point -- I certainly agree you can't please everyone. But options and variety are always a good thing. I suspect plenty of CMANO players are perfectly happy with the existing UI and forcing them to adopt a graphically upgraded UI would of course be a mistake.

But for players like me -- new players who have not been with the series since the Harpoon days -- I do think a more polished UI could only broaden the game's appeal. Yes, CMANO is a *very* hardcore game that is never going to have a wide audience. But I also think there's a mindset endemic to the 'hardcore grognard' community that believes, frankly, that a game's ugliness is directly proportional to how authentic it is as a warfare simulation. I definitely do not subscribe to this line of thought. (Nor do I think CMANO is ugly. The globe-map is very well done in my view -- spare, but conveying information in a clear and vivid, engaging way. But the Windows XP UI is a huge turn off for me. It doesn't make the game feel more authentic. It's 'merely' functional without adding any visual interest to the experience of playing the game.)

I know that last part will sound superficial to a lot of folks, but I mean it sincerely. A game's UI should draw you into the game experience. It should not merely be functional (though it should be that!). It's the primary means by which the player interacts with the game. It needs to draw you into the game world and keep you there. This is one of the main reasons I can't stomach playing GG's War in the East, with its unbelievably bland and unimaginative UI, and I can happily play War in the Pacific, whose UI, despite its undeniable quirks, does have real visual flair and character.

[Huw the Poo]

If you're making your games cross-platform just to increase sales, you're doing it wrong. :P

Anyway...

CMANO actually runs pretty good inside a VM (except with gargantuan scens), particularly with fast storage.

So until the native Linux port (did I say that out loud?), he can use a lean host (TCL? Lubuntu? Other?), run a miminal-XP VM on top of it, and have loads of fun.

I appreciate the suggestions, but I'm a pure Linux gamer.  If it isn't native, I don't play it.  Besides, if I bought CMANO now it wouldn't count as a Linux sale. ;)

[JasonPratt]

Warhammer 40K: Regicide is on sale this weekend at Steam for $5, with a huge upgrade -- no new factions, but new faction abilities and a new prequel campaign (I'm guessing from the Ork side, haven't looked at it yet) -- and now with iOS capability, which moves it to mobile.

Obviously there are plenty of free chess games out there, but so far as I know there are no free chess games with 40K Space Marines gibbing Orks (and vice versa) in glorious 3D animation. (That being said, the violence is really, really extreme, even by other 40K game standards. So...) And the "Regicide" rules combine chess with a legitimate tactical turn-based game.

I've got a written AAR here at Grogheads with screenies mirroring a match (via hotseat) I was having with someone else on Facebook chess several weeks ago. It doesn't show off the Regicide rules of course, but may be of some use in giving potential buyers an idea about the game.

[Nefaro]

The Wargame franchise is 70-75% off this weekend.

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/wargame/


If you're just gonna get one, I'd recommend Red Dragon ($12) since it has the most content & variety.   8)   Air Land Battle isn't a terrible choice if you're really tight with the spending ($5) and haven't check any of them out.

[Shelldrake]

The Wargame franchise is 70-75% off this weekend.

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/wargame/


If you're just gonna get one, I'd recommend Red Dragon ($12) since it has the most content & variety.   8)   Air Land Battle isn't a terrible choice if you're really tight with the spending ($5) and haven't check any of them out.

I have had a lot of fun playing Red Dragon co-op with a couple of buddies against the cpu. Content is incredible with equipment from additional nations still being added.

[Gusington]

Just got a Wargame email stating that the Netherlands has just been added as a new playable nation.

[JasonPratt]

ONE

TROLL

ARMY

I've been playing this little Unity game this afternoon while waiting for other things at work, and it is adorable. But in a good fantasy way, not in a super-deformed sacchrine JRPG kind of way. The game has character in spades, and looks sharp as hell, and you can't beat the sale price which is free (plus less than $2 for cosmetic outfits for your troll, which dress him up as Iron Man or Batman or Robocop or a Stormtrooper or various other properties, including with mix-and-match functionality.)

[shodan]

doorkickers for $3.00
Seems to have gotten good review for a tactical shooter game

https://www.bundlestars.com/en/game/door-kickers

[-budd-]

doorkickers for $3.00
Seems to have gotten good review for a tactical shooter game

https://www.bundlestars.com/en/game/door-kickers

Well worth the price, excellent game

[Huw the Poo]

The Wargame franchise is 70-75% off this weekend.

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/wargame/


If you're just gonna get one, I'd recommend Red Dragon ($12) since it has the most content & variety.   8)   Air Land Battle isn't a terrible choice if you're really tight with the spending ($5) and haven't check any of them out.

Thanks for this, Nef.  I was going to ask this very question.  So...if Red Dragon isn't absolutely essential, I think I'm going to go for AirLand Battle.

[Toonces]

Red dragon has the ability to slow the game down which alb does not.  If you're not a super rats guy, red dragon might be the better call (it is for me).

[Huw the Poo]

Dammit Toonces!  Now I'm undecided again!

Hmm....can you issue orders while paused in AirLand Battle?