i just found out about Carrier Command by Bohemia IA
http://www.carriercommand.com/
here are YT-videos of some nerdy German guys exploring the 1.2 beta
starts with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1L5P1q6MBA plus follow-ups
....and so I ended up with -just another impulsive-buy, Arrrrh- ;) at Bohemia' s digital store to get the beta too
(instead of waiting for Steam Version until 9/28 and no beta...
btw: a new 1.3 beta is expected any time soon after this weekend)
Of course i played the original from the 80ties and loved it! 8)
Asleep at the wheel again, I see. ;)
http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=1088.msg22246#msg22246 (http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=1088.msg22246#msg22246)
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on September 14, 2012, 09:57:01 AM
Asleep at the wheel again, I see. ;)
http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=1088.msg22246#msg22246 (http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=1088.msg22246#msg22246)
Sigh, must have missed that in April somehow :-[
Holy crap, did I ever miss the boat on this one!
All this time, I've been giving it a pass because I was under the impression it was just a modern era tactical simulator (which I'd have no interest in). Looks like I was wrong!
This wasn't the game where I had to remind my flight crews to arm the bombs before the planes took off, was it?
8)
its released :)
downloading right now (the BI Store version)
It's not got any of the crappy dialog that normal BI Studio games have does it?
I have to say I loved playing Carrier Command in the early 90s on my Atari - seems a little bit steep mind @ £29
Though it does look quite deep...the original didn't have any customisation that I recall.
Just watched the 11 minute video....and kind of put off. I'm not sure it needed the seeming useless FPS/story thing and the FPS interaction sections/missions sound like a pita.
I'll wait it out (I seem to be doing alot of that at the moment!) Maybe my impulse buying is cured?
Quote from: JudgeDredd on September 28, 2012, 06:55:23 AM
It's not got any of the crappy dialog that normal BI Studio games have does it?
I can confirm that it does come complete with crappy dialog. I don't think the campaign here is going to win any awards, but the strategy mode will probably be a lot of fun.
Argh... I see now the point of the Steam version.
The normal one is undownloadable... completely undownloadable.
No only there was no-preload like for those who used Steam, but the download from the store itself is either not working, or going as
slow as one could possibly imagine.
>:(
EDIT: LoL, just as I write this I try again and actually manage to start downloading... hoping it'll continue to download it all :)
strange ... it took me 35 minutes with their sprocket-utility this morn and there is also a link directly to the file hosted in GB.
BI had send out an email, that its available now (i had it already then ;)) that may explain the heavy load on the download-servers
LOL....the sproket utility is telling me it is downloading at the lightning fast speed of 22KB / sec. Only 40 hours to go....
Quote from: ArizonaTank on September 28, 2012, 11:41:52 AM
LOL....the sproket utility is telling me it is downloading at the lightning fast speed of 22KB / sec. Only 40 hours to go....
Well, you probably have some yardwork that needs to be done anyway ;)
AI pathing blows. That it was my main complaint so far.
I bagged looking into this in JH's original thread because of the future/space aspect. I watched one of the videos just now, though, and it looks interesting. Is it easy to play? What I mean is, is this one of those games where you need to think a lot or is it more mindless fun?
Something along the lines of Star Wars Galaxies at War is about as deep as I would want in a game like this. I don't need anymore "hard" games right now.
Totally and utterly mindless so far. There is no space involvement beyond the initial cutscene. The game seems to take place entirely on one planet.
Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize it was 50 clams...gonna have to wait on a sale for it.
I played the beta months ago. Got about 30 minutes out of it before I concluded that it sucked. Can't say why.....it was just sucky. Repetitive I guess. Didn't like the first person view firing from ships a la "beachead" on my c64. I dunno,.bleh.
^thats a bit of an unfair simplification. It sounds like you really didn't give it enough of a chance. The strategic gameplay is a lot of fun, and it certainly imvolves more than the above description.
Perhaps....but have you ever played a game where after a few minutes, you didn't want to play anymore to fully evaluate? Couldn't put my finger on it.
Quote from: mikeck on September 29, 2012, 08:57:10 AM
Perhaps....but have you ever played a game where after a few minutes, you didn't want to play anymore to fully evaluate? Couldn't put my finger on it.
I've been there. It is the most difficult thing I have to do as a reviewer - figure out why something isn't doing it for me and writing in a way that helps readers understand it.
The only thing I can say is that you played a beta - betas are, by definition, incomplete. As a general rule, drawing a conclusion based on a beta is typically not a good thing.
That said, the inability to articulate why you didn't like a game is a real reaction. I hate having that feeling.
Quote from: mikeck on September 29, 2012, 08:57:10 AM
Perhaps....but have you ever played a game where after a few minutes, you didn't want to play anymore to fully evaluate? Couldn't put my finger on it.
Definitely...more times than I'd like to admit!
Ok...fair is fair. I looked at some YouTube clips of this and there seems to be more going on than I remembered. Didn't know you could attack with AI controlled Mantas flying along side. Definitely more immersive than when I played the beta and just flew around shooting crap. Also, weapon effects are improved....beta effects were very dated. I will wait for some reviews.
From my time with it this evening, my initial impressions are not good. (Xbox 360 version)
Starts you off Campaign mode with a god-awful cheap and nasty FPS, tacky presentation, generic bland enemies, soldiers and maps, no jump! Later on lets you fiddle in a vehicle. Clunky. Like the Mako or the Warthog haven't happened yet. Typical Bohemia Interactive vehicles though, I suppose. Lets you inside the Carrier, dark tedious corridors, flashlight, shiny textures, *shudder*.
Once you get out into the sea, and onto the first island it starts and gets a little interesting, but only because you get to glimpse the strategic interface. Suddenly you control a vehicle but from a top down map. You can shift in and out of it. Then you get another vehicle in support. Then you spend a lot of time trying to get the two to co-ordinate together using commands on a thumb wheel, to press two buttons at the same time.
It's interesting in as much as you're always waiting to see what else they open up for you. But, as far as compelling game goes, I haven't hit any sweet spot, and more often than not I've been cheesed by the awkwardness of the handling, the sheer frustration of the unit commands (especially trying to get one vehicle to stay put, when swapping to another vehicle), and the pathing can be a bit iffy at times - when the AI is calculating routes from A to B.
I think if it gets more open world, and gives you more toys, and pits you in battles where you can make a difference by co-ordinating the combined arms, it might be worth a look, in a month or two time when it's half or quarter price.
As it stands I'd say avoid, unless you have a deep admiration for Bohemia and the original.
Coming out of Borderlands 2 and it's vehicular control and gunnery, into this, is such a stark contrast I may as well have stepped back in time 10 years!
Bit sad, because I had high hopes for it as a strategy game, with jump in ability, like Battlezone II. In fact I was hoping it was the next Endwar. But it's not. It just isn't.
Did u try the open strategic game? Skip the campaign.
Quote from: mikeck on October 02, 2012, 06:08:31 PM
Did u try the open strategic game? Skip the campaign.
Ditto...although it starts to open up, the campaign is garbage. Stick to the strategic mode and you should find enjoyment.
As an aside, the FPS portions in the campaign were a real disappointment and I'm not surprised they kept it hidden from the beta testers.
Quote from: mikeck on October 02, 2012, 06:08:31 PM
Did u try the open strategic game? Skip the campaign.
I tried that first, but it said I should play the Campaign - at least until I'd finished the Tutorial (I'm paraphrasing here). So I took the games advice, and started the Campaign, sadly.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on September 28, 2012, 08:01:57 PM
AI pathing blows. That it was my main complaint so far.
As a huge fan of the original game, I was really looking forward to this remake but I've heard nothing but complaints about the pathfinding. Apparently it's so poor that you really have to babysit your units, which is a deal-breaker for me.
Let me know when it's patched up and I'll be in!
I got a press release this morning announcing a demo has been released, but I can't find it on the Carrier Command website.
^Its up now...1.5GB! Only 2 sites available. I tried the Bistudio one and it was pretty slow. I'll give it a shot again this weekend...maybe.
http://www.carriercommand.com/demo/#dnl
Pathfinding aside, I am having fun with this game. I just wish there was a more solid infantry component, even if they were just droids. It would be fun to load them up into walruses and mantis's and land them around islands. You could come up with some pretty exciting amphibious invasions with vertical envelopment if you could do this.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on October 04, 2012, 10:13:00 AM
Pathfinding aside, I am having fun with this game. I just wish there was a more solid infantry component, even if they were just droids. It would be fun to load them up into walruses and mantis's and land them around islands. You could come up with some pretty exciting amphibious invasions with vertical envelopment if you could do this.
The thing I don't understand is that you can run around outside of your vehicle in the early campaign, but then the game doesn't let you do that in the strategy game.
But as everyone has said, the campaign is garbage.
I am also having fun with the strategy game.... Just took an island where the command center was on a plateau next to a high oceanside cliff. I used a bunch of mantas with hooks to fly up the cliff and drop in wallys near the command center Flying them in from the carrier to a hot LZ was pretty good air assault action. Once I got them all down, I started flying air cover for the wallys, I slogged my way in to hack it. Pretty hairy, intense fun....
I haven't seen any major pathing problems yet. Did have one wally get stuck behind a road block, but was able to hook it out with an manta.
I can see the game might seem a little one dimensional at first....but use all those lovely tools they give you, and it becomes pretty fun.
Quote from: ArizonaTank on October 04, 2012, 07:57:03 PM
The thing I don't understand is that you can run around outside of your vehicle in the early campaign, but then the game doesn't let you do that in the strategy game.
Its almost as if they had planned on including more infantry/FPS combat in the game, but ran out of time to implement it the way they wanted...
i wish i could do a commando-op (maybe with 1 to 4 droids in escort, like in Arma) infiltrate and raid a research facility to steal a blueprint, instead of taking the whole island first ... or knockin out a nasty AAA/AT-nest which is a critical element blocking my planned assault route on an island.
i had lots of nasty pathfinding situations (depending poorly on the island map in use) ... don't expect that a Walrus make it in orchestrated timeframe to help out one battered up at the frontline. Mantas have no situational awareness of self preservation (i programmed a attack on a building from the sea and its slowly drifts closer and closer on a half-circle around the target while blasting away until in reach of a AAA finally, which was clealy on the map from the beginning, Damnit) ... also an emergency dock-command take some time until it has sunk in into the AI's mind turning the plane in no hurry ...and surly not going NOS on the way out.
I have fun with CC GM but i have immersivly tell myself: "the automated vehicles are driven by stolen hacked experimental software from the enemy ...and that has to be taken into account when planing all ops"
the good thing is that you can jump in, help out, the old route/order chain will be still in its RAM, hit 'Execute', ...and the rest will be back on auto.
well, in real life NEVER buy any car that had driving/parking-assistants or a sat-nav gadget with a Bohemia Interactive software stamp on it ;)
....now we know how Bohemia's guys ended up near a Greek Military installation on Lesbos when they had actually just planed to take some tourist pictures of the fishermen's harbor, or the blonds on the beach ;)
Quote from: MikeGER on October 05, 2012, 03:38:47 AM
I have fun with CC GM but i have immersivly tell myself: "the automated vehicles are driven by stolen hacked experimental software from the enemy ...and that has to be taken into account when planing all ops"
the good thing is that you can jump in, help out, the old route/order chain will be still in its RAM, hit 'Execute', ...and the rest will be back on auto.
I actually have not been playing in a way that depends too much on automation. I agree the friendly and enemy AI should be much better.
reminds me of Hostile Waters - i liked that game
Quote from: undercovergeek on October 05, 2012, 06:34:52 AM
reminds me of Hostile Waters - i liked that game
Hostile Waters was a stunning game. Really well made. Hmm...I wonder if my retail copy works on Win7-64...
I've played a bit of the demo and have actually really liked what I've seen. Except for the on-foot bits, obviously. However, even in the short demo the woeful AI is there to see. Manta AI seems fine so far, but Walrus AI is awful. They usually get to where they've been ordered to go, but sometimes they get stuck on a piece of scenery for quite a while. This can make all the difference in battle.
Hmm. Another issue is that whenever I issue a dock order to one unit, they all proceed to dock. How irritating!
Quote from: Huw the Poo on October 06, 2012, 09:12:20 AM
Hmm. Another issue is that whenever I issue a dock order to one unit, they all proceed to dock. How irritating!
Hmmm...that must be a problem limited to the demo. I have not experienced that in the full release build.
Well that's something, at least. Now there's just the pathfinding to sort out. Besides that I've been quite pleased with it; it's pretty much what I wanted from a modern remake of a game I loved so much as a kid. It tests my PC to its limits though. In fact I'm amazed my embarrassingly under-specced rig can run it at all.
Look at this review (http://www.strategyinformer.com/ps3/carriercommandgaeamission/2017/review.html) on Strategy Informer. It's fucking awful. It feels like it was written in five minutes. There's no mention of:
- What the vehicles are like to control
- What you do in strategic view
- What you do in first person view
- Production (requirements? limitations? timescales? viability?)
- Multiplayer or lack thereof
- Controlling the carrier
- What is the enemy carrier like? Is it a fair fight?
- What the opposition is like in general (enemy air/ground units, are they the same, differences etc)
- How the campaign is structured
- What a typical session is like, how it plays
- Is it hard? Easy? Are there customisable difficulty settings?
- What are the controls like?
- Graphics, sound
- Aim of the game, in either campaign or skirmish mode
...the list goes on and on. I'm left none the wiser. This "review" tells me absolutely - NOTHING - that I need to know. This is one of the worst reviews I've ever read in my life. If you can't be arsed, stop writing.
Is this normal for Strategy Informer?
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on October 04, 2012, 10:13:00 AM
Pathfinding aside, I am having fun with this game. I just wish there was a more solid infantry component, even if they were just droids. It would be fun to load them up into walruses and mantis's and land them around islands. You could come up with some pretty exciting amphibious invasions with vertical envelopment if you could do this.
I've been enjoying this game -- mostly thanks to advice here to skip the campaign. The Strategic game (so far at least -- I've only taken one island) has been a lot of fun. I haven't had any control issues and when (as happened once or twice) pathfinding goes bad, I just take over the lost Walrus and get it to a spot the AI can handle. This is one remake that is a huge improvement. The original carrier command was pretty clunky. I love the weather and terrain and waves and other effects in Bohemia's version.
Well I picked this up in the Steam sale at last.
The good news:
Especially for a fan of the original, this game is a stunning recreation. Everything's there, and everything's better. It's exhilarating to launch a group of units and take control of one, hurtling toward your target island and avoiding incoming fire while the other units join the attack. This is an extremely faithful remake (I don't play the campaign obviously) and in my opinion really captures the feel of the original. It's far better than I'd dared hope.
Significantly, I haven't encountered a single pathfinding issue yet. It appears to be fixed at last.
The bad news:
This is the first game in a very, very long time that just seems to randomly crash. Anyone on my Steam friends list will have witnessed, tonight, "Huw is playing Carrier Command: Gaea Mission" pop up on their screens countless times. That's because it was crashing every five goddamn minutes. I really need to see what I can do to fix this.
With a heavy heart, I have requested a refund from Steam. Apparently my CPU isn't up to the task, although Bohemia also suggested upgrading my video card driver. I did just that and no longer get the random lockups, however I'm now subject to the same "access violation" errors that seem to be plaguing other players, and I've had enough.
It's a damn shame because I was otherwise really enjoying CCGM. It's a loving remake and I was having an absolute blast. :( :( :(
Can you request a refund from Steam? I thought not...
They do give out refunds when there's good enough reason. The most recent example I know of is the WarZ debacle. I'm not particularly confident I'll get mine but it doesn't cost anything to ask innit.
Nine days and counting. Jeez.
I didn't get my refund by the way.
However. I noticed that Carrier Command received a patch yesterday so I thought I'd give it another try, just to see. It's improved things quite a bit! The only issues I was having were the CTDs, and last night I played for a solid hour or two and didn't get kicked out once! Hooray!
The only remaining niggle I have is that the mouse lag can be horrendous on the strategic map. However, for some reason it just magically cleared itself up halfway through my session. It really does perform splendidly now, which is curious since my CPU doesn't even meet minimum requirements and I'm not even playing on minimum settings either. It's a beautiful game too.
Is anyone else here still playing?
No, but it's still on my "to get" list.
Well Martok, I'd say it's finally ready for prime time. I strongly recommend picking it up next time it's on sale. :)
THX for the head-up :)
i was waiting for this 1.4 patch to fire CCGM up again.... (after reading some complains about the 1.3, so i waited and well, was to busy to seriously dig into that game with the 1.3 version anyway)
Yeah, my only problem with 1.3 was at least once an hour it was crashing with an access violation error. I've had two sessions on 1.4 of way more than an hour each and no crashes at all. It's a shame it's taken them so long and I guess they've paid the price (low sales, unlikely ever to pick up), but I'm finally happy with it.
Let me know how you get on with it, Mike.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on February 16, 2013, 04:07:29 AM
Well Martok, I'd say it's finally ready for prime time. I strongly recommend picking it up next time it's on sale. :)
Thanks
Huw. I'll keep an eye out!