More DLC for Graviteam Tactics...

[Nefaro]

This is the one game that has me greet news of a patch with trepidation, rather than excitement.

Ha!  Same here.

I've not even fired it up since sometime before the last update or two.  You gotta mess with a new update mess approximately every month.

Part of the problem is that I have to download what seems to be about a dozen different friggin files for every update, and jump through a series of hoops to get each one installed in some vague order.  :-\

What's the problem?

1) download patch
2) run installer from game menu
3) point installer to patch download location
4) move patch up or down priority list as per patch notes
5) click install
6) done

Yeah.. you're doing that once for the base game and one more time for each DLC.  Then there's the separate updater to run.  A couple 'extras' packs.  Etc.

It's not just one all-encompassing patch package but you have to do this for every piece of it.  That's what drives me nuts.

[Dolan50]

It's imperitive that you become familiar with the patching process for this game if you want to add new content to your game-That is unless you are happy with what you already have.

This game is a constant work in progress,which means if you want to add new content to your game then you have to keep your game patches current.

There is no all encompassing patch.The game isn't a finished product and still expanding with new content,themes and ideas.

I guess they could just sell the new DLCs as seperate games already patched and updated,but then you could never use the new stuff in conjunction with the old stuff.I'm not a fan of that idea.

It's not a very difficult process once you understand it.
I still do it the old way by opening the Core folder and locating the desc. for each new patch and DLC.It really does get easier once You've done it a few times.

[Dolan50]

More Shilovo 1942 screenshots posted on the Graviteam forum today.
http://graviteam.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=goq13apn3f0uajg57ntqbf2g60&topic=11273.30

[Dolan50]

[Dolan50]

[Jarhead0331]

It's imperitive that you become familiar with the patching process for this game if you want to add new content to your game-That is unless you are happy with what you already have.

This game is a constant work in progress,which means if you want to add new content to your game then you have to keep your game patches current.

There is no all encompassing patch.The game isn't a finished product and still expanding with new content,themes and ideas.

I guess they could just sell the new DLCs as seperate games already patched and updated,but then you could never use the new stuff in conjunction with the old stuff.I'm not a fan of that idea.

It's not a very difficult process once you understand it.
I still do it the old way by opening the Core folder and locating the desc. for each new patch and DLC.It really does get easier once You've done it a few times.

You're in the minority.

[Dolan50]

You're in the minority.

Well,that's nothing new for me ;)

[WallysWorld]

I agree with Dolan. Once you get used to it, the patching process isn't too bad.

I just want Graviteam's Andrey to be more specific on what patch is what and specifically post when we can download new patches.

[Jarhead0331]

I agree with Dolan. Once you get used to it, the patching process isn't too bad.

I just want Graviteam's Andrey to be more specific on what patch is what and specifically post when we can download new patches.

The point is a lot of people have trouble with it.  That much is undeniable.  There is definitely a better way to patch a game. That being said, the game is totally worth it.

[Dolan50]

I'm not defending the way the patching process is
I struggled with it also!

All I'm saying is you have to learn it or you learn to do without.
Graviteam prefers this system for some unknown reason.

[sandman2575]

From a wider vantage point -- there is nothing straightforward about the GTOS patching / installation process.  Nothing.  Andrey seems to make it a point of perverse pride that installing and updating GTOS should be some arcane art that only the initiated can follow.

1. The naming conventions are absurd.  "Just patch the game".  In the GTOS universe, this can mean anything from:  update the game 'modules' (also known as "DLC" e.g. "Sokolovo" or "Shield of the Prophet"). Or update the "game engine".  Or apply a "district update."   Or a "textures patch."  But note that the "Game Engine" is a different updating process from a "patch."  Also, sometimes patches are referred to by the 'month' they were created -- "Install the May patch" -- and sometimes by version number.  Got that?

2. The 'ordering' conventions have never been made clear.  "Should the district patch go above or below the game modules in the installer"?  "Does it matter"?  I have seen any number of different answers to those questions and I still don't know what's actually correct. 

3. Have fun finding out if you have the latest version installed, or if you need to update.  If you purchased from GamersGate, go now and look.  Clear as can be, yes?  (I dont know if GG maintains that or if it's up to Graviteam to post and clearly label the updates.  either way it's a mess.)

I can't think of another game that causes as much confusion as the GTOS games when it comes to installing and patching.  The Acthung Panzer games are among my favorite games of all time.  I'm grateful to Graviteam for producing them.  But let's not kid ourselves.  Their 'support' of their customers ranges from insulting to non-existent.  And every time I hear an annoucement about a patch, I think "Oh, great..." and not in a good way.

[Dolan50]

I look forward to the new patches,updates and DLCs,but I'm also aware that they may be problematic to install.

Some times I have no problems updating,other times I may have issues.
Eventually I work them out.

I guess I'm just used to it!
This is the way its always been,this will probably be the way it always will be.

As you mentioned Sandman,complaining to Andrey only falls on deaf ears.
I too am not happy with the whole convoluted system,but I've come to the realization that I do it their way or I stop playing their games.

Since I love the game and the concept,I had to make it a point to learn the system.
Love it or hate,it doesn't matter.This is what we're stuck with.
Hopefully,some day someone(Graviteam) will come up with a better and easier solution.Though it doesn't look that way.
It's basically a learn it or leave it deal.

[sandman2575]

No question it's Graviteam's way or the highway.  Like it or lump it.  etc.

And as others have pointed out -- it is actually worth all the trouble.  The game is amazing.

And in fact, if there's *one* thing I could change about GTOS, it wouldn't be the patching process. It would be the SAVE GAME mechanic.  It drives me crazy that you can only save and quit.  It wouldn't necessarily be so bad, except that the game is prone to crash when you save.  It's ridiculous.  I'd say I have about only a 2/3 chance of saving a game successfully.  It's usually very stable, but Save-Quitting is for me almost a surefire way to get a crash.  I've completely lost battles I was playing for over an hour because I tried to save and the game then crashed.  Absolutely infuriating.

And go ahead and ask Andrey *why* there isn't a Save and play option (you know, like 99% of all games have).  And be prepared for more disdain.

[Dolan50]

Except for the Krasnaya Polyana campaign,I've never had a problem with the save game feature.
Then again I mostly play Quick Battles since I never liked the way some of the campaigns play out,so that issue doesn't come up much for me.

Now that I know how to patch and update the game,my personal issues are more with the crappy unlearnable campaign editor and how utterly defenseless German infantry are against T-34s and KVs and how every Russian soldier seems to have a buttload of KS bottles and uses them to fry half my German Infantry.
Along with the fact that my Germans like to throw their AT grenade bundles at lone Russian infantrymen instead of saving them for the tanks or at least use the grenade bundles last if no tanks are presently around.

I have a few other pet peeves also,but lately those ones have been irking me.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

If you're getting overrun by tanks, try ordering your infantry to take a defence posture rather than assault.  Then they'll take cover and try to use AT grenades and molotovs.  9 times out of 10 they'll all still get slaughtered, but they occasionally get a kill.