Soldiers of Empires II"

[renobe]

Can someone give me information about this game . For example. Is the game stable, does it require a internet connection, comparing it to HOI II.

[Jarhead0331]

Interesting...never even heard of this one.  Doesn't really look like it would compare well to HOI II.  Maybe Strategic Command though?

http://www.soe2.com/soe2project.htm

[Nefaro]

That's the one with Turn processing times that put the ones in PON to shame, isn't it?

[Wolfe1759]

Firstly hello to all as this is my first post on the Grogheads forum.

SoE II came up on the Wargamer forum back in April and I briefly tried out the demo, these were my thoughts then:



Doing some basic calculations on this

1 turn = 1 day (game time)

1 turn = 1 hr (player turn) + 2-3 hrs (computer turn) = 3.5 hrs (average)

WW2 1939-1945 = 6yrs (give or take as the game isn't going to follow history exactly)

Time to play the game

3.5 hrs  x 365 days x 6 years = 7665 hours play time

Therefore if this game was my job working 9-5 allowing myself weekends and holidays I'll be finished in somewhere around 4yrs of play.

Possibly a new definition of RTS.



Curiosity got the better of me and I downloaded the demo.

Started up the Grand Campaign playing as USSR with all other nations set to AI control.

Hit start game.

First 10 mins were mainly the USA and a couple of the minors.

The USA seemed to be attacking - well I saw some explosion graphics so I assume that was what was happening.

Field of view was limited to 4-5 tiles out from the unit acting (as a reference Malta takes up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the screen at this scale) and the action flashes from unit to unit in about 1-2 seconds so very hard to have any idea what is going on or unless you spot a town name you recognise, where it is happening.

Didn't do anything on the USSR turn which came round after the initial 10 mins. No mouseovers for any of the onscreen buttons though to be fair I was just firing it up to see what happened so haven't read any of the documentation.

5 mins of some more of the minors.

Now Great Britain's (AI) turn which lasted for about 15 mins.

Again lot of actions flashing by.

It seemed (explosion graphics again) that GB was attacking Italian and Turkish units ????

GB's turn finishes.

Gave up after a sum total of c30 mins watching things flash on and off the screen.

Initial impressions:

Turn time for the Grand Campaign does seem likley to be as previously stated and therefore for me unplayable.

The graphics and sound (something I'm usually not to worried about) are awful, 8-bit style cartoony sprites and terrain and irritating generic tinny sounding music loop. All running at a very low resolution with what seemed to be a fixed (i.e. no scrolling out or in) point of view.

Gameplay - can't comment.

AI - can't really comment but some of the attacks I was seeing (USA vs somebody and GB vs Italy and Turkey) in Sept 39 were bizarre to say the least. - NOTE I may be mistaken on this but it seemed to be what I was seeing.

The above is most definitly very very limited first impressions rather than any attempt of a review. You can check out the demo to see for yourself but for me I've allready uninstalled it.

[W8taminute]

I'm pretty much in agreement with you Wolfe.  I also DL'd the demo back when it was first made available.  Your assessment is spot on IMO.  The only point I disagree with you on is the 8-bit graphics and sound.  As an SOE 1 veteran I thought that was part of the charm of this game series.

Although SOE 1 was limited to the Eastern Front the amount of detail was impressive.  I bought the full version at the time for something like $15.00 and thought it was well worth it. 

Sadly, SOE 2 is hamstrung by high mean time between turns.  It's attention to detail however is just as impressive if not more so compared to SOE 1.  The pricepoint of $29.99 was also a turnoff for me.  I understand the blood sweat and tears that must have went into this project but as a consumer when I see what my 30 bucks can get me at GameStop, Best Buy, Steam, and Gamersgate and compare to this it's a no brainer for me.

[Igor Kulakov]

Good afternoon, gentlemen!

One user of my game send me a link to this discussion. Thank you for your interest to my indie project.


I see all wishes of users. in the discussion (tread at forum on wargamer.com) was made two major wishes
1 - reducing the time for AI turn in a large super-scenario (WWII 1941-1945) with> = 12,000 units
2 - Support display resolution > then 1024*768


in the development version soe2 v1.2 these wishes realized.

time turn AI in a large super-scenario (WWII 1941-1945) now is ~35-40 minutes instead of 1.5-2 hours

Version 1.2 will be available in the installation setap and uploaded at igorlab.com and soe2.com about a week or two,
but already now 1.2 beta is available here:
http://www.igorlab.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30&start=10#p2725  -a multi-volume 7z archive.

You can get a lot of information about the game here
http://www.igorlab.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=9 (Russian language, use google translator)

may be of interest AAR some users:
http://www.igorlab.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=329
http://www.igorlab.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=480
http://www.igorlab.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=502

I can answer your questions on my forum or here

Greetings from the western borders of the Ural mountains :-)

[Grim.Reaper]

Just can't see myself playing a game where turns take 35-40 minutes, no matter how good it is.  Not enought time in my schedule, nor the patience, but maybe this is just me.

[Igor Kulakov]

believe to be specified:
AI's turn 35 minutes - it is only in a single giant scenario (with> 12 000 units and a huge map of the whole earth with more than 3 million cells of map )
In all other scenarios ( Midway-42(small) ... Kursk-43(medium, ~ 1600 units) ), the time of AI turn: a few seconds .. 1 minute.

[Nefaro]

Sounds like the scenarios are the place to be.  Even those look pretty huge, but one minute is doable.

Welcome to the forum Igor!  :D

[Igor Kulakov]

Happy New Year!

"Soldiers of Empires II" Version 1.2 ( December 31, 2012 )

* Rewritten and accelerated (decrement time - 40-45%) algorithm AI turn.
    Changed time for option "AI turn delay" selected unit for AI turn. New values AI turn delay:
    a) Without visualization AI turn - default, fastest way
    b) With visualization AI turn (0.5 sec delay for selected unit) - need more time for AI turn
* Added new option "Turn = 1 day (default) / Turn = 2 days " (see Main Menu->Options)
    If selected "Turn = 2 days" actions is old (2 per turn -for army, 3 per turn -for air/navy)
    But game is 2 times faster. Level of military economy as is actually doubled.
* Added support some display resolutions. List supported resolutions:
    - 1024*768
    - 1152*864
    - 1280*768
    - 1280*800
    - 1280*960
    - 1280*1024
    - 1920*1080
* Added 4 buttons: "Next unit"(full list, army, air, navy) in main game mode
* Fixed error: incorrect checking in supply for "MR launcher" line in screen "Unit supply"
* Fixed error: "Range check error" in procedure "Game Editor:map converter"
* updated superscenario "World War II 1941-1945"
    - many units info corrected
    - fixed a lot of data about the countries
    - some terrain corrections
* updated scenario "France 1940"
    - fixed issue in data for British 51st infantry division and next error: impossibility
      to continue the game
* some corrections in procedure "AI: orders - production of military equipment"
* some improvements in game interface
* horses(stock) increase now:
    (number horses-birth ~ size of horses (stock) and ~ economic potential)
* some improvements in AI for choice of target of movement
* some improvements in AI for choice of target of attacking
* some corrections in AI for artillery fire
* many corrections, improvements and additions to the game sources
* some corrections to the game database - aircrafts, weapons
* added some sound effects (battles, movements, etc...)
* many images for weapons list added


http://www.soe2.com/