Platoon Commander - Slitherine

[ArizonaTank]

Slitherine dropped the Platoon Commander demo a few days ago.

I played around with it, and it feels like Close Combat with updated and very nice 3D graphics (not gorgeous...but very nice).

Game is RTS, with option to play at 1/2 speed. That worked pretty well for me...since I am old and slow.

One issue I will have potentially is replay value. It looks like the campaign will be on rails. The player can "buy" his forces, but the map and scenarios look like they will be fixed. Not a game buster by any means, but that fact may mean the game does "rise above the pack." I just find that games like the "Field of Glory" series and "Second Front" keep me coming back with user created scenarios, and nice random setups.

[Destraex]

I will be trying this. If it has slidey tanks though I am out.w

[Jarhead0331]

I will be trying this. If it has slidey tanks though I am out.w

They are slidey...but very early access.

[Redwolf]

What are "slidey" tanks?

[Destraex]

What are "slidey" tanks?

Like the close combat 3D and armored corp 2 tanks. The wheels and tracks don't move. So the tanks look like they are being dragged around by an invisible force. Two modern games and now three with platoon commanders arriving on the scene that just seem inconsistent.

I just loaded the demo for this game up, saw that the tanks were slidey and uninstalled. My opinion is that in this day and age slidey tanks are just not excusible. Combat Mission cmx2 and a plethora of other games have had tanks animated properly for over 15yrs. The infantry are animated properly in platoon commander, but not the tanks. It's strange and unusual. For a game where you are meant to watch the action it really irks me to watch tanks slide around.

There are some here that will say it's about the mechanics not the graphical elements, that you don't zoom in and look at the tanks moving anyway. I'd say to them that you have to be consistent. It's either a hex counter game or it's not. If you're going to do 3d then either everything moves properly or nothing does.

[Redwolf]

Even CMx1 had animated tracks and tires, although not animated wheels.

This new game doing the slider is surprising. If you don't want visible suspension compression rotating wheels are about the easiest things to animate. Much easier than infantry.

[Destraex]

Even CMx1 had animated tracks and tires, although not animated wheels.

This new game doing the slider is surprising. If you don't want visible suspension compression rotating wheels are about the easiest things to animate. Much easier than infantry.

It's like in some game engines that vehicles are treated like inanimate objects similar to buildings or trees rather than being programmed as separate entities.

[ArizonaTank]

Even CMx1 had animated tracks and tires, although not animated wheels.

This new game doing the slider is surprising. If you don't want visible suspension compression rotating wheels are about the easiest things to animate. Much easier than infantry.

It's like in some game engines that vehicles are treated like inanimate objects similar to buildings or trees rather than being programmed as separate entities.

Not a game killer for me, but definitely takes my appreciation of the game down a notch or two. 

But sometimes I enjoy a game so much I don't even notice. Armored Brigade II being a recent example.

Honestly I did not notice when playing the Platoon Commander demo.

[JasonPratt]

Another game with set map campaigns (mostly/usually) and buy-force / core-force campaign mechanics, is Panzer General of course, most of whose iterations and successors don't have animated travel (even when the original PG did have animated battles sort of.) But the Strategic Mind series does, in glorious Unreal 4 or whatever!  (An even earlier successor to the PG series, more specifically to Fantasy General, was the "Fantasy Wars / Elven Legacy" series, where the wheels of the artillery in traveling across the 3D map went round and round, which considering they were like octagons or something was kind of amusing to watch!)

Again, not a deal-breaker for me, but does feel odd with established bar-lines back through games that are now antique.

Now the OCD (OD-C!) part of my brain wants to check out Close Combat again to see if the tracks, where visible, are animated during travel. My imagination says yes, but I don't fully trust it. (Obviously the wheels of treads, or the tires of most vehicles, won't be visible in a top-down game.)

And now that part of my brain wants to check out Tiller's Campaign Series (not the newest ones by Crossroads etc!) because I feel like the little sprites in the 3D view had a little animation for the tires/wheels/treads...

[PAK]

Spinning/non-spinning wheels and tracks aside but how realistic this one is? Tanks have any damage model, like in Steel Panthers or Combat Mission or RTS-standard life bars?

[ArizonaTank]

Spinning/non-spinning wheels and tracks aside but how realistic this one is? Tanks have any damage model, like in Steel Panthers or Combat Mission or RTS-standard life bars?

I think it will be more like Steel Panthers or Combat Mission. This is what the store page says:

Realistic Visibility Mechanics: advanced visibility calculation system for different types of troops, tied to landscape types.

Fully Interactive Environments: It is possible to destroy buildings, decimate forests with artillery fire, or crush obstacles like fences using tanks to reshape the battlefield.

Psychological Simulation of Troops: Morale and psychological states influence unit performance under fire, adding depth to troop management.

Artillery and Smoke Screens: Possibility of requesting artillery support and setting up smoke screens

Sophisticated Ballistic Model: Accurate physics-based mechanics, including ricochets and realistic armor penetration, ensuring tank warfare feels authentic.