Battlefield_Commander_WWII - Realistic RTS game that looks like combat mission

[Destraex]

Anybody know who this developer is? Sword and Steel. Looks like yet another ww2 RTS\real time game. There is a free demo at the moment to try because of steam next fest.
I have never heard of them, but with the huge amount of games coming out recently it makes you wonder whether a lot of these are just made by AI.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2361000/Battlefield_Commander_WWII/

[Redwolf]

"Units from the early war ('39-'41) and mid-war ('42-'43) will also be introduced."

That makes it quite different from CM :)

[Jarhead0331]

My "this is crap" sensors are blaring. I'm very skeptical. But hey, someone try the demo and let us know!

[Redwolf]

My "this is crap" sensors are blaring. I'm very skeptical. But hey, someone try the demo and let us know!

No way.

I'm scared off by having purchase points for reinforcements that you can spend however you like.

[WallysWorld]

Info: Reddit thread about the game

[DesertFox]

This game actually released to Early Access today and I decided to support it.  I read a couple of threads in the Steam forums and the dev seems like they are relatively attentive to issues and let's be honest, we could use another real-time WWII game!   

ETA: I will report back in once I have a little time to mess around with it.

[rss334]

This game actually released to Early Access today and I decided to support it.  I read a couple of threads in the Steam forums and the dev seems like they are relatively attentive to issues and let's be honest, we could use another real-time WWII game!   

ETA: I will report back in once I have a little time to mess around with it.

Waiting to hear, is it worth it?  Real strategy game or dumbed down knockoff?

[DesertFox]

Waiting to hear, is it worth it?  Real strategy game or dumbed down knockoff?

I've only had about 45 minutes to mess around with it, but here's what I think so far...

First off, the game is very obviously still in very early access (makes sense considering it was released today).  I normally don't jump in at this level but the game's currently on sale for $14.99 (down from $19.99 normally) and after reading through the Reddit thread above and some Steam forum posts, the dev seems dedicated to seeing this through.  But there are a lot of missing QoL features we've come to expect from games like this - no creating groupings, no altering facing by dragging the mouse at the unit's destination, etc...  The game could use a lot of performance tuning.  My rig isn't great but it's decent and anything other than Low graphical settings (and the settings are limited to Low/Med/High) felt like I was running in slow motion. 

Also, as someone mentioned - at least in Skirmish mode you seem to have access to the entire army on your chosen side and you get fed "deployment points" you can spend on whatever you want.  So I suppose you could limit yourself to relatively realistic formations but you could also spam Tiger IIs if you have the points.

All this being said - I really appreciate what this game is trying to do and if they see this through, there is a lot of potential lurking here.  Currently there are options for Skirmish, Dynamic Campaign (I will dig more into this in the next couple of days), and a Tutorial which is really just a bunch of text/next buttons and doesn't really guide you as far as gameplay.

The closest way I can describe the feel of the game and what it's trying to achieve is probably the 3-d Close Combat game with the Normandy mod.  I had a few moments where it almost felt like I was playing a CM2 game, but the lack of formations and more control over your soldiers is kind of a turnoff right now.

Still, for $14.99 I will be happy to support the development of stuff like this when I can.  The more options we have and the more ideas we get from different sources, the better our hobby will get!

ETA:  A better way to describe this I think would be a mashup between Close Combat: The Bloody First, Codename: Panzers (which was fun and underrated IMO) and Steel Division (for the "battlegroup" aspect)... with a dash of Combat Mission thrown in.

.

[rss334]

Waiting to hear, is it worth it?  Real strategy game or dumbed down knockoff?

I've only had about 45 minutes to mess around with it, but here's what I think so far...

First off, the game is very obviously still in very early access (makes sense considering it was released today).  I normally don't jump in at this level but the game's currently on sale for $14.99 (down from $19.99 normally) and after reading through the Reddit thread above and some Steam forum posts, the dev seems dedicated to seeing this through.  But there are a lot of missing QoL features we've come to expect from games like this - no creating groupings, no altering facing by dragging the mouse at the unit's destination, etc...  The game could use a lot of performance tuning.  My rig isn't great but it's decent and anything other than Low graphical settings (and the settings are limited to Low/Med/High) felt like I was running in slow motion. 

Also, as someone mentioned - at least in Skirmish mode you seem to have access to the entire army on your chosen side and you get fed "deployment points" you can spend on whatever you want.  So I suppose you could limit yourself to relatively realistic formations but you could also spam Tiger IIs if you have the points.

All this being said - I really appreciate what this game is trying to do and if they see this through, there is a lot of potential lurking here.  Currently there are options for Skirmish, Dynamic Campaign (I will dig more into this in the next couple of days), and a Tutorial which is really just a bunch of text/next buttons and doesn't really guide you as far as gameplay.

The closest way I can describe the feel of the game and what it's trying to achieve is probably the 3-d Close Combat game with the Normandy mod.  I had a few moments where it almost felt like I was playing a CM2 game, but the lack of formations and more control over your soldiers is kind of a turnoff right now.

Still, for $14.99 I will be happy to support the development of stuff like this when I can.  The more options we have and the more ideas we get from different sources, the better our hobby will get!

ETA:  A better way to describe this I think would be a mashup between Close Combat: The Bloody First, Codename: Panzers (which was fun and underrated IMO) and Steel Division (for the "battlegroup" aspect)... with a dash of Combat Mission thrown in.

.

Thank you for this quick impressions, the developer priced it reasonably and could understand supporting or not, either way I think most will keep it on the radar and watch how it develops.  The dynamic campaign stuff is great and once the core of the game is done opens up larger possibilities if the game sells well.

[DesertFox]

If this helps at all...  when I got off of work this afternoon I thought about firing up a game of this again - then I fired up Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront (longest game name ever... even as an acronym it's CtA-GoH:O :) ).  Every time I fire CtA up it reminds me of why I consider it the greatest game ever made like this.

[SpaceGameJunkie]

I read that the game has no pause function. Have y'all found this to be accurate?

[DesertFox]

I read that the game has no pause function. Have y'all found this to be accurate?

I just checked and that looks to be correct.  There are only a few hotkeys in the game that you can see from the Settings, and there is no pause listed there.  I tried the usual hotkeys you see for Pause (space, P, Pause, etc) and none of them did anything.  Hitting escape looks like it may pause the game but there's a big menu covering the screen so you wouldn't be able to issue orders.

One more thing I noticed when I fired up a game - the theme song that plays when a Skirmish is loading sounds lifted almost directly from Battlefield 1942.  I don't know if that song is public domain or maybe they licensed it but I could see a potential lawsuit if not.

[Jarhead0331]

I read that the game has no pause function. Have y'all found this to be accurate?

I just checked and that looks to be correct.  There are only a few hotkeys in the game that you can see from the Settings, and there is no pause listed there.  I tried the usual hotkeys you see for Pause (space, P, Pause, etc) and none of them did anything.  Hitting escape looks like it may pause the game but there's a big menu covering the screen so you wouldn't be able to issue orders.

One more thing I noticed when I fired up a game - the theme song that plays when a Skirmish is loading sounds lifted almost directly from Battlefield 1942.  I don't know if that song is public domain or maybe they licensed it but I could see a potential lawsuit if not.

I recognize a lot of sounds that play when you order troops around. I believe they're from Close Combat.

[al_infierno]

Those Close Combat sound effects are pretty much all old public domain or licensed effects.  Similar to the explosions and divebomb sounds you hear in the Panzer Corps games, which also appear in the 1973 docuseries "The World at War"