Master of Command Seven Years War

[al_infierno]

Pronunciation in the US is weird as hell.  We have a town called "East Palestine" that's pronounced "Pal-Uh-Steen" as opposed to being pronounced like the country/territory.  Same with the Boston Celtics being pronounced "Sell-Tics." We treat the English language more as a set of suggestions than guidelines.

On topic: The game looks freaking amazing. I wonder when it's actually gonna come out.

[Destraex]

Good news.
"The release date we are aiming for is September 17th, 2025."
Bit concerned about post launch support because I am so used to early access games taking years after release to the public to be finally and properly complete. 3 months of post launch support seems almost like abandonment to one who is used to years of support. Especially after the last game this gent launched was eventually given up on. I understand what they are trying to do with this one though. Launch the thing complete and let the people decide before buying whether they want the game "as is". No strings attached.
This makes me want to go play ultimate general american revolution again. That game is so underrated and was released in a far more advanced state than most games ever get to. Yet technically it was dropped because the teams were seemingly disolved when the parent company restructured the developers company.

"Hi everyone! I am currently away on a short trip so I won't be too responsive until Tuesday. That said, I promised a release date announced on the first of August. I can't update our Steam page with the release date until I return.

The release date we are aiming for is September 17th, 2025.

The game will not be early access, we are considering it a full release. We are committing to at least 3 months of support post-release, perhaps more if the game does well! During these 3 months we will bugfix, do quality of life updates, and consider adding at least one more new nation if we have the time.

We still have a lot of work, but all the foundations are there. We just need to focus on polishing, testing, and getting regions 2 and 3 balanced. You'll notice fewer game update posts because we will be spending all of our attention on polishing and not adding new content.

Regarding streams: I'm glad you guys really enjoyed the Prussia stream. I do plan on doing more before release. It would be cool to stream at least 1 time per nation, but we'll see. The focus needs to be on development first and foremost.

Regarding play testing, I haven't been very good at communicating on this. When I return from my trip I'll be onboarding a Wave 2 group of play testers. Then at the end of August we will bring on Wave 3 (the final group of play testers). We got 1,000 signups for play testing so we unfortunately aren't accepting any new applications. You'll be notified on Discord if you were selected.

Regarding the price point, we are currently looking to price the game between $25-30 USD with a launch day sale which will shave a few dollars off of whatever price we pick. So if it ends up being $25 it'll cost $20-23 and if it is $30 the sale will bring it to $25-28. Exact price will be confirmed on September 1st.

We will give the game to YouTubers in early September so they should hopefully get at least a week or two to stream and check the game out before it goes live.

Thank you all for your support. Please also understand we are aiming for a smooth release and so will not be accepting any new ideas to add to the game. So if you want to leave feedback, please make sure it pertains to altering or fixing current systems rather than adding new ones. The game is currently 100% content-complete.

If you haven't already, make sure to wishlist Master of Command and hit the "follow" button. That's the best way to get more notifications about the game.

*I should also add a disclaimer. Please don't get too excited or take off work for September 17th. If we have Wave 3 platesters come on board and they don't think the game is ready, then we will not release the game on that date. The game will only be released when the development team AND our play testers agree that it's ready for launch. "

[Jarhead0331]

If you ask me, saying that you're just committing to maybe three months of support post release is a piss poor attitude. You stand by your game until it's bloody well perfect. Maybe you'll support it for longer , "if it does well..."? That is crazy and I can't believe the developer actually openly says this.

He abandoned his first game and he is clearly going to abandon this one. No buy from me, unless it's release heralds the second coming of Christ or some other magical $hit.

This really put me off. 

[Destraex]

You would certainly think that it would not be abandoned completely after 3 months. I think a lot of people will wait for confirmation from streamers that the game is complete, working and bug free.
What I don't understand is that the recent streams clearly showed major bugs and these are the sorts of things that sometimes take years to iron out. Why let people see that their are problems still and annouunce such a short release window with so little support. You would have to be very very confident that you could nail it for such a statement.

I am still though champing at the bit for it I must admit. Caustiously optomistic. But may just play UG:AR to sate my enthusiasm for for an 18c game for now.

ERA one will come before then. Another much anticipated game for me that has been delayed multiple times.

[Destraex]

Final dev blog. The game releases late october. It certainly looks like fun. The bowling green like battlefields cannot be helped but they do look much better than the early builds did.

[devoncop]

Demo of this is out on Steam guys....

First Act of a Prussian Campaign available and full release on 27th.

This is looking a great (though not easy !) game and is a definite buy for me.

Tip : Don't expect an AI as brain-dead as Total War Empire 

[Destraex]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WWOOOOTTT

[Pete Dero]

[Destraex]

Played the demo and really enjoying it so far. Really loving the unit customisation. It really works to allow you to remember who your units are and what they have done, even what they are good at.
This feels like total war should. I can always see and identify my men without turning the game into iconography student central.

The game seems solid. I will get it if it is cheap enough on release. Even though it is good. I think it will be like playing ultimate general civil war, I would probably finish the campaign and never go back to it because of lack of multiplayer or coop. Which is fine. It just means the game has a life span that is much shorter than I normally go for.
The game is very impressive for an indie dev. Very impressive indeed.

I love that you can lock formations, put bayonets away during battle, use volley fire. I even had one unit which I equipped with stakes actually deploy them visibly on the field. Even though they are only a stats buff.

I am not sure if musicians you equip can be heard or seem in battle. Also not sure yet if cavalry ever dismount or use carbines.
The unit soldier models remind me of that playmobile figure look. Their heads are too big but they are not quite lego in stature. They look good from a distance. I don't mind them really.

Units seem to fire through each other and the terrain. I assume terrain is just a simple buff as well. A terrain tile with stats values that then apply to the units on them.

Some of the text is a little strange but nothing too far off the beaten track. For example "you may face casualties". If I face men that are already injured then it should be easier right? ;)

[devoncop]

Glad to hear you are enjoying it too the options menu high enough

Bear in mind that all the Campaigns are procedurally generated and events will be different each playthrough so you should get a lot of replay value.

The musicians can be heard if you zoom down to unit level and have the music volume in the options menu high enough.

If your unit is in any sort of cover or relevant terrain like hills a small icon above the unit shows when you mouse over it showing cover levels and height benefits etc.

Units will fire through others but you will take some friendly casualties as a result.

I am finding there is a real ebb and flow with the campaign so even if you are beaten you can bounce back as armies break long before they are totally written off.

[Destraex]

I don't think you should be able to fire through another unit at all. But it's not a deal breaker if the shots cause casulaties as you say AND are ineffective against the enemy. Which would be another point. I have to test if units will fire when directly behind each other. If it's just a small overlap that's fine.

As for replayability. Yes their will be. But because essentially the map consists of a self contained head representing all the complexities of army movement on the campaign map, the campaign map is just a means to an end rather than a simulation in that respect. I am not complaining, perhaps it is better that master of command is not as complex as ultimate general american revolutions campaign map. Without this I kinda need multiplayer for replayability despite the randomness.

[Destraex]

Still having a blast. Just lost the campaign. But I think I can be forgiven because the enemy was double my side and even in the last battle I had units I had never used before.The last battle was my first loss.

A question came out of it for me about period history though. The enemy charge one of my infantry units with one of it's own and had taken some casualties already, I counter charged with cavalry and lost heavily. It was probably about 1300 men vs my 400 cavalry. My cavalry just melted immediately on contact with the enemy. Sure they were just normal cavalry. But historically, I would expect that charging infantry would be in rather loose order and melt upon seeing cavalry charging in opposition to them??

[PAK]

Played the demo and so far I have mixed feelings. Technically the game looks very polished, with appealing "cartoonish" style. Battle system seems thought out and rather realistic, although I'm no expert on XVIII century warfare. Still, I don't buy the whole campaign system, shambling around with a random brigade, chasing convoys (?), random encounters, etc. Looks more to me as Battle Brothers married with 7 Years War, but not a proper war campaign. Will there be ability to play historical set-piece battles? Also, military marches from the period are need in my opinion, especially during battles.
BTW, looking at screenshots, both Colberg and Swienemunde were and are ports on the Baltic. They look more as inland cities in-game. ;-)

[devoncop]

As far as historical battles are concerned Soor,Hohenfriedburg and Chosutitz are going to be included on release apparently with more (and more nations) possibly on the way if the game does well.

(Dev stated the above on the Steam forums)

The geography is not intended to be accurate as it is procedurally generated each playthrough but for flavour historical town names are used in the relevant region for the scenario.

[PAK]

Forgot about one thing - is display scrolling during battle fully implemented in battle? I couldn't rotate camera and was only able to move it using keys, not mouse.