Screenshots for upcoming Scourge of War - Waterloo game

[Grim.Reaper]

Not sure if anyone saw these, but noticed these screenshots posted for the upcoming Scourge of War - Waterloo game.....

Link to web page if better able to view
http://www.norbsoftdev.net/articles-mainmenu-59/news-mainmenu-2/latest-news-mainmenu-57/193-new-years-update

[Jarhead0331]

Can't wait for all the fanboy flame wars!

[Rayfer]

No flame war for me....I'm looking forward to this release. SOW Gettysburg is one of my favorite wargames.

[Nefaro]

 

[panzerde]

 O0

Looking pretty great!

[jomni]

Can't zoom in the pics. Gotta go to the website.

[Slick Wilhelm]

No flame war for me....I'm looking forward to this release. SOW Gettysburg is one of my favorite wargames.

This x 1000!

[jomni]

Let me start the critique.  Game play is great and all but, after all these years, they are still using 2D sprites.  Not that it's a game breaker but it would have been nice if they enhanced the engine to use 3d people.  Even the "esoteric" Les Grognards have 3d models. http://jomnisgames.blogspot.sg/search?q=histwar

[mikeck]

Perhaps, but I have histwar:napoleon and frankly, unless you zoom in close, it doesn't look much better. I don't care for the jerky animations but I'm not sure moving to 3d models is worth it since most rarely zoom in like total war games

1st day buy

[Nefaro]

Let me start the critique.  Game play is great and all but, after all these years, they are still using 2D sprites.  Not that it's a game breaker but it would have been nice if they enhanced the engine to use 3d people.  Even the "esoteric" Les Grognards have 3d models. http://jomnisgames.blogspot.sg/search?q=histwar

SOW was a bit of a system hog in the past, during the large scenarios.  There can be many units being depicted, each one being given instructions by the AI to some extent.  I think the engine originally used the current setup in order to depict much larger battles with the same AI routines without bringing those older computers to a stop.  My previous computer still got a bit sluggish when playing the large Corp sized command scenario.  If all those were 3D units, it would've died.  From what I read, the Total War series has always limited the amount of battlefield troops and the number of men in each for the same reason.

As for their look, I agree with Mikeck.  The slight jerkiness noticeable in some of the animations isn't good but overall I think the unit art looks decent.  I'd say more so than the versions of Histwar I've attempted playing - I thought it's graphics were pretty bad. *shrug*

[jomni]

Haven't played SOW for a long time.  Is it 1:1 representation?

[Grim.Reaper]

My only disappointment about the game is the fact they have now abandoned the American Civil War...hoping at some point they return to it...would be nice if they could keep both series going.  However with that said, I am still looking forward to this title and will certainly be a day one purchase, interesting to play/learn about battles that I am not as familiar with.  Although graphics can always be improved, I would sacrifice graphics to have a ton of soldiers included, which gives it a big battlefield feel (like they do now with the sprites).  Not that I want to compare any games, but I have owned HistWar (newest version) and haven't really been impressed, just seems clunky to me and development progress is really slow.  I suspect SOW will pass it by once it is released, assuming the game mechanics represent the period of time well with tactics and such.  Its a shame since I really wanted to like HistWar and still hope it turns out well in the end.

[Grim.Reaper]

Haven't played SOW for a long time.  Is it 1:1 representation?

This was posted in their forums in the past by one of the development/testing team members...the game has a sprite ratio setting (believe it goes up to 20)....

0 = Default. 4 troops to one sprite.
1 = 1 Troop to one sprite (SR1)
2 = 2 Troops to one sprite
etc.

There is a limit to the number of troops that will represent one unit - so even with 1:1 don't expect 900 troops for one of the big regiments.

[panzerde]

My only disappointment about the game is the fact they have now abandoned the American Civil War...hoping at some point they return to it...would be nice if they could keep both series going. 

On their forums the devs have made several statements that they've not abandoned ACW and will be returning to it. They just don't have a dev team large enough to be turning out two games at once. They've also released a few free battles like Lynchburg that can be downloaded from their site.

Taking a quick look at my game, in addition to the purchased modules of Gettysburg, Antietam (which includes South Mountain), Pipe Creek, Chancellorsville and Brandy Station, I have:

• Lynchburg
• Prairie Creek
• Pea Ridge
• Secessionville
• Red River Campaign (four battles)

So, while I'd certainly love to see Shiloh, Chickamauga, and other battles, I certainly have enough stuff to keep me occupied for awhile. TBH, I've yet to touch Pipe Creek or Brandy Station, let alone most of the free stuff Norbsoft released.

Releasing Waterloo this year is mainly being driven by the 200th anniversary of the battle. Like the raft of WWI games we saw last August, NSD needs to get this out while there's a window of interest.

[panzerde]

The max limit of sprites displayed per regiment in the SOW engine is 120, regardless of ratio. The other thing to be aware of is that many (not all!) of the maps have been scaled for the regimental frontages to be correct at the default 4:1 ratio. On those maps if you try 1:1 things can get very crowded. There are a few maps that have been scaled for 1:1. The East Cavalry Battlefield at Gettysburg is one, IIRC.