A new demo for it is also out. Sale price is $18. For more details see the Matrix press release: http://www.matrixgames.com/news/931/Panzer.Command:.Ostfront.Unleashes.a.Sale,.a.New.Update.and.a.New.Demo!

.. and it's not based on Normandy!

A new UPDATE? How much are they charging for it?

Originally Posted By Wolverine101 (14 JUL 2012 3:32am)

A new UPDATE? How much are they charging for it?

Nothing by the looks of it. Nice to see it being updated though - good game - still not close to the original combat mission game released ten years ago though ...

Originally Posted By DBeves (14 JUL 2012 5:40am)

Originally Posted By Wolverine101 (14 JUL 2012 3:32am)

A new UPDATE? How much are they charging for it?

 

Nothing by the looks of it. Nice to see it being updated though - good game - still not close to the original combat mission game released ten years ago though ...

The AI is much better than CMBO though and that's a plus nowadays in any game.

Its got a few things that CM1 didn't have like SOP orders and formations.  That itself makes it attractive to me.  Couple things missing that would make it much better are some form of covered arcs and a real hunt command.

But the biggest improvement over any version of CM (1 or 2) is that it is completely open.  I can and have created new units and built a map off of google maps (not aery good one...it's still very hard.)

I still play CMBB and CMAK a lot more that PC though.  But I do play PC more than CM2.

I downloaded the demo and I'm playing it right now. Pretty good, but I'm trying to get used to issuing orders and camera control because I'm so used to the CM games. Don't know if the demo will convince me to buy the game though.

Originally Posted By thewood (15 JUL 2012 1:09pm)

Its got a few things that CM1 didn't have like SOP orders and formations.  That itself makes it attractive to me.  Couple things missing that would make it much better are some form of covered arcs and a real hunt command.

 

 

Random missions & campaigns.  That's a huge strength.

While CM was always short fun, the wins always felt hollow on the one-off missions (and even the multiple-scenario ops) so I wouldn't play long at a stretch.  I was looking forward to the old campaign add-on, before it got axed.  That probably would've made it feel more whole to me.

I really like this game, have had for awhile now.  I hope the sale goes well so that Matrix might do more of this in the future.

After playing through the demo, I just purchased the game. The game has a nice touch to it and the graphics are quite good: almost like playing with little model tanks.

It is a gem of a game.  So much flexibility in terms of editors, tons of scenarios, *tons* of individually modelled units... although the editors could afford to be a little more user-friendly.

my one real complaint is performance lag with Ostfront that I never had with Kharkov.  It's kind of bizarre... my computer can handle Shogun TW etc. without the framerate choke I get when battles get thick in Ostfront.  Even the notoriusly laggy Theatre of War 2 games don't lag the way Ostfront does for me.  I've tried everything; it doesn't seem to be a GPU problem, but it's weird because the game does all the intense calculations during the "Processing Turn" phase, so I cant for the life of me understand why the 'playback' should perform so lousy (i.e. perenially in the 15 FPS range... yes, i've turned off grass, shadows, etc.).

It's annoying, but the game overall is so well done that I put up with it....

Originally Posted By sandman2575 (16 JUL 2012 6:29pm)

It is a gem of a game.  So much flexibility in terms of editors, tons of scenarios, *tons* of individually modelled units... although the editors could afford to be a little more user-friendly.

 

my one real complaint is performance lag with Ostfront that I never had with Kharkov.  It's kind of bizarre... my computer can handle Shogun TW etc. without the framerate choke I get when battles get thick in Ostfront.  Even the notoriusly laggy Theatre of War 2 games don't lag the way Ostfront does for me.  I've tried everything; it doesn't seem to be a GPU problem, but it's weird because the game does all the intense calculations during the "Processing Turn" phase, so I cant for the life of me understand why the 'playback' should perform so lousy (i.e. perenially in the 15 FPS range... yes, i've turned off grass, shadows, etc.).

 

It's annoying, but the game overall is so well done that I put up with it....

I suspect it has something to do with the spotting calculations.  I always noticed a slight pause whenever choosing new units, when there are quite a few near LOS.  Nothing big, though.  I had chalked it up as the price of getting away from 'Borg' spotting at the time.

Originally Posted By sandman2575 (16 JUL 2012 6:29pm)

It is a gem of a game.  So much flexibility in terms of editors, tons of scenarios, *tons* of individually modelled units... although the editors could afford to be a little more user-friendly.

 

my one real complaint is performance lag with Ostfront that I never had with Kharkov.  It's kind of bizarre... my computer can handle Shogun TW etc. without the framerate choke I get when battles get thick in Ostfront.  Even the notoriusly laggy Theatre of War 2 games don't lag the way Ostfront does for me.  I've tried everything; it doesn't seem to be a GPU problem, but it's weird because the game does all the intense calculations during the "Processing Turn" phase, so I cant for the life of me understand why the 'playback' should perform so lousy (i.e. perenially in the 15 FPS range... yes, i've turned off grass, shadows, etc.).

 

It's annoying, but the game overall is so well done that I put up with it....

I found that turning all the grass animations off worked well to reduce the lag. It would seem they have painted every blade of grass in reality and showing that on any gpu well lag it down pretty good. I really don't need to see a blade of grass or wheat to get immersed into the action. I really don't know why they went to such extremes to animated and show so much grass and weeds.

Clearly this has been a labor of love, and I dont want to detract from that in any way.

Its a shame though that PCK/PCO never gathered the community of texture-er's the way CMx1 did.  The dedicated community has been busy adding content, but some of the textures are the same low-res amateurish textures that Kiosus shipped with the game years ago.

Originally Posted By Wolverine101 (17 JUL 2012 5:57am)

 

I found that turning all the grass animations off worked well to reduce the lag.

 

I always play without grass -- it's the one parameter that clearly affects frame rate.  But i can set all the gfx to highest or lowest and it doesn't make a difference in performance -- 16AA, 32 Anisotropic etc. performs exactly the same for me as 0AA etc.  So the choke is not essentially the GPU.  And since the CPU does all the calcluations in the "Processing Turn" phase, and what you watch as 'the game in action' is esentially the playback of what the program has already decided is the outcome for that phase, I'm at a loss to explain why the game chugs so much.  And let's face it, this is hardly a game that should stress any new-ish GPU -- the vehicle models are pleasing, but the look of the rest of the game is 'functional -- good enough.'

But Panzer Command is clearly is a labor of love as Blondknight says, and we're lucky to be the beneficiaries of the guys who have put so much effort into it.  Anyone intereseted should snap it up while on sale.

Originally Posted By Wolverine101 (17 JUL 2012 5:57am)

 

I really don't know why they went to such extremes to animated and show so much grass and weeds.

 

 

Because the plain jane ground textures looked extremely bland. 

I suppose they look better now, because they used to look like a plain sheet of green (or white) in the original.  That was one of my negatives - the ground textures.

My boys are going to give me the money to buy it this Thursday.  Always had my eye on it.  Some really good looking Eastern Front action.

For the same price ($29) has anyone played Making History II: The War of the World?  It looks like it is in the HOI flavor.

Gamersgate currently has Making History II on sale for $5. 

Great game. Having owned both Winter Storm and Kharkov Ostfront was free when it was released. this was really a great gift to owners of the francise and is to me how developers should treat their buyers. all three are intergrated giving a lot of different maps and resources. it was pretty smart the way the game has layered on top of previous releases - and as mentioned this one has much better A.I. and to me it's an easier to play approach than CM1. It's just a fun and challenging game that has been on my HD forever it seems.

Originally Posted By clifford1944 (17 JUL 2012 1:53pm)

My boys are going to give me the money to buy it this Thursday.  Always had my eye on it.  Some really good looking Eastern Front action.

 

For the same price ($29) has anyone played Making History II: The War of the World?  It looks like it is in the HOI flavor.

MHII is basically HOI II turn based. AI is pretty good on higher settings much stronger than the HOI series on very hard settings imho. I tried to play Italy on just one difficulty up above normal and got my butt spanked. The AI is this one actually DOES do amphibious invasions. I got Anzioed.

Looks like there's a lot to PC Ostfront, with the previous versions included and generated battles. The sale price is tempting. How does the game hold up over time, is it still fun to play?

Originally Posted By 2DWorldofHurt (18 JUL 2012 2:58pm)

Looks like there's a lot to PC Ostfront, with the previous versions included and generated battles. The sale price is tempting. How does the game hold up over time, is it still fun to play?

Depends on the individual really. Some might play it constantly and others a round or two and put it up for months or years. It's really like any other game out there it can grab you for a long time and then you shelve it for awhile. I put it right up there with Crusader Kings II, Medieval Total War origional and Shogun 2 Total War and Norbsofts Gettysburg: Scourge of War for longevity on my computer. It's in my top 5 easily and what I goto when I have a WWII urge in a tactical sense.

Originally Posted By 2DWorldofHurt (18 JUL 2012 2:58pm)

How does the game hold up over time, is it still fun to play?

Very fun to play.  Definitely has that "just one more turn" feel to it, I find.  In a way, the measure of how good it is, is how well it still holds up 'warts and all.'  A game whose strengths far exceed its shortcomings.

And Wolverine is right -- it's a game you still go back to even after not playing it for months.  For me, there are not many games in that category.

Whelp, I pulled the trigger.  Downloaded & installing now.  Just couldn't resist the discounted price, plus all the glowing comments about the game here.  Geeze... I'm so weak.

This certainly looks like an interesting game by all reports. I need some help to decide which edition to buy. I see from Matrix's website that the non-download version which is more expensive contains a full color printed manual. Can anyone give me any idea if the printed manual is worth the extra price and shipping costs? Also, could someone tell me how many pages it is and if it has interesting stuff like charts, data, etc.? If it is a nice thick manual, it might be worth the extra as an alternative to printing it myself. Thanks.