Here is a review from an old player with a mindset of new ideas. (Questions in bold)

[tharos 2]

Im gonna start off by saying that im deeply impressed. This game is indeed a worthy "remake". Its very very close to the original but with better graphics.

I have been playing this game (And the betas and the original) extensively. Ive finished both the singel player game and a round of "strategic game". And here is what came to mind as i was playing.

Single player

First off i loved the start. Its cool that you drop down and steal a carrier. The first person shooter part is great for being a strategy game. I would like to be able to jump and so.. And maybe some more weapons. But overall a great experience. I did have some trouble with the mouse settings too. I do agree with the lads that say you spin too fast. It reduces the "feel" in the game making the units and persons seem "Plastic" instead of heavy and metal. Im not gonna spoil anything for anyone. But i loved the way things turned out in the end. Both ways! ;). I do miss some Carrier vs Carrier vs Island combat but more of that in the next section.

Stragegy game.

This is what i feel the game is about. Now after i finished the singleplayer i really have no reason to go back and play it again so..Its in the strategy section that im gonna spend my freetime.

First of all i miss the "original setting" where you had one island and the enemy had one. It is the original setting and the base for a real in depth strategy game. It really feels as an action game when you and the comp split the archipelagos reources. But ok! Off i go to capture islands! I quickly found that the A.I player is a real chicken. He attacks an island and if i go there to defend he runs off. (Its good that he does or the game would be over too quickly) But watching the computer play brought us some questions that i REALLY would like to be answered from a DEV (Dram or the likes).

1. Do the computer have the same rules as the player do? Specifically:

-Does it need/use fuel to travel/repair? (He very often goes very far from stockpile island and drives a lot so..he SHOULD run outta fuel.)

-Does it conquer the islands in the same way the human player does? OR is it just a timer? (As in, does he fly his mantas and drive his walruses up to the command center and hack it/Destroy it?) <-- This leads to the next question.

-Does it need to replenish its stock on missiles/walruses/mantas? And more important..Does he need to manufacture them? (Does it help me to try to disrupt his supply chain/take his factory islands and so)

All of the above is, in my opinion, very important things. As it is now i kinda feel like the enemy carrier is just a nuisance that goes about randomly and really dont use any strategy to win. I could just stalk the enemy carrier, kill it and win since it doesnt try to outsmart me really. There is no real reason to go capture islands since the enemy is so easy to outsmart. Why doesnt he use his mantas and walruses for example? Or even stop to set up a nice attack on me. He just charges headlong into me, guns blazing and tries to escape. And why doesnt he go to defend his OWN islands?

Island combat.

In the original game the islands defended themselves from the carrier/attacked the enemy carrier if it was in range. I miss this a lot. In this game you just drive your carrier up to the pier, set up your attack and there ya go. Slowly but surely you desroy the installations and since it doesnt rebuild like in the original, even deadly islands can be taken with n00b walrusteams. It just takes a long time. And where is the supplychain? You can make ANY island stockpile island. even if it is out of your networkconnection..da hell iz'taht? :P. If this game is going to live forever like the original.. It needs to fix those things pretty soonish.

And last but not least i really want/miss Carrier vs Carrier vs island combat. Where you would sit near one of your islands and the enemy carrier would come and roll in mantas and walruses. Maybe you could even add droids for some 1st person shooter action. It would be great to have some 1st person elements even in the strategy game.

Summary: It is a great game and i had fun with it. But to make the fun last and make it (in my view) Replayable there HAS to be a one island vs one island option SOON! And please make the enemy carrier more of an opponent more than a "random event" That plays its own little game. I really feel like the enemy carrier isnt in "touch" with the game. It completely ruins the strategy feeling since you cant "Outstrategy" it.

Suggestions for improvement other then those mentioned in the rewiew.

-Add formations for mantas/walruses. Like wedge and all that you do in ARMA.

-Direct control over islands during an attack. (Hook up to the THAROS network and assume direct control!) "Mass effect reaver-collector voice"

-Refuel pods for both manta and walrus.

-Add "prefered target" for mantas and so (No more grenades on airtargets!)

-Make the "move stockpile" timer based on distance. Islands next to each other should be quick but to move stockpile across the map should take a VERY long time.

P.S

FIX THE DAMN PATHING !!!!! :P

I do have a roleplaying game that wants to become a computer MMORPG that you people should be intrested in.

Tharos, RPG game designer and Fan of carrier command.

[Daeion 1]

I agree with the original setting thing. Would be nice to start from scratch like the original game.

As far as the enemy carrier is concerned... It seems that it doesn't follow exactly the same rules as the player has. It just randomly shifts huge distances at time, in which it is nearly impossible considering his requirement to refuel and such.

A carrier vs carrier combat mode would be nice to have but more importantly, they need to fix the pathfinding AI for walrus units. Maybe add a manual timewarp function aswell. Right now you get 30 minutes of fun paired with 30 minutes of down-time waiting for resupply or new units.

[parmenides 11]

I fully agree nice sum up. And I like the game too very much hoping for a great game to become the best.

And hopefully there is an extensive carrier logic and we are able to mod this inclusive supply logistic

I am also very interested in answers from the devs

Edited September 30, 2012 by Parmenides

[Gazzareth 1]

Summary: It is a great game and i had fun with it. But to make the fun last and make it (in my view) Replayable there HAS to be a one island vs one island option SOON! And please make the enemy carrier more of an opponent more than a "random event" That plays its own little game. I really feel like the enemy carrier isnt in "touch" with the game. It completely ruins the strategy feeling since you cant "Outstrategy" it.

So true, it seems to attack random islands that have little strategic value to it. Makes it hard to build a defensive network, carrier AI in the original was FAR superior. Occasional tactic of trying to disable part of your supply chain is fine, but the way it works at the moment is a pain in the backside. In the original islands not connected to your chain could not construct anything (including defenses) which is also better, after all where are they getting the Mantas/Walruses from if they have no supply chain ....

I agree with the original setting thing. Would be nice to start from scratch like the original game.

As far as the enemy carrier is concerned... It seems that it doesn't follow exactly the same rules as the player has. It just randomly shifts huge distances at time, in which it is nearly impossible considering his requirement to refuel and such.

Completely agree on the start from scratch option !!

The enemy also "knows" that you are coming well before you can detect it and runs away if you go to defend your island(s), which is plain wrong - I am all for being able to avoid an early carrier vs carrier battle, but it should not have different rules to you...

G

[tharos 2]

Well the reason the original owns is that it could be played infinite times and still offer a new challenge.

Another thing that would be cool would be research. Make it like production and let it be "produced" by factory islands. That way there would be a reason to have more than a few factory islands.

[tharos 2]

So any devs awake that can answer my questions? :)

[Dajunka 10]

So any devs awake that can answer my questions? :)

They are all hiding under their beds, because they know that even though the game is good, they should have put that little more work into it before release.

And now they feel guilty beyond reason, I just hope that they don't go and do something silly out of the terrible guilt they must be feeling.

[anton-korduan 10]

They are all hiding under their beds, because they know that even though the game is good, they should have put that little more work into it before release.

And now they feel guilty beyond reason, I just hope that they don't go and do something silly out of the terrible guilt they must be feeling.

Good words, Dajunka. :-)

[parmenides 11]

please devs just a quick answer also waiting eagerly for it

[tharos 2]

I dont really think that they need to feel guilty.. I mean. Not a single game that comes out nowadays is 100% at release. And i think Carrier command is better than MOST games as it is now.. But im REALLY wanting to hear what the devs answer to my questions.

[Dajunka 10]

I dont really think that they need to feel guilty.. I mean. Not a single game that comes out nowadays is 100% at release. And i think Carrier command is better than MOST games as it is now.. But im REALLY wanting to hear what the devs answer to my questions.

But...but...but.....This is Carrier Command not just any old game. They have got the strategy part right, they could have binned the campaign part of it and told the story in some other way, but other than that it's fine.....except, it has been under development for about 50 years and gone though months of beta testing with bug reports flowing from fans. By rights there should not be one single bug.

[tharos 2]

I still wonder why no dev has answered the questions? They are pretty important :D

[Strigon 1]

Tharos , can you tell me where i can find the Torpedos in the FPS Campaign (Per PM) ?

Thanks ,

Strigon

Edited October 1, 2012 by Strigon

[parmenides 11]

bump we need devs here

[tharos 2]

Tharos , can you tell me where i can find the Torpedos in the FPS Campaign (Per PM) ?

Thanks ,

Strigon

The torpedoes cant be found in the campaignmap... below is a SUPERSPOILER to why!

WARNING SUPERSPOILER!!

It is the final weapon you use to win the game!!!

[dram 14]

Hello Tharos, I'll try to answer as much as possible.

Single player

First off i loved the start. Its cool that you drop down and steal a carrier. The first person shooter part is great for being a strategy game. I would like to be able to jump and so.. And maybe some more weapons. But overall a great experience. I did have some trouble with the mouse settings too. I do agree with the lads that say you spin too fast. It reduces the "feel" in the game making the units and persons seem "Plastic" instead of heavy and metal. Im not gonna spoil anything for anyone. But i loved the way things turned out in the end. Both ways! ;). I do miss some Carrier vs Carrier vs Island combat but more of that in the next section.

I am glad you enjoyed the FPS sections, they are there to make things more personal, to get a sense of scale to the world, and to add the extra element of handling things yourself.

Stragegy game.

First of all i miss the "original setting" where you had one island and the enemy had one. It is the original setting and the base for a real in depth strategy game. It really feels as an action game when you and the comp split the archipelagos reources. But ok! Off i go to capture islands! I quickly found that the A.I player is a real chicken. He attacks an island and if i go there to defend he runs off. (Its good that he does or the game would be over too quickly).

This falls under more strategy game start options, which would indeed be an interesting addition. We will see whether this will be a priority for expanding the strategy game, but I can say that among the ideas for this direction, we also have a selectable island amount, so you could adjust how many islands to play with. Ultimately, if we d not have enough time to implement this, it would be possible to do so in a modification anyway, where ambitious modders could add many more islands if they wished to do so.

1. Do the computer have the same rules as the player do? Specifically:

-Does it need/use fuel to travel/repair? (He very often goes very far from stockpile island and drives a lot so..he SHOULD run outta fuel.)

-Does it conquer the islands in the same way the human player does? OR is it just a timer? (As in, does he fly his mantas and drive his walruses up to the command center and hack it/Destroy it?) <-- This leads to the next question.

-Does it need to replenish its stock on missiles/walruses/mantas? And more important..Does he need to manufacture them? (Does it help me to try to disrupt his supply chain/take his factory islands and so)

Yes, it uses fuel to travel and repair.

He captures islands by sending his units out, this is all calculated (obviously without physics simulation as that is simply not possible) and defensive points are taken into account as well, so there is an algorith for sorting this out. Combat is sorted using weapon statistics and armor etc.

Yes and yes, he builds and sends the supplies to his Carrier. Yes, disrupting his supply chain can severely hinder his capabilities if you strike in the right place.

All of the above is, in my opinion, very important things. As it is now i kinda feel like the enemy carrier is just a nuisance that goes about randomly and really dont use any strategy to win. I could just stalk the enemy carrier, kill it and win since it doesnt try to outsmart me really. There is no real reason to go capture islands since the enemy is so easy to outsmart. Why doesnt he use his mantas and walruses for example? Or even stop to set up a nice attack on me. He just charges headlong into me, guns blazing and tries to escape. And why doesnt he go to defend his OWN islands?

He should be deploying his Mantas and Walruses, if not then something has gone wrong. As for how the Carrier acts (setting up an attack for example) that all relates back to AI behaviour.

In the original game the islands defended themselves from the carrier/attacked the enemy carrier if it was in range. I miss this a lot. In this game you just drive your carrier up to the pier, set up your attack and there ya go. Slowly but surely you desroy the installations and since it doesnt rebuild like in the original, even deadly islands can be taken with n00b walrusteams. It just takes a long time. And where is the supplychain? You can make ANY island stockpile island. even if it is out of your networkconnection..da hell iz'taht? :P. If this game is going to live forever like the original.. It needs to fix those things pretty soonish.

The islands do defend themselves, in fact many islands send out units against your Carrier as a counter-attack. However if your Carrier is loaded with the heaviest weaponry out there, then it will not take much to take down incoming enemy units.

As for the Stockpile, your income/production rate is limited by how many islands are connected to your Stockpile, so if the enemy takes an island to which you had 20 islands connected to, then you will lose all of their capabilities until you either restore the link or move the Stockpile.

And last but not least i really want/miss Carrier vs Carrier vs island combat. Where you would sit near one of your islands and the enemy carrier would come and roll in mantas and walruses. Maybe you could even add droids for some 1st person shooter action. It would be great to have some 1st person elements even in the strategy game.

Yes, I agree FPS action (optional) would be a nice addition. Balancing this however is another issue altogether. If you do wait near an island though, the enemy Carrier will come eventually.

-Add formations for mantas/walruses. Like wedge and all that you do in ARMA.

This would be a little more involved, though it is worth considering.

-Direct control over islands during an attack. (Hook up to the THAROS network and assume direct control!) "Mass effect reaver-collector voice"

May be possible, though this would definitely require larger adjustments to core functionality of the game.

-Refuel pods for both manta and walrus.

This could be a possibility as well, though other things take priority over this at the moment.

-Add "prefered target" for mantas and so (No more grenades on airtargets!)

This is already in the game - AA turrets don't fire upon Walruses and so on, though if grenades are being shot at Mantas, then it is not correct.

-Make the "move stockpile" timer based on distance. Islands next to each other should be quick but to move stockpile across the map should take a VERY long time.

Definitely something to consider for the future.

They are all hiding under their beds, because they know that even though the game is good, they should have put that little more work into it before release.

And now they feel guilty beyond reason, I just hope that they don't go and do something silly out of the terrible guilt they must be feeling.

To be honest, we put in an inconceivable amount of effort. Not one of us has overlooked anything due to laziness. The problem is always the same - time. With such an extensive game full of infinite possibilities, it becomes very difficult to track down every individual issue. Even then, one must prioritize what can be done in the amount of time left. You cannot start fixing something that will take 6 months to fix or implement when you only have 2 months left, for example. That is why, however, we continue to support the game after release, hoping to improve the experience.

[parmenides 11]

many thanks for your answers! This clarifies a lot.

Hopfefully we can see further efforts from your team so this game gets more patches addons or even CCGM II.

I think there is great potential out there with this game!

[tharos 2]

Thank you so much. Im happy with the answers and i am also incredibly happy to see that your plans for this game matches my wishes and expectations! Seems like i will be playing this for a LONG time!

[Dajunka 10]

Yes, thanks Dram, nice to hear from you.

I would be very interested to see one of the points that Tharos mentioned, brought to light, and that would be... ("original setting" where you had one island and the enemy had one.)

I would put this under a very much needed and wanted change, or addition to the present game.

You could call it.

CLASSIC START.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Dajunka

[Scepticer 1]

and that would be... ("original setting" where you had one island and the enemy had one.)

I would put this under a very much needed and wanted change, or addition to the present game.

I second this. Should be prioritized.

More control over starting conditions in the strategy game certainly increases replay value a lot.

Thank you Dram for your response here, much appreciated. Nice in particular to hear about the AI Carrier behavior. I'm really happy to hear it's not cheating. :)

Edited October 2, 2012 by Scepticer

[Thygrrr 1]

This is already in the game - AA turrets don't fire upon Walruses and so on, though if grenades are being shot at Mantas, then it is not correct.

Quad Gun Walruses fire at other Walruses (even when they can't hit).

Deck Plasma Gun fires at enemy Mantas.

Deck Quad Gun fires at Walruses on the island.

Walrus fires Grenades at Manta.

Walrus fires Grenades in permanent barrage even though it is far away from the target (attack order given, walrus keeps wasting ammo while it approaches the target).

AA turret doesn't fire, or fires above Manta.

Manta doesn't fire at turret, despite being rather close to it and the turret in plain sight (seems to be a targeting glitch, sometimes units don't have a hud reticle around them and I think that's when the manta will just hover and be shot to bits, but not fight).

Walrus laser consistently fires beside the target, even if target is close. (happens especially often for air targets)

Just some weird behaviors I observed....