[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by King of New York

Okay, I've been messing around with the game for an hour and a half--here are some first impressions:

wow, there's a lot of stuff here! I've spent nearly all of my time exploring various game set-up options, because there are many, many different ways to configure the game to your liking.

The interface works well enough--I got stuck in one apparent dead-end under "advanced options," but I'm sure that was the result of my own stupidity more than anything else.

The game installs its files in two different places: some of it is under "programs," and some of it is under "my documents." It's not a problem, just something I'll have to get used to--in time, I'm sure locating folders will be second nature. (Edit: I guess SI games always do that, but I'd never noticed with FM or EHM because I never used mods, alternate databaes, or facepaks for them).

The game is running smoothly so far, and files are loading quickly.

The 500-page manual looks intimidating at first, but so far I've found it easy to use--the table of contents is great and really helps you to get where you need to go. A lot of that bulk is the result of the very generous use of screenshots in the manual, which I approve of.


Okay, I'm going in again.

You can hit "F1" anywhere in the game, which basically gives you the same help as the manual