Gary Grigsby's World at War Released Digital download

[Galaril]

FWIW to those who have been following this game World at War Digital download version has been released on the matrix game site . It has gotten a good review over at the Wargamer.com site today.

game link

[Buccaneer]

Thanks, I did stop by EB games today but they didn't get it in. This'll work.

[Calis]

Bucc, you of course are required to post feedback on it ASAP!

Anxious to hear how this one is, the last thing I need is another game right now, but I'd love for a good lite wargame right about now. You seem to have about the same threshold as I do concerning them, so I'll wait on your thoughts.

[Bubba Wheels]

Review http://pc.ign.com/articles/580/580574p1.html

[Buccaneer]

Biggest download I had ever done - 428mb. Should take about 10min (thanks Adelphia).

[MTD]

Where is this available?

[vyshka]

Originally Posted by MTD

Where is this available?

online through www.matrixgames.com . It should be in stores
anytime now too.

[sabotai]

I've been looking at this one too. Anticipating some thoughts on this one.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by sabotai

I've been looking at this one too. Anticipating some thoughts on this one.

Ditto.

[DaddyTorgo]

wasn't this the HUGE one that was going to cost like $70?? That puts me off a little bit. For $70 I expect a hell of a game, awaiting reviews of fellow FOFCers.

[vyshka]

$40. installing right now

[DaddyTorgo]

oh, only 40? For $40 it doesn't have to be that much of a game to get me to buy. Definately not as much as a $70 game

[DaddyTorgo]

oh okay. Yeah I am thinking of War in the Pacific. That looked like quite the hardcore game. So, definately interested in World at War. Awaiting reviews before I pick it up though. Need something to replace Axis and Allies, which frankly was never as good on the computer as it was on an actual board.

[Calis]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

wasn't this the HUGE one that was going to cost like $70?? That puts me off a little bit. For $70 I expect a hell of a game, awaiting reviews of fellow FOFCers.

You're thinking of War in the Pacific.

Yeah, completely different game, that one was pretty frigging hardcore.

[DaddyTorgo]

grrr. we all know where that latest post by me belongs

[Buccaneer]

124-page manual in PDF. Only printed the last 36 pages before the black ink ran out. In glancing at the manual on-screen, it is HUGE. Probably a typical Grisby manual that is loaded with gameplay info, history and strategies.

[Galaril]

Onlty have had time to look through the PDF manual and go through the tutorials btu it looks like it is a keeper from my early impressions. Th etutorials IMHO cover the basics and a little more to get you started. I like the "feel" of the game. A lot of these type of games like HOI 2 seem more like work than gaming and i don't get the WW2 feeling. However this does give me that WW2 feel. Will give more detailed impressions. later the wife is hovering over my should to get on th ecomputer to play some Bejeweled or Dynomite.

[DaddyTorgo]

i too felt like HOI was more like "work" than an enjoyable experience and am glad to hear that this seems to have a good feel. Might even buy tonight with all the good press this is getting, although I'm a bit concerned that the # of turns seems small. But maybe they all take a real long time I guess?

[WSUCougar]

Bit of a threadjack but if anyone wants to swap their HOI2 for something I am interested.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

i too felt like HOI was more like "work" than an enjoyable experience and am glad to hear that this seems to have a good feel. Might even buy tonight with all the good press this is getting, although I'm a bit concerned that the # of turns seems small. But maybe they all take a real long time I guess?

you can extend the end of the war indefinitely so the war could go on for decades if you like to build up turtle-style.

[vyshka]

For those wanting to know more about the game there are some after action reviews of games in the matrixgames WaW forums.

I have gone through the tutorials and it looks like it should be good. That is to be
expected though when Grigsby is the developer.

[vyshka]

Originally Posted by Galaril

you can extend the end of the war indefinitely so the war could go on for decades if you like to build up turtle-style.

Are you talking about HoI or WaW? I'm not sure which he is referring to in his post. At first I thought it was WaW, but it could be HoI. WaW goes until 1946.

I take that back, I just read in the manual that there is an option to turn off
the end date and go until automatic or total victory.

[Galaril]

I don't belive HOI 2 has an option to shut off the finishing date.

[TazFTW]

No option but you can download a no-time limit mod.

[Peregrine]

I'll have to take a look at this. I am playing the hell out of HOI2 these days and love it, but I have room in my heart for many good wargames.

[ice4277]

I was thinking about picking up HOI2, but I may change my mind if reviews of WaW are favorable. I'll be interested in what some of you guys have to say about this game over the next few days.

[vyshka]

Since we are talking wargames, I thought people might be interested
in what Norm Koger is currently working on new project .

He is the man who created the Operational Art of War. Having also created
Stellar Crusade, Red Lightning (a personal favorite), Tanks, Age of Rifles, Conflict: Korea, and Conflict: Middle East.

This Russo-Japanese War thing looks pretty cool.

[DaddyTorgo]

mmmmmn. me want World At War. Here's my little concern though, I read in a review that all of the different things are represented by the same icons right? Like all planes have the same icon. But they do have different statistics right? So there are different statistics for say...different types of fighters (P51's vs. P38's say)? Right? I assume...

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by TazFTW

No option but you can download a no-time limit mod.

from where?

[DaddyTorgo]

is there a demo?? I am very leery of buying games without a demo.

[Buccaneer]

Read the manual today and it reads like an awesome game. There is enough attention to detail but still keeping you in the commander/production manager seat. One of the great things I saw was the Setup screen where you can change many settings to make it the game as easy or as hard as you want, as well as to turn off things that do not interest you (i.e., things that would cause the game to more work than fun).

Torgo, this game is at a world-wide strategic scale, thus it cannot break down Air Units that finely without having the gamer spend 2 hours moving hundreds or thousands of units every turn. Combat is resolved in a traditional way using a series of six-sided die rolls. From the manual:

8.5.5 COMBAT PROCEDURES

Combat is resolved through a series of six-sided die rolls modified depending on the situation. The rules that follow

cover these possible modifications, limits, and bonuses. However, the core of combat resolution in

World at WarTM

involves the following:

The appropriate Attack Value of an attacking unit is determined as follows:

Land Attack – Used against Land units, against Infrastructure during Infrastructure attacks, and against

Air units on the ground during Airfield attacks.

Aircraft Attack – Used against Air units.

Ship Attack – Used against Fleets (except Submarine Fleets).

Anti-Submarine Attack – Used against Submarine Fleets.

Torpedo Attack – Used against Fleets (except Submarine Fleets) in addition to the use of the unit’s Ship

Attack.

The appropriate Attack Value is the number of dice that the computer will roll. These dice are all rolled together and

added into one sum, which is the Attack Factor.

A defending unit has a Defense Factor that is compared to the Attack Factor just generated. The Defense Factor is

determined by taking the defending unit's Evasion attribute and multiplying it by the defending unit's Durability

attribute. The resulting number is the Defense Factor.

There is one more consideration at this point: the Armor attribute of the defending unit. The Armor attribute affects

the number of dice an attacker may roll. The Armor attribute for a defending unit is the number of dice the attacking

unit must discard before determining the Attack Factor.

The computer determines which attacking unit will face which defending unit (using certain targeting guidelines).

Combat is also simultaneous, so damaged and destroyed units may fire back.

Units have a Range attribute that determines which units fire first in land combat, or at which units get to fire in

Naval combat. Units with a Range of 2 get to fire first, inflicting casualties if applicable, before units with a Range of

1 can fire. After units with a Range of 2 fire,

all units, including those with a Range of 2, get to fire.

For example: Germany attacks the Soviet Union in the Baltic States with five Infantry, two Artillery, and two Armor

units. This attack is made when the Soviet region is Politically Frozen. The Soviets have three Infantry to defend

with. The computer determines match ups randomly and has a German Artillery unit attacking one of the Soviet

Infantry units.

The German Artillery unit's Land Attack value is six, meaning it can roll six dice in combat. The Soviet Infantry unit

has no Armor attribute, so no dice are deducted from this total. The computer rolls a 4, 6, 4, 6, 5, and 5, for a total of

30. Since the Germans are attacking a Politically Frozen region, no die roll modifications are allowed, so the total

Attack Factor for this particular combat is 30.

The Soviet Infantry unit has an Evasion attribute of 5 and a Durability attribute of 4. However, since this is

considered a Surprise Attack, the Soviet Infantry's Evasion rating is reduced by one to a total of 4. Four multiplied

by four equals a total of 16. No other modifiers are added or subtracted, so the total Defense Factor for this

particular combat is 16.

Once a total Attack Factor and a total Defense Factor is figured, they are compared. If the Attack Factor is greater

than or equal to the Defense Factor, but

not higher than double the Defense Factor, one hit is scored on the

defending unit. If the Attack Factor is equal to or greater than

double the Defense Factor, two hits are scored on the

defending unit. Otherwise, if the Attack Factor is less than the Defense Factor,

no hits are scored on the defending

unit.

The number of hits scored on a unit is important to remember –

all units may take up to two hits before being

destroyed; if one hit is scored, the unit is considered damaged (and is moved to the Production Track for repair; see

section 9.0). The only exception is Militia units can only suffer one hit before being destroyed.

When an air or land unit is damaged in a land region, the units must have a friendly land or Transport Fleet link to a

Factory to be rebuilt. When an Air or Fleet unit is damaged in a sea region, they do

not have to have a link to a

Factory to be rebuilt.

In our example above, the Germans have an Attack Factor of 30 and the Soviets have a Defense Factor of 16.

Since 30 is not quite double 16, but is greater than 16, one hit is scored on the Russian unit. If 32 was generated as

the Attack Factor, the Soviet Infantry unit would have taken two hits, causing it to be destroyed. However, since

combat is simultaneous, damaged or destroyed units get a shot at the attacking units before their fate is applied.

Now that the basics are covered, let's move on to the specifics.

Combat is resolved in this order:

1. Air to Air

2. Air to Ground

3. Ship to Ship

4. Air to Sub

5. Submarine versus Ship

6. Ship versus Land

7. Land versus Land

Fire within each phase is simultaneous, with the exception of Air to Ground combat, where if the aircraft is damaged

by anti-aircraft fire, it does not get to attack a ground target. Units that are damaged or destroyed in one phase, do

not progress to the next phase. Units get to fire once in each phase (except for artillery units that get to fire at range

2 and then again at range 1 in phase 7). Units will attempt to select an enemy unit to fire at that is the same type, if

possible, although all enemy units must be fired at by at least one unit before a unit will be doubled up on (i.e. and

Armor unit will fire at an enemy Armor unit if there is one that has not yet been fired upon). The exception to this is

in the Air to Ground phase, where each attacking air unit will be fired at by one enemy ground unit. The Ground unit

with the best AA value will fire at the first attacking air unit. The Ground unit with the second best AA value will fire

at the second attacking air unit, and so on.

Another exception to the basic rules are that Air units that are bombing ground units will attempt to fire at artillery

units first, with each artillery unit being attacked by two air units before any non-artillery units will be attacked.

The order of firing units and target selection is randomized during combat.

Heavy and Light Fleets will attempt to bombard land regions they are adjacent to that are attacked by friendly land

forces during their turn. This will not happen if the ships are in a mandatory combat sea zone at the instant that the

land combat is resolved. The number of ships that can bombard is equal to one plus the number of units that are

amphibiously invading the area being bombarded. Bombarding ships will select any enemy artillery units as their

primary targets. Artillery will return fire at bombarding ships. When a possibility exists for ships to bombard, before

the combat is resolved, the player will be asked if they wish the ships to bombard. If the player answers no, no ships

will bombard. One should consider the presence of enemy artillery, and whether they are likely to be destroyed by

friendly airpower, before giving approval to bombard. Ships can be very vulnerable to fire from artillery.

[DaddyTorgo]

but Bucc my question is: is every single plane basically considered to the same "type" of plane with the same stats, or are there different types? Cuz from what I've heard there aren't, but I just want to confirm that, which I could do through a demo too if I could find one.

[Peregrine]

From what I've seen the types of units are limited, however your particular nation can choose different research roads that would improve different things, you could choose to go with fast and maneuverable planes or ones with more firepower I believe.

Unit type list

Infantry
Militia
Mechanized
Airborne
Flak
Artillery
Figther Air
Tactical Air
Heavy Air
Carrier Air
Carrier Fleet
Heavy Fleet
Light Fleet
Sub Fleet
Transport Fleet
Supply

[DaddyTorgo]

thanks Peregrine. That clears it up.

[scooter]

For those that may be able to wait a couple days to play this one (instead of the instant gratification of a digital download), I just noticed that GoGamer has it for $34.90. I think it may go nicely with Silent Hunter III for $27.90

[gstelmack]

My local EB is hoping to get this in today, so I may have to pick it up. When do the FOFC PBEM games get rolling?

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by scooter

For those that may be able to wait a couple days to play this one (instead of the instant gratification of a digital download), I just noticed that GoGamer has it for $34.90. I think it may go nicely with Silent Hunter III for $27.90

Man, do you ever have me pegged. Placed that exact order last night.

[Buccaneer]

Only got about 30 sec before going to work

the game is very civ-like, in the production, movement and attributes of units with a similar conflict resolution - but more detailed

[Lonnie]

Just saw it in the Dallas Fry's ad for $29.99. I might swing by there after work.

[DaddyTorgo]

is there a demo out yet? if so can someone hxxp it cuz I can't find it, and i refuse to buy without demo-ing.

[Galaril]

It sounds like there "Definitely" won't be a demo released ever,something about company policy. I got it and would hignbly recommend the game.

[DaddyTorgo]

really? cuz i read interviews that said a demo would be released a week or two after the game goes gold. Oh well. The lack of a demo pisses me off.

[Galaril]

I never heard that. Everything on the official forums from the devlopers is that matrix doesn't usually release demos.

[DaddyTorgo]

odd. oh well. still, it's getting pretty good reviews, I just might have to take the plunge, especially with the two old paychecks i just found lying on my floor

[DaddyTorgo]

dola: can anyone tell me if the game is playable in 1024x768 or 1280x800? Without a demo I just want to confirm that before I buy the game, in case returning it is a no-no.

[vyshka]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

dola: can anyone tell me if the game is playable in 1024x768 or 1280x800? Without a demo I just want to confirm that before I buy the game, in case returning it is a no-no.

It will run at 1024x768

[Buccaneer]

1024x768 is required.

[DaddyTorgo]

goodstuff. thanks guys!

[CraigSca]

Is the sound in Dubly? I would never play a game without Dubly sound.

[Bea-Arthurs Hip]

Ok, I cant take it anymore. I am downloading right now.

To anyone who has the game: I am new to any of Grigsbys games, can I play the tutorials and be ready to jump right in after running through them?

What is the learning curve?

Thanks