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Is anything going on?

Greg

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Joined
Oct 24, 2014
Messages
47
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8
Age
75
Location
Georgia, USA
I own every game Panther has published and I am still playing the game along with some others but things are really quiet here at home base. Did I miss an update somewhere?
 

Daz

Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
861
Points
43
Location
England
I'm still popping in from time to time Greg.

I have abandoned the video AAR of Knock on all Doors for the time being. The learning curve was too steep for the video editing programs I was using, for the time I had to dedicate to it. It's a very big scenario and I don't have the free time at the moment to do it justice.
I am thinking about finishing the St Vith AAR, as I am already quite proficient in the programs I use to do that, and its a much smaller, more manageable scenario. I still have the game save of the last page I did.

I never managed to overcome the problem of finding WW2 images for commercial use, that I was able to edit and manipulate to my liking though, so I won't be going down the route of a Command Ops Magazine like I was hoping to do a while back. I'll just produce content as and when I have the time, and the will, on a non professional/free (because I enjoy it) basis.

I also got distracted by the release of HOI4, but when it turned out that the HOI series is not going in the direction I wanted, I shelved it. I have been dabbling with other games, but can't really find anything to get my teeth into.
The evenings are starting to draw in again here in the UK, so I feel more inclined to sit in front of my computer than going out, so hopefully I'll be able to get back into some AAR's soon.
Finishing some of the ones I have already started will be top of my list, before starting a new one, and the more manageable sized scenarios will take priority over the larger ones.
St Vith first
http://forums.lnlpublishing.com/thr...r-alert-for-those-playing-as-axis.1196/page-9

then move onto the Ordeal at Overloon part 2
http://forums.lnlpublishing.com/thr...ns-spoilers-for-axis-players.2245/#post-12742

Something I would like to ask the community is if they want me to finish the St Vith AAR? One of the main reasons I stopped was because I got a bit embarrassed about the beating I am giving the AI.
I set out to demonstrate how the game can be played, if you have the odds stacked against you. The problem is they are not stacked against you in this scenario. If anything, they are totally in the US Favour on the normal settings. Consequently I have been giving the AI a severe hiding so far and it doesn't reflect well on how good it actually is.
If you look at my last page in the link above, you can see I have wiped out the entire German reinforcements for day two, before they even got away from the map edge where they entered.
All I can do to reassure people is, the first time I played this very scenario, on these settings, I lost quite convincingly to the AI. Also when I played it with favour Axis settings it was a very tough fight.
My managed use of the major artillery units also gives me a very big advantage over the AI, something I won't change in my games, as its an aspect of the game I enjoy and the friendly AI controlled artillery doesn't do a good enough job for my enjoyment.
 

kipanderson

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Joined
Oct 23, 2014
Messages
114
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18
Age
66
Location
Surrey. UK.
Daz,

it is good to see how this should be done. If you have time don't hold back : ).

All the best,
Kip.
 

TortugaPower

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Joined
Jul 20, 2016
Messages
11
Points
1
Location
USA
That's some grade A stuff on the St Vith scenario, top quality. It's certainly going to get more traffic because it's part of the free module (which I have been recommending people go and try out).

However, I see that you have indeed whipped the snot out of the opposition. I personally would be very interested by any of the other scenarios which are supposed to offer more of a challenge to see the more advanced tactics.

Cheers.
 

simovitch

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Nov 15, 2014
Messages
658
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28
Age
62
Location
California, USA
We have been developing the estabs and forces for the German Heer/SS Gebirgsjaeger and the Free French in Northwest Europe. These have been recently released to the beta testers for inclusion into the next module covering Heurtgen Forest and the fighting in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. We might expand the Free French and add other allied forces depending on how things go. Or move on to the Eastern Front.
 

Greg

Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2014
Messages
47
Points
8
Age
75
Location
Georgia, USA
We have been developing the estabs and forces for the German Heer/SS Gebirgsjaeger and the Free French in Northwest Europe. These have been recently released to the beta testers for inclusion into the next module covering Heurtgen Forest and the fighting in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. We might expand the Free French and add other allied forces depending on how things go. Or move on to the Eastern Front.


Great thanks.
 

john connor

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Oct 22, 2014
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I have a feeling there might be a slight development pause to concentrate on doing the steam thing and see if the steam release can bring some money in, Greg.
 

Daz

Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
861
Points
43
Location
England
Thanks for the feedback on the St Vith AAR guys.
I'm away on holiday in the Lake District for a few weeks. Will start on something when I get back.

Hey Pete, good to see you here again :)
I miss your AAR's mate, what you been doing?
 

john connor

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Oct 22, 2014
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Hey Daz. I envy you your Lakes trip! We were all there for Easter. Nice time. Kids managed to get up the screes (Wasdale). First time for them.

Still around. Still check in here. I'm dearly hoping some cash flow comes of the steam thing. This is my favourite game concept, ever, and it will be a terrible shame if development doesnt continue. My top list of needs starts with scripting for designers, and because my thing is and has always been historical battles where historical starting positions are key then thats crucial for me. Because it has to mean more for the AI when a designer so carefully places units in their historical positions. Scripts would also raise the chances of getting historical attacks going from the AI side. Second on my list would be developing the AI logic to get it to be more effective at forming plans and concentrating. But i would settle for a pbem capability instead of both these, because then i could play real people and wouldn't have to worry about the AI. Things like mounted ops seem very unimportant to me besides these. If i could beg Dave for one thing before he finally hangs up his hat on this it would be pbem. I want to play people, not computers and the present way of doing that is impracticable and mostly doesn't work. I can't devote that much time to it - to real time h2h. But im playing several other games at the moment - all pbem - that are all inferior to this one, but which can easily be played against people via pbem. Against people you're guaranteed a great opponent, no AI issues.

As the OP said, nothing much happening in here in development terms, and things need to happen, and whilst i fully understand why things aren't happening (and on top of that I count Dave as a friend) i think it's a great shame.

Peter
 

Daz

Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
861
Points
43
Location
England
Interesting to hear your priorities mate.
They differ from my list, probably because you have the Dev version of the game, where you can monitor the enemy AI reactions and also because you enjoy making your own scenarios.

When I play, its very rarely that I will get to see what the units in, the carefully placed historical starting positions of the enemy AI, do within the first few hours of the game starting. Other than those that the FOW allows me to see of course.

For me mounted ops is still the number one most important feature. Motorised and mechanized troops, need to be able to move, and fight, though terrain that vehicles can't pass, or it completely prevents flanking manoeuvres, that absolutely should be possible for a realistic simulation.

After that my most wanted feature would be, an on screen overlay and drawing plugin, so the scenarios can be planned out on the map, exactly as the commanders would on their operational maps, in their HQ's.

The real biggy, that would also bring in more players, in my opinion, but need a lot of investment to pull off, I expect. Is the ability to view (in game) the maps overlaid on a 3D terrain, similar to how I have done many times in my AAR's.

The potential for modernising this game is huge, but it does need proper funding, and a full time programming team, that Dave can watch over and drive in the direction he wants to take the game. Hopefully whilst listening to input from his fans, just as he has always has.
 

k0enig

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Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
10
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1
Age
41
Location
Germany
Oh, such a drawing plugin would be very very nice. One of the things I always missed in many games.

Regarding the 3D-map overlay: that's exactly what Tim Stone mentioned in one of his latest Flare Path over at rockpapershotgun.

"Hawked in a mainstream marketplace for the first time, the game is sure to draw some flak for its weak audio, austerity graphics, and somewhat atomised interface, but I’m sure the novelty of unscripted battles that seethe and sprawl in an incomparably realistic manner will quickly earn it a new army of aficionados. Hopefully, the injection of funds will allow Panther to forge ahead with a second-gen engine – something capable of combining their peerless AI routines with attractive, free-zooming, easy-to-read Armored Brigade-ish 3D maps."
(https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/09/16/the-flare-path-modern-life-is-rhubarb/#more-398577)

So, hopefully the move onto steam will pay off. Fingers crossed!

Best,
Chris
 
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