Saracen

I'm gonna Rename the death star according to the star wars spoof I posted in the spaceport lounge - The sphere o' fear - Planet Death - The killing ball - Death Moon - Giant Hurt Ball - The Deathticle ;D

OK, getting back to the point at hand. Every assumption about the demo has been made now. While it is too late to change the game mechanics now, it would be best if you created feedback on the full game. The team, I'm sure, have already addressed these issues you have brought up. The demo in my opinion is far enough from the full game to be an issue of no real concern at this point in time. We must now focus on what the full game brings us, and not the demo.

No introduction needed... just watch http://www.youtube.com/?v=J8LobZaURAw ;D

You under estimate the power of the w00t young Delphi. ;D

Not entirely correct, or explained correctly. A Gold disc is considered a master disc. Once the final version is compiled, it is burnt onto several master discs. Once this discs are done, they are sent to the publishers. Once the game has left the developer, then the game has "gone gold". The fact is that Empire At War was sent to LucasArts & Electronic Arts (New Zealand) for publishing, around about the date of the release of the demo. It usually takes between 21-28 days for the game to leave the developers, be mass produced , packaged, and shipped to retailers before the date of it's release. This is such a huge operation that 2 weeks is not enough time to complete such a process.

Not accurate by any means, but funny nonetheless. Here's a Star Wars Episode 2/3ish Spoof which had me luaghing for ages... classic stuff. http://www.dumpalink.com/media/1138631409/Funny_Parody_of_Star_Wars_3

The prophecy is coming to light.... EaW is the chosen one ;D Ahhhh, it's so good when my article I wrote at the beginning of the month rings true. I don't look such an idiot If you haven't read it already it's here >> http://www.cncnz.com/features/articles/090106.shtml

2D Rocks! 2.5D is cool and 3D is overrated. That's the end of that ;D I have to agree that the narrow-mindedness of some people is disturbing. I'm 23 next Month, I see no reason to give up gaming at all. After a hard days work, I won't sit in front of the TV, I'll jump on the PC or grab my PSP and put up my feet before playing some intensive gaming, while the wife watches the TV. I know that my father who is almost 51 will do the same thing when at his home. He'll pull up a chair, load up C&C or BfME and play a good old fashioned comp stomp. Lion of the CnC Den, is in his 40's, and he does what I do, get in from work and play a few games on the PC... It's a perfectly normal thing. The gaming industry is the biggest entertainment industry in the world pulling in almost four times as much money as the movie industry. It's a business that continues to grow and forever will do. An Interesting Statistic is what raydude mentioned... Developers are way above the age of 20... Most are in their late thirties to even early 50's. The people who have the talent to code and create games will put it to good use regardless of their age. I can see Mike Legg, Delphi and the whole team at Petroglyph saying that their PC's will have to be ripped from their graves before they stop developing. These guys love their careers so much, that they will never want to retire from what they love most and what they do best. Moving on....; The only thing that changes when you hit your 20's is that you learn to distinguish between the good games, and those games that are of your own exceptional taste for quality. You don't buy for the fact that a game rocks, you buy for a personal taste regardless of the score and what you deem to be the qualities within those games. I've had 20 long years experience with games. Ever since I sat on a stool and played the space invaders arcade Machine in a hotel my parents used to run, I've been doing the same thing day in, day out. I know a good game when I see one.. So when you complain about the space battles being a terrible feature... You are far from correct. This "2.5D" element is without a doubt comprised of some of the best RTS features in history. 2D has worked so well, it is where most of the gameplay lies and this view are the roots of all games! 3D allows you to improve the playing experience and nothing more! To compare this to Homeworld or Nexus is not the correct thing to do. This game has some elements, but is far from based upon these game. EaW is in a specific league of it's own. It's innovation and atempts to be anything but a clone has to be appriciated deeply. The amount of work that has gone into this game is certainly something to admire. The research that has been done before this game even started to be coded is immense. The only thing in my opinion that made this game somewhat easier to make, was the Petroglyph Team's own fanbase for Star Wars itself. You just need to look at C&C units such as the Mammoth Mk II in Tiberian Sun and other C&C's to see this. At the end of the day, if you are sorely disappointed by this game so far, then why continue to be here?

The good thing is the screenshots area. The attention to detail on the Space units is quite something. Of course you will need a solid card to get what they show. This should silence the critics who say the detail is lacking. With this game gone gold for the best part of 10 days now. It's really beginning to show it's true colours, even if we might not have a copy yet ;D

Hmmm sounds interesting.. I'm waiting to see if Delphi will give anything away on this?

Well, from the alpha/Early Beta Version video seen on Gamespot (Official Movie 1 -dated 19th May 2005), Vader and Obi Wan just engaged in standard attack mode in the thick of battle, but had some cool unit animations. Vader took many hits before fighting obi wan but Vader still won. Yet the player just let the lightsaber battle play out itself. This is OK, if a bit basic for Hero to Hero interaction. I just wondered with all the development that has gone on in the 8 months since this gameplay was captured, whether or not things had changed at all?

Here's something interesting I just thought of... With elite Hero units like Darth Vader and Kenobi. How on earth is the decision made to who wins when these 2 mammoths collide in a tactical land battle? Is the battle just fought out like nornal RTS games and whoever strikes the first blow eventually wins, or will the Heroes have attack and defense areas like the larger ships? What I mean by that is it like Black & White when the creatures fight, can you click certain areas on the enemy and your own hero to attack and defend? ???

Auto resolve in Imperium Galactica 2 was simple... you both went towards each other, and if one force was somewhat bigger than the othe, the bigger force would win. But if evenly matched the battle would be played regardless... but saying that, they never lasted long anyhow. If I dare mention it, BfME 2 has an auto resolve feature within. I forget how they said they got around it at the Community summit at EALA back in August last year. However it was quite a simple idea. I wasn't really paying that much attention... by the 2nd day I lost alot of interest in that game

A Real RTS simulator would take about a year to complete half a campaign... multiplayer would be murder... expect 4-15 day Skirmish battles and 2 days of getting to the other end of the map.. Your tanks would probably run outta fuel and break down... and most of the time, your troops will sit around doing nothing, waiting for you to make decisions that will cause the worlds media to come down on you like a tonne of bricks.. It'll take 3-7 days to find re-enforcements, and you'll drag on and on, hoping that the government doesn't pull you out, or leave you in alone for a couple of years. Funding and food will be low, and your troops will resort to being stuck in a bush crying his eyes out cos he's got shell shock! Yeah, you want realism in an RTS.... I highly doubt it :

Time for some more headlines you may have missed: Peeping tom epidemic reaches epic proportions... US Government blames Videogame the Sims! Scientist goes on a gun rampage... US Government blames Half life 2 Taylor Woodrow goes bust! Tetris Blamed for poor housing development.. Weedy teen cracks EA.com website, Videogame The Matrix is to blame! ;D

hmmm. Impressive.. ;D Never knew that. Not really taken the time to observe the latest commander technology in the field... but nevertheless. I like your response too, at least it was constructive instead a disrespect for lack of knowledge or mistakes

Sure they do use GPS navigation to locate their troops, but do not command in the style of a Real Time chess board. All commands are routed through radio transmissions, that's what I meant.

Then go play a non-RTS Star Wars Game... RTS games are not simulators. Generals do not use laptops to command their troops VIA GPS Satellites, which mysteriously pan down to view any angle on the battlefield and build structures and military hardware in seconds. The only thing close to the simulator you're after is Battlegrounds : And no Delphi, not Renegade 2.... I suppose you've heard of that new WW2 RTS that's comign out that incorporates a First Person Shooter engine within it (Company Of Heroes), but Westwood recently held a C&C survey that focussed on RTS and First Person Elements. Not only that my friend works at EAUK ;D They may be developing 2 C&C games. Possibly Renegade 2, with help from the Medal Of Honour Team, and another RTS... But I know if they do make Renegade 2, that'll really annoy you guys... Well if they recreate any games you Started at Westwood, yoou won't be best pleased.

Well 3D style camera like on the ground on a 2D plane... It would be one hell of a task to create 2 different engines, or even a single Engine to do that, and it can be a tough cookie to code and debug to get them work without too many loading screens. OK, it's not necessarily hard. We now have games coming out that are now incorporating RTS with the First Person shooter (The next C&C aparently has this.) But then you are really complicating things and moving away from the Genre to something different in that respect. Nexus rocked too! It was Imperium Galactica 3, until Digital Reality abandoned it, and HD interactive took it over

If anything, this game is a dumbed down version of Imperium Galactica 2. But I will jump immediately to the Defense of EaW in a moment... Imperium Galactica 2 is my favourite Space RTS of all time. In my opinion, in it's day it even kicked the backside (even if it was in a different league) of Command & Conquer. Based on what I've seen in the demo of Eaw... If you were to add diplomacy, unit weapon modifications, an advanced spying system, an advanced tax system (low, normal high), no pop caps, and galactic trading. As well as a messaging system that would further the storyline, planetary building, no loading times and a real time galactic map where space battles are possible anywhere.... But then simplify the space battles, and ground battles, remove the great multiplayer element and the huge tactical element that's within Eaw, you get Imperium Galactica 2. Obviously (and Delphi will back this up) I'm missing a huge chunk of what Empire at War is about. I know that, he knows that. Imperium Galactica 2 was about a heavy handed learning curve, and having to switch screens every 5-30 seconds which turned it into galactic government simulation more than an RTS. Simplifying all this gameplay actually works well from what I've seen, and it appears to be more fun and fast paced. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with the Space battles. If anything, they rock! This is inspired by Conquest Frontier wars, which was a C&C style space only game... That game, although not massively popular was a damn cool game, it worked well and contains so many great elements... The only problem with it though, is that you could warp to upto 16 different Star Systems (all on different maps) which made the game difficult to follow. When the full game comes out. In my review, I will be making comparisons to the RTS games the inspiration is taken from. Especially Imperium Galactica 2 and Frontier Wars, which are the only other games of their kind which even comes close to the full scale model of Empire at War. It'll be a good review, since I have had the full 15 years RTS experience, and I have played most of the commercial RTS games out there since Dune 2 in 1992.

Positive... Sonic found the dates and they haven't moved yet. Even I've checked the UK release date here, and it's firmly rooted to 10th Feb... Looks like you USA guys are for some reason getting it later than most of us ???

With the game due out on the 9th Feb (2 weeks) in New Zealand and the 10th in the UK, I wouldn't be suprised if the game has already gone gold. If it hasn't been fixed in time, expect it in a patch.

It's good for you to speak out Delphi. There has been alot of confusion with quite a lot of people gaining the presumption that this Demo represents the final code. Hopefully these people should take your words on board, and the force shall flow throughout the galaxy (I mean community..) once more. ;D

After observing Delphi's obsession with Nerf...I know what to get Delphi next Christmas now What's the betting that Delphi and a few of the team go down to the local toy store in Vegas and buy all the Nerf Stuff for in-studio battles? Actually I wouldn't be suprised if they haven't already

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