Tropico 4: Review

Version Reviewed: 1.04 (Steam Special Edition)

What I like: Abundant choices, pleasant visuals with good performance, clear objectives.
Not So Much: Most scenarios play out very similarly, ease of campaign decreases importance of making good choices.
Other stuff you may like: Should appeal to fans of the series. Game may have longer-lasting appeal for players who enjoy the ‘sandbox’ play.
The Verdict: C   (average)

Can probably add a couple points if you enjoy the sandbox play more.

About my reviews

Official site: Tropico 4

Introduction
What are you doing surfing the internet when you should be using your fishing net for the good of our fellow Tropicans? Sorry, I’ve gotten used to being the benevolent dictator of my own series of tropical islands. Tropico 4 is a fairly detailed, but light-hearted city (island)-builder. Providing jobs, housing, medical care and entertainment are some of the main responsibilities as I oversee my island nation. If you decide to become an island dictator be sure to bring your hardhat, because building different structures is your primary tool for meeting your subject’s needs. Let enough citizens become displeased with your rule and your political authority will be challenged by rebels. Make sure you have a strong economy, because money is power.

Getting Started
Between the 4 scenario tutorial campaign and the manual, new players should feel comfortable jumping in and starting the campaign. The user interface does a respectable job of providing enough information to make informed choices and the controls are intuitive. The campaign scenarios are pretty easy to win, so there shouldn’t be too many worries about getting overwhelmed.

The two modes of play are sandbox mode and the 20 scenario campaign. Sandbox mode consists of selecting a premade map, or generating one based on several parameters. Further customization is available to tailor the difficulty to suit your style of play – the political stability, economic difficulty, tourism difficulty, starting population, frequency of random events, and number of turns can all be adjusted via sliders. The player can also chose a prominent faction to inhabit the island, whether immigration is allowed to your island, and more.

The campaign unlocks in a linear fashion. You must win the first scenario before moving onto the next one. I have played through 12 out of the 20 scenarios and winning hasn’t been a problem. The objectives for each scenario are displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen. As you complete one objective, others may unlock and get added to the list. A time limit is usually not imposed, so the player is rarely rushed. While there are a variety of tasks to perform I found that they rarely had a big effect on how I proceeded. I may have had to build a particular building or industry sooner than usual, but that was it for the most part. Build the economy and complete the tasks. Next.

Game Play
There are a lot of different aspects to Tropico 4, so I’ll go into depth with some and gloss over others. Otherwise this long review would grow to unmanageable proportions.

The controls are simple to use. Move the mouse to the edge of the screen to pan the view, use the mouse wheel to zoom, and the middle mouse button to rotate the view. Keyboard shortcuts also exist for those with an aversion to rodents. Three game speeds are available, along with a pause function, so you can take things at your own pace even though this is a real-time game.

Your Fearless Leader
Premade characters are available, such as Fidel Castro, or you can customize you own. There are a wide variety of traits to select that provide different bonuses for your leader. Some improve the productivity of certain industries, while others make it easier to keep certain factions happy. You can try to tailor them to the current scenario, but since I don’t want to be bothered by the USA and USSR I tend to stick with those that help keep them happy. As you gain experience with these traits over multiple scenarios their benefits increase.

We the People
The people of Tropico go about their daily business in a weird time scale (they may stay at church for a month, take two months to travel to work, etc…). They rest at their living quarters, go to work, and try to fulfill individual needs. If a garage is available from their departure point, they will take a car and use the roads if it is quicker then traveling by foot. Efficient placement of buildings ensures your citizens don’t waste a lot of time traveling, allowing them to help maximize your profits with their work for the state. A poor road and garage network causes the travelers to waste time sitting in their cars. I haven’t run into many problems even though I’m not overly anal about my road network.

As already mentioned, each of your citizens have needs they try to fulfill (food, rest, faith, fun and health), which map to different happiness categories. Periodically they try to satisfy each need by visiting the pertinent structure and when they can’t, their happiness in that category decreases. Each service structure has a limited capacity, so if it is full your other Tropicans are out of luck until somebody leaves. As your population grows additional service providers will need to be built to keep up with demand. Balancing your income with the expense of providing these services is an important part of the game.

Other happiness factors are affected by where they live and work (crime safety, environment, liberty, and job). Each person also has three happiness categories that have a larger affect on their overall happiness. If a person isn’t happy, then they may become a rebel. If all this seems overwhelming, don’t worry. I have been successful at Tropico without worrying about happiness at the individual level. The almanac provides happiness numbers for your population as a whole, so you can see which needs require attention. For example, if healthcare satisfaction is low it may be time to build a new clinic or make sure your current one is fully staffed.

Individuals are further differentiated by their traits, which control how quickly they can learn new skills, how likely they will become rebels when unhappy, how likely they will become faction leader or an opposing presidential candidates. There are 4 education levels a person can have in Tropico (none, grade school, high school, and college), which improves the rate at which new skills are learned and determines what jobs they are eligible to take. If you can afford to provide education through building schools and the literacy edict, your dependence on importing foreign workers will decrease. Making these types of decisions is one of the enjoyable aspects to playing Tropico.

It’s the Economy Stupid

The most basic need is food, so you need to either grow it or import it. There are 7 crops, but only 4 of them provide food. Each crop has its own preferred climate. The crop condition overlay displays which locations are good for each crop. Plant the farm in optimal conditions and it will flourish. Production will decrease as conditions worsen as farming also depletes the soil. The horticulture station will improve the surrounding farm’s output. How it helps farms is not clear in the documentation.

Mining and lumberjacking provides further access to natural resources and also provides jobs for the uneducated. The environmentalist faction won’t be too pleased with this type of job since they decrease your island’s natural beauty and generate pollution. These factors can be somewhat mitigated by passing industry pollution standards (an edict), or building landfills to provide a home for your nation’s trash.

Your basic farming and mining industries can provide inputs to more sophisticated industries. For example, pineapples and coffee can be canned, gold crafted into jewelry, etc… These jobs require at least a high school education, so it is best if you can build a high school to educate the masses. Otherwise you will need to spend your hard-earned money (well at least your people work hard) to import foreign specialists who are educated. The nationalist faction won’t be pleased by the foreigners taking the jobs in their homeland, so you will need to find other ways to keep them happy. These industrial building have upgrades available, which may improve productivity and working conditions, reduce pollution, etc… The supply chains are not very complex, but do give you tools to improve the strength of your economy.

Some of the more advanced buildings require purchase of blueprints before you can build them and/or have electricity available. Electricity can be produced from several types of power plants and/or wind turbines, with the latter being more environmentally friendly, but having a high upkeep.

With over 100 different types of buildings to chose from (in total, not just buildings related to the economy), there is a nice variety in what can be built. Some buildings have different modes of operation (such as running a sweat shop or a more relax work day), so along with their upgrades there are numerous ways to tweak how your country is run.

Your citizens earn money through the jobs you provide or your generosity (the social security edict). This money is spent on meeting their needs. Since you control their wages and set the prices for services, what they can afford is in your hands. A citizen that can’t afford to meet their needs is a likely target for rebel recruitment.

As you can see, there are many aspects to keeping you economy humming and your people happy. If your treasury becomes empty you can borrow money, but this displeases the superpowers (see Politics below). Another option is to fire up the print presses and make more money! If it were only so easy, as printing money raises the future costs due to inflation.

Growing Your Workforce
There are two ways to increase the available number of workers, having babies born on your island or through immigration. Your hospitals and clinics can be set to increase the birthrate of your women, but waiting for the children to grow up so you can put them to work is a slow process. In a longer scenario or in sandbox mode your patience can pay off. Immigration allows your workforce to quickly expand, but also requires the island’s service infrastructure to keep up.

Politics
If you keep your subjects happy, they will vote for you to remain in power during the next election. If not it is game-over. Luckily, there are ways to influence the results. Election speeches can change the minds of your pliable voters to get you the numbers you need. Breaking your promises can lead to future trouble, but you can worry about that later, right? For the less honorable dictator, tampering with the election results is always an option. There is always some subjectivity in how a hanging chad is counted!

There are 8 political factions pushing their agendas which influence the happiness of their members. The almanac lets you track what is making the faction happy and what isn’t. This is welcome feedback, as guessing what game designers decided to model isn’t usually fun. For example, affordable housing is required to keep the communists happy, while the environmentalists get upset with high levels of pollution. Each faction can offer up tasks to improve your standing with them. Either I am a naturally-gifted dictator, or keeping the factions happy is too easy an endeavor.

If keeping your own people satisfied isn’t enough, you must also manage your relationship with the US, USSR, EU, China, and the Middle East. Good relations mean getting favorable trade prices. Let your relationship suffer and they may embargo you. Superpowers (USA and USSR) may also decide to invade your island if your relationship hits rock bottom. Build a nuclear program or an alliance with the other superpower to protect your rule from this outcome. Like factions, these foreign powers may provide tasks to be completed to gain their support.

The User Interface
The UI usually does a good job at providing relevant information, but could be improved in several areas. In most cases, the player would like to focus his production on the most profitable exports, so it would be nice to be able to sort exports in the ledger by price. Optimal farm placement is unclear because the UI doesn’t indicate how far farm workers will go to plant crops, or where the initial crops will be planted. Sometimes it is desirable to limit the number of positions available at a work location, and Tropico lets the player do this. Unfortunately there is no easy way to find these buildings again later when you wish to open up the positions again. The employment overlay displays these buildings as filled, as long as all of the available positions have employees. None of these are insurmountable, but are definitely aspects that could be improved.

For Your Competitive Side
You can compare your score with other players on the online leader board. The problem is that in the campaign, points are granted based on the population of your country and the size of your budget. There is no incentive to meet the objectives in a timely manner. To optimize his score, a player is motivated to make the scenario drag out so the island can be completely developed, increasing his score. This would be ok for the sandbox mode, but in the campaign meeting the objectives in a timely manner should be rewarded. 


Graphics and Sound
Tropico 4 looks quite nice, with lush colors and lots of little details. People move about from place to place with a variety of appearances. Crops grow in the fields, cars congest busy roads. The impressive visuals don’t bog down performance either. While my machine isn’t bad, it’s not top of the line anymore either. Tropico 4 ran flawlessly.

As expected the music is of the appropriate flavor. Even though I rarely turn off a game’s music I do tend to tune it out after a while. My guess is that those sensitive to repetitive music will eventually turn the music off. For the most part the attempts at humor are rather juvenile. The radio announcer can be turned off. Occasionally the radio will say something relevant to the situation and is welcome, but I can do without the jokes after hearing them once (sometimes once is too many).

Technical Performance
The game performed flawlessly without any crashes or hiccups.
My Specs: Windows 7 64-bit. Intel Core i7 860 @ 2.80 GHz. 8 Gig RAM. ATI Radeon HD 5850.

In The End...
If you’ve read this far, you can see there are a lot choices available in Tropico 4. Between the plethora of building choices, upgrades, and modes, there is wide variety in how you can rule your island paradise. There are plenty of details regarding the citizen’s behavior too. The user interface provides the relevant data for the most part, so I was never frustrated. Available and accepted tasks/objectives are clearly presented so the user isn’t guessing what to do. Occasionally when between objectives I did wonder if I missed something, but eventually a new objective would become available.

Due to the ease of the campaign, I never felt I had to optimize my play. This is a big drawback for me, as in most games I tend to enjoy the focused challenges of scenarios and campaigns much more then setting my own goals in a more open/sandbox mode. I didn’t feel I needed to be very careful in my choices because I could still remain profitable while only being moderately careful. I wish the penalties were a little more severe for making poor decisions. The online scoring system could have mitigated the lack of challenge somewhat, but since the player’s score isn’t based on their ability to meet the objectives, it was of limited value to me. I never come close to losing an election or being overrun by rebels. Unless you’re into role-playing your leader, the ruthless choices never need to be made.

Tropico is a well-done game, but in the end it comes down to fun. Since I tired of the game play half way through the campaign, it’s not going to get a great score. Perhaps some of the problem is the repetitive nature of city-builders. Fans of the more open sandbox mode or user-made challenges will find more enjoyment then I did.

Score: C (average )

Crusader Kings 2: A Simple UI Mod To Hide A Character Stat / Rating

Even though I haven't found Crusader Kings 2 (CK2) to be an enjoyable strategy game, I still find visiting the forums interesting in order to read what others are saying about it. One player, in the name of immersion, suggested that an option to hide the character ratings should exist. From what I read, most players disagreed (myself included), but found the request an interesting exercise.

The user interface files reside in the folder: .\Paradox Interactive\Crusader Kings II Demo\interface. Each window has its own set of files. By some trial and error I determined that the games uses the "character_selection.gui" file when the player selects a character to appoint to their council. My guess is that it is also used for other character selection screens too. The lower half of the screen is a list that displays the characters available, along with their stats  You can hide a field by setting its position to off screen (see position):

instantTextBoxType = {
name = "character_diplomacy"
position = { x = 9999 y = 7 } <-------------- I changed the value to 9999 so it isn't rendered on the screen. Now the diplomacy rating isn't displayed on the screen where you appoint council members.
textureFile = ""
font = "vic_18_black"
borderSize = {x = 0 y = 0}
text = "0"
maxWidth = 30
maxHeight = 20
format = centre
Orientation = "UPPER_LEFT"
}

If a player would find the game more enjoyable with the character stats hidden, they could simply mod the UI files, moving the stat fields off screen. This would have to be done in each file that displayed character stats, but a motivated player should be able to mod the fields out without too much effort. Note: I only tried this method for the diplomacy stat in the one file, so I can't guarantee it would work everywhere. I can't see a reason why this method wouldn't work. If someone bothers to try this, please share your experiences here. It would be interesting to know the results and how it effected your enjoyment of CK2.

Limbo: Review

Version Reviewed: ??? Last update 8/10/2011
What I like: Interesting puzzles that ramp up in difficulty, great atmosphere in early game.
Not So Much: Very short (about 5 hours).
Other stuff you may like: 13 achievements
The Verdict: B+ ( Very good )

About my reviews

Official site: Limbo

Introduction
My disasterous attempt at becoming an operational wargame mastermind went down in flames, so I decided to search my virtual pile of holiday Steam purchases for something different - something that  wouldn't take a month to play through, because I want to get back on the wargaming saddle (I may have lost the battle but I'm not ready to concede the war). Besides, I thought it was about time that I played a game that isn't from Matrix or Slitherine!

I chose the well-received puzzle-platformer Limbo. Some online discussions have compared this game to another indie puzzler, Braid. Both make use of creative puzzles and have a unique atmosphere, but Limbo wins this battle hands-down in my book. While Braid's puzzles were more challenging, the atmosphere of Limbo was much more powerful, tapping into emotions untouched by most games.

Getting Started
There isn't a manual or tutorial for Limbo because there are only two actions in the game; the arrow keys for moving and jumping, along with the control key to perform an action. The only way to know this is to navigate to the OptionsàControls menu. Where I learned that an X-Box controller will also work. It would have been nice for the opening scene of the game to introduce the controls to the player, but perhaps this would have broken the immersion into the dark, bleak world that is Limbo.

Note: If you edit the settings.txt file it appears like you can change the key bindings, along with some other options. I haven't tried this, so attempt at your own risk and backup the original.

Game Play
A game review shouldn't reveal too much about the story or other aspects of the game that are more fun to discover on your own. While I do present some limited information about the setting, my goal is to remain vague enough so each player can discover the world for him or herself. I'd like to know if I've spoiled anything for you, so I can right the balance.

The opening scene consists of our protagonist waking in the middle of a forest, his bright eyes the only sign of life. Was the Boy sleeping or hurt? We will never know because there isn't any dialog or story per say. I'm usually not a fan of artsy presentations that leave the story to the user (or watcher in the case of a movie), but it really works here. Limbo immediately invoked a feeling of desolation. The scene wouldn't have been as powerful if the Boy started the game in a conscious state. The Boy; the trees; the wind. Alone.

Alone

Gameplay consists of navigating the world of Limbo; running, climbing, and moving objects. Objects that can be manipulated are usually obvious, with no need to pixel hunt. The puzzles start off quite simply, and ramp up slowly. Sometimes I think a bit too slowly as I completed about 15 of the 40 chapters without much of a struggle. I'm not going to reveal the types of puzzles here because I think they are better discovered. On the occasion you do meet your doom, I've found that play typically resumes fairly close to the point of failure. You can explore without being paranoid that you will have to replay the last 30 minutes again (and again). Once in a while it helps to have moderately quick reflexes, but needn't have a strong twitch muscle to enjoy the game.

Difficulty
The internet is both a blessing and a curse. When I was in high school, it would sometimes take days to solve a particularly troublesome puzzle in King's Quest. My friend and I would deliberate in social studies about how to get past some of the obstacles. Sometimes it would be quite frustrating to make such halting progress, but there was a huge sense of elation when the problem was solved. I have to admit there were two places I mined the rich deposit of gaming knowledge the internet provides to continue my journey through Limbo. The first time I kicked myself because I should have seen the solution. The second time I'm not sure I would have solved it within a reasonable amount of time. That being said, none of the puzzles were unfair. Resist the urge for immediate answers as long as you can.


Graphics and Sound
Limbo is a bleak, gritty world. The graphics are grayscale, but that only adds to the immersive quality. Is the film-grain effect used to make the player feel watched? I felt like there was a presence observing my trials, but unwilling to offer a hand. Little touches, such as the dust and dirt the Boy kicks up as he runs buffs the visual presentation to a pleasant sheen. Audio is used sparingly, thus adding to the sense of desolation. The selective use of audio always enhances the gameplay and never distracts from it. The later environments didn't invoke the same sense of creepiness as the opening chapters and just didn't seem as inspired, but overall I have no complaints.

Perhaps it is the parent in me, but I imagine the protagonist being my son. I want to help him move forward, hoping that he'll make it out of this miserable world. While my son sleeps peacefully upstairs, I pause to listen to his breathing for a little comfort before urging the Boy to continue. Despite my unease, the Boy's courage never falters, but I feel he is being brave only out of necessity. Kudos to Playdead for creating this immersive environment that has so easily pulled me in.

The game can be quite gruesome, but never seemed gratuitous to me. I found the rag-doll quality of the Boy's lifeless body very disturbing, but in a way that drew me into the game. The violence underscored how unfriendly Limbo is. A fascinating, unfriendly place.

Technical Performance
The game performed flawlessly without any crashes or hiccups. After death, play resumes quickly.
My Specs: Windows 7 64-bit. Intel Core i7 860 @ 2.80 GHz. 8 Gig RAM. ATI Radeon HD 5850.

In The End...
Simple gameplay, moderately challenging puzzles, and a creepy, desolate environment are the main elements of Limbo. Without the artistic direction, Limbo would be a good puzzle-platformer, but the presentation elevates the game to a unique experience I can whole-heartedly recommend. The persistent gamer can finish this bite-sized morsel of gaming goodness in one helping. When compared to other games, Limbo may not be the best value unless you get it on sale, but compared to other entertainment, such as movies, it holds up well. If all of the chapters drew me in as much as the early game the score would be higher, but as it stands it is still very good.

Score: B+ (Very good)

Battle Academy: Review

Version Reviewed: 1.7.0
What I like: Deep combat, extra objectives for skilled players, abundant content.
Not So Much: Many unit details and combat variables are hidden.
Other stuff you may like: Very moddable. Slitherine play by email system.
The Verdict: B+   (Very Good)


About my reviews

Official site: Battle Academy

Introduction
After gorging myself on some lightweight strategy games during the Steam holiday sales (like Swords and Soldiers HD, Might and Magic: Clash of Heros, etc...), I've had a hankering for something more serious in the war genre. Battle Academy is a turn-based tactical WWII strategy game where you can command various infantry, tank, transports, etc across a tile based battlefield. For variety, the game has three campaigns covering North Africa, D-Day and the Ardennes. The following review is based on playing all of the Western Desert Campaign and part of the Battle For Normandy.

After not having too much experience with Matrix Games and Slitherine, my last two titles have come from their catalog.  It's just a coincidence - I'm not a shill - I promise!

Getting Started
The first campaign serves as a tutorial mission, walking you through the basics of the game. Pop up messages are used to direct your actions. The mechanics of the game are very simple; click your unit, click the target tile or enemy and, if necessary, click one of the valid commands that pops up. You can control-click to bring up a unit information window and hover over items to get more information. The manual does a pretty good job at introducing the main concepts of the game, but fails to explain many of the underlying mechanics that would be useful while playing. This wouldn't be a problem if the game's UI provided those details, but unfortunately it does not. This doesn't make Battle Academy unplayable by any means, but I prefer to understand how things work beforehand. There are helpful people on the forums to answer questions, but an informative UI would be much better.

Game Play
Each scenario starts with a brief comic-book style introduction, describing the scenario and what to expect. This is followed by a force selection screen which shows your allotted units and where extra units are usually available for purchase to customize the variety of troops you will command in this scenario. There isn't a core group of units to carry over from one scenario to the next. Although in one of the expansions, you can carry units through the campaign. This is neither here nor there though since we are playing the base game right now.

After your forces are selected, the game proceeds to the briefing map which displays an overhead view, accompanied by the objectives. This does add some flavor to the process as you can imagine standing around a table looking over the map with your commanding officers. Victory conditions involve capturing or holding victory locations. Additional achievements are given for tasks such as losing less then a certain number of units, killing at least 'x' enemy units, destroying all enemy units of a certain type, and/or keeping the enemy from advancing beyond a certain point. Some of these achievements have time constraints for added pressure. The optional achievements creates a pretty good system for making the scenarios beatable for less-skilled players, but more challenging for those up to the task. In other games, I'm not fond of having to replay scenarios many times to play the full game. I can choose to replay to get all the achievements (now or later), or I can move on.

I do think it would make more sense to have the force selection screen after seeing the objectives. If you are expecting to encounter a Tiger, you might want to bring extra big guns to take it out.

What are our objectives General?

I Said Jump Soldier!
Now we get to the meat and potatoes. As one would expect, each unit uses an appropriate movement rate and method (such as walking for infantry or tracked for tanks). The movement rate is determined by the amount of action points (AP) the unit has, and it's method determines the cost in AP to enter each type of terrain tile. While a wheeled unit is faster on open roads, it can't enter rough terrain. Before giving the move order you can review the AP cost. Overall the system works, giving each unit an appropriate feel. For additional control, units can be ordered to hunt, which costs more AP, but avoids the movement accuracy penalty applied to shooting and makes the unit harder to spot.

I Can See You, Can You See Me? 
Line of sight (LOS) is handled in a typical manner: each unit has a spotting range, and certain terrains, like forests or buildings, interrupt the LOS. Some terrain allows infantry to hide in an effort to ambush oncoming enemies. However, Battle Academy adds an interesting twist: only infantry can spot these units in hiding, and only when adjacent to that tile. This makes infantry very valuable because without their support, your high powered tanks will be reduced to rubble by satchel charge- carrying, bazooka-toting enemies. Specialized scout infantry are available in some scenarios, which have the ability to detect potential ambushes from two tiles away. Also, units on hills don't give away their location to those below until they fire, so take that high ground!

Be Afraid, Very Afraid.
It is hard for a wargame to be taken seriously if there isn't any representation of morale, and Battle Academy executes this well. In the game, as I expect in real life (I've never been a soldier), shooting at a unit decreases its morale - a lot if it actually kills a member of the squad. Even a shot at a tank that deflects off of the armor tests the courage of those inside. Once the morale of a unit drops below the 1st threshold, it is suppressed and loses its ability to initiate an attack. Dropping below the 2nd threshold causes the unit to surrender to any adjacent unit that attacks it. Once things really go to hell, the unit will just rout. Since there doesn’t seem to be a limit to the number of times a unit can retreat within a single turn, hunting the enemy down can feel like whack-a-mole (I thank Troy Goodfellow at Flash of Steel for that expression when he was describing Hegemony Philip of Macedon). The retreating never gets out of hand but is sometimes slightly annoying.

Learning From Your Experiences.
As units inflict casualties, their experience increases. Veteran units have increased morale, while Elite units further improve their moral and can obtain new skills - such as a sniper shot that automatically kills one member of an enemy squad. With increased morale, these experienced troops can better withstand the stresses of combat before succumbing to their fear. Experience would have a greater impact if units could be carried from scenario to scenario, but still has a noticeable effect in longer scenarios where there is more time to level up and additional enemies to attack.

Combat!
Combat is the heart of any tactical wargame, and Slitherine's engine doesn't disappoint. The factors are logical and detailed. Units are rated for hard attack (vs armored units), soft attack (vs non-armored units), and armor (defense vs hard attacks). The hard attack is actually based on several factors: (1) minimum & maximum damage rolls (2) the accuracy at different distances (3) the ability to penetrate armor at different distances. Likewise, the soft attack is determined from factors 1 & 2. The armor is rated differently for the front, sides, and rear. Try to avoid the heavy armor in the front of some tanks by attacking from the sides or rear.

Before engaging the enemy, your unit must navigate close enough so they are within their weapon's range. They must survive possible attacks of opportunity by the enemy as they approach. If the target or their allies saved shots from the prior turn, your unit may be in for quite a surprise. All units get at least one attack of opportunity so there is never a free ride. Increase the odds of remaining undetected by approaching from the sides or rear.

The unit's attack may be effected by several other factors once an attack is initiated.

1. The attacker's movement reduces accuracy, unless the unit was hunting. Some units are better on the move then others. 
2. A unit at less then full strength doesn't have 100% of its firepower.
3. A defender may receive some protection from the terrain they occupy, further reducing the damage taken. Each type of terrain is rated for the amount of cover provided, with a reduced amount if the occupying unit was on the move.
4. Inflict extra damage if the target was suppressed.
5. Attackers with grenades get an extra bonus.
6. Some vulnerable units, like an unarmored truck take extra damage due to a soft defense penalty.
7. Agile targets are harder to hit when they are on the move.
8. Small targets are more difficult to hit.

All of the above factors (and probably more) are combined to produce an effective attack number. For unarmored targets, this is the chance the attack will kill one member of its squad. For each remaining squad member reduce the chance by 50% and check for a kill again, applying an additional 50% reduction for each man. An additional step is required for armored targets - check to see if the attack was powerful enough to penetrate the armor. If an attack hits a vehicle but can't penetrate the armor, the vehicle won't be destroyed but it will still rattle the crew inside. Sometimes lowering a powerful unit's morale enough to make a safe approach is worth the effort.

Normally, infantry attacks vs. armored units are ineffective, but some infantry units, such as engineers, carry satchel charges. If they can manage to get adjacent to an armored unit chances are pretty good that armor will no longer be a threat.

Transports can expedite infantry and equipment movement to the front (or back if scrambling to defend a victory location). Off-screen assets provide additional firepower via artillery strikes, bombing runs, etc... Unfortunately there isn't detailed in-game info describing their potential damage. Artillery shelling does cause a sense of dread as hell rains down from above. It is much better to give then receive for sure. I was waiting on the edge of my seat to see which of my units would survive.

Lack of Communication
Slitherine decided to limit the amount of data communicated in the user interface (UI), to create a  game more inviting to players new to the genre. This is a mistake in my opinion. I found the lack of information frustrating, decreasing my enjoyment of the game. As mentioned earlier, the forum was helpful in this regard but isn't a replacement for an informative UI (I was spoiled by Unity of Command). The motivated player can look at the scripts to determine exactly what is used by the combat engine (which I did), but it was some work. According to the forums, Slitherine is entertaining the option of adding more advanced information to the UI. This is needed to take the series to the next level.

The unit information card only displays single numbers for the attack and defense ratings. The detailed information described above is hidden. There is no way to see how much your attack is reduced as range increases, or how much armor is on the front of a tank. When issuing the attack command, a basic effective attack number is displayed, but there generally isn't any information describing why it is reduced from the unit's attack value. The cover rating displayed for terrain is an average for the minimum and maximum provided. There is no indication of the benefit of remaining stationary vs moving. Agile units may benefit from being on the move, but there isn't a way to tell. Would players appreciate this info (and more!) being easily available within the game? I think so.

The game displays limited unit data

AI & Difficulty
I never really thought, 'boy that was dumb' when the AI was taking its turn. I'm not sure how much of that is due to good scenario design and initial unit placement, or if the AI plays a good game. Getting a victory during the scenarios usually wasn't that difficult, but obtaining the extra achievements does provide enough challenge to make it interesting. I was worried after the first several scenarios that the game was going to be too easy, but that wasn't the case. Thumbs up for providing a decent AI which doesn't cheat or get bonuses. I always appreciate a game more when it can be challenging without cheating.

Update 1/29/2012: During the Battle For Normandy - Holding the Line, I observed my first AI blunder. On the last turn the Germans could have captured a victory location, stealing my victory. Even though the unit was adjacent to the victory location it remained stationary and conceeded the victory.

Update: 2/15/2012: There is an Easy Mode option on the Load Game screen. I missed it during my review. I originally stated that there were not any difficulty settings.

Graphics and Sound
While I never thought wow, the game is gorgeous, the graphics were pleasant to look at and easy to interpret. Units had enough detail to distinguish the different types, terrain was identifiable, etc. The look of the game never interfered with the gameplay. I'm not fond of the comic-book style for the cut scenes, but I do think it matched the overall style of the game. The usual accompaniment of music was present and perhaps a bit repetitive, but it never drove me crazy. Sound effects were pretty good and were used to give meaningful feedback (Hey there is yelling coming from the house when I shoot at it!).

Looks pretty good.

As you can see there are helpful icons to provide some contextual information. Notice the '?' above the tent? That is a reminder that enemy infantry may be there but undetected.

Et Cetera
Battle Academy offers multi-player via Slitherine's play by email servers. A player can either create a game for another player to accept, or join an open challenge. From what I have read it is a pretty good system, but I don't really play multi-player games much so I can't offer a first hand experience. It seems inviting enough that I may actually try it sometime.

Modding support is pretty extensive in Battle Academy. The game includes an editor, allowing the player to create scenarios and campaigns. It doesn't stop there as the unit data is stored in a text file for easy editing. An advanced modder can take it even one more step and alter the game's combat rules, add extra orders or even customize the game's tool tips (see Modding Battle Academy Tool Tips). Slitherine even provides some modding documentation online. User-created scenarios are actually available for download within the game. As I said, modding support is very extensive.

Slitherine continues to support Battle Academy and so far has three expansions. If you end up being a fan of the game you have more options to continue your experience. As I mentioned previously, at least the latest expansion adds new features, like keeping core units as you progress through the campaign.

Technical Performance
The game performed flawlessly without any crashes or hiccups. The AI turns don't take long to resolve, perhaps 30 to 45 seconds if there is combat. I have no complaints along the technical front. It isn't like the game is going to tax your graphics adapter.

My Specs: Windows 7 64-bit. Intel Core i7 860 @ 2.80 GHz. 8 Gig RAM. ATI Radeon HD 5850.

In The End...
Overall I'm having fun with Battle Academy. Movement, line of sight, and morale, along with detailed combat factors make for interesting battles. Unfortunately the UI shrouds many of the details even though the easy-to-mod data files and scripts offer up all of the juicy bits. This lack of information is the biggest drawback for me. The scenarios provide enough of a challenge for victory with the option to try for more difficult achievements, accommodating a variety of skill levels. Ambushes and bombardments keep the tension up as you fear for the virtual soldiers traversing the open ground. Expansions, user-created content, and multi-player options should extend the game's shelf life.

Score: B+ (Very Good)

About My Reviews

I try to choose games that I believe I will enjoy. This will probably lead to more positive reviews then negative ones. When possible I usually try a demo before I play the game in full. Don't worry though, I won't hesitate to mention the negatives about a game and if I don't like a game the score will reflect that.When I receive a review copy of a game, I will disclose that in my review. These games will receive the same honest review as the ones I purchase. It is possible I will write a review based on a game demo. In that case the review will clearly communicate that it is based on a demo both in the title and within the article.

Sometimes I will write the review before 'completing' the game or beating all of the scenarios. The review will clearly communicate how much of the game I played. The review may get updated if my impressions change after playing more. I will try to do this at the end of the review so it is clear where my original review ends and the update begins.

My review scores are on a 1-10 scale and no part of the scale is off limits. A 5 or 6 is an average game, not a poor one. Perhaps I wish I didn't spend money on it to play it if there are better games available, but I had some fun and it wasn't a loss. To avoid confusion here is a scale using several different terms:

10     A+      Best of the best
 9     A       Excellent
 8     B+      Very good
 7     B       Good
 6     C+      Better then average
 5     C       Average
 4     D+      Below average
 3     D       Poor
 2     F       Bad
 1     F       Horrible 

Hopefully I will give enough details within the review to give the reader enough information to decide whether they may like the game more or less then my score reflects. There are plenty of well rated games that I just didn't enjoy (I'm looking at you Torchlight).

I believe many reviews don't give enough details about the game play itself anymore, and I want my reviews to improve upon that. So my reviews may be a bit more 'fact-based' and contain less one-liners then some reviews. Feel free to comment if you believe I have taken it too far, or just to let me know if I struck the right balance. In the end I want my reviews to be useful to other players.

Battle Academy: Modding in some tooltips

I think my biggest complaint about Battle Academy is the lack of transparency reguarding how combat works. There are many aspects where the player gets an idea that they matter, but there is no feedback to let the user know how much (such as how distance from the target affects damage). Attack a soft target and the tool tip displays a number for the effective damage. Well , what does that number mean and how is it used? No idea, until some of the helpful forum members answered some questions and pointed me in the right direction of the scripts. I then discovered there are many factors that go into calculating the damage and I decided to add them into the tool tip that appears when initiating combat. This is what it looks like:

Much of the data used for the calculation comes from the Squads.xls or the Squads.csv file (not sure which is used). This is how the potential damage is calculated for this attack.

1. Each unit has a range of damage that it can cause when attacking a soft target (see HE Damage Range).
2. The distance is the number of tiles the attacker is from the target.
3. The distance is used to get the accuracy of the attacker at that range. Each unit is rated for accuracy at 1 tile, 2 tiles, 3 to 4 tiles, 5 to 6 tiles, and 7+ tiles, along with their max range.
4. If the attacker was moving (without using the hunt command) a penalty is applied to the accuracy. This movement penalty is also stored in the squads data file.
5. The defender can reduce damage taken based on the terrain he is in. Each type of terrain is given a cover rating that specifies what percentage of the damage is taken. This is affected by whether the target unit was moving or stationary.
6. Units can be given a penalty if they are the target of an HE attack. It looks like infantry does not get this penalty.

The damage % used after modifiers displays what percentage of the damage will be used for the final damage of the attack. In this case, if the unmodified damage was 60, the defender would only take 7% of that damage. That is a pretty big reduction, with an end result of 4. Now how is the 4 used? That is a good question and can also be found in the scripts. Basically it is the percent chance to kill the first man in the target unit. The second man gets half this chance and so on until each man in the target unit is checked. There are other factors I haven't covered, but that is the general gist of it.


Edit:
I decided to add a tool tip for terrain cover too. Did you know that the terrain has different cover values for if the occupying unit is moving or not moving? The default tool tip shows an average of the two values. This example shows these values.

It is a shame that the designers crafted such an elaborate system and keep the players blind to its sophistication. Yes, Battle Academy tries to bring non-hardcore players into the fold, but I think the lack of information presented by the UI and documentation actually makes the game more confusing.

Edit: 1/31/2012----The modded files were added to the Matrix forums at: Tooltip mod files

Battle Academy: Western Desert Campagin - Capture the Fort

Well, after trying the demo I took the plunge and purchased Battle Academy. I had my hesitations about the purchase because in my opinion too many of the mechanics and data are hidden from the user. Since I am learning the game it might help others learn the game too if I wrote up an AAR. A review will come later after I had the chance to spend a significant amount of time with the game. Since this is a pretty simple mission I'm sure nobody will need this AAR to help them achieve victory, but it may give you a taste for what the game entails.

Briefing
A Brittish convoy is used to lure the Italian forces out of their fortress and into an ambush. We must ambush the Italian attack and then take control of the fortress. The three extra achievements are:
1) Don't lose any units.
2) Kill at least 10 enemy units.
3) Control all objectives within 12 turns.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it.

Initial Deployment

Turn 1
Units on the tops of hills aren't visible to units below until they give away their position by firing, so the Matilda tanks will wait to ambush the Italian forces. The Matildas were positioned to face the road coming from the fortress to the east and ordered to hold their fire. Now the tanks should surprise the Italians and attack them from close range. Note: The terrain isn't too varied in this mission, but different terrain can provide different amounts of cover. They can also cost a different amount of action points to move through depending on the unit type. You can see the cover value in the terrain tooltip and the action point cost when issuing the move command.

Tanks are in position

Turn 3
The Italians stumbled into the ambush and two of the three CV33s were destroyed. CV33s are very lightly armored tanks with fairly weak guns. The Matilda's penetrate their armor if they can hit them. The Matildas didn't have a great chance to hit the 3rd CV33 because there was a small target penelty and a target agility penelty. These two penelties are based on data for the target unit (CV33) and reduce the Matilda's effective armor piercing (AP) rating used to attack armored targets. This is an example of the lack of transparency into the rules of the game. These penelties are not explained anywhere in the documentation or the UI. These penelties are defined in the Squad.csv file for each unit and reduced the Matilda's first shot only have an 18% chance to hit. Luckily this improves by 10% for each attempted shot. All three tanks failed to take out the remaining CV33, but he turned tail and fled during his movement. One Matilda took this opportunity to destroy it from the rear.

After the ambush
Command informed me that two squads of infantry transported in Bren Carriers were coming to assist me in gaining control of the fort. They advanced closer to my current position.

Help from some infantry

Surprise (not so much)
The rough terrain flanking the path to the fort looked like the perfect place to hide some infantry for an ambush. The Bren Carriers were ordered up to the front to deplot the infantry. Infantry can spot units in adjacent tiles that are hidden, while tanks can not. Before the infantry  were deployed the Matildas fired on the potential ambush to possibly suppress the hidden infantry.

Sneaky Italians

Note: Before this I was informed that I had an available artillery strike, but I didn't use it because I wasn't aware I was going to get another after 4 turns. I saved it for the assault on the fort. On my second playthrough I used it here and it helped to get through this ambush more quickly to achieve the 12 turn achievement.

After some additional softening up from fire from my units, the infantry moved adjacent to the enemy positions and made an assault. The first one successed, but the second failed even though the chance of success was 93%! That's random numbers for you.

The Fort
I ordered the artillery strike on the fort and did visible damage. I also received a message about a retreating unit. I'm not sure how I was supposed to know he was retreating because I didn't even know he was there.

After this I forgot to take screen shots, so I will sum this up pretty quickly. Two more CV33s came out to attack and were disposed of quickly by the Matildas. One by opportunity fire and the other during my turn. I used the same technique of firing shots into the towers and tents to suppress potential enemies, then moved the infantry in to ambush the positions. They took them with ease and command was happy, ending the mission.

We didn't lose any units and killed 10, so we got the first two extra objectives. On my first play through I didn't complete the mission within 12 turns, mainly because I didn't use my artillery strike to soften up the ambush point and got a little bogged down. I played through again and was able to gain the last achievement.