ZehDon ZehDon

Supreme Commander II Dated: March 2, 2010

Supreme Commander II Dated: March 2, 2010

http://pc.ign.com/articles/104/1047731p1.html

I'm beginning my offical wait here and now. The original still gets a decent serving on my game rotation list, hopefully the second one will live up to the legacy. Having said that, I still can't help but feel a little worried that they might have tonned down the scale for the second one, nothing I've seen so far matches the scope of the original game.

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Reply #51 Top

supcom is getting dumbed down, quite obviously
End of quote
There are two things that have been "dumbed down" (in your sense) in Supreme Commander 2.

The economy system: this change was made to generally appeal to a greater audience for both systems, not because of the 360 version. Furthermore, the economy will probably still be more difficult to manage than in other games, but it's now more intuitive to use for more people.

The research system: tech levels are gone, but we have research facilities and research trees now, a little bit similar to Demigod. Research points are earned through investing resources or through fighting. This is also something that is "more popular" in strategy games and thus may appeal to a larger audience. But the research system might also add some new depth to the game, or simply let it play different, neither of which is a bad thing.

 

Anyway, other than that, Supreme Commander 2 on the PC is still in its full glory, with massive amounts of units, strategic zoom, simulation, ridiculous units + better graphics, incredibly detailed maps and far better performance, including optimizations like the flow field system.

Reply #52 Top

i pointed out on no less than 2 occasions that the supcom 2 changes arent related to the 360 ;)

i dont see how you can say the graphics are better. quite frankly i think they look like shit. graphics dont make a game of course and im really hoping to love it, but those eco and upgrade changes are a HUGE deal for me, and (as youre no doubt aware) other FA fans as well.

oh, and lets not forget about the fewer number of units. i mean, have we seen anything other than that god-awful ugly mantis equivalent? im sure there'll be others but since CT plans to have 1 unit until the end of the game it makes for pretty bland armies.

we'll find out everything in march obviously but as ive said many times on the GPG forums, this FA fan is still waiting to be "wowed" by something in supcom 2. tick tock.

Reply #53 Top

i pointed out on no less than 2 occasions that the supcom 2 changes arent related to the 360
End of quote
At one point you said "the lack of big maps/heaps of units". There are big maps, and there still will be hundreds of units on the battlefield. Due to the performance optimizations, the maximum (unmodded) unit could probably be raised again (during the beta of Supreme Commander it even was at 10000 at one point ;)).

The second occasion was your comment about the economy, which I addressed.

 

i dont see how you can say the graphics are better. quite frankly i think they look like shit.
End of quote
Hm, I think you have to give some examples why you would think that it looks like shit. The maps are way more detailed now, the units have more texture and more importantly better shader detail and better lighting and better shadowing. Polygon detail has (supposedly) been decreased to give better performance on the PC and the 360.

 

but those eco and upgrade changes are a HUGE deal for me, and (as youre no doubt aware) other FA fans as well.
End of quote
Yes, I am aware of that. But for me the most important things of Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander always were the simulation (especially the simulation) the big wars with large amounts of units, units with such raw power, that really let you feel that an actual war is going on and not those little pretend skirmishes in other strategy games. And the generall "limitlessness". Everything else is just... peripheral to me, so to speak (well not entirely of course, I am still worried about the economy changes or some aspects of it).

 

oh, and lets not forget about the fewer number of units
End of quote
This is a direct effect of the tech change. You don't have tech levels more, so in general you'll be seeing only a third of the different units of Supreme Commander 2. However, that it not the case, since we still do have some kind of tech level system in Supreme Commander 2. The regular units, the minor expirementals and the major experimentals. Anyway, in Supreme Commander/Forged Alliance, only a few lower tier units did matter later in the game. In Supreme Commander 2 Chris Taylor's goal is to make a tank that you built in the beginning of the game just as important in late game. All this is done to improve the game and make it more fun, it's not "dumbed down".

 

i mean, have we seen anything other than that god-awful ugly mantis equivalent?
End of quote
Well, yeah, especially lately. Lots of new screen shots and videos. The Mantis equivalent certainly is not the only unit we have seen so far ;).

Reply #54 Top

Quoting Spooky__, reply 53

i pointed out on no less than 2 occasions that the supcom 2 changes arent related to the 360At one point you said "the lack of big maps/heaps of units". There are big maps, and there still will be hundreds of units on the battlefield. Due to the performance optimizations, the maximum (unmodded) unit could probably be raised again (during the beta of Supreme Commander it even was at 10000 at one point ).
End of Spooky__'s quote

actually, what i said was that there were definitely things to worry about in supcom 2, but the lack of huge maps or lots of units will not be one of them ;)


The second occasion was your comment about the economy, which I addressed.

Quoting Spooky__, reply 53


Hm, I think you have to give some examples why you would think that it looks like shit. The maps are way more detailed now, the units have more texture and more importantly better shader detail and better lighting and better shadowing. Polygon detail has (supposedly) been decreased to give better performance on the PC and the 360.
End of Spooky__'s quote


well, the entire cybran faction for starters. been beaten with the ugly stick. and shall we continue the debate of the skinny-leg ACUs here? ;) 
 
Quoting Spooky__, reply 53

Yes, I am aware of that. But for me the most important things of Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander always were the simulation (especially the simulation) the big wars with large amounts of units, units with such raw power, that really let you feel that an actual war is going on and not those little pretend skirmishes in other strategy games. And the generall "limitlessness". Everything else is just... peripheral to me, so to speak (well not entirely of course, I am still worried about the economy changes or some aspects of it).
End of Spooky__'s quote


yeah, i agree too. i wouldnt even bother posting about supreme commander if they were removing the simulation aspect. 
 

Quoting Spooky__, reply 53

This is a direct effect of the tech change. You don't have tech levels more, so in general you'll be seeing only a third of the different units of Supreme Commander 2. However, that it not the case, since we still do have some kind of tech level system in Supreme Commander 2. The regular units, the minor expirementals and the major experimentals. Anyway, in Supreme Commander/Forged Alliance, only a few lower tier units did matter later in the game. In Supreme Commander 2 Chris Taylor's goal is to make a tank that you built in the beginning of the game just as important in late game. All this is done to improve the game and make it more fun, it's not "dumbed down".
End of Spooky__'s quote

well, as i have posted about before, i still disagree on the sentiment that lower tier units became useless. sure, on some maps this might be the case, but for most of the 5 or 10 maps i was building mantis til the end of the game. i loved the lack of an upgrade system in supcom. i mean really loved it. i think the change is a huge step backwards and the idea of units upgrading instantly across the map is a terrible idea imo. but again we shall see.

Quoting Spooky__, reply 53

Well, yeah, especially lately. Lots of new screen shots and videos. The Mantis equivalent certainly is not the only unit we have seen so far .
End of Spooky__'s quote

could you do a lazy man a favour and link us some cybran shots? coz all ive seen thus far are that ugly insect thing and the odd experimental (and im in the camp that says making a bajillion experimentals really detracts from the specialness that tier was meant to represent).

-pkc out.

Reply #55 Top

well, the entire cybran faction for starters. been beaten with the ugly stick. and shall we continue the debate of the skinny-leg ACUs here?
End of quote
Ah, so you actually mean that you don't like the designs. Well this is personal taste obviously, I was talking about graphics quality from a technical point of view. And so far I like most of the units in Supreme Commander 2, for the record ;). The Cybran ACU looks awesome for example. I do agree that the UEF ACU looks off, but not because of the legs. The upper body, including the tiny head has proportions that you see in cartoons usually. I also didn't like the hand in the beginning, but now that we have seen all the factions' ACUs, I like the diversity that is going on here.

 

could you do a lazy man a favour and link us some cybran shots?
End of quote
Sure ;). I'll just post links to most of the recent stuff that has been released. First of all some high quality screenshots. Then we have some new videos like this presentation, in which you can spot the Cybran ACU for example:

Imho that looks badass (and kind of like a Bushwacker from Battletech, which I also like ;)) and more importantly very different from Forged Alliance.

There is also this extended teaser trailer with some in-game footage and short introduction videos for experimentals:

Reply #56 Top

thanks for the info spooky, watching now (ive been offline for a few weeks so kinda behind). there's definitely some cool stuff in there, i liked the way one of those teleporting devices could be used by the enemy.

but in all the screenshots i can find only 2 cybran lower tier units. i know everyone loves the experimentals but i always preferred the silly number of regular units to play with. i hope there's still more of the regular units to be shown :/

Reply #57 Top

Every faction will have a basic tank, artillery and AA land unit. And more of course. In the screenshots I posted above you can see the basic Mantis counterpart unit, an AA unit and some other unit, maybe artillery or a unit with special abilities, possibly. There are also two more unidentified units from earlier screenshots, but it's hard to tell anything from those.

Reply #58 Top

Quoting Ron, reply 17

If you played more, you'd realize that's really false.
End of Ron's quote

I played a lot, don't you worry ;).

The most obvious difference lies in the teir 2 tactical missile launchers, but there are differences up and down the line. Most of those differences are stat rather than role driven, but even there you get differences.  For example, an Aeon artillery barrage is fairly accurate where a cybran artillery barrage does massive damage to a wide area... if you can hit the broad side of a barn.  Aeon's 'anti-group' weaponry is it's PD (which has a relatively wide area of effect) as a result, while artillery does massive damage, while Cybran's rely on pin-point accuracy with their PD, with their artillery taking on the anti-group role.
End of quote

I would say that the biggest differences were in Experimentals, but sadly not too many games reached that point. Artillery wasn't SO different as you might think. Basically you built shields, AA MK3s and a couple (or one if you were poor) artillery batteries, and nuke the opponent for some time. In the end the effect of batteries was the same. PDs, everyone knows that Aeon's were good against slow & strong units, Cybran - small and numerous, UEF - everything. So yeah, there are differences and they play a role in the game, but too often either the differences are too small (T2 mobile AA, T2 TML, T3 spy...), or there is too much imbalance (Restorers vs. the rest). What you don't seem to understand is not the plain difference of units (which quite often is only 200 DPS vs. 210 DPS), but their performance in the game. Sure, playing as Cybran you will have different strategy when playing as Aeon, but in the end the difference is negligible - think for example about T3 spies. They have different amount of Health, fuel capacity, sonar presence, etc. But in the end they only work as suicide planes that will give you an insight into enemy's plans (by scouting his base).

You also get the high-end units, where one might have a tactical missile defense, another has shields, and another can reclaim / repair.
End of quote

Reclaim of Harbingers is a laugh, as you won't use it often due to it's poor efficiency (3/5 of T1). Shield - in theory - are awesome. Fight -> Fall back -> Restore shields -> Come back for some more. In practice, however, you fight till you die, as if you are constantly retreating you are losing units when the enemy shoots in your back - you treat your units as expandable warriors, due to sheer number of them; you won't macro your ass off, just to get a few units back to full shields - it's a game of a bigger scale. In the mid-game (when T2 TMs rule) most players know to cover their bases with TMDs - the only way to use TMs effectively is to catch your opponent with his pants down. In the late-game on the other hand, T2MLs die too fast (and shoot to slow) to be a threat to approaching army. That said, Loyalist's anti-TM is rarely used (not even mentioning the plasma blast which is nearly useless).

And, the most incredibly obvious item, the Cybran have a heavy stealth outlook rather than shields (lack of mobile shields, but have mobile stealth; no T3 shield facility; T2 shields are distinctly inferior in a number of ways to other races).
End of quote


Yeah, they tried to make Cybran units sneaky bastards, but they failed pretty much, imho. Cloaking is of course used in some games, but shields (all together) are much more important than cloaking. Due to this fact, Cybrans suffer quite much.

The differences are not negliable... they only look that way.
End of quote

I would say it like this: at first units feel VERY similar. After some inspection, you realize that there are quite a few differences. Alas, in the the end, all the differences are normalized in the real battle.

What I would like GPG to realize, is the fact that this games is of a great scale. That means that people shouldn't care about +/- 5 DPS and some super sneaky tactics. Sure, implement a few units that have special abilities, but make those abilities USEFUL and DISTINCTIVE. Only Cybrans can produce drone carriers (flying/land units that command a group of combat drones). Only UEF can build T3 destroyers (other races have to try fight it with T2 dest. or with other T3 units). Only Aeon can build gunships. And so on... Just make 70% of unit types similar (that differentiate as in original SupCom), and 30% units should be unique (race-exclusive).

Reply #59 Top

Quoting ZehDon, reply 25
I have, and I label these children the 'Halo Kids' - however, the PC crowd has their own versions that are vastly more annoying. Look at any of the communities surrounding any Blizzard title for proof of this. PC Gamers are by no stretch of the imagination more mature or more intelligent.
End of ZehDon's quote

Hadnt even got past the first page when I found a truer than ever quote lol

Reply #60 Top

FA >>> Supcom

Reading Reds post was interesting

It should be noted that Supreme Commander did have major problems. The Aeon and Seraphim were too weak. The Aeon had IMBA planes (The Mercy and T3 AA Gunship) that made them powerful intially and worth using but the mercy was quickly nerfed and the slow speed, fire rate and crap health of the T1 Aeon tanks was quickly realised. The Seraphim tank was better than the Aeon tank yet slower and lower health then the other two factions. The Aeon were also let down by their miserable T2 p.d. Aeons was slow and often wasted its shots firing on one target if grouped and their T2 Blaze tank was a pathetic excuse for a hover tank. Give the time it took to build the Seraphim T2s (who didnt have a T2 sheild) they quickly fell behind. T3/4, the Seraphim were lacking a fast enough T3 and had no T3 gunship. The Aeon has the Galactic Collusus which was almost double the price of the ML and better by a hairs breadth.

The Cybran had fast tanks with fast fire rates and arty that missed a lot but had a decent fire rate (making it good for shooting dancing commanders) but were seriously let down by their T2 which would be promptly stomped by a charge of UEF T2 Pillar tanks. Of course late game their lack of a direct T4 let down the UEF but since most games never got that far fear of the Cybran Monsters was often avoided

Oh and the Tactical Missiles werent often that big a deal. You either got that once in a lifetime shot with 3 missiles or you didnt.

Anyway SupCom 2 looks good XD

Reply #61 Top

Only Cybrans can produce drone carriers (flying/land units that command a group of combat drones).
End of quote
Things like that go against the principles of TA/SupCom.

Only UEF can build T3 destroyers (other races have to try fight it with T2 dest. or with other T3 units). Only Aeon can build gunships. And so on...
End of quote
These things are already present. It's mostly annoying though. For instance, the Seraphim T3 subs make even the UEF Atlantis, an experimental unit, completely pointless.

And in the early days of SupCom, the UEF Broadsword, the only T3 Gunship, was incredibly overpowered. Faction diversity is not always welcome.

Reply #62 Top

Quoting _Golgoth_, reply 60
FA >>> Supcom

Reading Reds post was interesting

It should be noted that Supreme Commander did have major problems. The Aeon and Seraphim were too weak. The Aeon had IMBA planes (The Mercy and T3 AA Gunship) that made them powerful intially and worth using but the mercy was quickly nerfed and the slow speed, fire rate and crap health of the T1 Aeon tanks was quickly realised. The Seraphim tank was better than the Aeon tank yet slower and lower health then the other two factions. The Aeon were also let down by their miserable T2 p.d. Aeons was slow and often wasted its shots firing on one target if grouped and their T2 Blaze tank was a pathetic excuse for a hover tank. Give the time it took to build the Seraphim T2s (who didnt have a T2 sheild) they quickly fell behind. T3/4, the Seraphim were lacking a fast enough T3 and had no T3 gunship. The Aeon has the Galactic Collusus which was almost double the price of the ML and better by a hairs breadth.

The Cybran had fast tanks with fast fire rates and arty that missed a lot but had a decent fire rate (making it good for shooting dancing commanders) but were seriously let down by their T2 which would be promptly stomped by a charge of UEF T2 Pillar tanks. Of course late game their lack of a direct T4 let down the UEF but since most games never got that far fear of the Cybran Monsters was often avoided

Oh and the Tactical Missiles werent often that big a deal. You either got that once in a lifetime shot with 3 missiles or you didnt.

Anyway SupCom 2 looks good
End of _Golgoth_'s quote

  Sorry champ, but most of this is pretty horribly wrong ;)

1.     Seraphim are the only faction that are too weak.

2.     The aeon t1 tank is arguably the best t1 tank, certainly according to the opinion of most top players

3.     The cybran have the worst T2 point defence, and the aeon one has decent splash

4.     The medusa is easily the worst t1 arty for shooting dancing commanders (unless you have so many of them its ridiculous)

5.     Cybran T2 is awesome, and the wagner easily matches up against the pillar

 

Aeon are simply harder to use well.

Reply #64 Top

Collection of all recently released videos and screenshots:

Videos:



Screenshots:

Reply #65 Top

I reckon there should be some community patch that implements a T3 Gunship for the Seraphim and changes the turret turn rate of their T1 tanks and maybe give them more damage or health. That would change them around a lot.

Oh and make their damn SAMs like everyone elses and extend the range of their T3 tanks ^^

Reply #66 Top

Gamestar reported, that Square Enix publicly announced the release date of Supreme Commander 2 in Europe: March 5th.


Also check out the new screenshots that were released together with this announcement.