A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

A nod to Panzerbob for getting me playing this way.

If you haven't try switching off the hex grid & unit ID flags (optional)
It no longer looks like a computer game but resembles very much table top minitures.
With the hi res allowed by the CD the game becomes much more imersive & I swear I was imagening my smoke as little balls of cotton wool at one point:D

The effect it has on play is that you are no longer tempted to waste time counting hexes but must make your best guess at ranges.
Like not wearing a watch starts your inbuilt clock not having hexes soon has you getting a good feel for ranges & of course units with a LOS still know exactly.

It all adds to the fog of war a bit now when an ATGM fires you dont quickly remember 2 hexes up & 1 left of that terrain feature but have to guess. Far more often I have no idea where it came from now.
It stops the unrealistic positioning of units inch perfect to ones that they can't see & to me is just more fun.

The new function of the 5 key does not intrude on the experience but having a toggle for unit ID flags adjacent to it would be nice as switching on just to check you remembered to move that sniper or if several units are involved in hand to hand speeds game play along.
I have been playing this game for a little over 2 years now & what with the updates & general flexibility of the game I am still finding new things & learning.
Long may it continue

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

I played a certain way back in the DOS days but now I'm trying a lot of new things and discovering for the first time the wonderful depth of this game.

I always play with hexsides off. I only have them on when I'm making a map.

I agree that it adds immensely to the immersiveness of the game. And as I said in another post, the high resolutions make it truly gorgeous to look at.

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

Just got a devious idea how much fun it'd be if units "out of contact" had some chance of disappearing from the map unless spotted by other own units :)

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

I never play with Hexes visible.

In PBEM, I play with ID Flags ON: don't wish to make a silly mistake against a human opponent.

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

Just wish I had thought to try it earlier spent a good year & a half before I tried it as it just did not occur to me hence the post.

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

The game is so deep, even if you've been playing for years and regularly check the manual you still miss things. It's good to look around on this forum several times a week. You always find that somebody is using some feature you never knew (or forgot) existed.

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

Sounds like you are having fun, it has occured to me there could be one drawback.
No longer does my girlfriend say " Not that b#$£# game again"
She even bought me WW2 for Xmas
Should I be worried?:)
Kinda wondering if she likes getting me out of her hair.

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

I used the hex grid for about a year then haven't for the last 7-8 years.

For me, the biggest gain is being able to discern the land contours much easier. I also prefer the look and feel.

In a whole game, on average, I may briefly turn on the hex grid once, to try and nail down exactly where MG fire is coming from.

If you use the hex grid, I also recommend you turn it off; it may take a game or two to get used to, but it's worth it...

I also turn off the ID flags, after the deploy phase.

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

AAAHHH the excellence of our game!!!!:D

Does having the hexes on when building maps make it easier?

Bob out:D

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

I think yes & certainly if based on something. If just a regular map might leave off to do hills then switch on to add details

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

Definitely, I would be lost in map-making if they weren't there :) OK, it would be possible, but would be much more messy.

I use hexgrid to create terrain and all important things, like roads, towns, forest boundaries etc., then when the task is to fill surfaces (ie add random bushes, fields, tall grass and other eye candy) I often turn off the grid to have a better feeling for the "aristic impression".
OTOH when playing, I have grid always turned off.

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

Thanks, I will try it the next map I cobble together.

Bob out:D

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

Another thought: "Anonymising" units. For example, in a PBEM, have both players to rename their units so that for example you'll see "T-54/55" instead of say T-54B or T-5AM; "T-72" instead of T-72M or T-72A, have all leg-moving squads bear the name "Infantry" or "Inf Section", smaller units (scouts, FO) "Infantry Team", atgM/Law/RPG/RCL becomes "AT team" and so on and so forth...

Makes you paranoic if you don't know whether that "T-72/ERA" on horizon is T-72AV or T-90 ;)

Just got an idea how it can be implemented OOB-wise, but will have to work (and think) on it for a while.

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

Don't think it would work unless mucked about with info files. You could just select it & right click to see its stats & proper name

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

Not a bad idea. I can agree with the paranoia. A while back my brother and I were playing a FPS with a bunch of bots and he changed his picture and name so it matched one of the bots. I couldn't figure out what the computer had against me until he busted up with laugther at my frustration. Even if someone could right click on it, it would still make things a little intersting.

Re: A diffrent feel, less Eye of god
 

A rouge unit out of contact from its leaders should disappear, might make us all a little more careful about keeping formations a bit tighter.
Good idea! but i hate it!
I get sloppy myself sometimes!:D