Windows Supreme Commander 2 - Let the Hype Begin...

I'm not sure what the general feeling around the bit-tech forums is towards the SupCom games is, or if there are any major fans around here, personally, I'm a big fan of SupCom and particularly Forged Alliance, which I'm still working through. I like the scale and the sheer immenseness of it - it can be bloody stressful, though, but I love that for some bizarre reason!

I've been Googling SupCom2 for a while now and I've pulled together some videos and chat about the new game, which is due for a March release. The new game is supposed to be more character/story driven, which is all well and good, but I'm not sure it will add that much for me.

The map here looks amazing -



Here's a preview of the game on IGN

This video has Chris Taylor working through some of the levels with a German crew, some new footage and units here -



Anyway, I'd love to get a thread going to see what the general feel towards the game is, what we want from it, what we know and whether anyone here is actually going to get it and play it!

Over to you, guys

 

I'll be buying it, but I've had my reservations ever since it was announced that it was going to be released on the 360. Total Annihilation was the game that first got me into RTS, and that along with Supreme Commander define the genre as far as I'm concerned - Command and Conquer doesn't hold a candle to this series. Which is why it slightly concerns me that they've radically changes one of the main gameplay elements, so I can only wait to see how that pans out.

If I'm honest, I didn't really like the old resource system, as although its complexity was what separated the good players from the bad players, if you didn't have your brain switched on it could completely ruin your game, which means it wasn't very accessible or suited to playing for an hour or so at a time. I like that they seem to be focussing more on the combat, but I'd still like to have to manage my resources well in order to win. Still, as long as Chris Taylor's in charge of things I remain optimistic. I actually don't mind that Square Enix is involved either TBH, by all accounts the story mode and FMV sequences are much improved from the first game, as the lackluster story in the first game was one of its major letdowns (although if you ask me the gameplay is far more important than the story in RTS games).

It's a bit annoying that you can't pre-order it on Steam ATM (although AFAIK it's going to require Steamworks for the multiplayer side of things since they dropped Impulse, so retail copies need to be activated on Steam anyway). It's also a little odd that aside from essentially the same gameplay that was shown back at E3 last year, I haven't seen a great deal more information released about the game so far, even though the release is only a couple of weeks away. Ah well, we'll wait and see...

I assume bit will be reviewing this one?

 

I'm pretty sure that they've "wrecked" SupCom2... i remember an interview somewhere stating that the scale isn't going to be the same as the first. Probably because the first game's specs were fairly demanding. Also there was alpha gameplay footage on Gametrailers... and i understand that it's Alpha, but it still looked poor (imo).

 

As much as i'd love to remain optimistic (this is Chris Taylor after all), most of what I've seen, which isn't alot, just doesn't feel me with much confidence...

Yes the original games harsh economy learning curve meant you could go from pumping out units to grinding to a defenceless halt in minutes and yes cheaper experimentals (monkeylords and fatboys in particular) quickly made anything T3 and below rather redundant but to me that made the sense of huge scale war all the more enjoyable. I loved sending entire wings of gunships to stalk out enemy GC's and FB's, or whole squadruns of ASF's to take out incoming CZAR's and Soul Ripper's, hell there was even hella fun to be had just sending in wave after wave of T1 and T2 bots/tanks into a late game AI's relentlessly defended base just to see how much it'll take before it cracks.

Of course as a PC gamer I'm going to point the finger of blame at console users for the apparent dumbing down of the economy, scale and upgrade paths.... but who knows, maybe there will be a surprise for us SupCom 1 fans in there.

 

As much as i'd love to remain optimistic (this is Chris Taylor after all), most of what I've seen, which isn't alot, just doesn't feel me with much confidence...

Yes the original games harsh economy learning curve meant you could go from pumping out units to grinding to a defenceless halt in minutes and yes cheaper experimentals (monkeylords and fatboys in particular) quickly made anything T3 and below rather redundant but to me that made the sense of huge scale war all the more enjoyable. I loved sending entire wings of gunships to stalk out enemy GC's and FB's, or whole squadruns of ASF's to take out incoming CZAR's and Soul Ripper's, hell there was even hella fun to be had just sending in wave after wave of T1 and T2 bots/tanks into a late game AI's relentlessly defended base just to see how much it'll take before it cracks.

Of course as a PC gamer I'm going to point the finger of blame at console users for the apparent dumbing down of the economy, scale and upgrade paths.... but who knows, maybe there will be a surprise for us SupCom 1 fans in there.

 

Found some more vids that I've not seen before, some unit introductions by the typically enthusiastic Chris Taylor

Here's the AC-1000



I must say, I quite like the look of the Noah unit cannon -



And finally, the Universal Colossus trailer - looks pretty awesome -



Fingers crossed for the gameplay

 

There was also an interesting interview on Eurogamer a while back:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/supreme-commander-2-interview

Some of the new gameplay elements actually sound quite interesting...

 

I must admit, Chris Taylor's child like enthusiasm does bring a smile to my face every time I see or hear it.

 

I was/am a big fan the series and am really looking forward to this. Especially glad to hear that it'll be integrated with Steam, GPG Net wasn't terrible but I really hate having to install a mess of things for each game (Take a hint EA!)

 

I'm going to have to reserve any ideas on this until it's full release.

I will be wrapped up in BC2 for quite some time and I recently reinstalled SupCom on my new machine, so I am content. I fear they will tone the game down to meet the console market.

TA and SupCom had nasty resources, but that's a key part of it. There were different approaches and shortcuts to it. Not easy on the learner, but great once you knew them (mass storage around extractors, the use of fabricators in fabricator-fusion plant complexes).

Stealing enemy construction units was always a highlight. Sending Monkey Lords in with Fatboys which utilize the ML radar jammers, awesome to behold. Can this match that???

 

i was looking forward to the first game but then when i played it, it was way to over complicated for me, i just couldn't get to grips with it.

 

Played it at GamesCom - soso, wasn't impressed...

 

the unit cap thing will be the first thing removed in future mods.

Then this game will be brilliant. I think this game will be another which when released, will win a little bit. But when the community gets it horrible, corrupting, dirty sausage fingers in all of its holes and wiggle them about a bit. The game will be immense.


I shall actually buy this. I know i do the eyepatch, wooden leg thing a lot, because frankly developers think they can get away with selling us ****. There is hope left.

 

Maps in the game wont be moddable out of the box, according to this report

Not sure what that means for the rest of the game...

I'm still in two minds about how it looks, I hope a demo is released.

 

I'm looking forward to this game, still play SupCom1 every so often when I feel the desire for epic-scale war

 

I saw a feature on the original Sup Com in PC Gamer and I've been hooked ever since. Several of my PC playing friends find it hard to get into though. Forged Alliance is one of the best expansions ever, the Seraphim are great, can't wait 'til Sup Com 2!

 

What? The Seraphim were pretty awful all things considered, a jack of all trades and master of none, which is why they were rarely used in competitive multiplayer.

I haven't heard anything about a unit cap yet, any word on what it is? I'd be surprised if it was so low it didn't allow for battles on the same scale as the first game.

 

I bought it but never really liked the original.. liked total annihilation though

this looks pretty good on the video least

 

I bought SupCom and Forged Alliance. FA multi was lots of fun when you had people who knew what they were doing. And had good computers. And had a good internet connection. And didn't quit part way in the game.
In other words, there were a lot of things that needed fixing. Unit balancing, multi options to get rid of nukes but some units could still make them for another...

I loved the economy. It took me a few games, but once you get the hang of it it was easy. In a 20min no rush game I could have mega's built and ready to go.

I really dont like that they have changed the way units are built in the new game. It sounds a lot like command and conquer. I think that they have dummed the game down a lot. And I dont like unit upgrades that are instant. Upgrading t1 units and when the upgrade is done, every unit gets the upgrade? No, how about just the units built after. Its more realistic.

I dont like one of the videos on here, that the universal Colossus gives a boost to units armor that are close by. Its powerful enough on its own. And that kind of area effect, just seams like magic, in a sci-fi world.

 

The unit cap is being dragged down from "300 unit cap to 120 units".

Apparently, this is to allow the engine to have all the nice things in it.

27 experimental units.....o...k....

I am definately waiting for post-release reviews.