The exact opposite of this applies when something has incredible depth and detail.
With vCOH this process took years.
Sure people complained about the kangaroo, the balance between PE and Brits vs Wher and Us and yet, there was still some epic 2v2 games played with all factions and to this day it remains the best RTS ever created.
To this day every good game will have something different.
When I fired up coh2 for the first time within seconds I already spotted problems.
I think this statement from Tommy sums it up perfectly ( in case you were wondering he is a shoutcaster who has watched more games of vcoh, coh2 then just about anyone as well as being a top teir vcoh player. So his skills and his love for the game can not be questioned)
Tommy: Although true in the case of many RTS games, it doesn't have to be the case. Take chess, for example. Or vCoH, for that matter. Games can continue to remain fresh and interesting as long as they have sufficient depth (by which I mean, a great number of strategic choices where no single unit/build order/tactic is objectively superior to any other in a vacuum). It is a sign that a game lacks depth when additional units are required to keep it fresh- that game is substituting depth for sheer mass.
Balance Is Not The Biggest Issue
The real issue with Coh2 doesn’t lie in the “balance” of the game or even with the completely retarded 5 billion DLC.
In my opinion the real problems lie with the hidden game mechanics and the physics behind the game engine.
The game is inferior to vcoh in nearly all levels of quality and detail. It shipped out with cartoon engine, lackluster physics and none of the attention to detail that was prevalent in the original.
I can still remember seeing a mg42 literally shoot off the windscreen off a jeep, see a perfect shot from the Hummel ( which I timed and predicted masterfully hit 2 clumped up vet 3 AB squads and showered the terrain with their body parts) or even seen a jeep get hit made out of control, and then run into an enemy mine ... while the enemy was near wiping his squad.
Stuff like this cannot be scripted, or even predicted - its the workings of a brilliantly made engine with incredible physics and a great mechanics underneath.
Its been 8 years since and vcoh has barely aged.
Issues like lag and units not firing on retreat are being looked into but it does not mitigate the fact that coh2 was an inferior product in every way but the graphics.
The campaign for example was like a bad joke when compared to the tact and story telling of the first game.. but onto the real problems.
Now I’m not some guy that gets impressed by pretty graphic unless they add something to the game. In my opinion although coh2 has better and more detailed graphics but they are considerably less effective than in vCOH to the point where they are ruining the game. I’ll explain
• There is a huge discrepancy between what a weapon effect looks like on screen and the physical effects it has on the environment and squads/units – prime example railway arty.. if that shell hit anything its dead in real life, it would be vaporised, and ripped to shreds, with pieces flying everywhere, in coh 2 its explosion is huge but the damage is not that big, and bodies drop straight to the ground – not in pieces but full bodies.
• Lets compare a 105mm arty strike to the rail way arty in coh2 – which one looks more powerful and which effects enhance the game?
Now it’s easy to see that coh2 has better graphics but in the end it ends up being outclassed by its 8 year old predecessor.
• Check out 1:40 of this video ( it game editing tool which allows crazy arty spam) and notice how destructible even the ground was in coh start at 1 minute. The volume of arty simply craters the ground in a massive way which gives green cover ( and totally kicks ass) nothing like this is possible in coh2. Mostly the ground just gets blackened but there’s very limited effect on the ground
If you think im being a bit stupid here then read on - In the latest Frontline Network shoutcast Tommy was discussing how goliath and PE boobytrap craters were the only ones in the game that gave 360 degree green cover and how he use to use that to his advantage to make his riflemen beat superior opposition.
Name another game where the after effects of an explosion n cause the terrain to change and actually create the opportunities for new strategies.
You know something was done right there.
• In vcoh call ins like that did exactly what they looked like it did, v1 flattened everything, 280mm rocket strike could be a game ender, 105mm art barrage did massive damage in the small confines of the call in. Check out 43 seconds and 2:03 for V 1 strike (27:27) for 105mm
• If a tank shot a man the man would explode and those pieces would then be move by the shot and react with the environment and the kinetic energy from the damage would in a realistic ( if someone what over the top manner) move the body/ parts and they would react with the environment.
• Tiger vs inf damage and physics at 3:18 <while in coh 2 seems like physics have no effect ( tiger vs pio) 3:30
• Example of random but beautiful physics 42:09
• This had a profound effect on the game as it meant you knew what to expect from the muniton type, effected the physical environment in a way that is never seen in a game again.
They obviously have physics in the game but they need to apply it to a wider range of actions not just 30% of goings on (33:30)
]Mortars are great example of this – in vcoh if a mortar landed on your guys, the guys in the AOE were dead, end of story, nothing to argue about or even debate. Exactly the way it should be – now i see a shot going off in the middle of a squad and the effect ranges from nothing to squad wipe, its so random there is a huge congruency problem between what you see/how it is represented, what you think will happen and what actually does happen.
In vCOH it felt like every single unit/building/ piece of debris was governed by an advanced physics engine and all objects with the game world all effected by the physical confines of that world
They way weapon effects were displayed in vcoh is vastly superior to coh2. Since when did tanks shoot balls of glowing material that exploded like something out of a bad hollywood movie? When did arty shells have a fuel-air mix that makes a fireball happen? Watch arty explode in vcoh, the amount of destructive force it unleashes is a thing of beauty, and when it connects with a squad... oh my, such carnage- limbs where sent sky high in all directions, any squad that got hit directly was vaporized and thrown half the map away, huge fountains of dirt exploded viciously out of the ground. Now when arty connects a man is lying on on the ground or crawling.. that’s it.
Don’t get me started with the game mechanics ( cover unit movement) how suppression worked ( not just from mgs but from other things that would cause suppression like explosions, other mg weapons)
How AT guns worked - how awesome penetrating hits and glancing blows looked and felt. The better mechanics of stickies and fausts.
The incredible detail of damage tables ( or seeing a tread being blow off on a mobility kill)
In summary this is what vCOH does to COH 2
So now I have had my say and if you are sick of being taken for a joke - send this to relic. Comment, post on it and generally show them this is what you want is what is mean to be a "successor" to COH.
Would making changes like this take time and effort?
Absolutely but they have got my purchase as well as all of yours, and many have bought their DLCs ( and would continue to ) if the game gets fixed.