itch.io

Happy to help! I really do think this is a lovely game and it scratches some itches for me, so I'm eager to see how it develops over time! I would love to support more in any way if possible since I do think this has potential! :)

I do fully understand the tank being a focus, it is a game about tanks after all and I am not ignorant of that, I just figured maybe it wouldn't hurt for one tutorial mission it demonstrates how to use IFV's and Infantry by themselves, since up until that point you were using multiple tanks anyway and you'd be using them together in the future anyway.

If you want extra feedback about how the tutorial missions would go with ambushes, I actually tried Mission 2 again and found using the Rules of Engagement button quite helpful as I could catch glimpses of vehicles using the infantry by slipping them into buildings whilst the vehicles couldn't see them.

It might be worth using the ROE mechanic to have infantry scout behind forces (which ties in well with visibility) that are aiming away at a certain road, and allowing the IFV to perform a flanking maneuver, or if the tank should be a crucial point, have the IFV be used to support infantry against opposing infantry, and have the tank be used to ambush vehicles.

As for defensive tutorials in that same mission, you can have the player do ambushes, then swap it into a psuedo-defense mission (Which would actually tie in well for missions like Mission 4 which is about standing your ground) where they have to move their units into alleys and buildings and attack as vehicles pass by.

Again, by no means am I saying this is how it should be done, I am merely throwing an idea out about how this could potentially work, it is your game and I 100% respect that my ideas could be ludricous or just might be out of scope for your game. :)

I gave it a go and I will say that the new tutorial for infantry is... Kinda unfair and somewhat overwhelming for a tutorial mission? I understand that you're trying to show information about visibility for vehicles, but as soon as that section of the tutorial ends, immediately several enemy vehicles pop out and open fire on my IFV's, which was rather surprising since I wasn't able to react fast enough to get smokes or move the tank ahead before I pretty much lost one IFV and infantry in less than a couple of seconds, and the other infantry getting damaged when I panick unloaded. It doesn't feel good that this is what is happening in a tutorial. Obivously on the second attempt I was more prepared but I feel like that probably isn't the intended effect.

As for the rest of the tutorial mission, I found it to be rather jarring as the enemy infantry were always pretty close together and I ended up just basically using my own infantry as scouts whilst my vehicles destroyed buildings.

I get the concept, but I do think it'd make more sense to have the 4th tutorial mission focused around the IFV and infantry by themselves rather than have the tank be a component in the mission, as otherwise it feels a bit like there's a lot to juggle (Managing Tanks, IFV's, and Infantry all at once can be a hassle, especially if you throw in enemy vehicles and infantry into the mix, which I feel should be left for the game itself, like in mission 2).

I think it'd be a good way to demonstrate the firepower of IFV's and infantry, and allow you to better demonstrate how they work offensively (attacking infantry in buildings), and defensively (setting up in buildings to counter enemy vehicles), and more easily demonstrate visibility and engagement by having the IFV act as more of a scout unit that can detect units at range (and focus on ROE) and allow infantry to move between buildings to engage in ambush. Am I saying that's how it should be? No, I'm not a game designer. But I just feel in my head this makes more sense.

Also, I confess I preferred the older versions 'top down' style in the customisation menu where it was at an angle, I initially got confused in this version and mistook the IFV for the Tank a couple of times, despite the spotlight, due to the Tank being in the center. I know, a really minor and petty thing, but I just think it looked better in the old version.

I also found a visual bug: I discovered press M automatically completes your mission, however, if you press N and M together at the same time, you get a combination of both screens (See image) - I thought if I pressed M, it might open a map for some reason, so I must've accidentally discovered a dev command there.

Thank you for the reply!

I am excited to see future progress! If there's any way I can support development or anything, I'd love to throw some support your way! :)

This is a very exciting game and I love the UI and design elements you're going for here!

Some notes / feedback from a more casual RTS player:

- I like the click-drag system for moving, but I feel like it's going to be wasted ultimately with the right click to move feature. But as it stands; both movement systems are a bit clunky (of course, this is very early in development so I expect it'll be refined as it goes on!) but I think it'd be nice if instead of having to click drag from the tank, you could click to select, THEN click and drag, as I found myself frequently trying to select the unit, then click dragging to move, when i had to unselect the tank, then click drag.

Speaking of the click-drag and the right clicking, I noticed a slight flaw (bug?) where if you use the right click to move, and then try to set their aim halfway through, you'll instead up changing where they move to instead.

- Many elements of the UI I tend to find are really small, and this isn't coming from someone using a 4K screen or anything, just a stanard 1920x1080 screen, requiring me to lean in sometimes to get a better idea of what's happening exactly.

- Whilst I understand some weapon armaments and what the acronyms mean (e.g APHE - Armour Piercing High Explosive), not everyone is gonna know what some of these means, and sometimes going that extra mile to explain what the acronyms means can go a long way for player readibility. Of course I can tell this is the type of game that would appeal to those who are more militarically inclined (if that's even a word) but I think it helps out a lot, especially if you start adding more rounds in.

- Its great you're implementing some form of INF combat with IFV's, it left me excited! But it would be nice to have a tutorial that covers these elements. The tutorial missions focused heavily on tanks but if you're going to implement other vehicles like IFV's and have infantry accompanying them, I think its fair to expect a form of guidance for how to use them.

- It would be nice if you could use the number selection keys to select multiple or to shift click them from the side bar, especially if they get split off.

I hope this is helpful feedback, I found the game to be fairly easy to grasp and easy-ish so far, my only real criticism is just there's a LOT of stuff on screen, and its a bit hard to grasp what it all means (especially with how small the UI is at present), definitely following you on twitter and I hope there can be other places to keep track like a discord or something!

I did not know this was the kind of game I wanted but wow, very great work, actually keen for future updates on this! :)