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I guess those giant APCs are a 1 man vehicle. I want to say the "intended" strategy would be to hit the power plant with units dropped at the second landing zone then charge in the front while the turrets are down. Artillery breaks that completely of course.
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Sep 4, 2020 04:29
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 17:29 |
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Perhaps the APC has the same abilities as a Dwarf Fortress hallway; the size expands or contracts to fit the needs of the plot. Normally they have enough room for dozens of infantry and their weapons, gear, etc. but when it's necessary for the Major/Deacon to go saunter off somewhere immediately after a firefight and not have anyone ask questions, it shrinks as needed to fit that purpose  .
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Sep 4, 2020 18:56
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 Four Bridges Too Far (32:24) A 'short' mission by late-ish game Ground Control standards, we have a bridge mission which is a type we haven't seen yet. We find ourselves in both defensive and offensive action. It also practically requires a split of our command which is not something I like to do and it almost - but not quite - goes sideways. Deacon Stone has arrived at quite hazardous conclusion as to how he is going to handle the larger situation in the plot, though there certainly seem to be no good answers here.
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Sep 7, 2020 16:23
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evilmiera posted:I may just be waiting for an upcoming twist that stuck in my mind when it happened years ago. Kibayasu posted:. It would have had to have been one of the later missions since I remember having heavy hovers and artillery. It's probably time for these comments to come to fruition. There's plot material in Monday's mission that takes us into the final act of the game. It's also a mission that, partly for plot reasons but that doesn't entirely excuse it IMO, is blatantly unfair and does not even pretend otherwise. It reaches a point where I honestly can't blame anybody who gave up on the game at this stage even if they got this far, and consternation combined with multiple replays being required on my part definitely are a thing.
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Sep 12, 2020 16:14
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Source of Power (1:37:14) There are *developments* with Cardinal Aegeri, and by episode's end - which he had no right to survive by the way - Deacon Stone will be fervently wishing for the previous crises in comparison. Some long-unseen characters return, a whole lot of Crayven tricks must be dealt with, and there's even mandatory war crimes. This mission is ... well, it's really something.
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Sep 14, 2020 20:32
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They each know more than the obvious of course but its kind of funny that the tipping point for both of them was "Wait, I don't have to risk my life and kill people any more? You've gone too far this time!"
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Sep 15, 2020 01:45
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Covert Beginning(42:10) Much has changed now, even what happens to Deacon Stone when you fail a mission. The same war, but new allies and new enemies. New absurdly OP equipment is available along with new aerodynes, none of it having any plot justification. This mission felt a lot longer than it was, largely because of how many times I had to replay the beginning of it. High casualties, a lot of frantic panicky dodging of artillery fire, and by the end I admit I didn't much care what I'd lost - I just wanted to move on. Hunted now by both Crayen Corp and the Order, Stone, Magnus and their new friends are now in a desperate fight to survive.
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Sep 21, 2020 11:13
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With the surprise artillery at the end, some losses might be inevitable, especially with this mission (as all other missions in this game) taking as long as it does. Kudos for sticking with a game that paces its missions like this and thanks fr the lp btw!
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Sep 27, 2020 20:15
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You're welcome, glad you've found it enjoyable. A concentrated dose of the frantic quality is the 'gift' for tomorrow's mission.
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Sep 28, 2020 03:04
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Winter Wonderland (24:21) You can tell we're getting close to the end now. Tragedy strikes in a defensive mission which requires, as Maj. Parker would put it, 'one more serving of the impossible'. What they want Deacon Stone to do can't be done, so he must improvise. Afterwards he manages to finish up investigating Project Garm, which was apparently delayed until now because the plot demanded it. The cat is now totally out of the bag, and the only question is what the resistance can do about it, if anything. This is shockingly short for a late-game mission. Don't get any ideas about that being a trend however.
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Sep 28, 2020 15:54
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Never understood quite how much veterancy mattered in the game but sustaining losses at this point in the campaign is at least thematic.
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Oct 1, 2020 16:35
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I'd say veterancy has a significant, but not overwhelming, impact. It's enough that you can notice and green squads need more help, damage/accuracy/etc. are worse, but I wouldn't be overly concerned unless I basically had an endgame total force loss. And if that happened, it's hard to imagine winning the mission anyway.
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Oct 2, 2020 17:03
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Desperation Attack (38:50) This unfortunately-designed mission begins with an epic night battle that requires the power of foresight to prosecute effectively. It's pretty much downhill from there in more ways than one. Having kicked open the door, we are now ready to return to the scene where the Crayven campaign ended. The polar Xenofact 'control center' or whatever it is will host another final battle, and the fate of Project Garm, humanity, this entire sector of the galaxy hangs in the balance. Next episode will be the conclusion of Ground Control. Note: the enemy base in this mission is actually fairly interesting, being nestled in amongst some hills instead of just a bunch of flattened terrain. However, given how long I spent taking it down I couldn't bring myself to leave all of that in. It's just too much demolition work. Strategic Sage fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Oct 5, 2020 |
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Oct 5, 2020 19:21
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I think one thing that always hampered my attempts to beat the game is my non-use of the special abilities. On easier difficulties its very easy to forget you have them even when you actually need them.
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Oct 8, 2020 05:34
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That's definitely true. I've had to replay some missions a few times just to optimize what I was using and when. The final mission is now in the hopper and ... well, it's a doozy. More so than I remember from years ago. The end is probably the single stupidest successful battle I've ever committed to film ... but it is mostly thematic and I'm sure not replaying it. You'll understand why I think when you see what leads up to it. Should be up on Monday.
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Oct 10, 2020 01:23
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Having to do dry runs of a mission just so you know what to bring in order to win was what ultimately turned me off this game. As it progresses, it looks less and less like a strategy game and more and more like a puzzle - which is fine, I guess, but you expect some options in this genre.
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Oct 10, 2020 01:31
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I can't disagree. I've enjoyed most of the run playing through it but I'm also fine with being done with the game. Still like the concept and originality as well as some of the execution, but I definitely have to admit I viewed Ground Control with rose-colored glasses. It's not as good as I remember it being when I was younger.
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Oct 10, 2020 21:40
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The Last Dance (1:45:02) They saved the worst for last. I imagine this conversation happening at some point in designing it: Q - Should we make the finale the hardest attacking mission, or the hardest defending mission? A - Yes. Here we face what is easily double the resistance of any other mission in the game. Even the drop zone significantly impacts how it plays out, though in ways that are not at all obvious unless you are paying close attention, and as usual certainly not the kind of thing you'd have any clue about at the time you decide where to jump in. A few key moments in the video to aid those who aren't interested in spending their entire afternoon on this: 24:40 - First approach to the base itself, resulting in some verbal sparring between Stone & Aegeri. I particularly am amused by what our hero says at the end of this. 50 mins - We finally secure a position inside the base, by which we mean about a quarter of the map. Yep, it takes almost an hour edited mission time just to do that. 1 hr 15 mins - Approaching our final objective. 1 hr 26 mins - The excessively stupid, horribly botched final battle. The MVP ends up being the hitbox on the Xenofacts. The final cinematic is clumsily written, but we do get some closure here. Questions definitely remain, among which is this; why is there a fish swimming in space during the credits? Anyway, we're done here. Thanks to all who stuck with it. It'll be some while before I get it started probably due to being behind schedule on some things at the moment, but my next retro game will be Imperium Galactica. My rose-colored nostalgia glasses led me to underestimate how tedious some of this game would get, but I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless. I'll be submitting this to the archives soon.
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Oct 12, 2020 16:21
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Strategic Sage posted:Anyway, we're done here. Thanks to all who stuck with it. It'll be some while before I get it started probably due to being behind schedule on some things at the moment, but my next retro game will be Imperium Galactica. My rose-colored nostalgia glasses led me to underestimate how tedious some of this game would get, but I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless. I'll be submitting this to the archives soon.
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Oct 13, 2020 17:17
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Sylphosaurus posted:Oh boy! Imperium Galactica will make Ground Control feel like a masterpiece of game design, by comparison.
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Oct 13, 2020 17:49
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It's weird that I really don't recall this side of the campaign, although I recognize enough of it (especially that last battle) that I must have played it. I think the game does kind of feel tired at times, and it's more in the battle/scenario design than in the unit tactics. It really would have been better served by having limited reinforcements (I'm thinking, like the Blitzkrieg games) instead of essentially forcing you to never take losses through multiple tough engagements. Do you know if Ground Control 2 did anything new with the formula, or is essentially more of the same? And every time I hear about Imperium Galactica, I momentarily get excited until I realize I've confused it with Imperium Galactum.
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Oct 15, 2020 04:33
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Ground Control 2 had limited reinforcements. I wasn't really a fan of that change, but in general I think the Dark Conspiracy expansion and the sequel just didn't put as much effort into the atmosphere. For example: That's from the opening cutscene of Dark Conspiracy. You wouldn't know it by looking at it, but that's Major Sarah Parker, having apparently ditched the buttoned-down military appearance in favor of looking more like she just stepped out of a Cosmo photo shoot. Sylphosaurus posted:Imperium Galactica will make Ground Control feel like a masterpiece of game design, by comparison. Possible thread title: "What Even Is This Game?"
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Oct 16, 2020 15:07
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Ground Control always ends as it beings, with artillery destroying everything in sight.Kangra posted:It's weird that I really don't recall this side of the campaign, although I recognize enough of it (especially that last battle) that I must have played it. I think the game does kind of feel tired at times, and it's more in the battle/scenario design than in the unit tactics. It really would have been better served by having limited reinforcements (I'm thinking, like the Blitzkrieg games) instead of essentially forcing you to never take losses through multiple tough engagements. Ground Control 2 was the first step toward World in Conflict for Massive, with a short stop on Company of Heroes (though coming out well ahead of CoH). Command APC's are not a thing any more. Their is a single resource in the game called Acquisition Points, AP, which you gain by destroying enemy units and holding landing zones/victory points over time, victory points being just small locations spread across the map. You capture LZs and VPs by having your units hang around them for a bit with no enemies nearby. The rate at which you gain AP is governed by how many units you have on the map, more units meaning lower AP gains. If you lose all your landing zones you're pretty screwed unless it was just a lucky snag by a small unit. You can call down any variety of units, limited by their AP cost, your AP, and the space on your drop ship. For example, 1 infantry unit takes up 1 space on the drop ship but 1 artillery vehicle takes up 3. There's a delay between calling in units, the drop ship arriving, the drop ship leaving, and becoming available again. The drop ship can told to hang around on the map for a while, which is actually useful because its fast, very tough, and has a big gun. But if it goes down then you have to wait quite a while for a replacement (its free to replace but you're probably dead if you lose it while under pressure). The drop ship can also be upgraded with AP to give it more cargo space, more armor, more speed, more fuel (to stay on the map longer), etc, etc. All units have a special secondary function. Examples: regular infantry switching between a regular gun and an AT rocket but the AT rocket can't hit other infantry and you can't move while using it, rocket vehicle switching between long range homing rockets and a shield that protects against rockets and artillery at the cost of offense and movement, scout vehicle that switches between a long range cannon and a cloak which hides the vehicle until something is really close but disables offense. Artillery is way less of a win button, it basically does chip damage at most to heavier vehicles unless they just stay in the target zone for a while. Ground Control 2 has way more mechanics, a much faster pace, and I think is a better game but it also gives up some of the scale. Maps are smaller which can be annoying if a lot of units are around, collision and pathfinding around other units not being strong points. It's definitely more balanced around multiplayer with a strong push and pull feel.
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Oct 17, 2020 06:58
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Just made it through the last video and congratulations to making it through this brutal slog of a mission - with a hilarious final fight, indeed! But whoa, this game must have been a chore to play! I wonder if removing artillery units in early design would have improved it - smaller maps, less waiting for arty to chew through units, less enemy units...? Any way, thank you for this let's play!!
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Oct 17, 2020 10:00
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