Is this the biggest gaming fail since ET?

[Sourdust]

It's one thing to release a game which has bugs, interface issues, and whatnot. That happens all the time.

It's quite another to take a beautiful, polished and perfectly functioning product that many gamers have applauded as one of the finest strategy games of all time, and downgrade it to a piece of glitchy rubbish.

I don't care about your new engine, if it makes the game worse. I don't care about cross-platform games, if it makes the game worse.

Pretty much the only good thing you could do right now is put the game back how it was...

[IainMcNeil]

I'm sorry you are unhappy but the only way to take the engine forwards and support it was to bring it to a modern language. We had to rewrite everything. I know you don't care about that and I understand but we simply could not work with the old code base so if we wanted to do anything this was the only option. At some point we had to reveal it and its clear there are some thing we need to work on. I've played the iOS version to death and did not find the issues people are complaining about to impact the experience for me. I was so focussed on the gameplay and outsmarting my opponent I didn't notice these issues. They are important and we will sort them out. Once they have we'll be in a position to take things forwards and ensure there is an extended lifetime for the game and take the whole series forwards. Just have a little patience and give us feedback and we'll get this all sorted ASAP. It will be worth it in the end.

[Redwing6891]

Iain, I appreciate your commitment to improve the game and also your level headed responses to some of our quite emotionally charged posts.

I understand that as a business you have to grow, and you want to maximize the assets of the Shenandoah acquisition.

I also understand that Slitherine sees the future in cross platform gaming. I don't but again this is a company decision that you are very much entitled to make.

What I do not understand is why you had to take a perfect product and revert it into a glitched monstrosity that should not have got past beta testing. Why not leave the Crisis in Command products as they are, but take the best ideas from the series and start a fresh product? Businesses are too much obsessed with franchises, prequels and sequels. Why take a work of art and try to redo it? It very much reminds me of the recent howler when a lady in Spain painted over a 19th century fresco in an effort to restore it, and ruined it in the process.

What we as users are very upset about is that a product we paid for and very much enjoyed in its past incarnation is now not worth playing. I deleted it already as it annoys me just to look at it. You probably didn't notice the faults because you didn't play the iOS version as much as the iOS disciples. I spent many, many happy hours on the train battling in the Ardennes forest. Now we have to wait patiently for how long until it's fixed? Why? And forgive me but I don't have faith that the fixes will be good enough. I struggle to believe the present version was ever tested on a real iPhone or iPad. Emulators probably, but any iPhone user spending 5 mins with the new version against the old version will pick up all the issues that have been flagged.

Just give us the old BotB back, please. Release the new version as BotB II for those who want to cross-platform. I don't.

[Sourdust]

Yes, Redwing put it perfectly.

And apologies for the overly sarcastic initial post. But frankly, I just don't believe that the performance issues can be easily fixed, even if some of the glaring interface problems like the tiny combat report can be addressed.

Best of luck repairing the game, and I mean that most genuinely.

In the meantime, the best thing you could do to repair some degree of confidence with your previously dedicated iOS fanbase would be to give us our BotB back.

[IainMcNeil]

The options were to leave it as it was an never touch it again or to update it to a new code base we can take forwards. Leaving this as a dead game without support was not why we took it on. There were always going to be teething problems when we rolled it out and there are definitely more than we expected but we will sort it out. Things certainly should have been smoother but we will get this sorted out.

[gdrover]

I have a different perspective on this. I was a huge fan of the original series on iPad and played each of three games many, many times.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on PC versions of these three games, and downloaded Bulge on day one.
I am very grateful to be able to play this game on my main gaming platform (PC), and on a big screen with an improved AI (my biggest concern with the iPad versions). PC computing power allows a much more sophisticated AI that does not take forever to find a good solution (waiting for the AI on the iPad was really off-putting).
I've played three times so far, have found no bugs, and have had a blast playing this game.

For those who have found bugs, the good news is that bug fixes and improvements to the game will happen quickly, and for those using Steam will automatically update (which I love!).

I understand the frustration that comes with getting anew game and then it doesn't work properly (I get really angry when that happens to me)... but Slitherine has a great track record with supporting their games, and I'm sure that these birthing pains will be ironed out quickly. And then we'll have access to these three CLASSICS and then new ones to follow on our PC's.

I can't wait for the PC conversions of the North Africa and Russian games, and then Gettysburg, and then whatever comes next in this great series.
Thank you Slitherine for rescuing this series and bringing it to a larger audience via Steam. And hang in there with fixing the teething troubles on this first one.

[Sourdust]

Appreciate the different perspective gdrover. For what it's worth, this isn't a "new game that doesn't work properly". It's a game that worked perfectly for years, and now doesn't.

And great that you like playing this on PC. For me, I have 50 great strategy games on PC ... and 3 on my iphone. The CiC series is totally unique on the iphone for its depth, polish, interface, and player community. Or was.

[gdrover]

I don't think that it's gone from mobile platforms. On the contrary, I believe that Slitherine will not only listen to the feedback and solve the current issues on mobile, but will take the engine and make new games in the series and expand the audience greatly.
This will be a win for fans of the series, and a win for the viability of the market for light strategy games.
Catering only to existing fans is a game of diminishing returns. Our hobby needs new blood and this series has been and can continue to be a great catalyst to broaden the appeal and therefore the market viability for new games.

If it weren't for Slitherine's interest, the series would be as dead as a doornail.

I think that we need to hold our fire and wait to see what happens here. Their track record indicates that we won't be sorry.

[Matuzalem]

Sorry for my english but it is not my native language. You forced me to log in to your forum good for U. At the beginning i would like to write that BOB was the best strategic game after Panzer General. It was not cheap but worth to buy. It was so good that I decided to buy Moscow as well. You did a good job. Although as I said a price of 10 euros for one mission is the highest possible (in my opinion) it was worth to buy it.
Unfortunately As the guys wrote it earlier you have ruined that. It is good to know that you are working to improve it, it is good to know that we can play it on steam, realy. Although i am wondering why I fell to be cheated? You make a decission to change an engine. You gave us product of pack of eggs where half of them are broken. You admitted that product is not good.there are several game companies that know how to handle with that kind of problems. They are giving money back, giving discounts for other products, or even giving other products free of charge. You have not do it. Bad for you. And it doesn't mean that it is so important for me to get something free of charge. It means that you know that something is wrong and care about it's users. You have not do it. The worst thing you could do is to loose my trust in you. How big is the chance that i will buy another product of your studio for exaple Desert Fox and in several months the same problem will occur?

[moltobenny]

Jesus, what a bunch of entitled lunatics. OH NO MY $9 TOY DOESN'T WORK PERFECTLY!!!

[IainMcNeil]

We understand the frustration and we're working to fix it. Lets keep it all civil please

[DonCzirr]

Playing the new iPad version and having no issues.

From my perspective - on the iPad - the game is fine.

Hang tough Slitherine ...


* Might be worth while considering making this gaming line iPAD-only in the future - it would save you a lot of headaches - John Tiller games use that approach ...

[Happycat]

Just wanted to chime in here with something I posted a short time ago on another thread....and here it is:

I am not an iOS user, so can't comment on the issues in any specific or useful way. What I can say is that my years of working with Slitherine as a tester, proof reader/editor and moderator have taught me that Slitherine never, and I mean NEVER, leaves customers in the lurch. There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that issues capable of being resolved will be resolved.

Having read through many of the iOS related posts throughout the "Bulge" threads, I can certainly see why iOS users are frustrated. I applaud the overwhelming majority who have identified problems in a constructive and relatively calm way. My suggestion would be to continue identifying issues that you find, and bring them forward (avoiding duplication, if possible---a quick search on the threads will often reveal that a problem is already identified).

Hang in there iOS players----give Slitherine a chance to prove to you that all that I have just said is true