Armoured Commander: WW2 Tank Commander Roguelike

[Rev_Sudasana]

Added a new blog post on changes coming in Alpha 9.21. I think that the new ammo management menu will be a welcome addition to the game, especially for new players.

http://www.armouredcommander.com/blog/2015/09/24/alpha-9-21/

[Rev_Sudasana]

I've uploaded Beta 1.0 as an unofficial release, as always please report any bugs you discover in the new release.

Download here: http://www.armouredcommander.com/download/armcom_beta1_0.zip

[Avagart]

I didn't try new unofficial beta version, but I noticed one small issue. You have ico file in game folder, but your icon isn't displayed. I checked it closely. Icon is included to armcon binary file, but it is not in use. I had recently same problem, and I would suggest you to use Resource Hacker to fix it.

[Rev_Sudasana]

I didn't try new unofficial beta version, but I noticed one small issue. You have ico file in game folder, but your icon isn't displayed. I checked it closely. Icon is included to armcon binary file, but it is not in use. I had recently same problem, and I would suggest you to use Resource Hacker to fix it.

Thanks! That's been bugging me for a while but I never got around to fixing it. Just uploaded an updated version with icon working.

[Rev_Sudasana]

Just made Beta 1.0 the default download. Now the game will also record essential info about your campaign and output it as a text file after your campaign is over. Example follows:

Code: [Select]

*** Armoured Commander Campaign Journal ***
Program Version: Beta 1.0

Campaign Started at 01:23PM on October 04, 2015

Campaign Name: Patton's Best
 Unlimited Tank Selection: Off
 Casual Commander Replacement: Off

Starting Tank: M4 Turret A "Blood & Guts"
 Commander: Sgt. Joshua Laird
 Gunner: Cpl. Dmitry Edwards
 Loader: Pfc. Stephen Navarro
 Driver: Pvt. Spencer Navarro
 Asst. Driver: Pvt. Angelo Scott


******
July 27th, 1944: Cobra Breakout
Action Day:
 Mission: Advance
 Expected Resistance: Light

Battle encounter triggered at 7:45, Fields terrain
Joshua Laird was wounded, result: Serious Wound, Stunned
Stephen Navarro was wounded, result: Light Wound
Dmitry Edwards was wounded, result: Serious Wound, Stunned
Stephen Navarro was wounded, result: Light Wound, Stunned
Spencer Navarro was wounded, result: Light Wound, Stunned
Player tank knocked out, action day is over
Joshua Laird awarded new decotation: Purple Heart
Dmitry Edwards awarded new decotation: Purple Heart
Stephen Navarro awarded new decotation: Purple Heart
Spencer Navarro awarded new decotation: Purple Heart
New player tank: M4A3 Turret B "Cobra King"

******
July 28th, 1944: Coutances
No Action Today

******
July 29th, 1944: Countryside south of Coutances
No Action Today

******
July 30th, 1944: Avranches
No Action Today

******
July 31st, 1944: Countryside near Avranches
No Action Today

******
August 1st, 1944: Countryside south of Avranches
No Action Today

******
August 2nd, 1944: Rennes
No Action Today

******
August 3th, 1944: Countryside southwest of Rennes
Action Day:
 Mission: Advance
 Expected Resistance: Light

Battle encounter triggered at 8:30, Fields terrain
Campaign Over: Commander was killed in action.

As always please let me know of any bugs you come across. I suspect that the VP thresholds for rank promotion and decoration awards will need to be adjusted, but I haven't had time to do a full playthrough so suggestions on these would be very helpful!

Edit: Just noticed that there's a typo in the campaign journal, will fix in Beta 1.1!

[Rev_Sudasana]

ArmCom will be the featured game in this week's Feedback Friday thread on the Roguelike Development subreddit. People will (hopefully) be downloading, playing, and offering their feedback on the game. If you have a Reddit account you can join in on the commenting, the thread will appear in the morning GMT on Friday October 9th at https://www.reddit.com/r/roguelikedev

[Avagart]

I didn't play beta version yet, because I think that in this game player need some / a lot of time to 'catch' into game; especially fresh, noobish player and my playing time isn't so long.

Just some thoughts.

Did you think about gameplay documentation (more detailed than 'general tips')? ArmCom isn't traditional roguelike with 'gaining knowledge by YASDs' paradigm; your game is more like simulator so tutorial-like documentation could be... licit. And very helpful in first steps.

Minor issue about README.txt file. First - I don't know if it's intentional, but 'general tips' fragment is hidded; changelog takes a lot of space and I think that very few people scrolls/reads changelog to finally see these tips.

[Rev_Sudasana]

I have an online manual at http://www.armouredcommander.com/manual.html as well as in-game help accessible via the F1 key. It's not an easy system to learn but hopefully the manual will help.

And the general tips in the README file are hopefully out of date; I will replace them with something better for the next release!

[Avagart]

in-game help accessible via the F1 key. It's not an easy system to learn but hopefully the manual will help.

Yup, I know it But I think this is more like 'encyclopedia' than 'help'. In-game help is lack of information about phases of turns, etc. Online manual is more that what I have in my mind, but would be good if you provide this in game archive as pdf or as standalone html with dependent files.

Btw, while in campaign map, text of topics and entries in in-game help is moved to the left. While in preparing screens, everything works.

[akeley]

And the general tips in the README file are hopefully out of date; I will replace them with something better for the next release!

Yes, more comprehensive tips about tactics would be most welcome. I haven`t played a serious tank sim since M1 Tank Platoon on Amiga and that was a while ago.

[Rev_Sudasana]

in-game help accessible via the F1 key. It's not an easy system to learn but hopefully the manual will help.

Yup, I know it But I think this is more like 'encyclopedia' than 'help'. In-game help is lack of information about phases of turns, etc. Online manual is more that what I have in my mind, but would be good if you provide this in game archive as pdf or as standalone html with dependent files.

Btw, while in campaign map, text of topics and entries in in-game help is moved to the left. While in preparing screens, everything works.

I'll do my best to have that ready before the final version of the game. Part of the problem is that it's changing so often!

The bug with the in-game help text alignment wasn't something I'd seen before, fixed in Beta 1.1, thanks very much!

[Rev_Sudasana]

Feedback thread is live! https://www.reddit.com/r/roguelikedev/comments/3o2l8r/feedback_friday_3_armoured_commander/

Latest version is Beta 1.2, which fixes a few minor bugs from 1.0

[Rev_Sudasana]

Just uploaded Beta 1.4, as usual it includes bugfixes and interface improvements, as well as a new ability for enemy Armoured Cars that should make them more of a threat to the player tank.

[Rev_Sudasana]

Just uploaded a brief blog post on the future of ArmCom at http://www.armouredcommander.com/blog/, I've copied it here for anyone interested in what's in store for the game:

The current version of ArmCom, Beta 1.5, appears to be fairly stable and is getting over a dozen new downloads per day. I'm really happy to see how many people are enjoying the game, and am encouraged by the amount of suggestions and requests for future features.

After fixing some of the more minor bugs over the past few weeks, my plan is to start a new Beta 2 version in which I can start adding a number of new features that, unfortunately, will break compatibility with previous saved games, simply because they introduce significant changes to the structure of the game. These include:

- New crew system with more character, detail, and flexibility. Crew will have more types of injuries, may need medical attention both in the tank and after the battle, and will be more flexible in terms of recruiting and swapping out crewmen to a reserve pool. KIA crewmen will be memorialized in the main menu screen.
- New campaign calendar; right now this is far by the flattest aspect to the game, and doesn't really make sense for how the game has evolved from its roots. The new calendar will focus on the most important events in the calendar, and will give the player a better sense of where they are within the campaign.
- New random events and optional missions on the campaign day map, which make moving across the map more interesting and give more choices to the player. These will take the form of radio transmissions from HQ giving the player the chance to fulfill a task for bonus VP.
- Overhead views of tanks and other vehicles, with an animated display of penetrating hits.
- Better 'tutorial' messages. I've already made changes to the start of the game that will make it easier and more clear for new players to understand how to set up their tank and crew, but these types of pop-up messages will become a standardized feature that can be disabled by more experienced players
- Better, more detailed season effects and colours on the campaign day map. Right now these are pretty basic, with seasons always starting on the same calendar day, but there's room for some more randomness in how seasons are triggered and displayed.
- Finally, the introduction of a new campaign and the beginning of more flexibility to add different types of campaigns in the future.

I figured it made most sense to start on all of these at once, since many of them will required players to start a new game anyways. So I don't anticipate releasing a new update to ArmCom for some time, but when I do, it will be an unstable test release with most if not all of these exciting new features in the game.

In the meantime, please keep enjoying ArmCom and keep those suggestions and bug reports coming in.

[monkie]

The game is evolving so fast, it is great to see. I especially like the idea of more detailed crew information and the ability to swap crew around. Thanks again for all the effort you are putting in, I am enjoying the game very much.