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Rob Zacny

Episode 220: Expanding on the Company of Heroes

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Relic's Quinn Duffy and former Relic producer and friend of the show Shane Neville join Rob to talk about Company of Heroes past and future.

 

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Great conversation. I've been playing the open beta without having ever played the original CoH or Opposing Fronts, and this really clarified what was in the previous games and what wasn't, and also helped clarify some important tactical concepts that I was missing. I'm glad you asked about the leveling up system because that set off alarm bells for me as well. I thought some of the explanation for why that was in there made sense, but I would have preferred if they had limited it to Steam achievements or whatever rather than linking it to some sort of carrot because I do not appreciate the concept of grinding in strategy games. If it is something you can turn off in multiplayer matches though then I think everything is good.

 

I like how you brought up the way the game has a lot in common with turn based tactical wargaming as well even while existing very squarely within the RTS camp. Lately I've been playing GMT's Combat Commander series with a friend, and I've appreciated how many of the tactical issues I'm facing in CoH2 are quite similar to what I'm doing in CC.

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I'm mildly surprised there was no mention of the pacific campaign as a potential setting.  I would have thought the Pacific theater would be perfect; the island battles are all largely self-contained, on maps which (for infantry, at least) have very rigid borders.

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The Pacific theater definitely seems like the obvious place for Relic to go to next. I'd be interested in seeing their take on how the Commonwealth work.

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Excellent podcast, indeed.

 

I fell in love with Relic Entertainment the night before HOMEWORLD was available in stores around the world. The demo came out the day before and it is one of these "gaming moments" which stick with you for the rest of your life, happening to me. Using Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" to open your Science Fiction Space Opera - the black borders disappearing, showing you, the cutscene was all IN-GAME and I can play it now(?!) - was mind blowing to me, at the time. And that game was the FIRST game this company ever made and the first game, most in that team ever made!

 

Company of Heroes was a game I did not buy when it came out. Life happens. Video games matter less, sometimes. I did play it eventually, but never to the level of "pro-gamers" or of some "Shawn Elliott", who could not shut up about it, turning every EGM/GFW Podcast into a neverending tale of "Company of Heroes" griefing stories. Shawn Elliott is the reason I don't play multiplayer games! Also, since all my real world friends don't "waste (their) time, playing video games", I find it hard to "trust" complete strangers to invade the privacy of my home - even if it is only through a computer screen.

 

Yesterday, I too started playing the Open Beta ... and it is glorious! It has all the 'hooks' of the previous CoH. Even someone like me can appreciate the gameplay, which was very innovative at the time? I was very surprised though, when I heard the hilarious one-liners and the voice acting in the game. Ridiculous and funny, which, of course, does not necessarily fit with the setting - one of the most grim chapters of World War 2. But hey, it's a video game!

 

Although, I would like to know how a video game like this one, would play and 'feel' if the story campaign, would not close their eyes, but show the war crimes, interrupting the "fun". Such a "game" (serious, story driven, 'auteur' style) would not only "not sell", but offend at least one faction, probably ALL - even the ones, not represented? Previous Company of Heroes games are already censored in Germany! RIght now, I am just happy that RELIC found a home with SEGA.

 

The game runs smoothly on my machine. The achievements and the RPG (or Call of Duty multiplayer?) style progression and unlocks are like a neverending candy store? Twitch integration works fine (I tested it). The graphics (technically) and the physics offer never ending explosions and chaos, adding to the atmosphere. The sound design is excellent, like in all Relic games.And the Game AI is impressive.

 

Granted, I am a "casual player", I do admire hard (but fair!) games, and I am very interested in Game AI. Having a survey screen popping up in-game, asking for player feedback about the AI is something, I wish many more developers and publishers would do, besides the heatmaps and other data they already collect from player matches.

 

All in all, I did not plan to buy CoH2 this summer, but guess what? Now I have to.

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The grand tragedy of Homeworld was that it was (reputedly, at least) green-lit on the basis of a whiteboard presentation.  It was critically acclaimed, and though flawed (I don't know about you, but I found combat a little hard to manage once things really got moving), a pretty good actual game.  Despite that, IIRC it didn't meet sales expectations, and it was pretty much the death knell for whiteboard pitches.  It was one of those watersheds in the industry, like the Ripping Friends game, where after it happened publishers wouldn't touch anything like it with a barge pole.  Once the numbers on Homeworld were in, if you didn't have a vertical slice demo alongside your pitch the publishers (at least the ones I talked to) weren't interested.

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Hahaha if Shawn Elliott hadn't spent so much time talking about Company of Heroes then CGW/GFW would have turned into another WoW podcast.

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