Feature Feedback: Sound, Unit graphics, map colors, AI adjustments, daychange

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  • Feature Feedback: Sound, Unit graphics, map colors, AI adjustments, daychange

    We have new features on Beta to test. These features are part of our CoW 1.5 initiative, but because they are not affecting the gameplay, we will release them to live already after a short beta testing phase of 2 weeks. The live release will happen on 26th of November.

    Sound & Music
    We implemented sound effects and background music into the game, for more immersion. Have a listen and tell us if you feel that some sounds are too loud or too quiet or if you feel that certain sounds are missing, e.g. for specific actions or buttons. There is also a toggle in the game settings to turn sound on and off.

    Note: Sound works much better in the advanced graphics version, as there the volume of certain sounds change depending on how far your screen is away from the source of the sound, making the experience very dynamic. In the old graphics version (Canvas) this info is sadly missing, making all sounds displayed at full volume on the map. (maybe gets fixed later)

    Vehicle Graphics Update
    We updated the unit graphics for vehicles to improve the look and feel of the game. We also added faction specific vehicle skins where they were missing. The graphics for the other units will be updated in future updates.

    Map colors
    To improve the look and feel of the game we changed the map colors in the advanced graphics version, especially in the relation view mode, where we felt the initial look was "too much blue". Therefore the relation mode received a different color palette. Water and fog of war color also got a bit lighter.

    Daychange adjustments
    We implemented a daychange timer in the upper right corner in the PC version and in the bottom right corner in the mobile version, so that players know at all times when the next daychange will happen. We also changed the time of daychange to the time when a game round started, for newly created games. This means future rounds will not have their daychange always on midnight CET, but on the time when the round was created. The visible daychange timer should help with that switch. This is done for 2 reasons: a) decrease alot of server load and b) remove disadvantages from players in certain time zones who always had the day change at very unpopular times.

    AI adjustments
    Popularity with Elite AI should not drop as fast anymore, resulting in less early war declarations from AIs. Also AI should now build less units which it cannot use well, like Airplanes and ships, and build more units which it already leveled up alot.

    Unit Layouting
    In the enhanced graphics version unit images on the map push each other away a bit so that images don't overlap anymore. This should help with seeing and selecting armies in crowded areas.

    Hope you like the changes and happy testing!
  • freezy wrote:

    We have new features on Beta to test. These features are part of our CoW 1.5 initiative, but because they are not affecting the gameplay, we will release them to live already after a short beta testing phase of 2 weeks. The live release will happen on 26th of November.

    Sound & Music
    We implemented sound effects and background music into the game, for more immersion. Have a listen and tell us if you feel that some sounds are too loud or too quiet or if you feel that certain sounds are missing, e.g. for specific actions or buttons. There is also a toggle in the game settings to turn sound on and off.

    Note: Sound works much better in the advanced graphics version, as there the volume of certain sounds change depending on how far your screen is away from the source of the sound, making the experience very dynamic. In the old graphics version (Canvas) this info is sadly missing, making all sounds displayed at full volume on the map. (maybe gets fixed later)

    Vehicle Graphics Update
    We updated the unit graphics for vehicles to improve the look and feel of the game. We also added faction specific vehicle skins where they were missing. The graphics for the other units will be updated in future updates.

    Map colors
    To improve the look and feel of the game we changed the map colors in the advanced graphics version, especially in the relation view mode, where we felt the initial look was "too much blue". Therefore the relation mode received a different color palette. Water and fog of war color also got a bit lighter.

    Daychange adjustments
    We implemented a daychange timer in the upper right corner in the PC version and in the bottom right corner in the mobile version, so that players know at all times when the next daychange will happen. We also changed the time of daychange to the time when a game round started, for newly created games. This means future rounds will not have their daychange always on midnight CET, but on the time when the round was created. The visible daychange timer should help with that switch. This is done for 2 reasons: a) decrease alot of server load and b) remove disadvantages from players in certain time zones who always had the day change at very unpopular times.

    AI adjustments
    Popularity with Elite AI should not drop as fast anymore, resulting in less early war declarations from AIs. Also AI should now build less units which it cannot use well, like Airplanes and ships, and build more units which it already leveled up alot.

    Hope you like the changes and happy testing!
    Also while panning away from the battlefield, sounds should slowly fade out the further out you go, it does do this but after a certain point, the sound just shuts off instead of fading out
    :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
  • Map Colors: About 10% of the world's male population has a genetic deficiency of the eye that leaves many shades of red and green indistinguishable. Would help some of us if the color schemes reduce/eliminate reliance on contrast between red and green. Contrast between light and dark and between blue and not-blue are most reliable.

    While I'm on the subject of display, could you PLEASE fix the unit positioning so the unit icons no longer cover the road? When multiple stacks are in close proximity, it's too often very difficult to see exactly what is where. This has been an annoyance ever since I started playing almost 2 years ago. If a positioning fix is too hard, how about a VERY visible dot on the unit icon (in a universally contrasting color) showing exactly where it is?
  • THEARBITER117 wrote:

    THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! This is perhaps one of my favorite updates in a long while, keep doing this!! :D Are there any plans to add animations to units as well? Such as propellers, trails, tire tracks, constant slow movement, AI battle sounds, faster battles(In this version not 1.5)
    Thanks, glad you like it!
    The plan is definitely to keep improving the graphical fidelity and make the battlefields more lively and realistic, but can't tell yet when it will come.

    THEARBITER117 wrote:

    Also while panning away from the battlefield, sounds should slowly fade out the further out you go, it does do this but after a certain point, the sound just shuts off instead of fading out
    It actually should do that, everything should become quieter smoothly until maximum zoom level. In our tests we never noticed any sudden cut off. Can you perhaps tell us how to reproduce this? On which map are you playing? Which sound do you mean that is cut-off?

    Nooberium wrote:

    Map Colors: About 10% of the world's male population has a genetic deficiency of the eye that leaves many shades of red and green indistinguishable. Would help some of us if the color schemes reduce/eliminate reliance on contrast between red and green. Contrast between light and dark and between blue and not-blue are most reliable.

    While I'm on the subject of display, could you PLEASE fix the unit positioning so the unit icons no longer cover the road? When multiple stacks are in close proximity, it's too often very difficult to see exactly what is where. This has been an annoyance ever since I started playing almost 2 years ago. If a positioning fix is too hard, how about a VERY visible dot on the unit icon (in a universally contrasting color) showing exactly where it is?
    We tried to choose shades of red and green that are distinguishable at least by their brightness levels. The new green is also more of a yellowish-green instead of a pure green. We have a red-green color blind person in the office as well, he gave his ok.

    We will actually very soon release a feature that improves unit positioning in advanced graphics mode when multiple units are close together. Unit images will "push" eachother away, making sure they don't overlap anymore. Imagine magnets of different polarization. The thin line then shows their actual position. When a unit is not in the vicinity of other units there is no reason though to paint them not on the road. There is already a red dot showing the exact position of a unit (but I agree that sometimes its not visible enough).
  • I'm on the ten player map, I was using a tactical bomber, while zoomed in and the plane is patrolling. I'm slowing panning away, the sound gets more quiet, and then it just shuts off completely, even tho there still a little more left in the fading out. And when I got back, you can hear a slight pop and the sound turns back on semi loudly.
    :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
  • freezy wrote:

    When a unit is not in the vicinity of other units there is no reason though to paint them not on the road.
    Not always true. I'd say the majority of the time I move units, it's by small increments of time and if the unit is covering the road where I'm trying to move it it is hard to see how far I've gone. This is especially true now that there is no travel time indication while you are dragging the mouse around to different positions. One solution would be to have units jump off of the road when you are doing a unit move near it's position.
  • The Travel time not being displayed while dragging gets fixed soon.
    We simply don't want to paint units above the roads at all times. It may be nice for experienced players to always see the exact pixel where a unit is but for new players it would look totally weird and everyone would ask why units are floating on the map. The idea that we only paint the unit above the road when you drag the unit would be a solution but thats a new feature. Making the little dot bigger and maybe also painting it in the country color of the player would be the easiest solution though. I will put it to our to do list (but cant say when that will be done).
    This topic doesn't really have anything to do with what we are testing on beta right now though. So to come back on topic:

    We are now adding a separate toggle button for Music and Sound, so that both can be turned on and off individually.

    Also we will disable Sound & Music when not playing in the Enhanced graphics version, as several sounds are not working correctly in that old version. Means Sound will be exclusive to the Enhanced Graphics version (WebGL), except in the loading screen, there a music plays for both versions.
  • OK, some feedback on beta:
    sound of music: not qualified to comment due to 100dB hearing loss in combat.
    graphics update and map colors: N/A, never use the WebGL, since
    it is too cluttered, and the option to remove the unchanging resource
    icons and province names was deleted.
    Daychange adjustments: good change.
    AI adjustments: have not seen enough AI units to comment.
  • freezy wrote:



    Sound & Music
    Vehicle Graphics Update
    Map colors

    Daychange adjustments
    AI adjustments
    Oh, excellent, communications...

    Lets see, what do we have here...

    Are we testing 1.5 implementation? Game changing features like player trading, or coalition release time outs? 1.5 unit balancing... resource balancing... resource usage? .....

    No, I see it now... sound files, graphic files, color and deco, a nice new display timer, and ... an AI aggression tweak...

    We are definitely getting to the Frontline, to Pioneer some beta now!

    And, no, we are far past sarcasm at this point. As I said previously, this isn't beta testing, we are screening graphics and sounds at this point - the bleeding edge of gaming technology I'm sure.
    Killings my business, and business is good!
  • It is still beta testing ;) Sound or graphical updates can also have bugs or may require more finetuning. No one said beta testing was only for testing gameplay features or balancing.

    There is also no rule that says that every single change has to get a pass from FP players. We will decide on a feature per feature basis how we test it and for how long. For 1.5 the decision was that we need testing on a massive scale, with a broad audience comprised of many different experience levels, and testing over multiple iterations over multiple months. Therefore live Events.


    To stay on topic: The separate toggle for sound & music is now on beta. Also we now updated the interface images of the refreshed unit skins, to fit to their map appearance.

    Another thing on beta: Unit images in the Enhanced graphics version should now push each other away a bit so that images don't overlap anymore. This should improve usability of that version.
  • Now also on Beta for the Enhanced graphics version, for a short test:

    - added flight animations for airplanes. The game will look much more alive that way :)
    - hovered units now appear in front of other elements, including city names
    - flying planes always appear in front of other units and elements on the ground
    - Fixed rocket trajectories and images.
  • Regarding Game Sound: I am one of those players (like many) that has CoW on 24-7 active on my computer, even at work. It would be nice that the "sound effects" can "only" be sounds such as new units being produced, being attacked, bombed, nuked, maybe even when a combat timer hits zero.

    The idea is, that when I hear those sounds, I would than go to CoW to see what happens, then to take action depending on what just happened. Currently, sound effects has what I call "white noise," or "background noise." As a result, I simply mute "all sounds" due the current configeration (music, and special effects). In other words, it would be nice that "sound effects" are more like "alert" sounds that tells you that something has happened. Even getting a private or coalition sound alert would be cool (not sure about how other players feel, might be a bad idea since your taking away the "game feel" if you had alerts not related to "real game play" ie battles/new units being produced).

    Hopefully this kind of makes sense.
  • Feedback about the sound:
    Best thing about the sound are the two buttons to switch off

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  • tripb wrote:

    Regarding Game Sound: I am one of those players (like many) that has CoW on 24-7 active on my computer, even at work. It would be nice that the "sound effects" can "only" be sounds such as new units being produced, being attacked, bombed, nuked, maybe even when a combat timer hits zero.

    The idea is, that when I hear those sounds, I would than go to CoW to see what happens, then to take action depending on what just happened. Currently, sound effects has what I call "white noise," or "background noise." As a result, I simply mute "all sounds" due the current configeration (music, and special effects). In other words, it would be nice that "sound effects" are more like "alert" sounds that tells you that something has happened. Even getting a private or coalition sound alert would be cool (not sure about how other players feel, might be a bad idea since your taking away the "game feel" if you had alerts not related to "real game play" ie battles/new units being produced).

    Hopefully this kind of makes sense.
    It makes sense, and is a good idea. We could even implement a distinct alert sound when being attacked for example. But to make them toggleable apart from other sounds and music but it would require us to add a third sound layer and a third button for those alert type sounds. It may be an option for the future, but for the near future its not on the plan.

    Restrisiko wrote:

    Feedback about the sound:
    Best thing about the sound are the two buttons to switch off
    Glad we were able to satisfy you :D

    Since these changes are now live and not in beta anymore there is no need to report beta feedback on them anymore.
  • tripb wrote:

    Regarding Game Sound: I am one of those players (like many) that has CoW on 24-7 active on my computer, even at work. It would be nice that the "sound effects" can "only" be sounds such as new units being produced, being attacked, bombed, nuked, maybe even when a combat timer hits zero.

    The idea is, that when I hear those sounds, I would than go to CoW to see what happens, then to take action depending on what just happened. Currently, sound effects has what I call "white noise," or "background noise." As a result, I simply mute "all sounds" due the current configeration (music, and special effects). In other words, it would be nice that "sound effects" are more like "alert" sounds that tells you that something has happened. Even getting a private or coalition sound alert would be cool (not sure about how other players feel, might be a bad idea since your taking away the "game feel" if you had alerts not related to "real game play" ie battles/new units being produced).

    Hopefully this kind of makes sense.
    Yeah good idea, but when you go into another tab, the music goes away. You can maybe have your email open and tell Call of War to send direct notifications there
    BeaveRyan
    Moderator
    EN Community Support | Bytro Labs Gmbh


    Training Alliance United Leader
  • Graphics.
    I use Enhanced graphics on a Laptop. I love the sharp images and the way you now zoom and pan. Awesome. However when playing a Beta version of the CoW Classic 22 Map, I was Spain and found as I zoomed out for an Overview and tried to plot when to position Units, the roads are not visible or discernable from any great heaight - as they are on the normal EG Map. With plots being more transparent and roads being almost invisible, I was having to zoom in close to check the route and then pan back out to see the overview whilst trying to consider what all the other units were doing. Can we widen the roads by a couple of points - I don't need to see them from space but a decent overview at cloud height would be good. TY.
    Images
    • Test01.png

      855.09 kB, 960×720, viewed 13 times
  • gusv wrote:

    I like the sound and graphics so far ... By the way, what's the name of the instrumental melody? ... :thumbup:
    Even though I am not frontline, but now that it is released to all. So I was saying that I do not like the mechanical tank moving sound. I think that the sound should combine a bit more "louder" sounds because after all, it is a tank and not a car. Also, maybe a few sound orders given in German, English or the language of the country you are playing. For example hearing the sound, " Attack/March " for Canada and the U.S.
    BeaveRyan
    Moderator
    EN Community Support | Bytro Labs Gmbh


    Training Alliance United Leader