TLDR: The separation of production, economic, and transportation buildings, as well as the inability to build in rural provinces, removes a significant layer of the strategy and depth that makes this game so great.
First off I would like to say that enjoy and agree with all the other changes to 1.5 (the new unit balancing, the upgrade system, doctrines, etc), and I am not expecting or asking the devs to suddenly reverse course back to 1.0 based on what I say here; however, feedback is important for any creative project and I want to get my thoughts out.
In 1.0 most buildings had multiple uses and some buildings overlapped in purpose (there were three buildings for economy, you needed industry and another building to build troops, and to upgrade both to build good troops fast). When you wanted to build a building you had to carefully way a number of considerations; how much will this boost my economy? Will this help produce the units I need? Will it help the units I produce get to the front quicker?
In 1.5 every building has essentially 1 purpose, with a few having a minor secondary effect. When you want an effect you know exactly which building to build and where to build it. If you want an economic boost you build industry in your highest production province. If you want speed you build infrastructure in the place you need speed. If you want a type of unit you build that unit's production building in any province.
This streamlining of buildings removes a major layer of strategy from COW. In a typical 1.0 game I would start my buildings with barracks in all my core cities to gain manpower and infantry for the first few days, then immediately start working on infrastructure for tanks & artillery. I started capturing intact industry outside my core I would build airfields and lvl 2 barracks in some of them because manpower is infinite and airfields have no economy so the non-core penalty doesn't matter. I would continue building up the industry and infrastructure of my economically valuable core provinces; this not only boosted my economy but allowed me to build and transport units faster. Once I had the economy to fill my urban core (and build a few new industrials in my rural provinces) I would invest in production facilities outside my core. By the late game I would have a core territory with massive economic output and the ability to assemble huge armies in very short time. Admiring the power of my core was just satisfying as watching my armies paint the map.
In 1.5... there's none of that. Production buildings have no economic output, and because they don't need expensive level 1 industry, so there is no reason not to build them in captured regions. Instead of carefully considering whether I should invest in upgrading my core facilities to get the full economic potential out of them, or even build new facilities in my core, I can just spam production facilities in every urban area I conquer. I ran the math and industrial complexes barely make any sense even in core urban provinces; previously they could at least be justified by the decreased production time. In 1.0 if I captured a well developed area I treasured it because it let me build new units near the front without having to make the massive investment in industry and high level infrastructure/barracks/airfields; now... that treasured front-line production center can be anywhere.
I suspect that this change was made not for the like of me, who originally found Supremacy 1914 because I wanted a free online version of Paradox games, but rather for the mass of mobile players who want something casual they can jump into. If so, I think that 1.5 is definitely the way to go. I can't say that I'll stop playing once 1.0 is thrown away, but I will certainly miss the building system.
First off I would like to say that enjoy and agree with all the other changes to 1.5 (the new unit balancing, the upgrade system, doctrines, etc), and I am not expecting or asking the devs to suddenly reverse course back to 1.0 based on what I say here; however, feedback is important for any creative project and I want to get my thoughts out.
In 1.0 most buildings had multiple uses and some buildings overlapped in purpose (there were three buildings for economy, you needed industry and another building to build troops, and to upgrade both to build good troops fast). When you wanted to build a building you had to carefully way a number of considerations; how much will this boost my economy? Will this help produce the units I need? Will it help the units I produce get to the front quicker?
In 1.5 every building has essentially 1 purpose, with a few having a minor secondary effect. When you want an effect you know exactly which building to build and where to build it. If you want an economic boost you build industry in your highest production province. If you want speed you build infrastructure in the place you need speed. If you want a type of unit you build that unit's production building in any province.
This streamlining of buildings removes a major layer of strategy from COW. In a typical 1.0 game I would start my buildings with barracks in all my core cities to gain manpower and infantry for the first few days, then immediately start working on infrastructure for tanks & artillery. I started capturing intact industry outside my core I would build airfields and lvl 2 barracks in some of them because manpower is infinite and airfields have no economy so the non-core penalty doesn't matter. I would continue building up the industry and infrastructure of my economically valuable core provinces; this not only boosted my economy but allowed me to build and transport units faster. Once I had the economy to fill my urban core (and build a few new industrials in my rural provinces) I would invest in production facilities outside my core. By the late game I would have a core territory with massive economic output and the ability to assemble huge armies in very short time. Admiring the power of my core was just satisfying as watching my armies paint the map.
In 1.5... there's none of that. Production buildings have no economic output, and because they don't need expensive level 1 industry, so there is no reason not to build them in captured regions. Instead of carefully considering whether I should invest in upgrading my core facilities to get the full economic potential out of them, or even build new facilities in my core, I can just spam production facilities in every urban area I conquer. I ran the math and industrial complexes barely make any sense even in core urban provinces; previously they could at least be justified by the decreased production time. In 1.0 if I captured a well developed area I treasured it because it let me build new units near the front without having to make the massive investment in industry and high level infrastructure/barracks/airfields; now... that treasured front-line production center can be anywhere.
I suspect that this change was made not for the like of me, who originally found Supremacy 1914 because I wanted a free online version of Paradox games, but rather for the mass of mobile players who want something casual they can jump into. If so, I think that 1.5 is definitely the way to go. I can't say that I'll stop playing once 1.0 is thrown away, but I will certainly miss the building system.