D-Day at Omaha Beach

[Bullman]

Hi,

There is a great solitaire (board) game called D-Day at Omaha Beach by Decision games that I have played via a Vassal mod (basically a PC interface for board games). The actual solitaire game play design and mechanics of this game is really quite clever. When I heard that Decision Games was working on a full-on PC version of this game, I certainly was interested. I had actually thought myself what it would be like to essentially "automate" the solitaire mechanics of this game so that the player is freed of all the gameplay housekeeping an rule checking.

Anyway, the game has now been released.

https://shop.decisiongames.com/Prod...e+Arena+14&utm_campaign=BA14&utm_medium=email

I was keen to get it. However, when I went to order it I saw that the only option was to order a physical DVD of the game, paying for all the postage and handling of course.

Now I congratulate Decision Games on making the game, but what could they have possibly been thinking when they decided that the best way to distribute the game is to make it available as a physical DVD only and charge $24.95 + p&h for it?

Where is any sense of logic in that? What decade do these guys think it is? Are they that backwards? I find it almost insulting that they would expect this from their customers. The game specs says you need 32mb of space to install it. Maybe it needs the DVD in to play (again very old school) but for a game of it's type surely the total size of the game is no more than perhaps a few 100mb if that.

The cost of the postage and handling to get it to me is almost half the price of the game itself! Even if I did order it, I would still have to wait a week or two for it to arrive, knowing that if I could just download it it would take less than 10sec.

I emailed them about this and they said they may consider it in the future. It's 2015 and this is the future where everything is available as a download.

Can anyone make sense of this?

 

[Richtig]

At the risk of understating my agreement with your post - the answer is no.

You can't make sense of it and all your points are valid.

What you need now are some Decision Games fanboys to come along and tell you:
1. You haven't considered all the possible effects of what you are asking.
2. There is a lot of work in what you are asking.
3. Anyone with military experience can actually offer no opinion
4. It was never something that happened during the war...

And 5. there will be a patch along shortly that allows you to do the things you wanted it to do originally so long as you pay an additional small fee...

6. No the small fee isn't to correct the things we got wrong in the first release - its for all the cool new stuff like.... well lets just say there is a lot going on behind the scenes that you don't really need to worry about - but its really cool...



Anyway the bottom line is you are right.

And maybe one thing - remember some of the people involved in game production no nothing - so they make mistakes. We are just the poor saps who fund the mistakes (and anything that looks vaguely like it has promise). God knows I have funded more than my share over the last 3 decades - just keep your fingers crossed that they listen...

Oh - you see now I could start a whole new thread about games companies who don't listen beginning with....

 

[Richtig]

One last last thing - I think if I go in my loft I actually may have a copy of the original game - not 100% sure but it rings a bell...

And Vassal is brilliant for playing old great boardgames solitaire... Tho strangely I have never used it H2H.

 

[Bullman]

Wow Richtig,

I wan't expecting such a thought out/knowledgeable response as that. Seems you have some interest in what is going on not just with this particular game but also with similar attempts at producing/designing and releasing games like it (ie. board game cross-over) What is your background on this?

I actually quite like the mechanics of some "board wargames" and would only really play them if they are available on a PC platform like Vassal or a dedicated PC port like what they have done with D-Day at Omaha Beach. BTW I do actually own the boxed game itself and am waiting for my pre-order of Tarawa. I really just bought it for the rules and charts, have never punched out the pieces and never intend to.

I know a lot of hardcore board wargamers would disagree, but I think the potential and positives of the "play via PC" aspect of these games is being grossly overlooked and ill considered. It would be great to see a developer design a board wargame exclusively to be played on PC/Mac etc.

PS: Having been inspired by some very good Vassal mods, a few years ago I set out and made my first ever Vassal mod, for a relatively obscure game that I still had in storage from the 80's. It was actually from a Strategy & Tactics magazine when they used to come packaged in a plastic wrapping which also housed the rules maps and counters for a particular board game. Anyway, I was really happy with what I did, I had a lot of innovative features put in to it including sound, and uploaded it up on the Vassal mod website. I was looking forward to the feedback I would get for breathing new life in to an dusty and forgotten game that really probably only a few hundred people on the planet would even know or care about. You can imagine how shocked I was when perhaps a few weeks after I posted it up (along with the 100's of other mods), the download link was removed and in red text this was posted:

VASSAL is not allowed to host this file or provide external links to the module in accordance to the wishes of the present Copyright Holder(s)

If you would like to see a module of this game made available please contact the Copyright Holder(s) to change their policy

There are literally hundreds of games up on the Vassal mod site all readily available, yet for some reason some crusty old grumpy **** thought it is in their best interests to prevent me from sharing what I had created and was offering for free to anyone who cared to try it out. Are these people that freakn DESPERATE and threatened by what it is modern technology and your average user can offer and do for the very games they happen to have bought the copyright laws to? The guys that apparently own/bought the "rights" to the game I made a Vassal mod for are Hexwar. The creative stifling, stubbornness and mentality of some of the people in that industry is simply dumbfounding, its laughable. I see Hexwar have become now quite established in the wargame app department and seem very $ focuesed.

 

[Bullman]

Oh yeah, I got a reply from Decision Games regarding their CD only game.

Most overseas customers are ordering multiple products from us at one time so the additional cost of the CD is minimal. We do intend to make it available via download once the CD run is sold out (probably next year). We still have a surprising number of customers that only want a CD version and will not purchase via download.

 

[rocketman]

Hi,

There is a great solitaire (board) game called D-Day at Omaha Beach by Decision games that I have played via a Vassal mod (basically a PC interface for board games). The actual solitaire game play design and mechanics of this game is really quite clever. When I heard that Decision Games was working on a full-on PC version of this game, I certainly was interested. I had actually thought myself what it would be like to essentially "automate" the solitaire mechanics of this game so that the player is freed of all the gameplay housekeeping an rule checking.

Bullman, this post got me interested - I might even splash the cash and get the DVD-version. What is it about the game mechanics that you find clever, as you say?

 

[Bullman]

Hi rocketman,

I think what makes the mechanics great is just how streamlined, simple yet efficient it is.

The game mechanics are essentially card driven. There is a deck of multi-function cards from which you draw cards from to determine various kinds of different random aspects of the game each turn. Typically one parameter on the card is referred to each time a card is drawn but in any one turn several of the multi-function cards may be drawn to order to check the outcome of various random events.

The hex map has several German strong point locations marked. Each strong point has it's own field of fire in to surrounding hexes, listed as either intense (typically adjacent), steady or sporadic (typically at maximum range) fire. Each strong point has a colour assigned to it and each turn a card is drawn to determine which colour strongpoints get to fire.

There is also a very cool FOW mechanic relating to the German strong points and combat resolution mechanic that makes each game play through a different experience. There is a pool of double-sided German strongpoint and depth counters with a generic "hidden" side and a detailed "revealed" side. At game start, these counters are placed in a cup and randomly assigned to each German strongpoint location with their generic "hidden" side showing. The strongpoint and depth counters are flipped to "revealed" when successfully attacked but in doing so reveal more information about the units capabilities and what weapons/conditions are needed by attacking units to defeat the unit. The attacking units may or may not have the required weapons/conditions to defeat the enemy which adds more uncertainty and chaos to the battle.

The full game is very tough to win but very rewarding, deep, yet easy to play. I think it does an excellent job of simulating just how brutal the combat at Omaha beach was. There is also a rising tide mechanic that adds another element of concern for the player to make sure they get their units off the beach.

If you want a good challenge and have an interest in understanding what went on at Omaha beach, I can not more highly recommend you try it. There are some reviews and examples of play on Youtube.

 

[rocketman]

Hi Bullman

Thanks for the extensive reply. It seems like a game I should get. When I was in my teens I used to play solitaire games such as Ambush (same guy who created Omaha) and Patton's Best. The latter had a similar FOW mechanic that you describe. Amphibious and airborne landings have been fascinating for me and D-day is the event that made me interested in reading more about WWII history. And I find that the more I read, play etc. it adds to the immersion of CM and the creation of scenarios. So your statement that the game helps you understand what happened, it can't think of a praise more worthy of my attention. I had a look at some youtube videos and from what I can see, a PC version should be ideal. As long as the UI is well done and it is bug free. Have not found a review of the PC version yet.

 

[Bullman]

Unfortunately I can not help but agree with the negative reviews I've read the PC version has been getting. I think the guy who coded the PC version never advanced past designing shareware in the 90s.

It really is a shame that they went down this path. To be honest the interface and look of the VASSAL module for the game looks way better. To make it worse they do not even offer digital download despite the game being just 32MB is size, you have to get a CD mailed to you....hello again 90's.

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1315254/pc-version-arrived-today/page/1

I agree with this comment posted "The 90s just called and are asking if this is the shareware version..."

More screenshots here:
https://shop.decisiongames.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=2107

 

[rocketman]

It's too bad. I so want this to be a great PC adaptation. I guess I can live with poor graphics, but a clunky, unintuitive, bug-riddled UI is not acceptable. And not having a downloadable version is just plain silly. When I ordered CMBN on disc (Sweden), shipping and taxes summed up to more than the game itself. If there was a downloadable version I might take a chance, but not as it is. As it seems to be a really popular game, I wish someone would do a Kickstarter with the support from DG. Maybe that would work? Vassal version looks great, but without the tabletop game it's not much use.

 

[Bootie]

Rico designs nicer graphics... LOL

 

[rocketman]

Anyone know if this works on Win 10. On Decision Game's webpage it is not stated, but the other game in the series does work on Win 10. Emailed sales a couple of weeks ago and finally got a reply to a completely different question so it might be better to ask here.