Same engine?...Different war?

[madgamer]

I do not want to start a big flame war here but I have a question that may sound dumb (And is?) that I need answered before I plunk down my money. Now I can see that this games bears a strong similarity to AACW. I want to know if it plays the same basic way and shares the same basic interface as AACW.
The reason I ask this is I had a hard time with AACW that was in part due to several factors
1. Very large map very small regions (lots of regions) that gave me the feeling of not quite knowing where I was or where I should be going. The color and period look would give me a headache after about 3 hrs. of play.

2. The interface seemed to be a bit click happy and I found the data screens did not work for me.

3. There seemed to be a long line of patch's that for me made the game harder to play and by 1,10d my ability to use the production/unit building sub systems was near total meltdown for my old brain. I was always running out of something (money,war supplies, or men). It got so bad that I could not even replace the losses for one turns worth of battles.

4. The over all effect was that it was work to play AACW rather than fun. It seems to me that in the effort to make it better with several patch's it only made it worse for me.

I could go on but the point of all this is if BoA2 works the same basic way with the same basic system i will most likely have some of the same problems. SO what I want to know is are the two games using the same kind of system? If so I think I need to save my money or wait till all the patch's are in to buy it.
I do not mean to make AACW out to be a bad game but just a game that did not work for me and I fear that I would have the same problems with BoA2 as I did with AACW so maybe someone can help me out here with a brief overall view of the two games.

thanks in advance
Madgamer

[lodilefty]

Hi
I feel for your pain dealing with the complexity of AACW, as it does have many features that engage the player in choices.

WIA [BoA2] does share some common features, but is not as complex. I'll try to address your questions and concerns:

1. WIA has ~1300 playable regions, but many are rivers, oceans lakes etc. Additionally, the latest patch [more on that below] includes a 'region finder' function to help you get to thr action.

2. There are many keystoke alternatives to key strokes. And, again, WIA has a simpler structure.
WIA does not use any 'organized command structure' [ARMY/Corps/Division]. Just put units and leaders in stacks and go!

3. WIA does not have any of the 'purchasing' functionality. Through various 'successes', you earn 'Engagement Points' that are spent on a few [less than 15] options [buy a supply unit, buy replacements]. These options are nowhere near as complex as thos in AACW.

4. I'm biased: WIA is fun! We will continue patching as bugs are reported. And new features may occasionally appear [usually from users requests]

To check it out, dwnload the demo. It includes the first year of the American Revolution, and you will see the simpler funtionality...

http://ageoddl.telechargement.fr/latest/WIA_Demo.zip

I hope this helps.

[Chief Rudiger]

To me, Birth of America 2: Wars in America is a sequel to BoA1 more than it’s is a development of AACW. In my opinion, like you, I felt AACW suffered from its own complexity and I often lost the will to continue a big campaign and had to keep a physical log of my game to keep track of where I was going with it!

What I love about BOA2 though, is that it has ported some of AACW's features back into "the original", BOA1, particularly cohesion, which adds realism but not much more complexity. Also the elegant new system of influencing the war effort through EP allows me to request some additional regiments or cannon to augment those whole armies and fleets that I am given through scripted events.

Thus, the game turns can be planned much quicker than AACW and with smaller armies and a simpler command structures it is much easier to plan and win decisive moves and understand more fully what happens in the battles!

As lodilefty said, try the demo, even try BOA1's demo, and then try playing AACW again. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[madgamer]

Your words are what I needed to know.. I am glad to here that I am not the only one who though tthat AACW got to wrapped upin its own complexity I will get BoA2 (i love the period from the French & Indian war through the end of the ACW. I will try the demo and aproach AACW again even though nothing was done to those production and unit building sub systems in the 1.11 patch. The problem of dealing with things like production and unit creation have always been hard for me and have kept me from playing games like FoF. and countless others.
As for AACW I will keep trying but I wish there could be some way the production could be a setup change for the human player to choose from (easy nonderate, normal, moderate hard, hard) The amount of production and the parameters could be adjusted by the various settings. This will most likely not happen in my life time.

thanks for your response and do not fear I will buy more of your games in the future
Madgamer

[Korrigan]

A feature I love in BoA 1&2 is the intinmate feeling your develop toward your troops.

Because the scalre is different By time, you'll get to know each single troop and leader in your armies, something merely impossible with AACW.

This due both to a subtily different game design, and to the period which was different from the Civil War.


Regards,

Korrigan