Hi, I've finally managed play a full game as all 12 Generals and tested out everything in their arsenal, so I'm going to leave a detailed feedback regarding any problems or balance suggestions that I've found. I've likely mentioned a few of these issues already, however I'm going to compile all of my feedback here to so that it is easier to sort through.
I've sorted my feedback into sections for each general, and sections for issues that apply to the entire faction (USA, China, GLA) - as well as one more section for miscellaneous issues. Enjoy:
Miscellaneous
*The "Tournament Mode" Icon says it limits the number of Super Weapons to 1 per player, but it actually has the opposite effect - this text should be updated.
*The General's Challenge screen icons for the 3 new generals should be updated to use their new logos, instead of just the 'vanilla' USA/China/GLA logos.
*Some various Chinese and GLA units (ex. RPG Troopers, Toxin RPG Troopers, Zippers, Demo General Rebels, Dolphns, BTR-50s, Katyushas, all GLA super units, etc) still use English replics. Some of the China and GLA in-game alerts (ex. "The new cameo netting has arrived!") are still in English too.
*Most of the new Super Weapons are still referred to as the default super weapons by the in-game alerts (ex. If Super Weapon General builds a Tomahawk Storm, you'll hear the alert saying "Warning! Enemy Particle Cannon Detected")
*If possible, it would be nice to eventually see updated unit camos for the units which have redesigned models. (Ex. Red Guards, Tank Hunters, Laser Defenders, etc). I really like the new Chinese infantry models in particular, however the old Zero Hour cameos now look too different thank the actual models.
*The Generals' Challenge and campaigns have some noticeable bugs (though I'm sure the team is aware of this and working on it),
*Some AIs seem noticeably better than others. Ex: the Cyber General AI is fairly challenging even on the lowest difficulty, while on the lowest difficulty, Toxin General AI barely put up a fight at all. (I played Toxin General on the Earth 2010 map, so this might have been a map-specific bug, but I'm not totally sure).
*All Generals should have the Disassemble Aircraft ability (not just Air Force General)
*Buildings should be able to be sold or self-destructed - why this feature was removed (except for power plants and a few other misc. structures) is beyond me. If the idea was to prevent a player from selling/destroying his own buildings so that his opponent can't rank up, then how about just increasing the time it takes for a building to be sold/self-destructed, instead of just removing the feature altogether?
*The "Guard" command doesn't always work when you click the Guard Icon - sometimes you have to click the Icon multiple times before you'll get the Guard cursor to appear.
*I noticed some crashes or severe lags when huge numbers of units/buildings are destroyed at once (such as with a superweapon).
*If all airfields/levitation pads are destroyed, then when aircraft try to return to the airfield, they will sometimes just drop straight down out of the air and land on the ground unharmed, and then be able to take off again as though they are at an airfield (it seems like this bug affects all planes and all Generals).This looks very silly. In vanilla ZH, planes would gradually lose health (run out of fuel) if they had no airfield to land on, it would be better just to restore it to this, either that or just allow planes to stay in the air indefinitely if there is no airfield to return to.
*The excessive resources from supply stashes is probably the most gamebreaking issue. Now you can basically just build 8-10 gatherers (or 20+ GLA workers) and never have to worry about supplies again - it alo makes alternate income and oil derricks virtually pointless, unless you play a game that's so long you actually manage to spend over $1,000,000 worth of cash.
USA overall
*Battle Mechanic drone camo and appearance still have machine gun (though it no longer uses a machine gun in-game)
*Carpet Bombing level 2 icon shows a B-2 Stealth Bomber, though the actual planes are B-1 Lancers.
*MOAB upgrade icon shows B-2 Stealth Bomber, but the bomber that delivers it is a B-1 Lancer.
*Laser and Super Weapon General still use the Comanche Model (instead of the Thor Gunship model)
*The 'agonizing scream' voice when some USA vehicles are destroyed needs to be toned down, it's way too loud (especially if several vehicles are destroyed all at once) and it's very hard on the ears.
*Valanx still uses "Humvee" replics
*After researching Bunker Busters, the white text which displays when the research is completed incorrectly says "Bunker Buster Missiles"
*Comanches sometimes can't be told to directly attack infantry units (the red 'no attack' cursor will appear) - it seems like this happens if the Comanche is out of range. But If the Comanche is directly near an infantry unit, you can tell it to attack it.
*Deployable drones die too easily and end up being a waste of money (for example Chinese Mig-31s can attack them) - they shouldn't be targetable by planes, and should be modified so that they don't get destroyed so easily.
*Col. Burton and Terminator can only place 1 timed Demo Charge at a time - not sure if this is intentional or a bug, but originally they could place an unlimited number at a time, and I miss this feature.
Air Force
*When Super Weapon is built, the "Strategic Bombing" text is not capitalized in the countdown bar.
*The voice used by F-35 JST/Pave Low doesn't fit very well. It would better fit a Cyber General unit, or maybe the Chimera.
*The Eye voice does not fit - it says "Artillery Deployed", but it is not an artillery unit. The Hydra voice does not fit extremely well either - it sounds more fitting for a Chinese or GLA unit.
*Most of the new aircraft (Chimera, Hornet, F16XL, F35 JSF, B-3 Wyvern, etc) use the stock death voices from the Raptor or Steath Fighter, which don't match the units' voices. It would be better to just remove the death voices altogether if a matching voice isn't available.
*Air Force's Avenger needs a new voice. It still uses lines like "commencing light array", "tactical lasers online" or "initiating laser strike", etc even though it now uses a machine gun against ground targets instead of a laser designator, and uses some new non-laser weapon (a railgun?) against air targets.
*King Raptor still uses the replics "Our lasers should keep them off." and "Laser defenses ready", but the King Raptor no longer uses laser defense systems from ZH. These replics should be removed.
*The Spartan paradrop plane needs a new model. (Having a propeller driven cargo plane which flies as fast as jets, and is capable of stealth, seems aburd). It should have a stealthier model with jet engines. Or alternatively, just give it the Spectre Gunship model, since the Spectre Gunship general's power is no longer in the game - and the model would fit well.
*F-16XL seems overpowered for the price, it's range and damage are very good, yet it only costs $900 (the same as the FA-18 Hornet).
*Pilots cannot be loaded into Helicopters (Comanches, etc) unless the helicopters are already landed at an airfield for repairs. This bug has been around since vanilla ZH, but some mods such as Shockwave have fixed it, by allowing Helicopters to land and pick up the pilot when you command a pilot to enter it. Or alternatively, all helicopters in the game could be given the option to land/take off on command (like with the Cyborg Commando) - this would be an interesting feature to include.
*(This might be my imagination, but) In 007, I recall that Air Force General's Levitation Pad would actually show the planes hovering off the ground before flying off into the air - however in 008, the planes just rocket straight off the ground into the air, which looks a little awkward.
*Air Force General's big planes (Chimera, Wyvern, Spartan) can land on a regular levitation pad (they'll do it automatically if all Special levitation pads are destroyed) - this seems like a bug to me.
*If Air Force General's planes are completely out of ammo, then they cannot be ordered to leave a levitation pad until at least 1 round of ammo has been replenished - this is a very annoying bug because there are times when you may have to evacuate planes from an airfield in a hurry to save the planes (ex. if the airfield is about to be destroyed), but if Air Force General's planes are out of ammo, then they simply won't take off when ordered to.
Super Weapon
*Burton still says "Timed Demo Charge" when selecting EMP charge
*Demo Icon still appears when selecting Burton's Power Disabler
*Super Weapon General has no ambulance or toxin cleanup unit
*Emitter upgrade says "missiles do more damage", but it shows that it affects Aurora Beta bombs
*Saturn uses same voice as Terminator/Spider Tank, etc. It should have a more unique voice
*Blackout missiles and ICBM are just a recolored China Nuclear missile (and ICBM Silo is just the same model as the Particle Cannon struture) - a better model would be nice.
*EMP Warheads upgrade comes so late in the game that you'll probably not be needing Patriots at that time. Consider allowing individual Patriots to purchase their own EMP upgrade, or just starting with EMP (while leaving the EMP Warheads upgrade for the other structures/units)
*Antares cannot deploy drones
*Blackout Missile Silo fires missiles, but you only see lightning strike when it attacks (no missiles hit).
*Saturn moves too slow, and should be able to construct buildings from a slight distance
*The Web Defense system seems to be a little overpowered. I think that the required range between the Designators and Ion cannons should have a limit (you could click the Designators to view a distance radius).
*There is an occasional bug with the Web Defense system where the Ion Cannons can attack enemy units from a huge distance away (nearly half a small map.)
Laser
*Annihilator and Laser Turret still use the old models
*Laser Defenders still use dialogue such as "Got my Missile Launcher right here" and "Let me launch one huh?"
*Rename Laser Crusader to just "Crusader" (or give a new name such as "Excalibur Tank") since the 'regular' Crusader is no longer in the game (and remove the "Laser Crusader" replics). Paladin also doesn't need the "Laser Paladin" replic, because there is no longer a 'regular' Paladin in the game
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*The voice used by Omega doesn't fit very well - it sounds more fitting for a Cyber General unit.
*'Carbon Lasers' upgrade affects Burton (even though in-game description says Burton uses a
Plasma gun, not a Laser Gun) - and also affects Laser Defenders (even though the description says it is an 'anti-personel laser upgrade', while Laser Defenders are anti-vehicle unit).
*Aurora Bomber description still says it drops a Fuel-Air Bomb - but Townes' Aurora drops some type of energy bomb.
*Aurora Bomber comes too late in the game - it should either be available at a lower rank, or Laser General should have some other type of plane available earlier.
Robot
*The Robot General logo on the Command center always shows up as red no matter what the actual faction color selected is. The logo should match the faction color.
*Robot General planes still use default (human) voices upon death. (Ex. "Eject!")
*Robot General infantry still show blood when shot and use human voices when dying from toxins or radiation
*Cyborgs still use Ranger voice when capturing buildings
*Terminator still uses Burton voice when placing Demo Charge
*Terminator is still referred to as "Col. Burton" by the in-game alerts for each faction (ex. "Enemy Col. Burton detected")
*Harbinger still uses Chinook (human) voice
*Nemesis and Raven should not use "afterburners on" replic, because they are not planes and don't have afterburners.
*Barracks still uses old model
*Avenger Droid still uses old name and model (instead of Lancer)
*Fafnir still uses old name and model
*Ambulance unit name should be changed to "Medic Droid" or something, because it is a robot
*Robo Raptor should have a better name, because that name sounds like of silly and it doesn't look anything like the F22 Raptor
*Laser-guided missiles upgrade needs a new name for Cyber General (ex. just "Laser Guidance" - the replic saying "Laser Guided Missiles are installed" when research is completed should be changed as well), because the Pegasus drops bombs, not missiles. The description is also wrong, because it says it applies to the Robo Raptor but actually does not.
*Cyborg Commando shouldn't have hero icon, because you can deploy an unlimited number of them at a time (with the General's power)
*Nemesis Gunship should have hero icon, because you can only deploy 1 at a time.
*Terminator, Spider Tank, Dominator, and Crab all use the same voice - it'd be nice to have a few more unique voices for them.
*Cyborg Commando doesn't attack properly - often it just doesn't attack when ordered to if very close to a unit/structure
*When a Robo Raptor shoots, ground units they get blasted up into the air - this looks silly and should be fixed.
*Fafnir clips through the top of the War Factory when it is created. This could be avoided by giving Cyber General's war factory a new model (such as a medal bay door which the units rise out of from underground).
GLA overall
*The Mobile Supply Truck camo looks like a Chinese unit (I believe the unit itself is a re-colored Chinese unit which was scrapped from Zero Hour)
*You should be able to build Arms Dealer without the Barracks - this perquisite cripples the GLA too much.
*It would be nice if the new unit models had visible Salvage upgrades - most of them only gain veterancy from salvage , and some (like the Aladdin) seem to have salvage upgrades, but I wasn't able to notice any visible changes to the models
*Angry Mob's build time is too long, even for a free unit
*Luna Launcher missile has a weird "spinning effect" when launched- I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but I had assumed this effect was meant for the Rig Launcher (which launches a spinning drill)
Stealth
*Stealth General's base defenses should be stealth by default
*If a fake Hazael is created, the fake unit incorrectly shows the anti-radar missile upgrade
Assault
*When the Temple of Jihad is built, the countdown text shows up as "Elbrus Storm". It should should up as "Haft III Missile", since this is the name of the actual weapon.
Toxin
*If you zoom in closely on Toxin rebels (before the Toxin Hose upgrade) the toxin bubbles look like they come out from above the gun, rather than from the nozzle itself. Also, the gun model looks to much like an ordinary rifle.
*Toxin General's Carpet Bombing generals power should have the name changed to "Toxin Bombing" or something
*Toxin General's Toxin bunker should get an original model, instead of just the stock civilian toxin bunker model.
Demo
*Demo's Angry Mob's should be given a new name such as "Suicide Squad" - this is more fitting because of how they attack.
*Airfield could use a new model - the current one is too boxy and the design and colors clash too much with the GLA's other structures.
*Buildable land mines feel a little too powerful, and make demo traps seem useless in comparison. Maybe the land mines could be deployed via a General's power instead of being constructed by a worker.
*Cockroaches have the Suicide-on-command ability, and show the upgrade icon as purchased even before you've researched the Suicide ability.
*Dolphins do too little damage to buildings.
*It'd be nicer to have Juhziz's Zipper or Dolphin be able to do something other than just suicide attacks. Maybe one of them could have a gun or missiles (similar to the Desert Fly in Shockwave or Interceptor in Rise of the Reds) - and have the Suicide option as an alternate attack mode.
China overall
*Mig 31-Interceptors should unload their whole payload at once like other fighters do - currently it seems like it takes about 1 whole second to fire each missile, so they have to make multiple passes just to destroy a single helicopter, rendering them pretty weak except in large numbers
*I slightly miss the old radiation design from 007.
*The Bomb upgrade for Helixes is awkward - it seems like after purchasing the upgrade, the Helix will just constantly drop bombs over wherever it's hovering once you order it to attack something, and only stops once you click the 'stop' icon.
Nuclear
*"Yan Wang" seems to be a misspelling of "Wang Yan".
*Nuclear Storm could use a new design - having the missiles just sit out in the open while the structure is being bombarded looks a little silly. If some kind of bay door was over the missiles which opens when firing, this would look much better.
*Tank Hunter name should be changed to "Nuke Hunter", since his version is now an all-purpose ground attacker, and not specifically used against tanks/vehicles.
*Overlord Tank still uses the "Overlord" name, even though Tank General's Emperor Overlord was given a Chinese name in 008 (Huang DI).
*The Neutron Mines research text says it applies to the Helix, but it doesn't - it applies to the Mine Drop general's power. (Not to be confused with the Neutron mines which can be deployed around buildings - this is the Neutron Mines upgrade for the Mine Drop power).
*The Neutron Mines research can still be purchased even if the Mine Drop general's power hasn't been unlocked - the research should stay locked until the Mine Drop power has been purchased with a General's point. (Not to be confused with the Neutron mines which can be deployed around buildings - this is the Neutron Mines upgrade for the Mine Drop power).
*The Isotope Stability research and the Radiation Defense research seem redundant. (Basically Radiation Defense does everything that Isotope Stability does, except better). There should only be 1 upgrade or the other, either that or Radiation Defense should be a Tier II upgrade which is only available after Isotope Stability is purchased.
*Yan Wang can't be ordered to force fire on your own helicopters (but it can on your planes).
*After purchasing the Neutron Warheads upgrade, Nuke General's MIG-31 Interceptors can attack ground targets with Neutron missiles (which is weird, because they are normally an anti-air attacker only). I'm not sure if this is a glitch or intentional. It seems like Neutron missiles should become an alternate attack mode for the Nuclear Mig-35 instead.
*Hadron Collider isn't very useful. The likelihood of being able to use a dozer to build it close enough to your enemy's base to actually do any damage is pretty much nonexistent. Some ideas to make it more useful:
1. Make it moblie (like the Saturn).
2. Make it stealth.
3. Allow Remote detonation instead of timed detonation.
4. Allow it to be paradroped into an area rather than having to be constructed by a dozer.
5. Or some combination of any of the above ideas.
*White Dragon will return to an airfield if you order it to attack a individual units (even though it doesn't have to return to reload). The only want to keep it constantly in the air is to set it to 'guard', which is very annoying. There should be some way to fix this since it has no need to return to the airfield except for repairs. A way to fix this might be to have it not land on the airfield at all, and to repair it, it would just be moved near the airfield (this is similar to the design of the Harrier unit in the Rise of the Reds mod, or the Desert Fly in Shockwave)
Flame
*The "Atmospheric Lens" super weapon is misspelled on the countdown screen - it is spelled "lenz" but should be "Lens", and is not capitalized.
*Atmospheric Lens (Scientific Lab) still shows a nuclear explosion when destroyed.
*Flame units don't need to show the Black Napalm icon, since black Napalm is no longer an upgrade used by any Chinese faction. Either that, or make Black Napalm a purchasable upgrade (not available from start) exclusive to Flame General.
Infantry
*Troop Crawler speed is a little slow.
*The Mini-Gunner model (before the Minigun upgrade) looks like it's holding a shotgun, not a machine gun.
*The Neutron Cannon seems a little uninspired. It seems silly to give Infantry a version of the Nuke Cannon which can only fire Neutron shells, when Nuclear Generals already has a regular Nuke Cannon (and can purchase Neutron shells as an upgrade). If he could be given a something more unique, this would be a plus.
Tank
*When Guan Yu uses its 'invulnerability mode', it can still be healed with propaganda or sent to a war factory for repairs. There needs to be a way to make sure that it cannot be healed faster than its health drains, or it will become too strong.
*The Bixi description says that it transports "Overlord Class tanks", but the Overlord has been renamed, so it should just say it transports "Super Heavy tanks". The same with the "Emperor drop" ability, since the tank is no longer called an Emperor.
*The Earth Shaker sends infantry flying way too high into the air when it attacks them (off the top off the screen)
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This about sums up my concerns so far. If I find anything I've missed I'll be sure to update this.
Edited by Vint, 18 April 2013 - 07:47 AM.
