What does Northern Inferno include? Does it have a scenario editor? Will it support CMANO scenarios, so long as they only use units included in Northern Inferno?
That’s… uh, interesting.
On October 15, CMANO was listed as $88.69 CAD on the Matrix Games site (when CAD was at 0.77 USD) and today it’s listed at $83.99 CAD (with CAD at 0.765 USD) after the ‘discount’, with the regular price being $113.99 CAD. So basically the cost was jacked $25 and then reduced by 25%. Do this at retail and it’s called deceptive marketing and fines can be levied. I guess it’s somehow different online? For the record: I know this is pretty standard Matrix Games bullshit, so I’m not calling out Warfare Sims here.
I understand that the game on Steam has seen a meaningful discount to $66.51 CAD (for posterity), but the Matrix Games sale is pretty damn sleazy.
Anyway, is there an update path from Inferno to CMANO? I think Steam only provides info on that sort of discount if an item is already in your library. If not, it would be a real shame to drop $20 on Inferno and then another $80 on CMANO.
It doesn’t include the scenario building stuff I don’t think.
Yea the Matrix pricing has kept me out of this, War in the East(and West), and a few other things. The games look interesting and I know they got their niche but I’ve been priced out.
I m curious about this little thing as a way to see the gameplay but I don’t have the gumption to deal with a truncated version just to see if I wanted to pay the insane price for the real thing.
Tom M
This stand-alone release is a nice package, with a campaign video intro (cheesy, but hey) and some very nicely built scenarios. It also seems more manageable than some of the later-era conflicts, which is why I picked it up. I need to get back into this and it seemed like a good way to ease back in. I bought the game originally when it came out and sort of imploded under its weight.
How’s the exchange rate there from then and now? From memory, everything on Matrix Store is in USD, and the site converts to local currency for you.
Probably not, as if you already own CMANO then buying Northern Inferno isn’t any cheaper than if you don’t own the full game. I would imagine it works the other way as well.
Basically, you have the base game, and the DLC - except in this case you can play the DLC without owning the base game. Buying the DLC doesn’t mean you get the base game cheaper.
Yeah, that’s what I figured. But I took this as an attempt on their part to offer a cheaper avenue for customers to try a limited version of their game. Sadly, without an upgrade path, they’re effectively saying, “Hey, try this $80 game for $20. Oh, and if you like it, then you can pay us the $80.” The result is that I’ll be taking yet another pass despite being fairly certain that I would enjoy it.
Hello,
This is in fact exactly what we are offering. We went to considerable effort/trouble/expense to be able to offer NI as a standalone game and expansion to existing CMANO installations, whereas we could have simply offered it as a straightforward must-have-CMANO-or-else DLC. And the reasoning was exactly what you said: We want folks who were discouraged by full-CMANO’s price to get a taste of what they’ve been missing out, at a price everyone can afford. And so far the feedback we’ve been getting on “bang for buck” is very, very positive.
Sadly, without an upgrade path, they’re effectively saying, “Hey, try this $80 game for $20. Oh, and if you like it, then you can pay us the $80.” The result is that I’ll be taking yet another pass despite being fairly certain that I would enjoy it.
There is definitely a NI-to-full-CMANO upgrade path, as this was exactly the point of making NI available as standalone. I cannot comment on the upgrade price, but I can point out that CMANO and NI are available as a bundle at a 23% discount for a few days yet (see above). Otherwise, you can get NI now for $18 and if you like the game and want more, wait until the next CMANO sale (or get it 25% off until October 29).
Thanks!
NI uses the same DBs as the full CMANO game (specifically the CWDB). You can play the campaign scenarios either in sequential “campaign mode” (with videos etc.) or as individual standalone scenarios. You also get 7 tutorial scenarios.
When purchased as standalone, it has two main limitations vs. full CMANO:
- The scenario editor is disabled.
- You cannot play the stock CMANO scenarios or the community scenarios.
Both these features are enabled when you upgrade from NI-standalone to full-CMANO.
Thanks!
Goshdarnit, I don’t think I have any choice but to buy at that launch discount. I’ve already spent just about my limit on games this month… :-P
There is no way I’ll ever have time to play these games, but I plan on buying them just to support your hard work as well as the creation of games like this one. Thank you.
Not really, as the content is different in both titles. The fifteen Northern Inferno scenarios don’t exist in the $80 game, and none of the CMANO scenarios exist in Northern Inferno (except the six tutorials).
And think also about existing CMANO customers. If new customers get the main game cheaper because they buy the DLC first, then why don’t existing customers get the DLC cheaper? This adds additional logistical complications on top of the rather rare arrangements they’ve already made releasing this as ‘stand-alone DLC’ (at considerable effort/trouble/expense as Dimitris says).
Ultimately though, think of the math. What discount are you expecting on CMANO here? Surely not more than the full amount you already pay for Northern Inferno, i.e. $20? If that’s the case then you already got it, as CMANO is currently 25% off ($60).
If that’s not enough, then in a couple of months it will likely drop to half price like it did in the summer sale. :)
Just FYI, but offering a taste of a game while withholding the full game is called a ‘demo’ in most game/software circles.
<snip>
Forget what I had typed here. I’m not up to argue this.
Heh, I was just about to quote what you had previously written!
I would agree, there is no ‘upgrade path’ as that implies special pricing based on existing licenses. Neither is it a demo though, unless you would also consider CMANO a demo for all the new content in Northern Inferno? :)
I just purchased the bundle my own self. Been on the fence for ages, but love seeing what the devs are doing here, and had to support that. I’ll never have time to play it, but I wanna support games/sims like this.
Kudos, that’s half the reason I bought it as well - though I’ve managed to play a bunch and it’s well worth it. Could we be seeing Milsim Junkie one day!?
My first professional site was dedicated to sims, so I’d love to revisit it, but I need more hours in the day and some kind of fortune. ;-)
Thanks! :)
Except it’s being billed as an opportunity to try CMANO for a reduced cost. I think my hang up here is that they tried to kill two birds with one stone here – a reduced entry price and an expansion.
I guess I’m still just floored that a game of this price doesn’t have a demo, particularly since they’ve demonstrated via NI that they have the technical capability to restrict functionality to a subset of the full game.