Dawn of War 2 Questions

[bapenguin]

Anyone have any questions for the dev team for Dawn of War 2? Obviously co-op related ones our encouraged. :)

[Hemalin]

DoW2 has co-op?

[KamaItachi]

How awesome is your game?

[ClannerDelta]

Will they ban mirror matches/faction match ups like they did in Company of Heroes or will you be allowed to duke it out against the same race?

How will they be handling resource sharing?

[ShivaX]

Will they ban mirror matches/faction match ups like they did in Company of Heroes or will you be allowed to duke it out against the same race?

How will they be handling resource sharing?

I think people were talking about using Eldar to teleport Tyranids around, so I'm guessing they're skipping any sort of faction restriction. Which only makes sense really since in WH40k everyone pretty much hates everyone and wouldn't really work together (well beyond the tons of Imperial factions).

The resource sharing question is a good one though.

I actually wonder what the AI is going to be like. I'm afraid of a CoH situation where Hard is pretty easy and Brutal cheats so much that its nearly unbeatable. The issue I seem to run into when trying to play coop with my friends was that 2 Hard enemies vs me and my friend resulted in a slaughter of the AI. 1 Hard and 1 Brutal resulted in the slaughter of me and my friend (unless you could make a chokepoint and fill it with 17Pdrs and other crazy good defenses, which made the game not really an RTS, but some sort of bizzare tower defense).

Brutal almost seemed reasonable until 6 Hetzers showed up to fight you just as you made your first Greyhound. Then you realized it was just going to be silly. I'm hoping for something in between Hard and Brutal. You know an AI that doesn't get to buy everything for half cost (which is what I think Brutal did). Maybe an AI that plays its best and gets a small cheat instead of a flat out insane one.

[bapenguin]

DoW2 has co-op?

The entire game is playable in co-op.

[ShivaX]

The entire game is playable in co-op.

Seriously? I was not aware of that.

Hell the game just became even more awesome, if such a thing was possible. I guess the natural question becomes: How the heck does that work? Or more specifically if the campaign has to deal with the RA3 issue of a retarded AI "helping" you when you play by yourself, or if the campaign just amps it up a bit for 2 people.

[ClannerDelta]

Yeah, to simplify Shivax's question.

How badly is DoW2's AI going to cheat? :p

[Pale Ale]

Wheres my Chaos?


I'll defer to your wisdom on whether or not the question ends with "bitches"

[Mastergeo7]

The obvious DRM question!
Does it use any?

[Rogue_hunter]

When? When can I buy this game?

I saw everything I needed to know/see at the PAX panel (gah, I'm horrible, I still haven't gotten around to encoding and uploading the 3 hours of videos that I took at PAX), I have no other questions.

Pale Ale, the answer, from what I remember, was that Chaos is boring and that they had always planned for Tyrannids, but the previous engine wouldn't be able to handle it. Quite a few fans were at the panel to rage about Chaos or the Chaos Space Marines not being there.

[iHap]

Many of us nerds will be hammering the DoW2 website for the beta info. When can we expect a public beta or demo?

DLC?

[Pale Ale]

Pale Ale, the answer, from what I remember, was that Chaos is boring and that they had always planned for Tyrannids, but the previous engine wouldn't be able to handle it. Quite a few fans were at the panel to rage about Chaos or the Chaos Space Marines not being there.

AHHH ALL MY GAMER HOPE RUINED!!!! NOTHING WILL EVER BE GOOD AGAIN!!!

I will be sad and angry forever, or the rest of the evening. Before I was indifferent but now I hate those stupid bugs!

Then I will go back to clicking on the DOW2 website evey 45 minutes.

[Hotcod]

The obvious DRM question!
Does it use any?

They've said that there still looking at there options but that they want people to be able to install the game on more than one pc and play with there freinds and any drm is likely to be just a authentication check... which they are trying to make simple as they can. If it wasn't for it using game for windows i think they would have ran with steam as there drm fullstop.

[Mastergeo7]

Cool, thanks Hotcod.

[OUX]

Vanilla only or can I get Space Wolf Chocolate Chew?

[Hotcod]

Only w thing i can think of that may won't get asked or i don't know....

army painter for multiplayer?

[SilentScreams]

Why have you taken out races that were previously playable?

Actually I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but it's not a good one.

Also: Melee was pretty dominant in DoW. Has this been balanced out to stop Tyranids from wiping the floor with everyone?

[KingGorilla]

I hope this can be phrased tactfully. But has Josh Mosqueirra mellowed a bit with respect to piracy given the sustained sales of his titles?

The last time Relic went for two releases within a year it ended badly for Dawn of War: Soulstorm. With a fresh Dawn of War 2 and a Company of Heroes expansion so close together, how are they making sure quality is top thought? Nor just the release date.

[ShivaX]

Only w thing i can think of that may won't get asked or i don't know....

army painter for multiplayer?

Actually there is, but its not as "awesome" as people wanted or something. Theres a lot of bitching threads about how its not good enough on their forums.

[ShivaX]

AHHH ALL MY GAMER HOPE RUINED!!!! NOTHING WILL EVER BE GOOD AGAIN!!!

I will be sad and angry forever, or the rest of the evening. Before I was indifferent but now I hate those stupid bugs!

Then I will go back to clicking on the DOW2 website evey 45 minutes.

I'm a huge fan of Chaos, but really they're not that different from the Marines. I think they opened up with 4 vastly different races and things will get added as time goes on.

Orks, Eldar, Marines and Tyranids really don't have much in common, whereas Space Marines and Chaos are basically the same thing.

[J Arcane]

When? When can I buy this game?

I saw everything I needed to know/see at the PAX panel (gah, I'm horrible, I still haven't gotten around to encoding and uploading the 3 hours of videos that I took at PAX), I have no other questions.

Pale Ale, the answer, from what I remember, was that Chaos is boring and that they had always planned for Tyrannids, but the previous engine wouldn't be able to handle it. Quite a few fans were at the panel to rage about Chaos or the Chaos Space Marines not being there.

Chaos doesn't have to be boring, they just needed to pick a more interesting list. Yet another vanilla Khorne list for the most part does not interesting Chaos make in my book.

Gimme some Thousand Sons, or some Slaaneshi whores, or fucking anything but more monochrome red for the monochrome red god.

Why have you taken out races that were previously playable?

Actually I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but it's not a good one.

Also: Melee was pretty dominant in DoW. Has this been balanced out to stop Tyranids from wiping the floor with everyone?

Melee is pretty dominant in real 40k. THey wouldn't be in proper keeping with the license if it weren't.

[Deadend]

What sort of training will be in the game.. beyond the worthless "highlight units to select them!"?
As I would like tutorials that TEACH me the game.

How many teams and how many players in MP?

What is the coolest achievement in the game?

If I buy the game at a store, do I need to keep the disc in the tray?

Will there be voice support built into the game?

How is the campaign going to adjust for co-op play?

My friend thinks Starcraft is the perfect RTS, why is he wrong?

[Squidbot]

May I have your babies?

[Hotcod]

hmmm seems the army painter will not be RBG based as there are bounce paints for the pre orders.

Talking of which i have a question about the pre order system. There's 4 or 5 pre order packs that come with special stuff so...

Will there be any form of CE that comes will all the preorder extras?

I'm more than willing to buy a superdupper CE for this game

[Telefrog]

Why have you taken out races that were previously playable?

Actually I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but it's not a good one.

Oh, I'm sure you're correct. ;)

[Hotcod]

Oh, I'm sure you're correct. ;)

Do you mean that having all the races they put in across the expiation packs and have it be balanced and workable when it realised is a hell of a lot to ask? :P

DoW came out with 4 races and DoW2 will come out with 4 races. DoW had Chaos which are not amazingly different to SM and DoW2 will have Nids instead. So in DoW2 we start out with the same number of races but now all with very different play styles.

I may be a relic and DoW fan boy but objectively i honestly much rather having 4 races at there best and balanced when the came comes out than the likely outcome of trying to do everything all at once. Having the other races come out either as DLC or part of an expiation means that they can spend more time working on them and fitting them in to game once they've had time to see how the game gets shaken down.

[SilentScreams]

Melee is pretty dominant in real 40k. THey wouldn't be in proper keeping with the license if it weren't.

Very true, but at least on the tabletop a ranged squad will usually have 2-3 turns to wear down a squad that's trying to charge them.
In DoW that aspect didn't translate quite so well and melee units often reached their targets with little to no casualties. Not to mention that once they got into melee they could pretty much reinforce at will (something that doesn't happen in real 40k), as more often than not they charged a unit that couldn't hurt them back in close combat.

But at least in the original DoW, no army was as utterly dominant in melee as the Tyranids. If they don't balance out melee combat, I can see the 'nids being extremely hard to beat.

[Voodoo]

Are additional races going to be DLC or proper expansions?

Which races does Relic have no intention of including in Dawn of War 2? I remember this was easily answered with Dawn of War 1 (Tyranids) but I was wondering if there is a similar no-go race or races for DoW2?

How is the design of Battlefleet Gothic coming along?

[Telefrog]

Do you mean that having all the races they put in across the expiation packs and have it be balanced and workable when it realised is a hell of a lot to ask? :P

DoW came out with 4 races and DoW2 will come out with 4 races. DoW had Chaos which are not amazingly different to SM and DoW2 will have Nids instead. So in DoW2 we start out with the same number of races but now all with very different play styles.

I may be a relic and DoW fan boy but objectively i honestly much rather having 4 races at there best and balanced when the came comes out than the likely outcome of trying to do everything all at once. Having the other races come out either as DLC or part of an expiation means that they can spend more time working on them and fitting them in to game once they've had time to see how the game gets shaken down.

Well, I think it's obviously impractical to ask that Relic push DoW2 out the door with the same number of races/options as Soulstorm which effectively had three games before it to work out the balance issues. (Insert joke here about "what balance?")

[Voodoo]

Well, I think it's obviously impractical to ask that Relic push DoW2 out the door with the same number of races/options as Soulstorm which effectively had three games before it to work out the balance issues. (Insert joke here about "what balance?")
I had thought that Relic answered the question already about balance in Warhammer 40K - Dawn of War. Didn't they merely point to Games-Workshop and say how even the tabletop is quite unbalanced? I seem to remember that somewhere in an interview... This doesn't mean it's the right thing to do... I merely remember them saying something like that at one time when asked.

Soulstorm's biggest problems were the flying units and it's horrid squad AI. If they had all together dropped flying units, so much more time could have been spent where it was direly needed.

[H.Bogard]

Local Area Network Co-Op?
What kind of hardware will be needed to run the game maxed out at 720p or 1080p?
DRM?
What role is Games For Windows Live playing here? Considering that its only been a nuisance so far in every game its come out with.
How will the gear/RPG elements work in multiplayer? (level up/gear menus, I mean?)
Any DirectX10 exclusive eyecandy?

[J Arcane]

Actually, I'd like to expand on H.Bogard's question by asking why in God's name you would even consider using GFW Live when Steamworks is free and about a million times better on account of it actually working?

[Voodoo]

Actually, I'd like to expand on H.Bogard's question by asking why in God's name you would even consider using GFW Live when Steamworks is free and about a million times better on account of it actually working?
I'd also like to know more about the decision behind using GFW Live...

[Commissar Rob]

How is the design of Battlefleet Gothic coming along?

Waitaminute!? There's a Battlefleet Gothic PC game coming? GLEE! :D

[Panthera]

Very true, but at least on the tabletop a ranged squad will usually have 2-3 turns to wear down a squad that's trying to charge them.
In DoW that aspect didn't translate quite so well and melee units often reached their targets with little to no casualties. Not to mention that once they got into melee they could pretty much reinforce at will (something that doesn't happen in real 40k), as more often than not they charged a unit that couldn't hurt them back in close combat.

But at least in the original DoW, no army was as utterly dominant in melee as the Tyranids. If they don't balance out melee combat, I can see the 'nids being extremely hard to beat.

First of all, the lack of long-range fire was more or less accounted for by making melee take much longer (instead of largely resolved instantly) and letting units that aren't in melee shoot at the ones that are in it. Ranged units could be appropriately powerful behind a protective line of melee.

Also, in the tabletop game Orks are just as nasty in melee as Tyranid. Slugga Boyz are more than capable of taking on and wiping out Homagaunts in the charge, and both Orks and Tyranid have plenty of ranged weapon choices. And, since they managed to balance Orks well enough, I don't see why Tyranids would be any more difficult.

[ClannerDelta]

I'm a huge fan of Chaos, but really they're not that different from the Marines.

You almost made me lose myself to my nerd-rage with that one.

The way they did Chaos in DoW1 definitely had them playing too alike. That said, Chaos doesn't have to be anything like Space Marines or IG. There are a lot of examples out there of how/why the Chaos can and should bring something special to the table.

I don't mind that they aren't in DoW2 at release, but I am hoping for an expansion dedicated to them. Where they are done right.

[Voodoo]

You almost made me lose myself to my nerd-rage with that one.

The way they did Chaos in DoW1 definitely had them playing too alike. That said, Chaos doesn't have to be anything like Space Marines or IG. There are a lot of examples out there of how/why the Chaos can and should bring something special to the table.

I don't mind that they aren't in DoW2 at release, but I am hoping for an expansion dedicated to them. Where they are done right.
Instead of Chaos could they do the Chaos Daemons army?

[ClannerDelta]

Instead of Chaos could they do the Chaos Daemons army?

They should have done something like the Lost and the Damned. A mash up of demons, traitor Marines, traitor Guardsmen, mutants, and a host of other goodies. Commanded by a charismatic follower of Nurgle/Tzeentch.

Would have been a more peon focused army with the CSM's filling a very elite slot.

[ShivaX]

They should have done something like the Lost and the Damned. A mash up of demons, traitor Marines, traitor Guardsmen, mutants, and a host of other goodies. Commanded by a charismatic follower of Nurgle/Tzeentch.

Would have been a more peon focused army with the CSM's filling a very elite slot.

Thats a good point. The problem with DoW1 was that Chaos was actually "Chaos Marines" which meant that they were the base unit. At first they were exactly like Space Marines and later they became huge pussies. Theres a lot to Chaos if you don't focus too much on Marines.

That said I'm sure they'll be one of the first races added. For one they make a great enemy for a campaign. And of course they're one of the most popular armies there is and one of the biggest forces in Wh40k. All the other races are fairly small in comparison (well except maybe the IG).

Still I'm glad they went with the 'Nids for the first one. It gives 4 totally different playstyles and species.

[Lint of Death]

Stupid question that's probably been answered already:

It looks like, from the trailers, the Space Marines campaign emphasizes the 'mighty few vs. many' side of the army by only having you control a couple squads in most or all missions. Is this the case?
Will there be other campaigns, or alternative perspectives that work differently?

P.S. if the answer to the first question is 'yes' then I know whose babies I want to have ;)

[Rogue_hunter]

Stupid question that's probably been answered already:

It looks like, from the trailers, the Space Marines campaign emphasizes the 'mighty few vs. many' side of the army by only having you control a couple squads in most or all missions. Is this the case?
Will there be other campaigns, or alternative perspectives that work differently?

P.S. if the answer to the first question is 'yes' then I know whose babies I want to have ;)

Yes. Leader squad, heavy weapons, assault marines, and scout marines squads were what we saw that the PAX live demo. One leader in each squad, two squadmates. Tons of Orks that were killed in the demo. Buildings that can be garrisoned are friendly to the heavy weapons squad.

[Deadend]

Stupid question that's probably been answered already:

It looks like, from the trailers, the Space Marines campaign emphasizes the 'mighty few vs. many' side of the army by only having you control a couple squads in most or all missions. Is this the case?
Will there be other campaigns, or alternative perspectives that work differently?

P.S. if the answer to the first question is 'yes' then I know whose babies I want to have ;)

I didn't hear anything about other campaigns, so in that regard.. like Starcraft 2.

[Wasson_]

Do the units carry guns just for shits and giggles or does gun fire actually hurt/hit anything?

[Ghostbear]

Do the units carry guns just for shits and giggles or does gun fire actually hurt/hit anything?

Well in the last game ranged attacks were pretty devastating so....

[zarathstra]

Hmmm, I wonder why they made up a new character from Ulthwe instead of just using Eldrad...weird.

[ClannerDelta]

Hmmm, I wonder why they made up a new character from Ulthwe instead of just using Eldrad...weird.

Because you can kill them off. Games Workshop is pig headed about everything, and they are certainly not going to let you kill off a character with its own decent selling miniature.

[Voodoo]

I know this is a repeat of a previous question, but I wanted to flesh it out a bit. Which of these armies would you say will definitely not make an appearance in DoW2's DLC or subsequent expansions?

Chaos Daemons
Chaos Space Marines
Daemonhunters
Dark Eldar
Imperial Guard
Necrons
Tau Empire
Witch Hunters

Thanks!

[Sly Marbo]

Do we have to use the Blood Ravens for the campaign, or can we make our own chapter? I don't like the Blood Ravens.

[Wasson_]

The Imperial Guard should be the next army IMO.
Then Choas of some form because it isn't Warhammer without them.
Then lastly the Tau because ascetically they look the coolest (as I like mecha)

[ClannerDelta]

I wouldn't mind IG if they shifted to another Army. Cadians are great and all but I'd prefer something more stylized.

[SilentScreams]

IG and Chaos definitely need to be in the first expansion. They are the two "essential" races that are missing as far as I'm concerned. The rest I can take or leave.

[bapenguin]

Thanks for the questions guys. These have been submitted. Well some of them.

You guys all had great questions if I was running a DoW 2 fansite. :)

[bryan]

I'm pretty sure it'd be Blood Ravens. They treat the game like canon, IIRC, so GW don't want you to touch their more popular Space Marine Chapters.