DOI offline Practice mode now is virtually unwinnable! :-(

[Pvt D. Jackson]

The short of it:
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The February 9th update now makes even practice campaigns extremely difficult to win and I'm very flabbergasted with the latest changes.



The long of it:
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DOI's latest update appears to be three steps forward but two steps backward. The Foy counter-attack campaign is really awesome (I welcome any new official DOI maps, really) but the gameplay difficulty has gone back to an earlier update from last year, when playing the offline campaign games was nothing short of frustrating.

I understand that NWI's latest update is geared more towards online Co-Op and Multiplayer, but it looks like the Practice modes have become a vexing gaming experience. I have logged well over 440 hours on Day of Infamy, with 95% of it playing offline in single player mode.


The reasons why I play single player more than online co-op are:

a) The closest NWI game server to me is the one in Singapore, with an 11ms latency. The other worldwide servers have three digit ping times which means server lag and a less than enjoyable gaming experience for me.

b) Most of the time, the Singapore based NWI server is underpopulated or no one is playing there at all. Human players on the same side make better soldiers than fellow AI bots; and if there are fewer human players than there are AI bots, the battle becomes a lot tougher to win.

c) I like exploring the battle map and looking for new positions to snipe at or ambush the opposing bots. In a live Co-op mode I can't do this as I have to help out my team mates in a firefight, or they'll vote to kick me out for taking the scenic route or taking too long to respawn their dead characters.



Here's why I think the latest update has crippled single player gameplay:
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1. Reduced ammo load.
As a U.S. Army sniper, using the M1 Garand rifle with the 4x scope now costs me the M1911 sidearm for self defense. Also, the max number of clips that I can carry has gone down from 8 clips to 5, if I'm not mistaken. If I choose the M1903A3 Springfield bolt action, I'll have just 35 rounds with me. That's hardly enough to get through the first two objectives without having to run back to the nearest ammo supply crate, which is usually at the entry point of the map.

I found this interesting page at http://www.45thdivision.org/Pictures/General_Knowlege/combatload.htm about the average combat load of a U.S. Infantry soldier in WW2. According to the article:


- a typical M1 Garand rifleman was issued with 10 x 8 round clips
- a B.A.R. gunner usually carried 12 x 20 rd magazines
- a M1 carbine carrying soldier had 12 x 10 rd magazines and;
- a M1903A3 sniper usually brought 12 x 5 rd clips (60 rds total)


Maybe the NWI devs might want to increase a soldier's ammo load to historically accurate amounts, or at least revert to the ammo load before the recent update.


2. Fellow AI bots don't know what to do when they reach objectives like gun emplacements that they're actually supposed to blow up. They congregate there and are continuously attacked by the enemy bots endlessly. AI Bots on my team don't pack TNT charges with them, while those equipped with a Bazooka end up killed before they get to use the rocket launcher. Even then, they never aim at the objective. If I choose to be a machine gunner or sniper, it's not my job to blow the gun emplacement up!

Oh, while I'm at it - aerial bombs and artillery that pound the immediate vicinity of the gun emplacement don't even seem to damage it, no matter how many times it's been attacked or by which side. In DoI we get "magic" 88mm guns that can only be destroyed with a Bazooka or a TNT charge.


3. The are (still) no designated ammo bearers in DOI or the ammunition crates are packed at nonstrategic locations. They're either too far to reach within a couple of seconds or are placed outside a protected structure (e.g., outside the church building in Bastogne). Where's the sense in that? I know this is a game, but putting the ammo crates outside the church and exposed to enemy fire is NOT a sound military tactic.


Although I welcome some map changes to the Bastogne defensive campaign, the revamp group points have been located too far back and there's no ammo supply crate at the final last stand in that narrow alley. Not only the alley is cramped, it's also a suicidal choke point. One well aimed Panzerfaust from the opposing forces is all it takes to wipe out half my AI squad.


Is there any way for me to revert to the DoI version before the Feb 9th update (short of doing a Windows 10 rollback)?


Thanks in advance, folks. :-)