It's not really possible without a major overhaul, which is unlikely. Relic would have to implement a resume-from-replay feature and then store a history of commands for every game running on a server so when a player reconnects they're sent all of the commands they missed and are able to essentially re-play the game automatically up to the current point in time. I can pretty much guarantee you they will never do this.
Even SC2, which has resume-from-replay, doesn't have a reconnect option because it's just not practical within the network framework used by modern RTS games. |
Automatch in its current form is optimal for the size of the playerbase. People generally don't want to wait a long time for games; they want to queue up and be in a match in a few minutes at most. All of your suggestions would impose limitations on which players can be matched with which other players, which would fragment the tiny playerbase and drastically increase wait times. Not to mention the fact that your suggestions would likely have no impact on game quality, and might even make things worse.
Any matchmaking system is going to be terrible for players on the extreme ends of the spectrum (either very good or very bad players). CoH2's system is completely adequate and entirely standard for a strategy game of its size. |
That's why I said you'd have to change how attribute files are stored and loaded. Other games that support non-current patch versions in replays do so by loading the attribute files for the game version that the replay was played on, so they run the simulation with the correct information. vCoH didn't have this functionality, and CoH2 is built heavily on vCoH's engine. It's not a trivial thing to add. |
There's nothing wrong with how automatch works. There just aren't enough players. And "unranked" players still have a rating, it's just not visible and has higher uncertainty. |
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You can manually fix replays between patches that don't have attribute changes by editing the replay version with a hex editor.
As for native support, it's very unlikely in my opinion. CoH2 is built heavily on vCoH's tech, which wasn't designed with this in mind. You'd have to make some sweeping changes to how attribute files are stored and loaded in order for something like this to work. Maybe it'll happen in an expansion release, but I highly doubt it. It's just too much work for too little return. |
Never going to happen. The playerbase is way too small to fragment it with options like this, and anything Relic does to discourage people from purchasing commanders undermines their entire business model. |
There wasn't a standalone program for CoHO, you just had to edit some config files. You can't have a stand-alone program to watch replays because they're just game actions played through by the engine. Without the game they're useless.
And given how CoH2 is built on vCoH's engine, it would likely be a ton of work to add backward compatibility for old patches. You'd need to store and have a means of loading old attribute files, not to mention the difficulties that come with major mechanical changes to the game if they ever happen.
So in short, unless they put in a ton of work or entirely redesign their engine, it's not going to happen.
Of course, if the patch doesn't change gameplay in any way, you can just go into the replay file with a hex editor and modify the version number of the replay file so the game will recognize it. |
Against PE almost always M18s. If the PE player doesn't go Tank Destroyers you can get one Sherman, but generally you can deal with PE infantry using only flamers, leaving you free to invest in better anti-vehicle.
Against Wehr, Tank Depot is generally only useful against T3 and on Sturz. Because of the fuel on Sturz you can rush a Sherman like you would an M8 on other maps, then get some M18s and backtech to AT guns if you need better anti-tank. On other maps, getting a single Sherman is great because it can tank a lot of damage and kill infantry quickly. You usually only want one however, since they're fairly useless against StuGs and Wehr T4. The rest of your TD production should be M18s. |
Veto isn't a guarantee, you're simply voting against those maps. |