There was a rather long period where the PC game industry came accross as either a bunch of idiot savants that were good "code monkeys" but had no real clue how the market actually worked or were driven by merciless budget crunchers that didnt give a hot damn about the consumer.

I agree with Mr. Thompson, above, that this trend has been changing lately. I'm sure there's bugs in this game, heck, has to be a bug if there's code. Some of what is being talked up as bugs might well be design decisions that got made out of necessity that folk will just have to get used to. Every new game has an adjustment period where players have to square away preconcepts with the new reality.

The bugs most folk have been yelling about, I've not noticed. That might well be because I just dont look close enough though. There's a few design elements that I'd rather were done differently, such as unit speed (I prefer it a bit slower, for example) but that's just personal taste and I'm pretty dang sure that before too long, someone's gonna have a mod out that has everything just right :)

What got me in the mood to say nice things about this game here now was something I noticed while playing last night.

I have a fair decent system and have all the video options up to highest. Game runs fine, even in large battles with huge units. That's not what got me in a good mood regarding the 'bugs' issue tho.

What did it was when I had all my units committed to the fight and some horse units running about and nothing "selected" so no green blobs. I had the camera scrolled out about mid way and...I swear, for a minute, it was like I was watching a movie. The graphics were just that sweet that all the little guys running around looked like real people.

What's got me a little bit sad atm is that this might be about as far as this TW format can go without real big changes. I mean, how many more ways can this be done and be worth doing? Once its all working and polished and pretty, (it cant get a hella lot more pretty than it is already), it'll just be a change of unit cards and unit names and scenery with a different historical "back story" but just more same o' same o'.

Anyhoo, sorta back on topic...yeah, I'm sure there's bugs but none seem to have bit me yet, at least not that I've noticed. I'm glad there's folk out there that are good at finding those sort of things too.

There's a whole lot that's been redone and reworked and rethought in this new game, finishing moves, mix and match body parts, refigured physics, etc etc that will take some time to get all right and proper. I'm glad I get a chance to play it in the meantime though, because I'm having hella fun with it, just as it is.