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Rake

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Posts posted by Rake

  1. Sorry to jump in here with an off topic post, but I figured Bootie would see it here since I can't get into TFGM.  I'm not sure what's up, but I just tried logging in and the site wasn't able to find my username or the email that I registered under.  Is there anything going on with the site?

    I've not been very active, so I guess it's possible that I was unenrolled, but I would have thought I'd receive an email first.  No email s other than a few for watched topics and the one when I joined.  I've been chipping in a bit every month on Patreon; I'll certainly cancel that if I've gotten the boot...

  2. On 4/29/2022 at 3:53 AM, Pandur said:

     

    Wait what? How does that make sense? Do you get an artificial "protection bonus" from the use of hull down command or what does that mean?

    I was under the impression that hull down´s are created equal. If i use the command or if i drive to the same spot myself, same result, or so i thought? But that is not so?

     

    I dont like the hull down command, on easy to see positions it is as easy to drive there myself, on very tricky LOS situation where it is not clear where a position will be, the hull down command can spell death to your vehicle as it just keeps driving and driving never finding a position. So in my eye the HD command is useless(at least i never use it), but if it has a bonus protection gimmick built in, maybe i should get around to us it? 🤨

    This!

    @Bil Hardenberger, in his blog, has recommended using other move commands to a potential hull down location, changing the last waypoint to "Hunt" upon verification that you are hull down, or partial hull down:

    https://battledrill.blogspot.com/2013/09/movement-technique-005-hull-down.html

    And, IIRC, I believe I've seen him mention that he doesn't (or only rarely) use the Hull Down command.

    If there is indeed artificial protection from using the Hull Down command, I suppose I should start trying it again.  I'd given up on the command after several tanks stopped without achieving LOS to a targeted area, or even worse, kept driving across the berm and met their fate.

    So, is this "Protection Bonus" a real thing?

     

     

  3. I'm looking at dropping some serious bucks into a new rig.  I've always had Intel machines and haven't had many issues running CM (other than user error, dohh!).  I am not computer illiterate, but I'm no computer guru either.  I could probably build my own rig and be sure everything is working, but overclocking is beyond my comfort level...  and I'm not even sure it would help in CM.

    I've somewhat followed some of the issues early on that seemed to indicate that there tended to be more issues with AMD chips than with Intel.  I've been comparing some of the single-thread benchmark numbers of Ryzen versus I9 processors, and for the most part, the Ryzen chips seem to blow away the comparable I9.

    I'm just wondering whether there's any significant issues with how CM runs on either chip

    Thanks in advance!

     

  4. 6 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

    At least they are consistent ;)

    My point here is that anytime you see a poll number in the US that is over about 70%, you should view it as "near unanimous agreement by people who aren't morons".

    Steve

    I was just going to give this a "Like", but I guess the forum boss doesn't need those.

    I've been glued to this thread since Thursday...  I think the boss might notice soon  😎

  5. 30 minutes ago, BFCElvis said:

    Correct. Frankly, I think this is an important thread. So, I am loath to lock it. If people start going down that road I will just give them short vacations from posting, without prior warning, rather than lock it. 

    Thank you, sir!  The thread is important, but if I can refrain from injecting US politics into this, all should be able.   There are waayyy too many other places for that...  NOT HERE!!!

  6. Apologies in advance if this has been posted previously.  I did a search and wasn't able to find anything...

    I took a break and was away from the game and forum for several years, only returning 4-6 mmonths ago.  I've never posted a lot, but have always been around.  It occurred to me this morning that I didn't recall seeing any recent posts by Mr. Emrys.  So, I searched for Michael  on the forum and found that his last post was from April of 2020.  This revelation sent me to an internet search where I found the following from the Port Townsend Leader.

    https://www.ptleader.com/stories/michael-emrys,78502

    With a population of less than 10,000 in Port Townsend, I'm afraid this is our man

  7. I'd be really interested in this.  Unfortunately, my engineering skill set solely lies in physically performing topographic surveys and then taking the data back to the office.  There I would reduce the field notes, plot the data and interpolate the contours by hand.  I understand they have computer programs that do this stuff these days...  AMAZING!

    Kidding aside, it really is tedious taking screenshots of the elevation data in CM, pasting all the screens together and drawing the contours (again, by hand) in PS.  But, all I can for this project is offer moral support.

  8. 12 hours ago, Lucky_Strike said:

    Look forward to seeing your floating icons mod when it's ready.

    The icons are a mashup Bil's WW2 & NATO icons.  I did some for the Germans, Americans, CW and Soviets some time ago.  The difference is that I've given each nation their own color background...  Feldgrau for the Germans, Olive Drab for the U.S., CW Tan and the Russians Red.  Currently, I'm working on the Italians (flag colors, not the yellow used in many boardgames)

    The shared icons are a bit of a pain.  I plan on doing a set for each nation.  They would need to rotated in and out of the Z folder (or JSGME for those that use it) depending upon the nations involved.   The problem would occur when two allies fight together. One set of the shared icons would have to be used for both.

    Many apologies to Kohlenklau for hijacking his thread...

     

    Edit:  @Lucky Strike Rather than further hijacking this thread by posting an image, I tried to PM a sampler of my icons, but it wouldn't let me insert the image - I pasted the URL and... nothing

  9. LS...  Yes, I do save the layered file first before flattening.  After flattening and saving the .bmp, I generally CTRL-ALT-Z and back up to the point that restores all my layers and selection channels.  Since I've noticed this issue with the channels disappearing, I've started saving the .psd file again. 

    As I'm sure you know, the icon files are 128x128 pixels.  To make sure that I feel they're going to look okay, I usually look at the file at 100% just before closing...  this doesn't permit the entire file name to show in the floating window.  I'll try your advice and either drag the window larger or magnify the window to make it large enough to view the file name AND extension.

    BTW, I'm amazed by what you've been able to do with the terrain files.  I eagerly await your next version of bocage, bushes and trees.  I have a hard time playing fall scenarios now, using the stock graphics.  I've spent a fair amount of time poking in these files and have no idea how they work in the game.  Thanks for what you're doing!

     

  10. On 10/26/2021 at 10:23 AM, kohlenklau said:

    @MalaspinaCiao Enrico. Va bene, va bene. It is coming along slowly. I can fix that goof I made on the helmet with my twitching fingers. Too much coffee?

    I have to put an alpha layer around the feather so it is nice and crisp. I have to relearn alpha layers every time I use them. Uggh. Big dreams, small brain.

    Later we can put the alpini stencil on the helmet front if you want...

    Maybe I can even add in various color "flower ball thing" where the helmet meets the feather.

    vdX8I62.png

    Alpha channels are a PITA.  I've been working on a mod of floating icons...  a modification/conglomeration of Bil's WW II icons. 

    I use Photoshop and save all of my selections, creating new channels.  When I'm finished with an icon, I save it as a PS .psd file so that all the new channels are saved.  Then I will flatten the image, delete all the channels except the one that will define the border (Alpha 1) and save as a 32-bit.bmp.

    Often, after closing everything and reopening a file, I'll find that ALL of the channels have disappeared from my .pad file.  I'm certain that it's user error, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what I'm doing wrong.

  11. 38 minutes ago, Erwin said:

    I know that Bootie has the folders. (I sent them to him.)    He is probably overwhelmed by the amount of mods that exist, so be patient. 

    FYI:  Part A is 408MB, and Part B is 843MB.

    Excellent...  As for file size, I was just going by what was listed on GAJ's.  Thanks for the reply; I know Bootie has his hands full

  12. Kicking a dead  sleeping horse here...  Aris had posted a terrain mod in two parts for CMFB on GAJ's site:

    https://cmmodsiii.greenasjade.net/?p=4038

    Part A downloads fine.  Part B, not so much.  I've tried downloading it several times and it has always timed out at the very end of the download.  That's frustrating enough, because it's nearly half a gig.  I started one last time in Chrome, last night and it dl'd all 490 MB and seemed to be waiting on that one last byte...  it was still waiting this morning.  I've tried using both Chrome and Firefox.

    The files are not listed on Bootie's site.  The Worghern mod says it uses some of Ari's textures.  I suspect that the trees in this mod could be Ari's, but without Part B to compare, I'm not sure. 

    In particular, I'm looking for something to replace the snow covered pine trees.  I've done a little modding for personal use, but I cannot figure out how these trees, bushes and crop files work.

  13. Add my name to this mess...

    New computer, just getting back in after a fair time away from CM and I'm loading up all the games.  But, it seems like every time I've loaded CMFI onto a computer, I cannot get it to run.

     

    I've activated Upgrade 4 and GL in addition to the base game.  When I try to run the game, all I get is a blank screen that looks like the activate new products screen with nothing else on it.  The base game will run by itself, but once I add in the upgrade, nothing.

     

    I cannot find anything in my orders for Engine 3, but I know that I've hade this running on another machine in the past.  I'd really like to get this running, because I had planned on buying R2V today, because it is the only module in the entire CM lineup that I do not own. 

     

    Por Favor, Ayuda!

     

  14. 2 hours ago, Schrullenhaft said:

    What mouse driver are you currently using ? Is it provided by Microsoft or the mouse manufacturer ? If it is a manufacturer provided driver, does it have any unique settings for the pointer itself (beyond what Windows provides) ? You're using the standard defaults for the mouse cursor currently, which is: Scheme: 'Windows Default (system scheme)',  Customize:  'Normal Select', Enable pointer shadow is Unchecked, within the Pointer Options tab the Display pointer trails is Unchecked, correct ? If you're using a manufacturer's mouse driver, you may want to uninstall it and see if Windows detects and provides its own driver.

    What videocard and driver do you have installed ? I'm not specifically aware of any video drivers that have cursor issues within the CM games, but if you're running on a laptop that has both Intel integrated video and another GPU (Radeon or GeForce), then you may need to make some changes so that the game runs on the GPU rather than the Intel integrated video.

    Another possibility is to Alt-Tab to minimize the game to the task bar and then re-maximize it and see if the cursor now appears.

    Thanks Schrullenhaft...  I found it in the mouse defaults, duhhh!

    I had reset everything to the default settings, except pointer trails and I had addressed that.  Only thing is, I had dragged the slider all the way to short trails, but not un-checking the box.  For some silly reason I must have been thinking this was turning off trails instead of just making them, well,  short.

    User error, WAD.  Thanks again!

     

  15. I've been away for some time and just today decided to load up RT on a newer computer.  Once installed, I opened the game and at the menu, found that the CM pointer was missing.  As I moved my mouse around, the menu options would light up so it was just the pointer that was not showing.  Through this highlighting of the menu options, I was able to open the new battle screen, but again there was  no pointer to select the scenario.  Using the arrow keys, I was able to select a scenario, but this is where it stops - without the pointer, there is no way to select the "Next" button to enter the scenario.

    I ran into this some time back when I installed CMBS.  I seem to recall finding a post at that time that said the the mouse pointer that was set had to be the Windows default pointer (this may not be exactly what I did, but I got the CM pointer back to be able to run Black Sea at that time).  I am constantly changing my pointers because they are becoming more and more difficult to see as I get older.  In any event, I have reset the Windows pointer back to default, without any shadows or trails or other helpful items, but I still cannot get the CM pointer back in game - in either RT or BS.

    I have run searches on this site and cannot find the post that helped me out the first time with BS.  I've checked my drivers (mouse and video card) and all are up to date.  Does anyone have any other ideas?  As it is, I cannot even end the game without shutting it down in Task Manager.

  16. On 7/30/2019 at 12:27 PM, Johnlondon125 said:

    ... Or should I just shut up and buy?

    Yes!  Pick your favorite time frame and buy at least one to check out all the features

    On 7/30/2019 at 4:42 PM, Thewood1 said:

    Anyone who thinks it doesn't rival CM modern has not been keeping up in the last four years.  Is it a full on wargame like traditional wargamers want?  Probably not.  You can easily lose control of the battle from nnot paying attention to detail and rage quit.  But if your not just wanting to play miniatures in digital form, and experience chaos and frustration of managing a modern battle, I would choose SB over CM any day.  It still has weaknesses around infantry and foxholes, but CM has its own issues that can be pointed out.

     For modern RTS, nothing tops SB, IMNSHO.  That said, it's a totally different system.  I do not play CM in RT just for all the reasons Mord and others have mentioned.  I have only in the last few months really started to pick up SB and learn the game.  I'm still not fully capable with everything that SB allows.  I have only CMBS to blame for even getting me into that game.  I never had any desire to play any other time period than WW II before I picked up CMBS.  Now, it's been several years since I've played anything but CMBS and SB.  When I feel like an infantry fight with some armor, I play CMBS.  When I want to mess with armor and blow ****e up, it's SB.

    On 7/30/2019 at 5:08 PM, sburke said:

    Yep. As with any game CM has it’s limitations. Noting that for the OP is important for their decision making process.  SB sounds like it would scratch an itch for me.  Graviteam tactics not so much. Would SB replace CM for me? No, nor should it.  Different itch, different solution. 

    On 7/30/2019 at 5:15 PM, IICptMillerII said:

     

    Exactly. Both CM and SB are great at what they do. Its important to recognize that they set out to do fundamentally different things.

     

    SB will never replace CM as sburke says even though I find myself playing it more these days.  I've owned all of the CM series since the night of the refreshing monkeys.  I've has SB for a couple of years, but put it down for a good while due to the learning curve.  Now that I've made the decision to learn the simulation, I've been playing with it almost exclusively for several months.

    I own many hundreds of dollars worth of computer wargames.  Exactly 4 games rest on my hard drive (if you count the entire series of CM and Campaign Series as one game).  Two are 3D & two are top-down; Two are RT (3 if you count CM as RT, I don't); two are igo-ugo They are:

    1. Combat Mission (I still have CMBB on my HD) 

           2. Steel Beast Pro PE

           3. Campaign Series (JT's and ME, not too interested in the new Viet Nam game, but I may still purchase it)

           4. Flashpoint Campaigns Red Storm

    I also own many of Tiller's PC and Modern titles...  they just haven't made it onto my newest computer yet and I only have so much time.  The four above can fill that up easily.  Each game tickles a different fancy.

    BUT, to the OP, I do not believe you can go wrong with any of the CM games.  I've been enjoying them for over twenty years.

     

    Rake Out...

     

  17. 21 minutes ago, QuiGon said:

    Aren't these custom icons some kind of cheating as they give you an unfair advantage by giving you more information than the game is supposed to give you (e.g. specifying if a sound contact is a tank or light armor)?

    Custom icons don't give any more info than the stock ones - they just replace files that are already in-game.  Like Bil say, they're easier to read quickly.  If I have a choice, I use NATO-type icons in all my wargaming.  If I don't, I make my own or use someone else's.

     

    15 minutes ago, JSj said:

    Yes, very true. Also, I think that more than 90% of all bugs and problems that gamers have are because of mods that break the game.

    I've been playing this series since way back at the very beginning of CM1.  I've always played a highly modded game and never had an issue with mods.  As Vin said above my post, the game just doesn't look right without mods.  I install mods immediately once I install a game.

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