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mjkerner

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  1. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from Lethaface in Just received an email - it's on!   
    Third base only, eh? Persevere, you'll get there!
  2. Like
    mjkerner reacted to Aragorn2002 in Region Germany not available in 1944?   
    If it wasn't I would already have been banned from this forum for using foul language and insult. 😉
  3. Upvote
    mjkerner got a reaction from Aragorn2002 in Just received an email - it's on!   
    Lol. I only just "put the tip in" to F&R, and now another siren beckons!
  4. Like
    mjkerner reacted to purpheart23 in Just received an email - it's on!   
    Well at least the "Fighting 41" got an honorable mention. Good job boys, and thanks Battlefront and Co.
  5. Upvote
    mjkerner got a reaction from MOS:96B2P in Cold War Release Date Pool   
    Yup.
  6. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from Knightly Fish in Cold War Release Date Pool   
    Yup.
  7. Like
    mjkerner reacted to Vanir Ausf B in TO&E Bugs, Oversights, Quibbles, Opinions and Suggestions Thread   
    What?!  No. The bug has nothing to do with the module. I told you to buy the module to get the Henschel KT, which you had claimed was also missing. It's only missing because you don't have the module.
  8. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from Freyberg in The Schizophrenia of the Tac AI   
    domfluff, I understand all that, as with Chuck’s and Erwin’s responses, cuz I have been playing and delving into the innards of the game pretty much daily for 14 years.  I guess I am asking the question wrong, or maybe asking the wrong question. I think the “answer” is “forget about it, it’s all under the hood”, lol. 
    What I’m trying to get at is why does the TacAI override your given orders sometimes, and at others, slavishly try to follow them. Specifically, in the case of enemy AI continually running through or into a kill zone without stopping. (And to a lesser degree, why do my men sometimes not hit the dirt when fired on, even in Quick or Hunt mode.) One answer would be because the game checks soft factors by individual unit (as chosen by you or the scenario author for the enemy at the moment of calculation i.e., is this only a fire team or a whole squad?).  Therefore, the enemy squad running into a kill zone will hit the ground after X volume of fire/casualties taken, but the next individual unit has to take the same check, so naturally, they will continue moving into the zone until their factors are checked against the incoming fire/casualties taken. All understandable to me so far, cuz the game doesn’t tell the unit’s commander (in computer language) “Hey, your guys are getting slaughtered...stop sending them through that kill zone!”
    Only it does, to some degree.
    When you split squads, or move units away from each other or its leader, and the parent unit (squad if it’s a fire team, platoon if a squad) takes casualties or some similar calamity happens, it does affect the survival behavior of the split-off unit. They will cower or run away...whatever. That behavior is greatly affected by soft factors, to be sure, as well as the the specific orders given, as Freyberg points out.  But in effect, the TacAI is deliberately cancelling the human’s orders, and essentially issuing its own for that immediate case. I guess I was just trying to figure out why it doesn’t go one step further and issue orders for the parent unit to hit the dirt and/or take a different path?
    Just keying all this out, I guess I found my answer. Having the TacAI read the situation and issue new orders to move here, or hit the dirt there, is already covered by the interplay of orders, soft factors, etc. I certainly don’t want the AI to override my orders (or the scenario  author’s) each and every time heavy fire/heavy casualties is taken. Regardless, my hat is and has always been tipped to Charles Brain -in-a-jar, Phil Culliton(sp?), and whoever else figured out the programming for CM. Man, my mind aches just trying to ask this question!
    It is a wonderment.
     
  9. Upvote
    mjkerner got a reaction from BletchleyGeek in The Schizophrenia of the Tac AI   
    domfluff, I understand all that, as with Chuck’s and Erwin’s responses, cuz I have been playing and delving into the innards of the game pretty much daily for 14 years.  I guess I am asking the question wrong, or maybe asking the wrong question. I think the “answer” is “forget about it, it’s all under the hood”, lol. 
    What I’m trying to get at is why does the TacAI override your given orders sometimes, and at others, slavishly try to follow them. Specifically, in the case of enemy AI continually running through or into a kill zone without stopping. (And to a lesser degree, why do my men sometimes not hit the dirt when fired on, even in Quick or Hunt mode.) One answer would be because the game checks soft factors by individual unit (as chosen by you or the scenario author for the enemy at the moment of calculation i.e., is this only a fire team or a whole squad?).  Therefore, the enemy squad running into a kill zone will hit the ground after X volume of fire/casualties taken, but the next individual unit has to take the same check, so naturally, they will continue moving into the zone until their factors are checked against the incoming fire/casualties taken. All understandable to me so far, cuz the game doesn’t tell the unit’s commander (in computer language) “Hey, your guys are getting slaughtered...stop sending them through that kill zone!”
    Only it does, to some degree.
    When you split squads, or move units away from each other or its leader, and the parent unit (squad if it’s a fire team, platoon if a squad) takes casualties or some similar calamity happens, it does affect the survival behavior of the split-off unit. They will cower or run away...whatever. That behavior is greatly affected by soft factors, to be sure, as well as the the specific orders given, as Freyberg points out.  But in effect, the TacAI is deliberately cancelling the human’s orders, and essentially issuing its own for that immediate case. I guess I was just trying to figure out why it doesn’t go one step further and issue orders for the parent unit to hit the dirt and/or take a different path?
    Just keying all this out, I guess I found my answer. Having the TacAI read the situation and issue new orders to move here, or hit the dirt there, is already covered by the interplay of orders, soft factors, etc. I certainly don’t want the AI to override my orders (or the scenario  author’s) each and every time heavy fire/heavy casualties is taken. Regardless, my hat is and has always been tipped to Charles Brain -in-a-jar, Phil Culliton(sp?), and whoever else figured out the programming for CM. Man, my mind aches just trying to ask this question!
    It is a wonderment.
     
  10. Upvote
    mjkerner got a reaction from BletchleyGeek in The Schizophrenia of the Tac AI   
    Thanks fellas, but the insight I meant wasn't how to handle it in the game, but why is it that it can work well in one instance and not the other. I think it is more of a question for BFC/Steve/Elvis, but thought maybe some of the long time beta testers can weigh in. Sorry I wasn't very clear.
  11. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from Badger73 in The Schizophrenia of the Tac AI   
    The Smart Tac AI
    Pixeltruppen: Hey Boss, there’s some enemy guys over there by the trees! Imma fire at them.
    Boss: Where, I don’t even see nuttin?
    Pixeltruppen: Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew-pew!
    Boss: What the goddam hell are you firing at?
    Pixelpanzer: Hey Boss, I see some enemy guys over there. Imma turning my turret to fire at em!
    Boss: Where, I don’t see nuttin’?
    Pixelpanzer: Bam!
    Boss: Goddam it to he—
    Pixelpanzer: OUCH!  Imma pop smoke an’ back in’ da flock outta here! LIKE NOW!!!!
    Boss: What the hell? Where? What?
    Pixeltruppen and Pixelpanzers: <sotto voce> God, he ‘s stoopid and blind!
     
    The Dumb Tac AI
    Boss: Okay, you guys go over there, then slip through that break in the bocage and quicktime it to that building across the field.
    Pixeltruppen: Shooer ting, Boss!
    Pixeltruppen: Okay Boss, the eight of us guys are through the gap and headed for th——
    Enemy Bastiges: Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrp! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrp!
    Pixeltruppen: Boss, it would likely appear to an observer that we are taking fire. Are we? No matter, we see the building from here, so we’ll just sorta keep moseying on over there...
    Boss: NO, NO, get down! Hit the dirt! LIKE NOW!
    Enemy Bastiges: Brrrrrrrrrrrrp, Brrrrrrrrrrp, Brrrrrrrrrrrp!  <Hey Boss Man, we can and will keep this up all day ! You and your Pixeltruppen are stooopid!>
    Pixeltruppen: Hey Boss, the five of us think we still can make, and Jones is going to stop—-standing up—-and pew pew back!
    Enemy Bastiges: Brrrrrp! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp! Brrrrrrrp!
    Boss: Hit the Phuuuuking dirt NOW, you IDIOTS!
    Enemy Bastiges: <Ha, ha! He said “Phuuuuking!> Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp!
    Pixeltruppen: No sweat Boss, we don’t mind you swearing! Smitty an’ I can probably still make it to th———-aaarrrgh!
    Enemy Bastiges: Get some! Get some! 👏🖕 

    [The above was an actual exchange during a CMx2 firefight. Names have been withheld to protect the guilty Boss Man.]
     
    I don’t so much mind the enemy taunting the Boss, and my truppen dissing him, but why is the Tac AI so schizophrenic? I know its been complained about ad nauseum, but I don’t recall much discussion, if any, about this apparent disparity within the TacAI system causing it. Under it, static (and to a degree, moving) troops spot, react to threats, and fire intelligently for the most part. Programming rules are obviously in place to cover these situations. But when under Movement Orders, there seems to be a different set of rules. Or what, exactly?  Moving, they still will spot threats, react, and even countermand our orders—(channeling Newt here) mostly—but rarely if ever hit the dirt when under fire, until the end of the order. There must be some sort of Orders override regarding static troops—cowering, running away, refusing to initiate your move order, etc., when the **** hits the fan. But nothing like that seems to be in place when moving under heavy infantry fire, or worse, an artillery barrage. 
     
    I know the arguments regarding the difficulty in making programming decisions about this, like at what point /how many casualties to take before the TacAI says “hit the dirt” is initiated, etc. Players’ reactions to not being able to control their troops like we would like are often mentioned as one main reason to not implement a “go to ground” command.  But hey, that doesn’t stop the TacAI from refusing to move troops, or cowering, and other behavior that we lose control of when preservation is at stake.
    Anyone have insight that can be shared?
  12. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from Vergeltungswaffe in The Schizophrenia of the Tac AI   
    domfluff, I understand all that, as with Chuck’s and Erwin’s responses, cuz I have been playing and delving into the innards of the game pretty much daily for 14 years.  I guess I am asking the question wrong, or maybe asking the wrong question. I think the “answer” is “forget about it, it’s all under the hood”, lol. 
    What I’m trying to get at is why does the TacAI override your given orders sometimes, and at others, slavishly try to follow them. Specifically, in the case of enemy AI continually running through or into a kill zone without stopping. (And to a lesser degree, why do my men sometimes not hit the dirt when fired on, even in Quick or Hunt mode.) One answer would be because the game checks soft factors by individual unit (as chosen by you or the scenario author for the enemy at the moment of calculation i.e., is this only a fire team or a whole squad?).  Therefore, the enemy squad running into a kill zone will hit the ground after X volume of fire/casualties taken, but the next individual unit has to take the same check, so naturally, they will continue moving into the zone until their factors are checked against the incoming fire/casualties taken. All understandable to me so far, cuz the game doesn’t tell the unit’s commander (in computer language) “Hey, your guys are getting slaughtered...stop sending them through that kill zone!”
    Only it does, to some degree.
    When you split squads, or move units away from each other or its leader, and the parent unit (squad if it’s a fire team, platoon if a squad) takes casualties or some similar calamity happens, it does affect the survival behavior of the split-off unit. They will cower or run away...whatever. That behavior is greatly affected by soft factors, to be sure, as well as the the specific orders given, as Freyberg points out.  But in effect, the TacAI is deliberately cancelling the human’s orders, and essentially issuing its own for that immediate case. I guess I was just trying to figure out why it doesn’t go one step further and issue orders for the parent unit to hit the dirt and/or take a different path?
    Just keying all this out, I guess I found my answer. Having the TacAI read the situation and issue new orders to move here, or hit the dirt there, is already covered by the interplay of orders, soft factors, etc. I certainly don’t want the AI to override my orders (or the scenario  author’s) each and every time heavy fire/heavy casualties is taken. Regardless, my hat is and has always been tipped to Charles Brain -in-a-jar, Phil Culliton(sp?), and whoever else figured out the programming for CM. Man, my mind aches just trying to ask this question!
    It is a wonderment.
     
  13. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from ng cavscout in Why not a point to point LOS tool?   
    But why do you want such precision, unless for competitive-tournament type play (when your opponent would have the exact same advantage). Different strokes for different folks, I guess. When I’m out walking in the countryside/woods/whatever, I don’t know if I have LOS to that house over there from that little hump of an elevation with some trees on it 75 yards to my left. From here it looks like it does, but I won’t know until I get over there. Same for my pixeltruppen. I can recon with my eyes, the targeting tool, and with my P-truppen, but I don’t expect to know with precision ahead of time if when I get to a spot I actually have LOS or LOF.
  14. Upvote
    mjkerner got a reaction from Probus in Cold War Release Date Pool   
    "The farmers" reason was put forward in the past, but that never made sense to me because, well, animals are on the Sun's schedule anyway. I thought it so school kids so won't have to walk to school in the dark, back in the day.  Today of course, hardly any do anyways.
    It is a silly thing.
  15. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from Anonymous_Jonze in Adding m43 caps to Gebirgsjaeger?   
    Btw, it was Jace 11, not t34(with more numbers) who posted a picture on another thread, Anonymous.
  16. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from benpark in Defensive Objectives on a Map?   
    I made a scenario for F&R in about a half hour late, late Friday night. (Yes, Rum and Coke’s were involved.) A Soviet regular battalion plus 7 T34s (mix of 76 and 85) and an SU 122 attack a village defended by 2 platoons of SS, 2 platoons of Volkssturm, a LW unit of two 20mm AA and two 37mm AT guns, and two 75mm AT guns with SS crew. I set the Germans up fairly quickly, and didn’t study the positioning of the guns, but rather put them in areas where there was some concealment and cover with what looked to be decent fields of fire. Split all the squads and put them in buildings on random floors. This is April 1945, and the Germans were all diehards—no retreat (I used a Batzlow QB map with all AI plans removed. Beautiful map!) Russkies were “Typical”. The idea was that the Soviet commander had been given enough troops to make good previous losses, and had only one order...”Your losses will mean nothing if you can Kill all the Fascists and take the village in order to allow the rest of Our Glorious Division to move through and On to Berlin!”
    I let it sit a day and a half and played it last night. Forgot those little 37mm have that spigot round, which took out the SU on the second turn! All in all, so far I have almost cleared the village (Reichenberg) and wiped out most of the SS and Volksturm, and one AA, both 37mm’s, and I think one AT gun. I have lost about 40% of infantry, 5 tanks and the SU (who the hell placed those damn AT guns?!!?). I tried to play the Russians as Russians (I’m more used to playing Western Allies or German). Constant forward movement, as tactical as possible, but still almost continuous forward movement. Get those Submachine gun units as close as possible and blast away!
    I had a blast without any objectives even painted on the map. The Germans knew they had no options but stick it out and if necessary die for the Fatherland. The Soviets knew they had to take the village despite the cost. (Although if I hit around 50% infantry losses, I will consider it much less a victory.)
    So, I think others might enjoy this type of thing, but with no briefing (although easy enough to put a few sentences together), no objectives whatsoever, etc., I would be loathe to make it public.  Then again, I know I’d like others to upload their thrown together scenarios without all the bells and whistles.  Maybe Bootie can add a section in The Scenario Depot for neglected, forlorn, misused and incomplete scenarios so people would know what to expect, lol.
     
     
  17. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from benpark in Fire and Rubble Possible Bugs   
    Jeebus, Ben, I can only imagine. Everyone's work on this (as with all the other titles) is superb and very much appreciated!
  18. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from SimpleSimon in "EARLY WAR ORPHANS" rally point   
    Phil, with what will be available in F&R, we might even be able to move North Afrika a bit further back as well.
    Inquiring minds would like to know more about what background workup (and mock-ups of vehicles and stuff??) The Capt and Bil H. did in order to convince BFC to Green Light CMCW.
  19. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from Anonymous_Jonze in Adding m43 caps to Gebirgsjaeger?   
    It's mostly just a matter of renaming the skeletons.  From memory because I haven't done it in a while--You rename the m43 hat skeletons with the names of the skeletons for the helmets you want replaced. The game will look for smod_german_helmet (whatever), and will grab the hat conveniently now named smod_german_helmet (whatever). You'll need to rename the hat textures/bmps to whatever the helmet textures/bmps are named.
    I think kohlenklau was going to do that helmet/hat swap for his Crete mod and if not, I will later cuz I'm modding it for that mod. Come to think of it, didn't t34(followed by some numbers) already post one he did yesterday? 
  20. Like
    mjkerner reacted to benpark in Fire and Rubble Possible Bugs   
    Not those trucks. The issue is that one of the mods you have has used an "extra slot" in the Flavor Objects. FR now uses that slot for something else, because we added a lot of Flavor Objects and needed the slots! So, when you see that truck, it should be a hunk of rubble, or some other item that has given me claw-hands to place. But - not a truck.
    The best way to see if something is off in terms of things like this is to pull your mod folder, and reload it. If it still looks off, that's probably a bug- if it is OK, that mod needs renaming/renumbering.
  21. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from Vergeltungswaffe in Why not a point to point LOS tool?   
    But why do you want such precision, unless for competitive-tournament type play (when your opponent would have the exact same advantage). Different strokes for different folks, I guess. When I’m out walking in the countryside/woods/whatever, I don’t know if I have LOS to that house over there from that little hump of an elevation with some trees on it 75 yards to my left. From here it looks like it does, but I won’t know until I get over there. Same for my pixeltruppen. I can recon with my eyes, the targeting tool, and with my P-truppen, but I don’t expect to know with precision ahead of time if when I get to a spot I actually have LOS or LOF.
  22. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from Canuck21 in Defensive Objectives on a Map?   
    Hey Canuck, I’m pretty sure the Turn 1 ceasefire is just a test or gauge to indicate VP balance to start with, before you add in more, and other types of, objectives. I make plenty of scenarios but never for “publication” so to speak, specifically because of the VP calculation and the need to have them relatively balanced. I never play my own stuff to win, but for the fun and the story narrative in my head, lol. And for the multiple one minute war movies, of course.  So, the best of good luck to you! You are obviously serious about learning this aspect of the game, so in a couple of years I expect you’ll be in the pantheon of great scenarios designers.👍
  23. Upvote
    mjkerner got a reaction from 37mm in Defensive Objectives on a Map?   
    I made a scenario for F&R in about a half hour late, late Friday night. (Yes, Rum and Coke’s were involved.) A Soviet regular battalion plus 7 T34s (mix of 76 and 85) and an SU 122 attack a village defended by 2 platoons of SS, 2 platoons of Volkssturm, a LW unit of two 20mm AA and two 37mm AT guns, and two 75mm AT guns with SS crew. I set the Germans up fairly quickly, and didn’t study the positioning of the guns, but rather put them in areas where there was some concealment and cover with what looked to be decent fields of fire. Split all the squads and put them in buildings on random floors. This is April 1945, and the Germans were all diehards—no retreat (I used a Batzlow QB map with all AI plans removed. Beautiful map!) Russkies were “Typical”. The idea was that the Soviet commander had been given enough troops to make good previous losses, and had only one order...”Your losses will mean nothing if you can Kill all the Fascists and take the village in order to allow the rest of Our Glorious Division to move through and On to Berlin!”
    I let it sit a day and a half and played it last night. Forgot those little 37mm have that spigot round, which took out the SU on the second turn! All in all, so far I have almost cleared the village (Reichenberg) and wiped out most of the SS and Volksturm, and one AA, both 37mm’s, and I think one AT gun. I have lost about 40% of infantry, 5 tanks and the SU (who the hell placed those damn AT guns?!!?). I tried to play the Russians as Russians (I’m more used to playing Western Allies or German). Constant forward movement, as tactical as possible, but still almost continuous forward movement. Get those Submachine gun units as close as possible and blast away!
    I had a blast without any objectives even painted on the map. The Germans knew they had no options but stick it out and if necessary die for the Fatherland. The Soviets knew they had to take the village despite the cost. (Although if I hit around 50% infantry losses, I will consider it much less a victory.)
    So, I think others might enjoy this type of thing, but with no briefing (although easy enough to put a few sentences together), no objectives whatsoever, etc., I would be loathe to make it public.  Then again, I know I’d like others to upload their thrown together scenarios without all the bells and whistles.  Maybe Bootie can add a section in The Scenario Depot for neglected, forlorn, misused and incomplete scenarios so people would know what to expect, lol.
     
     
  24. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from NeoOhm in Pre-orders for Combat Mission Cold War are now open.   
    Lol, Have a fun weekend, NeoOhm!
  25. Like
    mjkerner got a reaction from Macisle in RT Unofficial Screenshot Thread   
    Great screenies, Macilse and t34!
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