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Updating The Road to Montebourg


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Well, that's 24 hours and still waiting. I'd forgotten how long it takes BFC to clear stuff that is posted to their Repository. Perhaps it's the holiday weekend? Hopefully, the revised version will be available to play sometime in the next 24 hours. In the meantime, I'm making very good progress through Ecoqueneuville in spite of the Green troops. The extra 10 minutes make it feel a bit more relaxed. And the air support is a lot of fun too.

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Im suprised no one has commented on this!

playing through it again, and have to say deffiantelly prefer this version. Plays differently! Im also noticing im not loosing as many men, ergo not getting frustrated like the previous attempt. Although I think this is due to me getting slightly better at my tactics.

Again great Job mr PT, great job indeed

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Here are a couple of screenshots. First, the AAR screen from my last playthrough. Not a bad result, I can tell you...

BrecourtAAR.jpg

The time on the game clock was -0.53 (that's 53 seconds of extra time) of the potential 10 minutes available.

The mission is 15 minutes long. Yes, 15! That's probably about as much time as Messrs Winters and Co needed to do the job in real life and you're packing a bit more of a punch than the real life Paras were as well. It plays out in remarkably similar fashion as the real life action too.

PT... Very much enjoyed this scenario, but I really think you need to address the time limit for this scenario. It got a bit tiresome having to hit the "Go" button over and over once all the VL's were secured and the troops safely teleported back to Le Gran Chemin. :D

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I see Boche has provided the answer already. I forgot to mention to Cease Fire in the briefing. There's always something.

I actually meant my post as a satirical comment toward the many calls for extended time limits in your campaigns, PT. Oh well...

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm having a blast with the revised version PT!

Plays much better now and it already was rocking before. Am in Ecoqueneuville at the moment and will probably restart this mission since I've put it to real time and missed that 3 platoons got chopped up by mines. I've sent to death platoon after a platoon 'cos I was with my mind on the other side of the map. Duh.

It's so damn hot where I live that it's hard to play cautiously these days... ;)

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Edit 2: Sorry for triple posting but I just had to show you how I suck (why is edit post option not possible?)!

mygodisuck.jpg

Now mission 5 is without the tanks. I'll probably reload an earliest save from mission 4. The result in mission 4 is somewhat strange since I totally wiped out all the defenders - the text prior to mission 5 saying tanks had to be sent to the area where mission 4 took place in order to help those troops there defeat the enemy is not really suitable - there was no German left in fighting condition for god's sake! :)

What a great mission though - superb atmosphere!

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[Added after Edit - aha, I just had a closer look at your AAR screenshot and saw that you forced a German surrender. The reason you lost the mission is because you took too many casualties in capturing the objective. Yup, unfortunately, the campaign script only allows two possibilities - win the mission (this can be any level of win or even a loss) or lose the mission. So this happens. But my misreading of your post did give me a chance to drone on about something I feel is quite important]

Sometimes, I wish we were not given so much information in the AAR screen because it misleads the player. If the clock runs out and he finds that there are still three guys occupying a victory point objective denying him the points he might be led to believe that this intelligence would be available to the real life commander as well. As far as the commander can tell, there is still a full platoon on veteran fighters holed up in that VP location and he needs more help to root them out. Thus the tanks are sent off to eliminate a threat that is non-existant indstead of going to Hamalet.

This was an issue with testing 'Going to Church' mission in the Scottish Corridor campaign as well. In the real life battle, the Brits couldn't winkle out the last of the German defenders from the vicinity of the church. We don't know how many troops the Germans actually had at the 'end of the battle' because real life battles don't end in such a fashion. Perhaps it was just a couple of Snipers and a MG team? Or perhaps it was a full platoon. Whatever, the Brits gave up and left the Germans in possession of the VP location and tried again the next day. Unfortunately, the player is told that there are only two guys and a dog left standing at the end of the game and so thinks he got a win but is being denied it by some quirk of the game engine. ;)

Glad you're enjoying the revised campaign BTW.

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I finally managed to beat out a Total Victory in "Hell In The Hedgerows".

**spoiler alert**

I managed to do it by a heavy prep. bombardment of suspected German positions and holding most of my troops back- one platoon cleared the ville, taking some casualties. One other platoon moved up our left, while the mortars and pack howitzers were concentrated on the two pillboxes on their right flank. Every available machine gun and one squad was detailed to covering fire while I tried to infiltrate bazooka teams up along the far left edge of the battlefield. Most were cut down, but one intrepid bazooka man managed to make it past the storm of fire, and took out the first pillbox. I would have managed to take out at least one more, but ran out of time. I only exposed the bare minimum of troops to enemy fire, and for the most part my mortars were dreadfully inaccurate. Only by throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the two boxes on my left were I able to make any headway at all. I tried smoke, but it was anemic at best. Due to the weather?

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Having internal connections to devs you might have some success by sending them a tip for improvement PT!

You'd think so, wouldn't you. ;)

I tried smoke, but it was anemic at best. Due to the weather?

Congrats on your victory. This is the revised version you're playing, right? I made it a bit more difficult for the US player to get a win this time around. That one is meant to be a bitch, but a winnable bitch, as you have demonstrated. You are correct that the smoke won't last long because of the weather conditions. I'll be very interested to read how you fair as the campaign continues.

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In La Grand Hameau scenario you probably positioned one squad from the 2nd platoon one the wrong side of the bocage by mistake. They come under fire immediately.

Ach! I missed that one. It's so close to the edge that I thought it was on the other side. Thanks for pointing that out. I've moved it back into the correct set up area and I'll likely release a revised version again later. I'm really hoping that we'll get some of those old French tanks in the final module and then I'll do a final review of this campaign.

In fact, after OMG, I doubt I'll be making any more large campaigns like this for the Allied side again. Instead, while waiting for the East Front title to arrive, I would really like to expand and improve the three big ones, Montebourg, The Scottish Corridor and <ahem> the 'next one' ;) as well as finish off the shortish Canadian campaign. I want them all to benefit from the version 2 changes. I think having 16 AI groups will allow me to finesse the AI attacks to make them considerably more effective, as well as making the AI defending plans a bit more unpredictable as well.

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Oh, so you are making a new campaign for OMG, that's great news! Your approach to campaign making is really to my liking. Maps are beautiful with plenty of nice details and nice plan of attack/defence possibilities accompanied with immersive storytelling that changes according to results player makes.

Do you know of any scenario/campaign maker that has similar qualities like you (if it's a right way to ask of course)?

What's the shortish Canadian campaign? Have you showcased it somewhere?

A suggestion: When you make a campaign include the pointer for which mods (unit insignias, etc.) go along with your campaign well -- for all those of us who are not so savy.

Do you think save games from revised Montebourgh campaign could be used in your final revision of it when it comes out? I'm safeguarding savegames from the start of each scenario so that I can possibly start the scenarios that will be changed in the last revision. Would be a nuisance if I had to replay whole campaign only to experience a few scenarios that will get changed.

I started this campaign anew because I only arrived up to the middle of the (non-revised vanilla) campaign and saw it as acceptable to start anew due to notable changes (units being green). I also got much better at playing this game and understanding everything so I got immersed more then in my first play-through.

What does it actually mean to have 16 AI groups instead of current 8? What do AI groups do?

I suppose AI groups are not the so much wanted "AI triggers" that would supposedly make AI look more reactive to player's moves?

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Whew! Quite a few questions to answer there...

Do you know of any scenario/campaign maker that has similar qualities like you (if it's a right way to ask of course)?

No, I'm afraid I don't. But that's because I don't have much time to play other people's stuff. I keep promising myself to sit down and play somebody elses missions/campaigns but I just never get round to it. FWIW, my favourite scenario designer is GeorgeMc and my favourite map designer is Pete Wenman.

What's the shortish Canadian campaign? Have you showcased it somewhere?

Yup,. Here's a link...

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=103226

A suggestion: When you make a campaign include the pointer for which mods (unit insignias, etc.) go along with your campaign well -- for all those of us who are not so savy.

I'm not sure if that will be possible as I make stuff for BFC's releases for the most part and the mods don't exist for them yet. However, when I get around to revising the Scottish Corridor campaign, I'll try and post links to the mods that are suitable.

Do you think save games from revised Montebourgh campaign could be used in your final revision of it when it comes out? I'm safeguarding savegames from the start of each scenario so that I can possibly start the scenarios that will be changed in the last revision. Would be a nuisance if I had to replay whole campaign only to experience a few scenarios that will get changed.

I don't think you'll haveto worry about that for a while yet. I don't expect to see the final module for CMBN until second quarter next year. But you never know. I don't see any logical way they could include the French tanks in the MG module but if they do, maybe early next year?

What does it actually mean to have 16 AI groups instead of current 8? What do AI groups do?

At the moment, I can divide the AI force into eight groups and issue them with their own orders. When we get to version 2, I will be able to coordinate sixteen groups instead of eight. This will make for much more detailed AI plans.

I suppose AI groups are not the so much wanted "AI triggers" that would supposedly make AI look more reactive to player's moves?

No, I'm afraid not. TBH, I really doubt that we're going to see AI triggers for a very long time indeed. I suspect that the Bulge title will be the first title to include Fire, Nighttime Illumination and, possibly, AI triggers. But when that happens, I'm sure BFC will release a version 3 for CMBN and we'll finally see all these improvements in this title.

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Thank you for the answers PT!

Ah so that's what that is - seen it already.

However, when I get around to revising the Scottish Corridor campaign, I'll try and post links to the mods that are suitable.
Great, thanx.

No, I'm afraid not. TBH, I really doubt that we're going to see AI triggers for a very long time indeed. I suspect that the Bulge title will be the first title to include Fire, Nighttime Illumination and, possibly, AI triggers. But when that happens, I'm sure BFC will release a version 3 for CMBN and we'll finally see all these improvements in this title.
Oh, I thought that that would be in Eastern front. Oh well, as long as someone is working on improving the old builds (you namely) then we can be happy ;)

Edit 1: A suggestion for when you get to actually work on new campaign: Don't clutter so many units in small places like you often do in The road to Montebourgh - it kills the immersion (few rounds would cause huge devastation to such tight packing). Make the map a bit bigger and spread starting unit's postions somewhat. Deal? ;)

Edit 2: Oh, did GeorgeMc and Pete Wenman perhaps create some kind of work together as a team or only each one separately?

Edit 3: Did anyone post a playable Pete Wenman's map - Pete didn't include any AI plans did he?

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