Christmas Bone

[Sequoia]

Will Black Sea be present day or set in an earlier year to be able to use more of the info you have from Shock Force which was set in 2008?

[HistoryLover]

Is this haze?

And a glowing GFX for the bright sky?

[Battlefront.com]

You are usually hopelessly optimistic Steve, but hell if you weren't we likely wouldn't have CMx2 at all.

We were so close to having the first Eastern Front game out in 2013, so my predictions are definitely getting better

Quick answer... Black Sea (working title) will be set in and around 2017 timeframe.

Steve

[Childress]

That's an impressive list. How about categorizing tank crews according to their mount, e.g MK IVs or Tigers, and permitting them to jump into any available un-crewed vehicle for which they're qualified? Like Wittmann at Villers Bocage. Surely not a coding mountain to climb.

[Erwin]

Will foreseeable future CM evolutions still only require single core machines? ie: will run better on a fast single core rather than (say) a quad? Am trying to decide what to have in a new machine.

[dan/california]

You do realize I am going to get in all kinds of trouble if I buy the Eastern front game a month after I bought the Normandy Bundle, don't you? Of course if she wasn't speaking to me, I would have more time to play.......

[Mord]

Of course if she wasn't speaking to me, I would have more time to play.......

That's an easy one. Just tell her no Christmas cookies this year 'cause her butt is looking wide. You'll have plenty of time for CM...out in the garage, with the canoe...and the dog.

Mord.

[BLSTK]

Santa and his elves have been hard at work. Thank you BFC.

And Merry Christmas one and all!

[BLSTK]

Oh, and Santa, just one more thing. Looks like we're all gonna need winter gear.

I hope you like beer with your cookies.

[Squeaker]

3. Vehicle Ammo Leveling.

Will there be something along these lines for infantry units? IE, a unit has no rounds but it's right next to a fresh unit that has lots.

How about weapon and ammo scavenging? I know it's been said that soldiers are not trained on enemy weapons, but if you're in a former enemy position, and you have no ammo left with enemy to your front, I GUARANTEE you any trained soldier will pick up enemy small arms and figure out which is the dangerous end pretty sharpish!

[sfhand]

Thanks guys! A couple of quick comments:

1. No plans to go to 64 bit any time soon. Not sure it's worth the development hit for the performance gain. Partly because we're dubious the gain would be that big of a deal.

...

Steve

I would be remiss if I didn't start by saying thanks for the bones. There is a lot to be excited about in them bones.

As far as 64 bit goes... I'd hate to see a situation where Mac players can play on larger maps while the rest are denied by being OOM. I'm sure you guys are not going to let that happen, or if it does you will reconsider 64 bit support across all OS platforms.

Thanks again for the great bone!

[Vanir Ausf B]

Will there be something along these lines for infantry units? IE, a unit has no rounds but it's right next to a fresh unit that has lots.

This is sort-of already in the game. It's called ammo sharing

[John Kettler]

This thread's exciting--also weird and disturbing. If the pace of releases keeps up, I shall be forced to learn to properly play the complete CMBN and play well--so I can lose that edge by changing combat theaters altogether when Op Bagration comes out. I know that's only partially true, for hard-won tactical skill and UI familiarity are definitely portable. But being able to effectively operate American troops, weapons and armor won't be the most useful skill set am Ost, nor will painstakingly learned info on how the British did things militarily. Going from a bazooka to a PTRS/PTRD ought to be quite a shock if playing Russians. But those who campaign Priests as assault guns will be thrilled by the hitting power and armor of the mighty ISU-152. Fortunately, the Germans will still be the Germans. With some new toys!

The more directions there are to go, the harder it becomes to maintain a coherent identity as a wargamer. Who will crack first in trying to juggle oft conflicting interests and passions? Will he remain true? Will she be able to handle the temptations?

Starts to sound more like a soap opera, with relationships rising and falling, envy, jealousy, illicit trysts. And these are just the wargamers' relationships with the games!

Steve,

Splendid news! Am delighted to see flak again take to the/take down the hostile occupants of the skies, to have ammo cross leveling for AFVs (have been looking for the means to do this going back to CMBO's Hellcat Ridge), and bigger maps create all sorts of delicious possibilities, such as real patrolling, recce and trying to hold a sector with few men and combat means. Am hoping the Scheldt Estuary pack still cometh, with its crop of amphibious and other goodness. (Crosses fingers and hopes for Terrapins).

para,

If there's ever an award for Strangest Way To Ask If A Much Desired Feature's In A New CM Game, you'll win!!! I'd heard the song many many times over the years on the radio, but I never saw the dude in that incendiary get up. It's a wonder he didn't set himself, the studio and band mates ablaze!

eniced73,

Am off to therapy now after encountering your appalling expression "historically anal grogs." Suffice it to say I have no desire whatsoever to know how you are privy (and, yes, that was deliberate) to such knowledge. I tried to come up with more felicitous phrasing, but I'm afraid that my neural circuits shorted under the load.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Stingray]

Thank you Steve. Thank you BFS.. I am overflowing with joy.

Merry Christmas to one and all !!!

[AlexUK]

This thread's exciting--also weird and disturbing. If the pace of releases keeps up, I shall be forced to learn to play and play well--so I can lose that edge by changing combat theaters altogether when Op Bagration comes out. Being able to effectively operate American troops, weapons and armor won't be the most useful skill set am Ost, nor will painstakingly learned info on how the British did things militarily. Fortunately, the Germans are still the Germans!

The more directions there are to go, the harder it becomes to maintain a coherent identity as a wargamer. Who will crack first in trying to juggle oft conflicting interests and passions? Will he remain true? will she be able to handle the temptations?

Starts to sound more like a soap opera, with relationships rising and falling, envy, jealousy, illicit trysts. And these are just the wargamers' relationships with the games!

para,

If there's ever an award for Strangest Way To Ask If A New Feature's In A New CM Game, you'll win!!! I'd heard the song many many times over the years, but I never saw the dude in that incendiary get up.

enice76,

Am off to therapy now after encountering your appalling expression "historically anal grogs." Suffice it to say I have no desire whatsoever to know how you are privy (and, yes, that was deliberate) to such knowledge. I tried to come up with more felicitous phrasing, but I'm afraid that my neural circuits shorted under the load.

Regards,

John Kettler

You gave me a great chuckle John - thanks for brightening my day.

[John Kettler]

AlexUK,

You're most welcome. It's cold and dismal here (wouldn't know anything about that, right?), so I'm glad to know I improved your day. Thanks for improving mine by telling me!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Saferight]

AlexUK,

You're most welcome. It's cold and dismal here (wouldn't know anything about that, right?), so I'm glad to know I improved your day. Thanks for improving mine by telling me!

Regards,

John Kettler

Cold and dismal that sucks John its a nice humid 81 where i'm at. Going to be the hottest Christmas i can remember.

[Lt Belenko]

отлично, наконец-то!

+1 to 76mm.

What does it mean?

[AlexUK]

AlexUK,

You're most welcome. It's cold and dismal here (wouldn't know anything about that, right?), so I'm glad to know I improved your day. Thanks for improving mine by telling me!

Regards,

John Kettler

Grey, drizzle and a biting wind here in (old) Jersey - but the great tits have started singing their spring songs, and daffodil spears are appearing, so much to look forward to.

[Phantom Captain]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

OMG I'm such an Ostfront junky that once this comes out I'll be super hard pressed to ever play anything else.

Well, that not including the Black Sea game. Between the two I think my world will be complete.

[Freyberg]

Looks and sounds spectacular. I can't wait.

[Squeaker]

This is sort-of already in the game. It's called ammo sharing

Yes, but only within units in the same CoC.

A situation I have come across before (and there was a brief thread about it) was two anti-tank sections, one without ammo, and one without a launcher, but they were under different commanders, so never the twain would shoot.

[John Kettler]

Saferight,

Right now, 81 sounds good to me, though that'd be perceived as scorching.

kohlenkau,

A first--linking game release date suitability to uncontested, swift divorce resolution!

AlexUK,

Great tits singing? Over here, we don't take such jarring expressions (pretty much stunned me at first) as being ornithological in nature. Put it this way: Where you are, they're birds. Where we are, they're intimately related to birds, in colloquial British parlance, and don't sing. They do draw whistles, though!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Frenchy]

My money is set aside for East Front and the 3.0 upgrade for Beyond Normandy and Fortress Italy! Sweet!!!!

[Mord]

no, that is Soviet infantry, textured, equipped, mean and ready to kick Nazi butts.

Cool. It was hard to tell from the distance.

Yeah really. Taking a moment to reflect- if they were to release in May that would make it 3 years from the CMBN release. What have we gotten since then?

Commonwealth

CMFI

Gustav Line

Market Garden

The 2.0 upgrade

Lots of tweaks to everything from MG fire to Tank spotting and infantry AT capability.

Map overlays in the editor

Go even further back. It's been a looong road since CMSF! Sometimes it's hard to believe we are where we are. I have been waiting patiently for the reintroduction of a lot of these features. It's nice to finally be on the threshold. LOL But there's still my NEW features wishlist, which surprisingly isn't all that long.

The biggest issue that seems to be coming out now in the forum is folks can't keep up, we are seeing already that many are having to pick and choose what games/modules they get. It used to be we complained at the slow pace of release, now we complain that the release rate is outpacing financial resources.

I absolutely LOVE having this problem. I brought it up before but I'll mention it again; it's nice to have all these different theaters and time periods to jump between. It goes hand in hand with my reading and documentary interests. If I watch a modern doc, I can jump in and game CMSF, read a book on Italy, I can expand upon it in CMFI. The more the better. It gives me all these options to explore military history over multiple mediums—a truly concrete interactive experience. Learning has never been more enjoyable and exciting.

I think you are right Mord, 2014 is a watershed moment. After all the crap BF has taken over the switch to CMx2, there is absolutely no question that they got it right. The vision they had back over 10 years ago is paying off big time.

I think most of us knew it was the right choice once CMSF was stabilized—you had to be willfully blind not to see the future potential. It was surprisingly enjoyable even lacking all the newer WWII coolness CMBN added. In 2014 I think we'll really be reaping the benefits talked about on the greatest announcement day in BFC history (http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=104855 and http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=104854). The upgrade idea was the best thing that we could've ever gotten. Just think, if this was CMBO, we'd only be two and a half years into an eleven year wait for Normandy to be revisited! It's a no-brainer. Now two and half years in and we are looking at our second major upgrade, we have more equipment then was in the same time span in CMBO and there is still much more to come. If that doesn't make you a happy wargamer then you are just plain impossible to please.

I think I peed myself.

Mord.