Armchair General praises Final Blitzkrieg

[rocketman]

Armchair General has put a best of 2016 list together and in it they praise FB with:

"Combat Mission: Final Blitzkrieg. The newest Combat Mission game puts you in charge of either German or American forces during the Battle of the Bulge. Fantastic immersive graphics and stunning atmosphere give you the feel of being right in the heat of battle. The game is non-twitchy, you give your units orders and then hit the button to watch them try and carry them out. Simply beautiful. (For PC) (Full Review Coming Soon)."

I hope this will bring new players to the game and adds energy and inspiration to BFC's continued work with the game series.

[MOS:96B2P]

1 hour ago, rocketman said:

Armchair General has put a best of 2016 list together and in it they praise FB with:

"Combat Mission: Final Blitzkrieg.   <Snip>   (Full Review Coming Soon).   <Snip> 

Thanks for the heads up.  Looking forward to the review.   

[John Kettler]

rocketman,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Always good to know an influential site recognizes yet another BFC winner!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Michael Emrys]

9 hours ago, rocketman said:

(For PC)

Does that mean he is unaware that it is also for Mac?

Michael

[MikeyD]

Perhaps he was differentiating it from console games?

[rocketman]

IIRC the list was mostly boardgames.

[Bulletpoint]

On 13/12/2016 at 3:02 PM, rocketman said:

Fantastic immersive graphics and stunning atmosphere

 

On 13/12/2016 at 3:02 PM, rocketman said:

Simply beautiful. (For PC) (Full Review Coming Soon)

I don't know what version of the game they were playing. I loaded up the demo and started to feel nauseaus from the the flickering shadows and the swirling psychedelic moire patterns in the plowed fields, until the point where I had to quit the game.

The review would come off as more credible if it had said something along the lines of "great gameplay, shame about the graphics".

[AttorneyAtWar]

10 minutes ago, Bulletpoint said:

 

I don't know what version of the game they were playing. I loaded up the demo and started to feel nauseaus from the the flickering shadows and the swirling psychedelic moire patterns in the plowed fields, until the point where I had to quit the game.

The review would come off as more credible if it had said something along the lines of "great gameplay, shame about the graphics".

Ever considered that not everyone has flickering shadows and swirling pyschedelic patterns showing up in there game?

I mean I'm not going to say CM has great graphics and honestly Steve probably wouldn't either, but they do the job just fine in my opinion especially with mods. It looks like you should log a ticket about those graphical problems.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Raptorx7

[IICptMillerII]

2 hours ago, Bulletpoint said:

 

I don't know what version of the game they were playing. I loaded up the demo and started to feel nauseaus from the the flickering shadows and the swirling psychedelic moire patterns in the plowed fields, until the point where I had to quit the game.

The review would come off as more credible if it had said something along the lines of "great gameplay, shame about the graphics".

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So is the LSD you're on that's causing the "psychedelic swirls." Maybe play the game while not flying so high in the sky? I personally think the graphics in CMFB are fantastic, possibly the best yet in the series. The terrain is fantastic and extremely immersive, the vehicles look great, and the uniforms are the by far and away the best quality I've seen released yet. Hoping for future additions/expansions is one thing, but not being able to see or appreciate the advances when they happen isn't constructive criticism, its just being ungrateful. Last I checked no one is forcing you to continue playing the games. 

Seriously, show us on the doll where CM did the no-no to you. It seems like all you do here on the forums is whine and complain about things BFC hasn't done yet, or some extremely obscure glitch that no one else experiences but you. Do you really have nothing better to do than to make it your life mission to play and then trash a game on its forums? Yeesh...

[Warts 'n' all]

If Bulletpoint had written "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", it would have been called "Lucy Sat at her Desk moaning". 

Edited December 14, 2016 by Warts 'n' all

[Bulletpoint]

2 hours ago, IICptMillerII said:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So is the LSD you're on that's causing the "psychedelic swirls." Maybe play the game while not flying so high in the sky? I personally think the graphics in CMFB are fantastic, possibly the best yet in the series. The terrain is fantastic and extremely immersive, the vehicles look great, and the uniforms are the by far and away the best quality I've seen released yet. Hoping for future additions/expansions is one thing, but not being able to see or appreciate the advances when they happen isn't constructive criticism, its just being ungrateful. Last I checked no one is forcing you to continue playing the games. 

Seriously, show us on the doll where CM did the no-no to you. It seems like all you do here on the forums is whine and complain about things BFC hasn't done yet, or some extremely obscure glitch that no one else experiences but you. Do you really have nothing better to do than to make it your life mission to play and then trash a game on its forums? Yeesh...

This forum has a very nice filter function that you can use to block me and any other horrible person here who might say something you disagree with. Then you can be in your safe space. Peace out from the psychedelic hippie  

[MOS:96B2P]

In fairness @Bulletpoint has made at least one scenario and has identified and reported multiple bugs.  At least one report resulted in the fixing of a bug in a patch.  He is very knowledgeable about the game mechanics and spends a fair amount of time testing things and reporting his findings here on the forum.  You don't want all "yes men" on your general staff.  It is useful to have a Bulletpoint around.  (Even if it sometimes leads to the consumption of alcoholic beverages)         

[HerrTom]

I can see what Bulletpoint is saying here. The game has some issues with anisotropic filtering and the shadowmaps are pretty wonky.  They flicker something fierce when the camera moves and you're in the wrong place.  Nothing too much to handle, but it can sometimes be annoying.

WRT Armchair General.  Excellent.  I look forward to seeing what they say about it!

[BletchleyGeek]

10 hours ago, MOS:96B2P said:

 You don't want all "yes men" on your general staff.  

You would be surprised how often that is precisely the case. Not many people in positions of power and/or responsibility appreciate dissidents to speak up in public.

[John Kettler]

13 hours ago, IICptMillerII said:

Seriously, show us on the doll where CM did the no-no to you.

IICptMillerII,

Was so convulsed with laughter over your comeback I could hardly breathe. One of the all time great CM zings!

Bulletpoint,

A word on graphics. I have probably one of the oldest (late 2009) and least capable computers among us--my 131 in cyber years iMac Arlington (apt, since it should've been buried long since after a harsh lifetime of honorable service). I have 4 GB of RAM and a pathetic 256 MB of VRAM on a ATI Radeon 4670, yet the graphics are amazing. Heads and shoulders above even CMBS. Load times are much higher than for it, and the overall processing load is causing my audio to chatter and stutter to the point of uselessness, but let's look at the screenshots. Remember, this is stock with zero (0) mods.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/58gwopfrzwpc0ia/Screenshot 2016-12-15 01.59.34.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d6rl2rksrea5d1w/Screenshot 2016-12-15 02.08.28.png?dl=0

Now, please tell me what's wrong with the graphics. The above pics were shot with the additional load of snow flurries, yet not a Moire pattern or psychedelic image did I see.

Regards,

John Kettler

 

Edited December 15, 2016 by John Kettler

[Ales Dvorak]

1 hour ago, John Kettler said:

Now, please tell me what's wrong with the graphics.

 

Try with sunny day and a deep snow .... and than watch the shadows.

And for Moire pattern  try plough fields with patchy snow.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Ales Dvorak

[GerryCMBB]

I am one of the naysayers that has problems with the graphics. In terms of how dark and non-pretty they look, as in say FB. Again I have praised the realistic maps but to me as a gamer, and not someone wanting so much a simulation system, the maps are not attractive to look at. 

[John Kettler]

Ales Dvorak (and Bulletpoint),

Fair counterargument, since I've looked at neither condition. Shall have to investigate this later. If I remember!

Regards,

John Kettler

[AstroCat]

The amount of "technical" problems and lack of optimization with the graphics are what has pretty much made me quit playing the series. I didn't even buy this one... and I've played them all since CMBO. The engine is an eye sore to me at this point, not to mention the ridiculously low fps you get. Heck my i7 6700k@4.5Ghz and EVGA SC 1080 sucks in CMx2 because the engine, graphically speaking, is in my opinion sorely lacking. I'd love to come back into the CM fold, I am a fan (playing and modding), but I'm not gonna suffer being super frustrated trying to play a game in my rare down time any more. I'll be back for CMx3 I hope!

Edited December 15, 2016 by AstroCat

[AttorneyAtWar]

I think were all overreacting a bit here...

To back up how I responded to Bulletpoint when he said "The review would come off as more credible if it had said something along the lines of "great gameplay, shame about the graphics". I took issue with it because it wasn't factually correct in terms of what he had said previously about flickering shadows and psychedelic patterns, both of which are not something everyone sees obviously. I might have taken it a bit too literally and I certainly agree the game has it problems and those should be pointed out instead of patting BF on the back all the time.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Raptorx7

[rocketman]

For me the graphics range from "oh my god those shadows look awful I better turn them off" to "oh my god this overcast and hazy day with panthers moving down a rural road is just like the real thing". Can it look better all the time - yes. Is it good enough for this kind of game - for me yes. Does it ruin the gaming experience - never.

Someone modded out the moire pattern of plowed fields for BN, maybe this can be done for FB as well.

[General Jack Ripper]

It seems to me there are two camps of opinion on the game's graphics:

There are those of us who remember the cardboard cutout graphics from the original Combat Mission, so even looking at the CMx2 game engine causes ocular relief and relaxation.

Then there are the newer people who came in only after CMx2 was released, and who see the new game engine with all it's warts and flaws. Especially compared to games from large studios where they can afford to pay hundreds of people to do nothing but make 3D models for things.

The graphics aren't perfect, but they're a damn sight better than one would normally get for a game like this, where the vast majority of comparable titles are still played on a tabletop with counters, or on a top-down 2D game engine with sprites.

And yes, I am one of those people who simply turn the shadows off, and good riddance to them. I don't need shadow cascades to immerse myself in a game.

[Warts 'n' all]

Did someone mention "warts"?

[hank24]

1 hour ago, SLIM said:

The graphics aren't perfect, but they're a damn sight better than one would normally get for a game like this, where the vast majority of comparable titles are still played on a tabletop with counters, or on a top-down 2D game engine with sprites.

+1 to SLIM. There are problems with flickering shadows sometimes, especially when the sun is low, and there might be a lot of games out there looking much better. But none has this level of fidelity and realism combined with a graphic which is more than OK 95% of the gaming time.

Interestingly the same discrepancy with tabletop games. I tried Conflict of Heroes and Old School Tactical, both have beautiful maps and Counters, but the are more games which happen to have some tanks. So I return to East Front Tank Leader sporting an ugly map and even more ugly counters, but it is a masterpiece of game design. Details at www.boardgamegeek.com .

[Michael Emrys]

3 hours ago, hank24 said:

There are problems with flickering shadows sometimes, especially when the sun is low, and there might be a lot of games out there looking much better. But none has this level of fidelity and realism combined with a graphic which is more than OK 95% of the gaming time.

That pretty well says it for me too.

Michael