To kick things off... a poll of sorts...

[juan_gigante]

I second every suggestion made, and would like to add a few of my own. I think it would be kind of cool for scenario editors to be able to put in some rudimentary scripting when making levels. Let's say you are making a big Russian attack. Instead of giving the Soviet player a few conscript high-calibur guns that the player is supposed to use for pre-planned fire, why not script where the artillery barrage would land, when, and in what amount. After all, most times I doubt that the battalion commander on the ground commanded all facets of the barrage. And one could do other stuff like that as well.

Many people have commented on scalability, and this is very important, I feel.

The thing that worries me the most is that our 1:1 soldiers won't act in a way that looks realistic or cool. I would sacrifice, say, a new artillery model if I could ensure that the soldiers act like how they do when I have dreams about CMX2. But for that, you'll need to do motion-capture with Jessica Alba.

All in all though, ditto to other people's comments.

[AstroCat]

Change/Add:

1. Dynamic Campaign System/”RPG” elements

2. Much improved graphics (Lighting, Weather, Destructible Terrain and Buildings, More Terrain/Buildings/Objects options and variance … fluff!)– I like realistic wargames and I like “killer” graphics, why can’t we have both?

3. Reworked and improved no “Borg” spotting system

4. Improved single player AI

5. Full movie playback

Don’t Change:

1. Realism vs Fun equation

2. WEGO system

3. “Modability” of both graphics and sounds

4. PBEM as an option

5. WW2 setting

[BFCElvis]

I am gonna write this without having read anyone elses. The thought being you are looking more for similar answers than coming up with my own unique and clever suggestion..

5 things I love about CMx1 and would hate to see go:

1) "We go" system

2) Play by email, solo or TCP optiona available

3) VERY easy interface

4) Unlimited new battles through scenario editor

5) true 3D for visual and gameplay

5 things I wish CMx1 had and hope CMx2 does:

1) Force list during battle to quickly locate ubits.

2) Much better infantry graphics (I really don't care but I probably missed closing a couple of sales for you guys because of it)

3) Campaign following one unit (doesn't matter if it is a platoon or company or battalion or whatever..something continuous...)

4) More "fluid" elevations angles

5) 2 mails to complete a turn instead of 3 (this could really be answer 1 through 5...It is the change I would want to see most..maybe it could be an option when starting a game so people could decide level of security they want for a game)

[ August 25, 2005, 11:52 AM: Message edited by: Elvis ]

[WineCape]

In no order of preference:

(1) Expanded victory conditions

(2) Basic plt. formations ~ & convoy command

(3) Ammo resupply

(4) Cover behind shot-up AFV's, if possible

(5) Vastly improved Arty fire control

Please keep:

(1) WEGO

(2) PBEM

(3) Fun factor!

(4) WWII TO, for now, at least

(5) your drinking habits.

Sincerely,

Charl Theron

-----------------------------------------------------

Co-creator & Sponsor of the following CM tournaments:

</font>

• The serial Rumblings of War (RoW I, II, III, IV, V)</font>
• The infamous CMBO Invitational</font>
• WineCape Tourney I and II</font>

[ August 25, 2005, 09:38 AM: Message edited by: WineCape ]

[Bannon DC]

Hello!

Change:

1) Editor system that lets you give orders or dispositions to AI troops. For example: "attack on turn 5"; or simply "defend only"

2) more terrain features.

3) in scenario menu -- some way to sort or tag which scenarios I have played, which I have won and lost

4) adjust the much discussed spotting system

5) increase "in-game terrain modification" -- destroyed fenses, down trees, rubble blocking streets

Keep:

1) things that go BOOM!

2) Fun factor

Thanks for more years of enjoyment and wasted time! ehehe.

[KG_Panzerschreck]

What to add -

1} better and more terrain types. you should be able to "paint" in a line of trees for example. not block in a patch of them, for more flexability in the map editor. the same thing could be applied to fortifications such as trench lines and barbed wire. instead of painstakingly placing one at a time inplace, you could paint a line across the map in the editor to save vast amounts of time.

2} A grand campaign system where you start out with a core set of units and upgrade them as the fighting continues. id love to see the units elligable for promotions and medals/awards.

3} A Pacific version. i cant tell you how bad i want to assault Iwo Jima in Combat Mission!

4} I know the new versions will be more battle specific. that opens the door for the opportunity for you guys to use more rarer AFV's/vehicles/airpower/units/ect... that werent included in the game. such as schmalturn Panther turrets in the italian moutain fortifications and German festung citys. or the German nebelwerfer halftracks that were used in the late war, just to name a few.

5} And last but certainly not least, and i cant stress this point enough, MULTIPLAYER!

What to keep -

1} WEGO system.

2} Simple map/scenario editor.

3} Easily modded game graphics.

4} PBEM.

5} Fog of war, i love that, it makes it more realistic.

[Foolish_Dog]

Change:

Campaign game

improved AI

Column movement for roads

Close air support

Improved options on quick gnerator

Dont Change:

PBEM

[Reichenberg]

Things to change/implement:

1) Campaign mode / In addition to the very good operations, have an easy campaign mode ala Steel Panthers. No historically correct battles, but keep your troops....for the beer and pretzels time.

2) Convoy command / E. g. follow road or follow leading vehicle or replacement of thereof to a designated waypoint. Would be nice to have that enhanced with a formation command.

3) Full movie playback / Chance of editing the full movie (cut / replay from different angle...) and converting it to a common file type.

4) More than 1 player in a multiplayer game / In a PBEM or even against the AI (for specific scenarios that are in favour of the AI).

5) Destroyed tanks and vehicles being able to provide cover

Do not change:

1) Focus on realism

2) WeGo system

3) WW2 setting

4) WW2 setting

5) WW2 setting

Uwe

[toxiczen]

ok five things i would like to see as a long time cmx1 player.

1) PBEM

2) tcp games

3) the continued depth and realism

4) another time period, medieval and or fantasy even...

5) more environmental effects as well as bystanders. examples: houses or trees falling to the ground and even onto things nearby them, bystanders running in panick or herds of animals stampeding.

thankyou for developing such fantastic games! you guys are a rare breed!

[anteportas]

ok this is my list

What to add:

1: easier terrain view. It should be possible that when you click on a unit, that terrain is highlighted which the unit can see. Have seen this feature in some strategy game, but dont remember which.

2: units have real dimensions, which means you can shoot the front of a tank while the back is hiding behind a house.

3: complete unit information in the purchase screen. So you can check all armour statistics and firepower, before you go into combat.

4: more soul in the game, a campaign like in close combat 2.

5: option to give platoons formations, like wedge or recon formation.

to keep:

1: scale of the game

2: micromanagement should not increase

3: detailed armour hits

4: good fun/realism balance

5: ability to use cheat codes

[dalem]

Change:

1) More granular terrain. No need for you guys to knock yoursleves out designing a "bocage" terrain type that we'll probably just complain about anyway if we can just build the darned thing up ourselves.

2) Area Fire. We need a real Area Fire mechanism where we can "mouse pull" a target ellipse or square and have all shots and fire purposefully spread within that area for effect. Maybe all "point fire" as we have it now for smallarms disappears entirely and everything gets a type of adjustable beaten zone.

3) Spotting. You know what we need better than we do ourselves I'm betting.

4) Artillery & Air. Artillery needs serious work. Get rid of the air component. (I know, impossible marketing-wise.)

5) Scenarios. I'd like to see some kind of method to assign zones of responsibility to units initially that restrict information and movement at the beginning of a battle. I sent Moon an email about this awhile back based on CMx1 mechanics.

Don't change:

1) Unit scale. I like squads and teams and individual vehicles.

2) QBs. I love 'em.

3) PBEM options if possible. I love PBEM.

4) Please don't change your stance on "National Characteristics" and how inappropriate 99% of them are.

5) Realism. In the continuum of 100%Realism--------------100%Game please stay on the half or quartile that's nearer the "100% Realism" side.

-dale

[Panzer76]

Originally posted by impact42615:

5) more environmental effects as well as bystanders. examples: hoes falling to the ground and even onto things nearby them

Just had to...

[Pzman]

Keep:

Anything that isn't broke, that isn't or cannot be improved upon.

Add:

Anything that makes the simulation more accurate, and easy to build battles in the editor.

[Dirtweasle]

The top 5 things you don't want to see changed from CMx1

1- Multiplayer, PBEM & TCP/IP LAN play

2- Squad Based Scale

3- Scenario editing / building functionality. Could improve, but the basic functionality is a must.

4- CM's "IGO UGO WEGO" flavor of turn based play.

5- A wide selection of realistic scenarios right out of the box.

and the top 5 things you want CMx2 to do differently

1- A Campaign mode or something to that effect which conveys operational continuity.

2- Short of #1 above, which I believe is a non-starter, software hooks built in to support user community campaigns.

3- Road travel of vehicles needs to be handled differently. Telling a vehicle to go down a winding road and pull into position before the treeline is ugly as it is now.

4- More realistic feel to the exposure of portions of vehicle to fire when other portions of the vehicle remain behind a house for instance.

5- A granular terrain model, where for instance fences, buildings, trees and "doo dads" lay upon the terrain singularly, and appear and function more naturally and buildings set better on sloped land.

[Mercury]

1. The ability to pre arrange how reinforcements arrive on table - eg, in a column on a road, already loaded in their half tracks etc

2. Beach terrain

3. Placing wrecks, bodies in scenario design, more for realistic atmosphere than for playability

4. More building variety and levels, eg church spires or cellars.

5. European style terraced housing, where squads can blow in walls to pass from house to house

[MikeyD]

Things to keep:

1: WEGO (pretty-much universal agreement here).

2: A healthy variety of historical weaponry. I'd rather see 12 tank types with medium quality polygons than 2 tank types of outstanding quality.

3: Real-world stats for real-world theaters, and no tweaking of anything to enhance gamey gameplay (no health crystals under waterfallls).

4: Keep 'fuzzy' unit responses (Just because i order my tanks to charge to their deaths doesn't mean they necessarily comply). Other people hated 'tank cowering', I rather liked it.

5: Airstrikes stay random/unexpected/of varying effectiveness, unless we're talking modern war laser guided munitions. I don't need 100% player control of the air.

--

Things to change:

1: Varying/multiple AI 'personalities'. Cautious technique, aggressive technique, etc. With CMx1 we pretty much know from experience the present AI's most likely route of advance. Grognards boasts a 'multi-level' AI?

2: AI multiple-unit coordination. For instance a vehicle platoon system that has some sort of positive tactical benefit. or a hvy mg team that does 'overwatch' of advancing units like tanks do, instead of blindly walking at the front of the line.

3: Somewhat unlikely to see... Civilians! Perhaps with a "Number of Civilians" sliding bar in the scenario editor to distinguish a 'front line' battle (no civilians) from a 'peace-keeping' engagement (majority civilians). Very simple AI-controlled walking/watching civilians on the street for troops to work around. We'd expect the AI to have them scatter to the nearest shelter on hearing the game's first shots. This might even include civilian automobiles? And you WON'T be able to purposefully target them, though a high civvie body count could involve point penalties.

4: Screen view that has more of a 'through-the-eyeballs' looks to it, as opposed to 'bumpy monopoly board'. I see screenshots for the Grognards game appear to have a bit of convincing wide-angle-lens warping at high altitudes?

5: Campaign system - not a hard-core "must complete this to advance" campaign (I never did get halfway through Tombraider) but at least a semi-linear story line. Perhaps like a CM1 'operation' with wider-scope tools to steer the direction of subsequent battles (buy extra tanks for instance).

Since we've only got 5 suggestions to post I'll leave out my ongoing request for working wristwatches on every soldier.

[junk2drive]

Weather changes in battle.

i.e. you start the battle in overcast and mid way it starts to rain.

[birdstrike]

Things to keep:

- game scale

- detailed OOBs

- easy interface

- a dedicated community

- my current computer (no killer specs just for some useless eyecandy)

Things to change:

- more detailed tracking of small arms ammunition

- ability to change rate of fire

- ammo supply

- real 3d representation of objects and vehicles (COVER!)

- I like the idea of civilian non-combat

vehicles in the game (like cars on the streets) to use for cover - just the vehicles, no people

[jim crowley]

Originally posted by MikeyD:

--

Things to change:

1: Varying/multiple AI 'personalities'. Cautious technique, aggressive technique, etc. With CMx1 we pretty much know from experience the present AI's most likely route of advance. Grognards boasts a 'multi-level' AI?

I've had my five but as my No.1 was AI improvement, I think this is a brilliant idea.

Don't know how difficult or otherwise it might be.

[flammenwerfer]

Change-

1. Area Fire system

2. Sound contacts/visual contacts

3. Map Editor improvements. Ability to preview terrain while 'in' the map, or a quicker load time.

4. Victory conditions.

5. Add Pioneer/Airborne missions.

[McAuliffe]

To be implemented:

I.'Follow the leader'-group command, including:

a)Advance sub-menu : column, line abreast or wedge

b)Deployment sub-menu : formation upon arrival destination: column, line or wedge .

i.o.w .:

1.select group of units,

2.designate leader,

3.plot wayponts of leader.

4. select submenu's

Execution of command:

All selected units will walk/drive to start-point of leader(see embark command) and follow the leader in his footsteps or as chosen under submenu 1. Of course, TacAI will handle obstacles in case they occure.

Upon arrival of destination, the selected units will deploy as per sub-menu 2

II. Smaller tiles in order to reflect more diversied terrain + height difference adaptation in order to reflect hills or mountains upto several hundred meters.

III. Instead of offering limited number of models of finished buildings, the editor will come with walls, textures, rooftops, etc.. in order to put together your own buildings. (Think LEGO and make a copy of your own house, the Notre Dame or 'Reichskanzlei')

Such constructions can be saved and be imported into the scenario.

IV. A way to import GPS or similar data into the relief editor or to use aerial pictures as background layer in order to 'paint' the landscape. (see Mapping Mission project)

V. Programming / designing AI manoeuvers /

Do not throw away:

I.WEGO

II.PBEM

III.Importing of existing maps in QB's

IV.All the rest.

[MOS was 71331]

Things I'd like to see:

1. A road movement command where waypoints are (a) place of entry onto road if not already on road, ( junctions where road selections are possible, © stopping point or place of exit from road if not staying on road.

2. A follow command (possibly with close up or spread out options) for vehicle movement. [select v2 - select follow - select v1] It shouldn't take multiple waypoint selections with attendant command delays to get v2 to proceed down the same path as v1. And, obviously, v3 can follow v2, ... [if v3 is ordered to follow v1, cancel v2's command to follow v1.]

3. Don't generate new paths with multiple waypoints when one vehicle encounters a friendly vehicle on a road. If they're going in the same direction, let the following vehicle continue after the leading vehicle gets x meters ahead. If they're going in opposite directions with sufficient room to pass, have them each steer appropriately to continue. (I don't mind if they stop for a time varying with their unit quality, but I don't want them to go berserk -- as they do now.) If there isn't sufficient room to pass, have them stop and cancel their movement orders.

4. Topographic terrain with the lowest point at 0 meters, and 5-10-or-20 meter bands above that. (It doesn't always have to be visible. I'd be happy to be able to turn it on and off.)

5. A select ammo command -- so I can get my guys to use their satchel charges or their tungsten rounds or their panzerfausts/shreks.

[Frenchy]

Things I would like to see implemented/changed:

1. Ability to recrew weapons (especially AT guns) if guns are not knocked out.

2. Better implementation of artillery...especially ability to ask for TOT.

3. Tweaking of air support and ability to direct A/C with ground spotters.

4. Follow Road command

5. Able to set depth of creeks/rivers and rate of flow. This would affect what type of units can cross rivers/creeks and at what speed.

Please Keep:

1. WeGo system

2. PBEM

3. TCP/IP Play

4. Ability to Mod grahics

5. Realism options

[gunnersman]

Change:

1)A move to contact "arc"

Move to contact without worrying about stopping from contact with crews or inf too far away to worry about.

2)Relative spotting

3)Feel like Im apart of something bigger

If that means a campaign engine, fine. I always liked the way "Close Combat 2: A Bridge too Far" attempted it.

4)Walking Artillery Barrage

5)Movie Play Back

6)And yes more cowbell, gotta have more cowbell

Dont Change:

1)scale

2)WW2 setting

3)WEGO

4)Graphics and graphic representation are fine IMNSHO

[General Bolt]

Edited because I counted higher than five. New post on page 7.

[ August 27, 2005, 06:07 AM: Message edited by: General Colt ]