How about the editor ?

[Scheer]

Are there any pictures / writeups about the scenarioeditor ?

I guess that its sumwhat more complex than the CMx1 generation. If you compare the time for editing a map, how much more time do you need with the CM:BN editor ?

[hcrof]

The CMx2 editor is not fundamentally different from the CMx1 editor except for elevations IMO. To put in elevations you lay down contour lines like on a paper map and its a much faster and more accurate system.

Overall maps take longer to make because you have to lay down more than 4 times more tiles per km2 than in CMx1. On the other hand, the maps look really good. You can copy real world terrain from google earth to the last tree

[Blackcat]

"You can copy real world terrain from google earth to the last tree "

That is impressive. It is just a pity that Google don't have a time machine. Normandy now is a lot different to Normandy in 1944.

[hcrof]

True, but I think you can do a pretty good approximation.

First you take elevation data from Google earth - this won't change. Then you can assume that any bocage in 2011 will not have appeared out of nowhere and probably hasn't changed a huge amount so that can go in.

The tricky stuff is bocage that has been removed and houses that have been built/demolished since the war. This is where contemporary maps and photos come in, or even just seeing the marks left in fields from where there used to be a hedgeline.

Obviously it will not be perfect but I think it will be as good as a representation as possible these days. In CMSF I copied huge amount of Syrian terrain (I think like 14km2) very closely for a planned minimetacampaign. Unfortunately I lost it all when I changed computers but it is possible.

When the Commonwealth module comes out I will make a map of the village where I grew up in Somerset - there is a lot of good documentation of it and it will be fun to dig in and defend it from the Germans like I used to pretend to do when I was a kid

[Chainsaw]

Do anyone have a clue where to find 1944 1:25000 maps? I found a few maps over Holland (missing the most intersting part for me, Roosendaal) but I have found none of Belgium and NW France.

[Gromit]

Do anyone have a clue where to find 1944 1:25000 maps? I found a few maps over Holland (missing the most intersting part for me, Roosendaal) but I have found none of Belgium and NW France.

Here is one place to start:

http://www.ww2dday.com/home.html

He is located in Ocean City, MD.

And you can always look at the US Army site:

http://www.history.army.mil/index.html

Hope these help!

[Andrew Kulin]

Does the editor allow you to underlay a jpeg/BMP/etc. image of a map/google image as a background so that it is visible and then you can set the contours, roads, terrain, etc. overtop using the map editor?

Never got into the Syrian version so no experience with how the system currently works.

Would be a great feature to have though if not already in.

[JonS]

I reccomend this site:

http://www.geoportail.fr/en_UK/visu2D.do?ter=metropole

In some ways it's better than Google Earth/Maps

[LJFHutch]

Does the editor allow you to underlay a jpeg/BMP/etc. image of a map/google image as a background so that it is visible and then you can set the contours, roads, terrain, etc. overtop using the map editor?

Never got into the Syrian version so no experience with how the system currently works.

Would be a great feature to have though if not already in.

I've never come across that in CMSF, but I certainly hope it makes it in, would be really helpful.

[Sergei]

One handy thing about CMx2 is that you have historical TO&E's ready in the game, so you don't need to have memorized all the sub-elements of a US tank battalion to create a semi-historical scenario based around one. In CMBN you can divert from this if you need to, but I find it handy when I compare it to CMx1 where only infantry had battalion/company formations. OTOH CMBN brings back the ability to mix and match whatever you want like in CMx1, which was missing from CMSF.

[MikeyD]

A CM:BN map can take as little time as any CMBO map to make. You lay down a road, place a house, a wall, a tree, and make some terrain undulations. Voi-la, all done! What takes time is doing ambitious maps. Not every map has to be a 2x2km exact recreation of a piece of real-world real estate.

For those entirely unfamiliar with CMSF, I think you can go into the demo map editor and play, though you can't save afterward. CMSF map editor options are more limited than CM:BN but its fundamentally the same. You won't be able to practice placing water, for example. Actually, the CM:Afghanistan demo will let you play with 'first-generation' water tiles.

[haouai]

about the OOB creation:

In the CMx1 editor (and in the QB creator also) it was possible to simulat casualties (100 to 50 percent), ammo level and supression level at the begining of the combat.

What about CMBN ?