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Sure - but we could all take our tinfoil hats off about Steam, military contracts et al. The latter reminds me of those discussions when Shock Force came out ... remember those ... "It is a click fest", "Battlefront is chasing military contracts" Then remember that they all ended up in the Gamesquad Forum talking to each other and see how that went. Remember that the introduction of real time play was described as all sorts of doom and gloom while conveniently forgetting that WEGO was still an option and still is ... The brown smelly stuff bust bottom line is that this module is being

Greetings I wanted to let everyone know that we at Developer Dialogue had the incredible opportunity to interview the founder & creator of Battlefront.com, Stephen Grammont. During the interview we dove into the history of the Combat Mission franchise, discuss the company’s latest partnership with Slitherine and uncover some bombshells. We also uncover why Battlefront never released on Steam, until now. Special thank you to Stephen for taking part in this interview, it was an amazing experience. If you guys are interested you can listen to it here:

Friday afternoon and finally off video conference calls. Gawd I both love Zoom and hate it. There are lots of reasons for delay and for those of us who have been around a while it is a constant joke on Steve's ability to wildly overestimate when a product will be out. We love ya steve but I always double or triple your estimates. Covid has impacted all of us and I really appreciate Combatintman's concerns. My wife and I both have aging mother's that are very vulnerable. In my case I can't visit her because of the risk, my wife is unable to even assume risk, she is simply prohibited

Happy to talk about that if you want ... I haven't seen my mother for over a year now because of the pandemic and probably won't see her until next year because of it - in fact I fear that I may never see her before she passes away. I got stuck for three and a half months in Afghanistan because of the pandemic, I got quarantined for two weeks when I finally got home because of the pandemic. Three of my colleagues have died because of the pandemic and eleven have caught COVID-19. Obviously as you should know quite well from your wife - the whole time I was in Afghanistan I was wonderin

--------------------------------------------------------- Sniper in the Corn ---------------------------------------------------------- Description : With the release of Shock Force 2 on Steam, I wanted to create an relatively simple introductory scenario with a low troop density thus easy to manage where new players can practice small units infantry tactics against an insurgent force. In the end the map size and the length of the battle are probably too large for a real basic scenario but that was my initial starting point. The scenario has you lead a s

Fine - sit there and imagine Steve rubbing his hands thinking 'let's bid for a military contract just so we can delay the module for a couple more months.' I agree that a comment was made that said that COVID had allowed BFC greater focus on development but those of us that create content and kick the tyres around things have had other concerns as outlined. Stuff happens and RL is complex - this has been a difficult year for most if not all of us. My wider perspective is that I'm lucky to be alive and therefore banging on about whether a game module is going to release in the next f

BFC is going to go whichever route they choose, but I hope that if there ever is a new generation, that it is Combat Mission as a base game and every module plugs in to that, so that it all works together as one.

Good interview. From the payments he talked about regarding Steam and Slitherine, it seems they'll have to ~double sales to make this worth it. So they must be expecting big sales increase, which also means much bigger community. Good news for a weary world. So no Abyssinia?? 🤪 I don't think BFC will be spending time on obscure campaigns & TOE, which is OK by me. And I didn't know that Fortress Italy was basically financed by some wealthy CM fan. If I win the lottery there will definitely be Ost Front 1941-43. Or should I spend my money on speeding up CMX3? Being rich m

some german vehicles The panzer IV Nathalie luck, on the slope, the shell hits the top of the armor !!! the panther smashes the wall lost in the tall grass

Normandy hedgerows are impassible to vehicles and need dynamiting to get through. Bulge battle hedgerows (and hedgerows in every other title) are just roadside brush than can be easily driven through. Historical Bulge battle didn't have impassible snow drifts. They didn't get that blizzard snow we see in all the picture books until January when the Germans were already on the run. The deeper the snow in the game the more road types disappear until there's no more roads on the map. Scenario designers rarely use deep snow in scenarios because its a pain to fight through. Troops get exhauste

now British Shermans you can notice some of the great work of Lucky_Strike

I find myself nodding along to many of the posts you make Bulletpoint, but here I must disagree. By this logic, all we need is a single Combat Mission title since it's all basically the same. Speaking for myself, that's certainly not what I am looking to do, though it would be nice haha. It's more down to the equipment and especially the armored vehicles. Panzer Is and IIs, BT-7s, T-26s, short-gunned Pz IIIs against T-34s and KVs, doorknocker AT guns, maybe the return of command delay? Far less lethal, far more interesting, for me anyway. The heavy armor and big guns of the 1944-45 per

Busting the Bocage "Sherman et bocage ne font pas bon ménage !!!" "Sherman and bocage do not go together" in french it sounds good! it looks like a saying A picture of every destroyed Sherman☹️

Given the current state of AI in games, if you are seeking to replicate how a human may play using the AI and specifically the AI in CM then you are on a road to frustration. There has been some useful, practical and workable advice regarding how to get the 'best' out of the AI given the current limitations of the AI. So there are options. 1/ If you think the AI is rubbish and lacks then play against humans (just don't play against me because my playing in CM makes the AI looking positively ninja General like in comparison...). 2/ Work with the AI tools we have and seek to

Ok guys, just did a trial test and in a couple of turns I caused seven (!) teleportations from under a bridge to its top. Just like that. First observation that causes it is road under a bridge with a clearing that comes close to the tank to get through. The other is if a vehicle drives to close to a pillar and with the waypoint line through it. So I'm optimistic about this type of test getting somewhere. Will release in the coming days for those who want to participate. Here is the basic test area. Will explain more later on.

My hope is that the last release for CMFB will be an equipment pack introducing Soviet forces/equipment into CMFB. Call it meeting on the Elbe River or something. Then the US, Commonwealth and Soviets would all be in the same Combat Mission game. No BFC created scenarios would be needed. Just an equipment pack of already designed equipment ported over from CMRT. Scenario designers and mod creators could do all kinds of cold war, neo-colonialism stuff. Patton goes east 1945, Fulda Gap 1948, Korea, Suez Crisis, etc.

AAR Wittman Demise George MC Here is a scenario that I have been watching since I got the game. I opened it, I looked at the superb map, I recognize the places. But I'm not going to spoil it. Considering the amount of work to achieve it, the quality of the menu and the accompanying documentation, this is a great scenario and like a old bottle of wine, i respects You have to find the opportunity, take the time ... I also need to gain experience so that I can fully appreciate it. I think about it regularly, I look at the pitch every time I pass there. I open it from time to time to

This is why I like the idea of allowing the player to play for extra time at the cost of VPs. The briefing must be clear that the player has a decision. Hit cease fire at the recommended 2 hour mark or play past 2 hours the cost of 300 VPs (or whatever VP amount is appropriate). This also keeps a scenario from abruptly ending on a player who is having fun and wants to see his plans finish playing out. For replays of the same scenario It may be useful to identify what AI plan the player is fighting against. For this purpose I sometimes use the following method in testing a scenario (w

Thanks for the replies and links. One of the provided links was for the Soviet Order of Glory. I also found the Order of Glory on some of the uniforms (see below). In the below screenshot, on the soldiers right breast is the Soviet Guards Badge. On his left is the Soviet Order of Glory along with a third award. I was curious about the uniforms / awards for a possible scenario idea I've been experimenting with. I would like to make a CMRT scenario on a huge map where recon plays a significant role. The player would use his recon assets to i

I know that the concept of this game relates late 2000s. And I know it is about Western action against Syrian tyranic regime. But for the sake of the game it would good to add one more module. Adding Russia to this game would bring a new challenge - a new life to the game. It would give opportunity to simulate battles between NATO, US and Russia. It would be more up to date and I think that this would lead to more copies being sold. This game is already huge and at this point adding one module would not hurt (in my opinion). Just think about all those missions

So ... I got a bit distracted after @Ithikial_AU suggested some burnt trees might be nice, started to think about modding the actual 3D models - the .mdr files that we've seen @Aquila-SmartWargames and @37mm amongst others change so radically and effectively. This was mooted some time back by a few of you and I said I would have a go at it once I got done with the textures. As my better half will testify I'm always a good one for moving on to the next project before finishing the current one, so I dove into Blender (more of a belly-flop than a pike 💦) at the end of last week. To cut a long sto

I'm a big fan of CM:RT and play it more than the other titles I own. There's just something about it that made it my home base for CM. Here's an interesting, recent AAR showing a veteran Western Front CMer's first H2H battle in CM:RT:

It would also be interesting to play any game saves from others- something like a saved scenario, 25% of the way in (or around when everything gears up), for instance. Like the player is 2nd in command, suddenly thrown into the action (and in charge of adapting someone else's plan).

I value the Stuart tank immensely whenever I have it, and greatly appreciate its ability to just shut down snipers, MGs, etc with total impunity. It's height means it's good at spotting and its light weight and small size make it handy for sticking close to the infantry. It laughs off mortar fire and the cannister shot is a sight to behold. In a pinch, if the planets align, it can even kill a Panzer. I fear no man, but that thing...it scares me.

PERSISTANT MAP-DAMAGE might be a good cure for this decease...😁 If we could use large maps and play several shorter battles on the same map might make it somewhat easier on the AI...

I aim to please. I meant to show a with and without ReShade (is without ReShade what you mean by 'natural'?), but I must have changed something 'cos ReShade didn't produce a with and without screenshot like I usually get. It's late so these are all with ReShade - mostly sunny plus a couple in the rain - latter are probably a bit closer to the normal colours in game. These all feature four textures except the last which is repeated for @Warts 'n' all's pleasure 🤩 Low bocage ... Tall bocage ... More Tall bocage ... Close up ... Wet bocage, trees hidde

Nice towns. Shame if something were to happen to them...

I've made a new building. It's an upmarket one because I got tired of all the squalor. It is suitable for a governor's residence, mosque, consulate, or warlord's palace. I didn't know what to call it, so "Posh Islamic Place" will have to do. I've made or added some flavour objects so you can create a large compound. It has two types of roof - one plain white, one traditional Islamic tiling. NOTE: It is numbered to follow on from Kieme's original 14 buildings in HD. If you don't have these buildings, just renumber the MDR FILE so it is consecutive to the buildings you already have - e

It's always amusing to watch grown men acting like Veruca Salt:

I find that, when leading my men, if I have a low-cost victory and all (or most) survive, I have a cold beer and look back at what happened. When my men die and suffer needless casualties and fail, I have a cold beer and look back at what happened.

I am fond of target light - which for mortars is a slower rate of fire. That way you can let the team zero on the target without burning through their whole ammo supply.

In an effort to raise the level of conversation again - why camouflage is important plus some hazel bushes and trees ... there's hazel in the bocage as well, but this view caught my eye ... With my ReShade sunny, dusty settings applied ... Raw image for those who like it that way ... with a bit of @RockinHarry's movie shader tweaks applied There's a hazelnut in every bite ...🌰 (okay, so they don't have a hazelnut emoji, it's close, and may well make its own appearance ...)

------------------------------------------------------------------ Royal Rumble ------------------------------------------------------------------- Description : Map size : 1568 X 1680m Length : 1H20 + additional time. Briefing : Afghanistan, Helmand Province, a few clicks south of the town of Musa Qala. August 2008, middle of the morning. With barely any rainfall during the year, it is a desolate sunbaked place with a terrain much more open than the usual green zone present in other parts of the region and a

Apart from the eastern front i'm actually longing back to Normadie... Hopefully we will see some new scenarios and campaigns depicting the Normandy fighting that take advantage of all the modules and the vehichlepack...as well as all the improvements that has been made to the editor and gameplay... It is currently quite a different game compared to when the original Normandy stuff was made... Could be intresting 😁

Well, I was actually hopeful of releasing the finished mod, but as it the way of these things I got a bit sidetracked (again) and in the process I discovered a few things that I hope will improve the mod some more. Mainly it's a quick fix here and there which I don't expect most of you will probably notice that much, but it really does help. In the meantime some bones and progress ... The variety of bocage is now legion - I'm creating about ten varieties though one will intentionally be made for hedge use - hedges are the smallest and lowest of the hedgerow / bocage textures. They ca

Now that it has been raised, I will keep an eye out to see if anything is out of the ordinary. There are lots of little things in the game that could be tweaked, but like everything else in life, there is never enough time. Everyone here cares about the game and wants to make it as realistic as possible.

Well, another quickish experiment later, and I don't think we can have actual coexisting 3D models for the same numbered tree only MAYBE different textures, though even with this there are likely to be redraw issues which I think are associated with those pesky lod files. I think it would be best to either use scenario specific mod tags for one or two damaged tree types, or just temporarily add the damaged trees to the z folder when playing a scenario that has damaged trees. I personally think mod tags would be neater and avoid any confusion, but would need careful map design. On a lighte

@Sgt.Squarehead - as I've said before I think, stop noodling around with your stuff. There comes a point where chasing the 1% is counter-productive. Tidy them all up, write the briefings and square the maps away and kick them out of the door. One released and 'good enough for release' product is better than 200 sat on your hard drive. Taking Ap Bac or more correctly, 'A Miserable Damn Performance' as an example - it's done ... is it absolutely perfect - probably not, I don't know yet because it will bundle with the next H&E build so people haven't had a chance to play it and give t

I prefer to have the human player make his own decisions. Decisions that are interesting because they have both benefits and consequences. Also, in the editor, it's not possible or desirable to tell the human player where to move his tanks. You could tell the player in the briefing but I think it is more fun to let the player make the command decisions. If you read the 4.0 engine manual, ask questions and gain design experience you'll develop a better understanding of what's possible / desirable in the editor. The human player will have as many choices as the designer provides, throu

+1

Lets make it more simple, Any map design feature would be nice to do in the 3d view, I hate the time wasted in imagining what it looks like from imput in 2d- then verifying in 3d, then having to go back to 2d to try and correct it. All main features should be functional to change and add right in 3d . That would make a huge difference in map making time.

This topic is why I'm often on the board talking down the notion of maxed out map sizes and maxed out scenario times. The AI functions admirably (1) if the scenario designer is sufficiently adept to make it perform logically, and (2) if the the scenario is within the game's 'sweet spot'. Event the best scenario designer is at sea if he can't anticipate where the opponent is likely to be on a 4km map after 3 hrs 30 minutes of gameplay. You may have noticed the occasional huge scenario show up with the tag 'Play (X) side only'. That means the designer's given up on formulating offensive AI plan

yes I noticed it and I forgot to report it Personally, I mixed your apple tree with the Rambler foliage Rambler trees are too thin for my taste and your apple tree too dense with the 2 I got a more realistic average for my taste

f-ing hell! wow. thank you, ben park, these maps are gorgeous. cheers, rob

I absolutely do this in bigger scenarios - after all, you are one person doing the job of the CO, 2IC, Intelligence Officer, Ops Officer, Logistics Officer etc. It is a visual record of what would have been written in the HQ log sheet from a message sent over the radio net '0, this 10, contact 0800hrs, three enemy dismounts engaged my position before going to ground at grid 123456, am observing over.'

Mon dieu @Falaise my sympathies. You may have seen earlier in the thread that was not my experience of the battle, in which there was no demise. I would say " if at first you dont succeed" but of course that wasn't an option for either side in 1944. Oh, and the Tiger track link is a shame but at least you have the memory.

@Falaise I tried this in the past and it didn't work for me, so I just had another go and YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! GENIUS!!! What I discovered, in a quick and colourful experiment, is that the numbering is somewhat odd, but we can indeed have a (probably unlimited) number of extra bocage textures which I don't think will impact on framerate, maybe it'll have an impact on load times. The numbering goes like this: boccage.bmp; boccage2.bmp; boccage 2.bmp; boccage 3.bmp; boccage 4.bmp; boccage 5.bmp; boccage 6.bmp; ... I stopped at seven textures but as you can see it's possible

we can mix the Rambler's hedge, that of Lucky and that of stock to obtain variations. we can use various names with and without space which will more or less modify the randomness ex: boccage; boccage2; boccage 2; boccage3; boccage 3 etc ....

Some brief, unstructured thoughts: Broadly speaking, ATGMs are like better versions of AT Guns. They're similarly hard to see, and they're countered by many of the same things (mortars and HE fire). They're a lot faster to set up and remove, so you can shoot and scoot with them, and probably should. The increased lethality means that you do need to relocate more often. A revealed position can often come under effective mortar fire within 5 minutes (regardless of which side you're talking about). Some US formations with crack FOs and the right equipment can reduce that to more like