Elmar Bijlsma

I found it a disappointing film. As I said at The Annex:

I think game recording is less interesting then things that improve actual gameplay. Despite what some might think, I forsee only a tiny minority that will use such a feature much. Now, bona fide multi-player, instead of "mere" 1v1... that's really the ticket to taking gameplay further. I'm shocked that it's such a long way off. In the past I'd gotten the impression it was something BFC were very interested in. What's the holdup?! Charles busy with upgrading the campaign features?

Yup. That seems to be about it. Slight disagreement on the swearing though. There is swearing and there is swearing. I've got no problem with a sergeant's tirade caused by some new recruits continuous barrage of **** ups in the face of clear instruction, especially when provided with corrective advice somewhere along the tirade. This nutbag went well beyond that and seems to have been unable to communicate in any other way other then abuse. That her crew and officers past and present seem to have lined up around the block to put the boot in seems a clear indictment that this woman was deeply unsuitable.

I think it's a good decision. On the scale of this game they are a bit out of place. Sure, fun to use, but often a bit über and utterly unrealistic.

I've gotten used to it a little, but it's pretty much impossible for a sniper or vehicle to get a decent position. Before you know it you are swarmed by the tons of people swarming the tiny map. This leads to a pace of play that is a bit faster then I like. In Battlefield 2 the frantic action came in bursts, coupled with careful positioning. In BFBC2 it's ALL frantic action, ALL the time. And something trivial beginning to annoy me: Needing to re-equip all my classes every time I start the game. If I've outfitted my sniper a certain way, it's a good bet I'd be wanting that setup next time too. But noooo, you'll be back to defaulted to the basic kit. Not a biggie, but such a pointless bother, considering it IS kept if you change servers.

Yup, it sucks balls. I only can get a connection at non-peak hours. Even then, not always. Single player will keep you busy for a bit. Hopefully they fix things quick. A little tip for when you do get to have a go with multiplay: The medical and ammo packs need to be unlocked first. Took me a bit to figure that out.

I blame the Torygraph's anti-Europe stance. Don't want to be part of Europe? Fine, then have your own release dates too! Curiously Italy is similarly forced to wait till the 5th. I'm sure there's a logical reason for it. But I can't think of it right now. If it's any consolation, multi-player is very tricky, most times there's no server to be found. Only had a few goes on two maps. Both very confined and hectic maps. I prefer the more open maps, a la the Battlefield 2 demo map. Also, no prone, which is cramping my style as a cunning bastard sniping people from the last place they expect me to be. PS DUDE!

Dude been playing. Package went live at 01:00 CET despite what the website said.

Invite send. So... who was online at exactly 0:00 with the expectation that the game was going to be unlocked automatically instead of the monkey operated system that has so far failed to throw the switch?

Hmmm, does OM need to be online to be added? Because I'm steadfastly told Pvt_Function doesn't exist. I recall trying before and I couldn't add him then either. *edit* Googled the Pvt_Function profile, got a Steam profile where Pvt_Function left a message and could click the link to add him from there. Weird.

Can't add you on Steam, if that's what you are using. I'm in the PENG group, under the cunning disguise as elmarby and will go for something similarly lacking in imagination if BBC2 requires a separate ID tag. I'll keep an eye out for you OM.

March kinda snuck up on me. Hence I was prompted by my own amazement to ask where the details on the QB system were, given that they were to be divulged to us "soon" back in August. I should have known that game developers believe that anything between now and the heat death of the universe falls under "soon".

Mañana, Steve?

Be sure to check out their DRM too. These days as a consumer it is required to put up with a lot. But some schemes do require a loud and clear "feck off" from the consumer and I do believe this is one of them. And while I'm slagging off games, do try not to buy Napoleon Total War either. You'd know why if you'd bought Empire Total War and followed how that game has been abandoned in dismal state. Empire entered the market pretty much like CMSF did, except The Creative Assembly didn't think fixing it was a priority and had enough of what little fixing (and breaking) they did after nine months.

Sergei was so close to an awesome film reference, only to fall at the last hurdle. It should be a jewellery store.

Doh! Your not getting the point. It's still Combat Mission, whatever the flavour. Eating nothing but strawberry icecream may very well be excellent. But you'll get tired of it eventually and when that happens, your best bet would be to try a cheeseburger, not chocolate icecream. BFC may be giving us a surfeit of icecream/Combat mission.

Not really. If I am a bit bored of playing CMSF NATO, I think it's very unlikely in the extreme that I'd end up playing CM:Afghanistan by way of taking a break. The different tactics and 'feel' of each conflict is a relatively minor thing compared to it being essentially the same game mechanics.

I'm looking to snap up: -Mount and Blade: Warband expansion. Adds multiplayer to this excellent title. -AGEOD's Rise of Prussia to scratch the wargaming itch. -Bad Company 2 for my "running around with a gun shooting stuff" addiction. And then there are the various Combat Missions. I'll buy CM:N pretty much for sure, and I am not likely to miss CMSF:NATO, just for the pleasure of sending a few YPRs to their fiery deaths. Oh, how I loved the "glasbak", how I hated it. CM:Afghanistan is more doubtful. In and of itself pretty interesting, but how much CM does a guy really need? If they release NATO today, Normandy mid summer, and Afghanistan in the middle, that might still be too much Combat Mission in so short a time.

I disagree with that method. I need not be forced to sit through the lulls in combat real time. Multiple day operations/campaigns are unthinkable in this fashion.

Besides, if the player objects to that gamey tactic, he might want to stop doing it. Myself, I gain a certain amount of satisfaction by being "cunning" and ever so slightly evil. People are doing it to themselves and are getting something out of it. I'm baffled that BFC objects.

That, but mostly it requires more system resources to keep track of everyone if they are spread all over different tiles. Spotting is pretty CPU intensive and if a squad of eight men is in eight action spots instead of two or three, that increases the workload substantially.

Nope. I think there's no real need for this suggestion to be implemented given the satisfactory job that is currently done by the TacAI in this regard. It'd lead to unnecessary UI bloat and takes programming time from other, more deserving items. Like for instance, oh I don't know, let's choose something totally at random... proper campaigns.

Yes and no. The random unit not giving up no matter what is not in. However, and this is a big however, units can now be given different levels of motivation in the editor, separate of unit quality to set whatever level of cowardice or fanaticism that may be required. IMHO in many respects this does a better job then the previous arrangements.

Having taken the demo for a spin I can't help but feel a great game is lost. I've had a thing for this tpe of genre ever since the ancient "PT-109" game. But even in the tutorial demo mission the scripting i just getting in between me and the game. The slightest deviation of what the mission designer had to in mind seems to be punished by the game either booting me out of the mission or the mission stalling till I've done XYZ. That's in the demo, where it's to be expected the player farts about in a semi clueless way. I don't even want to contemplate what the linked campaign missions are like. Another issue I have with this game is the schizophrenic nature of it. For a PT Boat sim, why am I commanding cruisers? That's a whole different game! A game I'd be interested in too, btw, but not at the same time as piloting MTBs. I'm still interested in this type of game. But I want to see more freedom for the player to shape his experience. Ideally, a PT boat version of Silent Hunter III. Sorry, I really wanted to be a customer for this game, but it lacks the focus and depth I require.

I'm sorry, but the current campaigns aren't all that far away from a series of individual battles. The only thing indicative of a campaign is that losses are carried over. But even this is very nebulous as available forces vary regardless of what you had left at the last mission. Those tanks you carefully husbanded through the last mission may be arbitrarily left out of the next. This setup does not make anything like a good, immersive campaign. We all know CMSF had a problematic release so I made allowances. But we are nearly three years on now and we're still stuck with the same flawed campaign setup for Normandy. I'll put up with it again for Normandy, but BFC would be wrong to count on my forbearance for very much longer.