Madmatt

Hmmm...I will pass this ahead... Madmatt

Okay, time to close this one up, NO MAN talks about my lamas and gets away with it! Madmatt

Yes. Madmatt

Now, to get back somewhat on topic, Donald R. Burgett has three other books Curahee (all about Normandy), Road to Arnhem (about guess what?) and a new one (which I havent seen yet) all about his part during Operation Nordwind which I am VERY MUCH interested in getting. These books (along with 7 Roads to Hell about Bastogne) are classics and come HIGHLY recommended. Madmatt

Guys, I have warned you all before, it is NOT your job to validate someones ID, so just drop it. I happen to ALSO live in Cincinnati and the new Iron Chefs IP matches an origin at Xavier University (which is down the street from me, and NO you can't come over!) so just drop the amatuer detective routines and leave running and admining the board to me! Madmatt

No worries, I may, let me emphasise MAY have another bone for you all real soon. Still working the kinks out on it though so don't pester me about it just yet. Madmatt

All vehicles are modeled based on blueprints and scale drawings and are exactly to scale, assuming you haven't turned up the visual scaling from within the game. I *think* the average human in the game is about umm 5-11 or so with helmet, but even in CMBO all units are properly scaled. I have climbed all over many WWII AFV's and compared pictures I took with me next to them with pictures from within the game and its always been accurate scale wise. For example the rear deck on a Panther is VERY high and above my head and I am over 6-1. In the game it is at the same level. Madmatt

Dont you cuss in here! Madmatt

Wrong Forum

3 New Submission pictures were added today (2-19-2002). Madmatt

In CMBB you can now select a unit by clicking it's movement line. In time you will get VERY used to the Escape key, trust us on that one. Three emails is done for security in PBEM. This keeps one player from cheating by re-rendering a turns results over and over again. Madmatt

Time for a new title, you know the routine. Madmatt

Both issues have been added in CMBB. Madmatt

Good question, let me find out and let everyone know. Madmatt

No need to bump this, as many here have seen when we are in a position to state a status report we will do so, regardless of the quantity of posts asking us prior to that time. Madmatt

I am sure we can help you but not without more specific info on your computer, operating system and video card. Madmatt

Yeah I was actually just thinking that. I am pretty sure that shot is with "Extreme Tree Density" set, which is the only way to fly. Madmatt

Just use a tree lined road and you should be able to get the same effect in CMBO as I recall. BTS in this interview is actually an amalgamation of myself, Charles, Steve, Martin and Dan. Madmatt

Yes let me re-emphasise that this issue is by no means global. No, it does not always occur and for me (and I played CMBO TCP/IP non stop for over 18 months) I have NEVER had that issue, nor have our beta testers, that is why it was never noticed until months after release and only recently was the issue even narrowed down enough to have us concentrate on looking at captured crews. However, we do know that there is a problem, and have never denyed it. 007 are your crashes occuring when a unit is being captured or are they seemingly random? There is the very high probability that there may be an issue with your ISP or with your home network which could be contributing to your crashes. The IP port that CM uses is not one in which your browser, email or FTP use and so if there is a issue there it would not neccesarily be immeditalty recognizable just from ones experience browsing the web or playing other online games. Your previous comment about you cracking the demo to enable TCP play doesnt really sit too well with us either. Lastly, I am not even 100% sure that your crashes ARE being caused by the crew capture issue since you have not indicated if that happened during the affected turn or not. Now,then keep your posts on this topic to the Tech Support forum where they belong and I and others will try and work with you to get this resolved or at least enable you to continue playing your game with a suitable workaround. Madmatt

It's houselcleaning time, this one is too big, start a new one please.

First off, this should be posted in the Tech Support forum but here is the offical word on this matter. Also, 007, the order pages explicity state that NO REFUNDS are given, when you posted your order you agreed to that policy. Okay, here is the very latest from us on this matter. 1. We do know there is a problem with TCP/IP and captured crews which can sometimes cause the game to become corrupted. There are work arounds for this, although admittedly not optimal ones (See below). 2. We have not specifically identified where the problem lies, but we do know (generally) what is causing the problem. Unfortunately, knowing where the problem might be does not necessarily mean it can be fixed or at least fixed easily. 3. Currently, the only known fix is not simple nor is it a viable one. It would require an entire rewrite of the game file format which would make every single scenario ever made over the last 1.5 years incompatible with the patched version. Obviously such a fix is out of the question because it would be like killing a fly inside your house with an 8" Howitzer. The TCP/IP problem, while very real and very annoying, is not serious enough to kill compatibility with the thousands of hours of scenario work which has been done since CMBO's initial release in June of 2000. Anybody who thinks that the problem is worth sacrificing this amount of work is, plainly stated, nuts 4. The file format has already been completely rewritten for CMBB so this TCP/IP problem has been incidentally fixed. CMBO can not benefit from this work directly since the two code bases are no longer similar enough to transfer fundamental changes from one to the other. 5. We have not written off the possibility of finding a different fix for the problem, or what we call in programming terms a "bloody hack". Such hacks can be highly problematic in their own right, but can sometimes work if the God of Code is smiling upon the programmer. However, a possible fix of this nature will have to wait until CMBB is released. It could take a significant length of time to address this issue and it is simply not in the best interests of the CM community as a whole to enter into a CMBO related coding Black Hole at this point in CMBB's development. There are work arounds for this problem now, but there are no work arounds to Charles stopping work on CMBB and futzing around with CMBO for an undetermined length of time. 6. Charles has already spent enough time looking into this issue to be sure that there is no quick fix possible and therefore feels comfortable stating that only viable option is to deal with this issue in a couple of months. 7. As stated above, the proscribed workaround when this issue occurs is to have the host player reload the resulting autosave file that is created when the lockup occurs and load the game as a PBEM (Play By Email). Proceed with the game like a normal PBEM turn and send the resulting file to your opponent. Once one full PBEM turn has been carried out ( in effect passing the event which triggered the crash) you should be able to resume the next turn as a TCP/IP game per normal. Madmatt

Check fire Check fire!

Okay, here is the very latest from us on this matter. 1. We do know there is a problem with TCP/IP and captured crews which can sometimes cause the game to become corrupted. There are work arounds for this, although admittedly not optimal ones (See below). 2. We have not specifically identified where the problem lies, but we do know (generally) what is causing the problem. Unfortunately, knowing where the problem might be does not necessarily mean it can be fixed or at least fixed easily. 3. Currently, the only known fix is not simple nor is it a viable one. It would require an entire rewrite of the game file format which would make every single scenario ever made over the last 1.5 years incompatible with the patched version. Obviously such a fix is out of the question because it would be like killing a fly inside your house with an 8" Howitzer. The TCP/IP problem, while very real and very annoying, is not serious enough to kill compatibility with the thousands of hours of scenario work which has been done since CMBO's initial release in June of 2000. Anybody who thinks that the problem is worth sacrificing this amount of work is, plainly stated, nuts 4. The file format has already been completely rewritten for CMBB so this TCP/IP problem has been incidentally fixed. CMBO can not benefit from this work directly since the two code bases are no longer similar enough to transfer fundamental changes from one to the other. 5. We have not written off the possibility of finding a different fix for the problem, or what we call in programming terms a "bloody hack". Such hacks can be highly problematic in their own right, but can sometimes work if the God of Code is smiling upon the programmer. However, a possible fix of this nature will have to wait until CMBB is released. It could take a significant length of time to address this issue and it is simply not in the best interests of the CM community as a whole to enter into a CMBO related coding Black Hole at this point in CMBB's development. There are work arounds for this problem now, but there are no work arounds to Charles stopping work on CMBB and futzing around with CMBO for an undetermined length of time. 6. Charles has already spent enough time looking into this issue to be sure that there is no quick fix possible and therefore feels comfortable stating that only viable option is to deal with this issue in a couple of months. 7. As stated above, the proscribed workaround when this issue occurs is to have the host player reload the resulting autosave file that is created when the lockup occurs and load the game as a PBEM (Play By Email). Proceed with the game like a normal PBEM turn and send the resulting file to your opponent. Once one full PBEM turn has been carried out ( in effect passing the event which triggered the crash) you should be able to resume the next turn as a TCP/IP game per normal. Madmatt

Guys, I hate to burst some bubbles but AAR's like these require are a MASSIVE allotment of time and that is simply something we do not have. If something like this is to be done, and we DO want that to happen, it won't be until sometime in the future though. An Alpha, or Beta if you will, AAR is at its very foundation a tool to help promote the game, attract new attention to it and show off its features. The problem with doing it now, other than the time investment like I mentioned above, is that in order for it to have the greatest impact on NEW (and some old) customers the game will need to be in a pretty much feature complete as well as presentation (i.e. graphics and sound) complete state. To do so before that time is not a wise allocation of our limited resources. Currently the first issue is pretty much well in hand (features) but there is still a great deal of work to be done on both graphics, sounds, and overall presentation of the product. This isn't like before with CMBO, when we could post pictures of an unfinished product and just says its "alpha" code as NO ONE really knew what to expect then. The expectations for CMBB are MUCH higher (and they will be exceeded we have seen to that) but the marketing of this game must be handled a little differently. For you guys on the inside it's going to take a little extra patience, but we will continue to try and throw some bones your way when we are able. When the time is right we DO plan on presenting a full featured AAR based on a version of the product that will be as close to finished code as we can. It just aint gonna be as soon as you would want. But then good things never are... Thanks! Madmatt [ February 11, 2002, 01:33 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

USTanker, those are all included in the recently released Feild and Stream CMMOS mod on CMHQ. Madmatt