Madmatt

What do you mean, several file mirrors are listed on the Theatre of War Demo Download page already. They are in green text, below the picture. Madmatt

I didn't mean my tone to come off defensive or angry at all, as I am neither. I sincerely feel bad that some unforseen events have seemed to overtake the schedule and thats really all I was trying to say. If people in the future don't want to pre-order, thats entirely their perogative. In fact, if you look closely at the pre-order page we even SAY that if your uncomfortable with the pre-order process, to NOT do it. Some people will whine and cry, some will make threats, others will raise legitimate concerns and still the majority will be patient and understand that we are doing our very best to serve you. We ALL want the same thing here. You guys want a good game and I want to deliver you a good game. And thats what I plan to do. Thanks! Madmatt

Just letting people know that I have told some of the mirrors to update their current demo with a slightly "tweaked" new version that I am currently uploading. So whats new in this version? It no longer tries to start the game in such a high-resolution (1680x1050) by default and I also have it prompt to install a special video codec so the small intro movie and end game screen properly display. If your already playing the demo with no issues there is no reason to get the newer version, but those were easy fixes to make and not many mirrors had picked up the file overnight so I wanted to get this one out before the morning rush. This newer demo will start appearing in about 5 hours but I doubt you will even be able to tell which version you get until you run it. Like I said, the differences are superficial. Madmatt

Try this, go into the demo folder and delete the "users" folder. Then relaunch the demo and create a new user profile and see if the display is still flipped. Madmatt

Its not a bad idea in theory, but then I think my past experiences with Bittorent showed me that it opens up too many security issues to make it a viable option just yet. We do have a very large and helpful list of mirror sites that help us propogate our demo's and patches and thsi has been a very mutually beneficial relationship. Still, I am always open for new distribution methods so will look into bittorent again when I have the time.

I almost hesitate to say this but with the UK voices, sometimes they will use sounds from the US sound set. Why? Well apparently 1c had great difficulty in getting proper UK voices recorded. Compared to the other campaigns, the US/UK campaign was actually added very late in the development of the game and after all the other voices were already recorded apparently. I can certainly symphatize with their (1C)problems, getting quality voice actors for a wargame is a HUGE problem. You don't want to know the headaches I have trying to get Syrian dialect Arabic speakers for CMSF. It's not only difficult, but also very expensive and time consuming. Improving the voice sets in ToW is on a list of things I would like to see addressed in the future, even if we have to use some older sounds from CM. Ideally, we will be able to get 1C to open up the game enough to let people manually mod the voices which would be an even better long term solution. Madmatt [ April 18, 2007, 12:14 AM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

You can adjust the speed of the mouse scrolling and keyboard controls via the Options Panel. Try that and see if it helps. Madmatt

Hey everyone, if your having a problem with the demo not launching, please run the towsetup.exe first and set your preferences. Default location of the Config Program: Start Menu>Program Files>Battlefront>Theatre of War Demo>Configure Theatre of War Demo. I am going to upload a *fixed* demo which will resolve this issue but the fix above will work fine. Madmatt

I saw that a few times during the beta and had to do with a conflict with my monitors *pivot* software. Once I turned that software off, the problem went away and never came back. Madmatt

Ugh, I know why this is happening. Damn...Okay looks like I need to send a *fixed* demo out to the mirrors. For some reason the demo that went out has its "video" preferences already set and they shouldn't have been. This was my fault, I will get it fixed ASAP!. The simple fix is to just run the Configuration Utility and set your resolution and settings to how you want. Sorry about that, I should have noticed that! Madmatt

With 18 hours days the norm for the past 3 weeks, trust me when I say that I honestly didn't have the time to spare to come in here and brief everyone with every little change and delay that occured because it hasn't been a linear progression of events. The plan was always and still is to allow pre-order downloads to occur before the game officially goes ON SALE on the 19th. We never gave you guys a firm timeline on WHEN downloads would be activated, and the truth is I still am not sure of the exact hour, but please understand that it will occur the moment everything is ready. Perhaps this was my fault in the wording I choose to use on the pre-order page and announcement, I thought people would focus more on the 10 buck savings and ability to get both a download AND the DVD more than an early jump with the download itself. For that I am sincerely sorry if anyone feels betrayed or lied to. All I can say is that I am busting my ass to get this all set for you guys and we decided to go live with the demo tonight so you guys at least had SOMETHING to play with while you waited for the formal full game downloads to go live. Madmatt

I have an idea, download and run this file (it installs a video codec). See if this makes a difference and allows the demo to run. I had thought that it wasn't needed, but maybe for some people it is. http://www.battlefront.com/products/tow/codec/wmv9VCMsetup.exe Madmatt

Post this to the troubleshooting forum with a full run down of your computer hardware and OS please. Madmatt

That assumes there wasn't (aren't) some unforseen circumstances which have unfortunately delayed the pre-order downloads now doesn't it? Madmatt

Make sure you run as Admin, and update all video, sound and DirectX drivers. As I said before, Vista is really only "unofficially" supported. It should work, but Vista is still rather unstable with the drivers out for it. Madmatt

Run the TOW Demo Configuration Program and select the resolution you want. That will fix it. Madmatt [ April 17, 2007, 11:54 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Hmm, well thats not anything I have heard about or seen before. Do you have "Wait for Vsynch" enabled in your video drivers? If you do, maybe turn it off and see what happens. Madmatt

After years of waiting, Theatre of War is finally being released and to celebreate the event we are happy to make available the game demo. The demo features 5 tutorial missions which cover the basics of gameplay, unit control and camera behavior as well as more advanced topics like Line of Fire and Line of Sight. In addition to the playable tutorials there is also one playable mission from the German Campaign, The Last Frontier. In this late war engagement, you are tasked to try and stem the overwhelming tide of Russian armor and infantry as they push forward into the Seelow Heights on the outskirts of Berlin. Playable units and weapons in this battle include; MG Bunkers, Infantry, Panzerfaust 60's, RPzB 54 Panzerschrecks, PzKpfw IV 70 Jadgpanzer, Jadgtiger, PaK 40's, Hummel, Wespe, PzKpfw 38(t) Hetzer, Pz IV Ausf. H, Pz V Ausf. G Panther and the StuG IV. Theatre of War Demo Download Page Madmatt

After years of waiting, Theatre of War is finally being released and to celebreate the event we are happy to make available the game demo. The demo features 5 tutorial missions which cover the basics of gameplay, unit control and camera behavior as well as more advanced topics like Line of Fire and Line of Sight. In addition to the playable tutorials there is also one playable mission from the German Campaign, The Last Frontier. In this late war engagement, you are tasked to try and stem the overwhelming tide of Russian armor and infantry as they push forward into the Seelow Heights on the outskirts of Berlin. Playable units and weapons in this battle include; MG Bunkers, Infantry, Panzerfaust 60's, RPzB 54 Panzerschrecks, PzKpfw IV 70 Jadgpanzer, Jadgtiger, PaK 40's, Hummel, Wespe, PzKpfw 38(t) Hetzer, Pz IV Ausf. H, Pz V Ausf. G Panther and the StuG IV. Theatre of War Demo Download Page Madmatt

After years of waiting, Theatre of War is finally being released and to celebreate the event we are happy to make available the game demo. The demo features 5 tutorial missions which cover the basics of gameplay, unit control and camera behavior as well as more advanced topics like Line of Fire and Line of Sight. In addition to the playable tutorials there is also one playable mission from the German Campaign, The Last Frontier. In this late war engagement, you are tasked to try and stem the overwhelming tide of Russian armor and infantry as they push forward into the Seelow Heights on the outskirts of Berlin. Playable units and weapons in this battle include; MG Bunkers, Infantry, Panzerfaust 60's, RPzB 54 Panzerschrecks, PzKpfw IV 70 Jadgpanzer, Jadgtiger, PaK 40's, Hummel, Wespe, PzKpfw 38(t) Hetzer, Pz IV Ausf. H, Pz V Ausf. G Panther and the StuG IV. Theatre of War Demo Download Page Madmatt

Lets just say that there have been more than few last minute..."complications". We havent forgotten you guys and are working hard (and tirelessly...what's a bed?) to get everything ready as promised. It might not be AS early as I had envisioned but pre-order people will get the jump. Madmatt

We have found that for most people with Quad or Dual core CPU's you will get MUCH better framerate and performance if you select the "Use only one CPU" option thats available in the games OPTIONS panel. It also seemed to help with Multiplayer stability in the full version, just so you know! Madmatt

The official announcement will go out once some more mirrors come online (seems Worthplaying was fastest on the draw, THANKS JUDY!), but yes, the Demo is now out. Enjoy! http://www.battlefront.com/products/tow/demo.html Madmatt

Actually, back in July of 2006 we thought it could be moded alot, but now (in 2007) its modding possibilities seem a little more limited. Most things are hardcoded and not directly accessable. Support for graphics and sound mods in the future are being looked at though. To offset this, we are including a full mission editor, so while you cant add new units as such, you can make all new missions, campaigns and multiplayer battles. Looking at how the Mission Editor works though, I dont see any reason why someone couldn't code their own 3rd party type Misison Creator type tool if they had the knowledge and interest in doing so. Although the built in one does a pretty good job already. Madmatt

Variable game speed was one of things I originally asked 1C about but apparently since onscreen action is tied directly to the animations (in a rather unique way apparently, different even than in Il-2), only one speed was supported. I agree though, the ability to be able to increase or descrease gameplay speed would have been nice. Madmatt