Madmatt

Pvt. Ryan hit it pretty squarely on the head. Madmatt

We asked 1c about this about the first day we got the game to look at but basically it was the matter of resources and animation time. The animations were already complete and for whatever reason, they decided to use just one set of animations for all rifles. Not only is it shown as a bolt action, the guy works the bolt with his left hand. That left us scratching our heads for sure. I guess the animator was a lefty...not sure.. Rest assured though, better visual representations of the M1 (and SVT-40, the other 'semi' rifle) are high up on a post release patch list we are already compiling. Madmatt

Actually, I have been able to compress it down even further. Final download size will be more like 1.8 gig. Madmatt

No, that is not going to happen. However, my testers and members of the 1C team (those that speak English at least) will be on the forums constantly for sometime after the game is released answering questions, explaining why things are as they are and basically doing whatever we can to make sure the game is as enjoyable for you as it can be. Madmatt

It was option #4 actually. We wanted to make sure the demo had everything we wanted in it, that it worked the way we wanted and that it was fun. We never artificially delay things (patches, demo's, game releases) so if something is not out, its because it isn't ready. Its really that simple. I can confirm some details of the demo though. You get 5 playable tutorial missions that cover the basic aspects of the game, controls, camera, stuff like that. You also get one playable single player mission (no multiplay in the demo, sorry). The battle is played as Germans, is late war and you fight the Russians. It is also one of my favorites! Madmatt

Some people on the forum have asked us about what sort of sound effects Theatre of War actually has, since in past videos you couldn't always hear them too well. Well, today we have made available a new in-game movie with over 12 minutes of audibly rich action. Check out the new Sound and Fury video from our Pics, Videos and Wallpapers Page! Madmatt

We were excited to hear that IGN just posted a raving two page preview of Combat Mission: Shock Force. Seems IGN regular reporter Steve Butts had a great time with the preview build we sent him! "All of these elements work together to create a very believable and interesting environment. Still, the action is what matters here and Shock Force delivers it with the authenticity and accuracy that the Combat Mission series is known for. We've had a blast playing through the small bit of content in our current build and are looking forward to the improvements that the designers are sure to make in the coming months." IGN's Combat Mission: Shock Force Preview

Yeah, I have adjusted the specs somewhat to account for the differences between a AMD and a Intel CPU. Madmatt

Yeah, I have adjusted the specs somewhat to account for the differences between a AMD and a Intel CPU. Madmatt

We are shooting for a download file just under 2 gigs in size. Madmatt

Actually....During some MP testing today, we discovered that in at least one of the MP battles, there are some AI controlled units. In this battle they are positioned in a town in the middle of the map. The human players are supposed to defeat both the AI and any other humans. Also, in the MP battles, you can have two players on the same TEAM, so they would be cooperatively playing against members of any other team. Therefore, it appears that by using the editor, you could possibly make up a battle where two HUMAN players could be tasked to co-operatively fight an AI opponent online. I will have to check to see if mission victory in a MP battle is dependent on defeating a HUMAN player though. I hasten to add that I haven't spent a lot of time trying to build a mission like this, so this is conjecture somewhat. You might have to have at least one human on the enemy 'side' no matter what. I will try and figure that out for you all. Madmatt [ April 10, 2007, 03:20 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

He is banned...again. Madmatt

There is a game option to remove dead "soldiers" from the map, but vehicles and guns will always remain. Removing the dead soldiers is an option to help performance, but I always leave them on. Madmatt

There is an online lobby where all the players can talk before the host launches the battle, but once your actually playing a battle, there is, sadly, no chat functionality. This is something we are going to see if 1c might be able to add at some point. Madmatt

Okay, time to wade into this mess and put down the hammer of law, once more. Cabe, you asked if someone was cheating of if you "sucked", Jason replied with his answer. You can't get mad if you ask an "Either-Or" loaded question like that and then don't like the answer given. So Cabe, as was suggested above, if your going to want to be an active and useful forum contributer, then you will need to develope a slightly thicker outer skin, especially if your going to pose questions like this. If you take offense to what someone says, be an adult and just ignore it. If what they said crosses the line and breaks Forum Rules, one of the admins will hear about it soon enough and take care of it. JasonC, lighten the hell up and don't try and provoke the new people so much. YOU KNEW that he would take offense to your post, but you did it anyway didn't you? This is your warning, knock it off. It's been a while since I banned a forum regular and my banning finger is getting itching. As to cheating in CM, we *heard* that it was possible via hex editing, but the cheats were always of a very specific nature (changing weapon amounts) which would be considered "soft" data, or data that was already variable. For example, there are all sorts of different squad loadouts so that type of info was coded a certain way, and apparently, was able to be modified by this one Polish guy, that has since disapeared into obscurity. What to our knowledge was NEVER hacked (by him or anyone else) was actual AI attributes and gameplay issues, or what I would call "hard" data. Stuff like morale, weapon performance stats, ballistics calculations etc.. There have been other *people* cheats, where someone guesses his opponents PBEM password, or he has intimate knowledge of the battle ect. but there is little we could do about that. So, yes, it is "possible" to cheat in CM, but the odds of it actually occuring to you, where you opponent is using a new set of "game data" to give himself uber-units would have to be very small. Okay, so Cabe and JasonC, retreat to your neutral corners and come back out amiable and mature to one another. That is all. Madmatt

Sound design is very hard and will always be a matter of personel preference. Some people, really like the over-the-top type sound effects. Yeah, i am kinda in that camp as well. Other people prefer realism in their sounds, and thats always been the approach I tried to take in games where I helmed the sound work. Yes, I LIKE Hollywood, but I try and MAKE realism. As Moon stated above, I really like the sound effects in ToW. Are some of them the same sounds as in IL-2? Probably, but I liked the sounds in Il-2 as well. ToW sound effects seem to walk a fine line between realism, playability/variety (with various weapons having unique sounds) and enjoyment (explosions sound beefy, and important events have signature sounds). I think they pulled off a very good overall sound design. Do I froth at the mouth at every little sound, No (although attaching the camera to a tank and listening as the driver grinds up through the gears is pretty damn cool). Do I think some sounds could have been done differently, Sure. But overall I feel that the sounds do the job that they are supposed to do, which is to increase overall immersion and fun with the game. Madmatt

Heheh, the video did its job, it got lots of people talking about the game. As to awesome FMV movies, I gotta say that the original Warhammer: Dawn of War's was incredible! Watching that Space Marine run up that hill to plant his chapters flag gives me chills every time I watch it. Madmatt

Actually, ToW will ship on a DVD, not a CD. Just wanted to be clear on that detail. Madmatt

Unlike CM, in ToW you are only ever presented with a small list of units that you can buy, which is defined by each mission itself. So, in one mission you may be able to buya Jadgtiger and in another you might only be able to purchase some PaK's or extra infantry or something else. In addition to that, many missions have "unit caps" added which means you may only ever be able to purchase a set amount of tanks, AT guns, infantry units, SPG's, or vehicles. This was all done to enforce a level of play balance and challenge that the original campaign designer wanted to instill. As such, it's very hard to compare any one units "cost" with another as its not really a straight one to one value like in CM. Now, that doesnt mean that as you guys begin to learn the Editor and post new missions there doesnt evolve some sort of Global Unit cost lists that everyone agrees to use for consistentcy. Perhaps you will just use the unit costs that ToW has already defined, or maybe you tweak them slightly, its really up to you, the future modders/designers. One nice thing about the Editor and mission files in ToW is that you can actually change the costs of any unit and make it as expensive or as cheap as you want. Something you could not do in CM as unit costs were hardcoded. Madmatt

Yup, it supports widescreen resolutions. I run in 1680x1050 actually. Madmatt

Today we have a new video to share with you taken from Theatre of War. This movie is over 6 minutes long and shows one of the campaign mission as played from the US point of view. Infantry, tank destroyers, heavy artillery, mortars and even airplanes are all employed to give you a good idea of the scope and scale of some of the battles awaiting you. The video is called Symphony of Destruction, partially because of all the action and partially because of the fact that the in-game music plays during the video. This video, and all the ones released before can be found on the Pics Videos and Wallpapers Page. Theatre of War Pics, Videos and Wallpapers Page In addition, we are now starting to offer our videos on YouTube as well. While the quality is a little lower than the original version, it offers great flexibility for many people. The new dedicated Battlefront.com game YouTube Video Channel is located here: Battlefront.com YouTube Video Channel Madmatt

Actually, I guess Martin never noticed that I turned the CMHQ chat off over a year ago. Madmatt

I don't think your performance would be too good. Best thing to do would be to wait for the demo and see how that runs. Madmatt

Hi! Did you email support@battlefront.com? If not, please do so Martin </font>

Already working on this via email. Madmatt