Madmatt

Okay, this topic is not about CMAK so I am locking it up. There are many things that the CMX2 engine will be, and it will open up many more possibilities to expand the series even further but there are no plans at this time to do a Amercian Civil War game using it. Madmatt

The CMBO pic is right outa the new Special Edition retail version but with none of the extra mods applied. There are some mods however, like the terrain and apparently the faces, that come already installed. Madmatt p.s. I am pretty sure that is rust or scratched paint on the skirts, not blood. [ October 29, 2003, 04:07 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Been a little while since I posted a juicy tender bone for you to slobber over so here is something to sate your appetite, for the time being. I was testing an AWESOME little battle of Wild Bill's today in CMAK when I saw the picture below! I just had to share! I don't know, you think it's any improvement over this one from CMBO? Maybe just a tad.... Madmatt [ October 29, 2003, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

test

The second disk contains CMMOS and its associated mods as well as the standalone mods so you don't need to install disc 1 (which is the game) first if you dont want. However, you will only get the new scenarios if you install from disc 1 as they are stored there along with the old scenarios. Madmatt [ October 27, 2003, 06:23 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Turn off any virus checking programs as they have been known to trigger that error. Madmatt

Try using Alt-G from within the game to adjust internal gamma and see if that helps at all. Madmatt

CMAK has all new background sounds which I am very proud of ( i think you will really like the new distant arty effects!). Unfortunately, we did have to combine a few of the sounds for particular weather conditions/regions in order to get everything to fit on a single CD. I actually did have an early background sample for deserts which had flies buzzing around but it got REAL annoying, REAL quick, so I dumped it for a more generic and desolate sound. After CMAK is released I will probably go ahead and release a sound mod which has some alternate backgrounds which for various reasons we decided not to use. A more detailed and comprehensive overall treatment of sounds is a big priority with CMX2 but in CMAK I think we pushed it about as far as we could. I don't have a list handy, but CMAK has new or improved sounds for just about everything, from rifles (axis and allied are seperate now) and mg's to engine idle noises and panzerfausts. And don't forget the 2 thousand new voice samples! I think the audio element of CMAK is easiest the strongest yet of the CM series. Madmatt

Update: I was looking into the image quality issue reported in another thread and apparently the reason x8 AA seems to work without issue (no need to alt-tab out and in to get test to appear) is that is NOT actually applying any AA at all at that level. Screenshots taken at x2, x4 or x6 levels shows less jagoies and smooth edges while at x8 it looks the same as running with no AA enabled. I will let Nvidia know, not that it will do much good. So, my recommendation with these new drivers would be to only use levels x2 - x6 since x8 seems to be disabled. I can not confirm if x8 works with other games or not, but I would think that it does. Detonator's have always had a problem with CM due to our use of both 3d and 2D elements in the same screen. Madmatt [ October 25, 2003, 12:42 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

The 3D DirectX window will continue to pop up if for some reason your video drivers are not properly ID'ing themselves to the game. I would suggest first upgrading or reinstalling DirectX using the latest version that was just released. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=141d5f9e-07c1-462a-baef-5eab5c851cf5&displaylang=en Then check for updated video drivers for your card and install those as well if need be. As to the extra CMMOS files, pay close attention to the directions as stated in the CMMOS Install Guide.html document. The CMMOS mods (installed by running the Install CMMOS Mods.exe file) need to go in the EXACT same directory that you first installed CMMOS into. If the mods were properly installed, when you check in your CMMOS install directory (wherever you installed it) and go into the CMBB\Mods folder (default location would be C:\Program Files\GEM Software Productions\CM Mod Option Selector\CMBB\Mods) you should see 136 different mod/zip/txt files located in there. Madmatt [ October 24, 2003, 12:51 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Can you post a screenshot so we can see what your seeing? Do the graphics look okay when you rollback to the older version? Madmatt

Which drivers specifically do you have installed for that card? We will need to know the version #'s. Madmatt

I just did some testing with the WHQL 52.16's (essentially indentical with the beta's I was running) and here are my results. I also posted this to the tech forum. I had been playing with the beta 52.16's for some time now so I didn't expect to see much difference with the official release detonator's but here are my results. Test system is a P4 1.9 Ghz, 768 megs mem and a PNY FX 5600 Ultra video card. I tested with both CMBB and CMAK with similar results. Full Screen Anti-Aliasing Setting: x2 This mode caused the most problems. When launched the game played the sound but the screen was all black, pressing the mouse button stopped the music and I could hear the main menu drum sound but could see nothing still. I alt-tabbed out and back in and the screen was still all black. Moving the mouse around and clicking I then heard a Windows application fault *beep*, I pressed the mouse button a few more times and after about 10-15 seconds the Main Screen appeared correctly. Not sure what the fault noise was caused by but if you run x2 and you get black screens, you may be able to alt-tab out and back in and get it to work like I did. Previously, with the beta drivers I just assumed x2 didn't work at all when I got the black screen and Control-Alt-Deleted out all together but on my card at least, this mode does now work, in a fashion. x2Q This is Nvidias proprietary Anti-Aliasing solution. I was able to get it to work, but had to do the same process as above. x4 The game came up properly but all text was blank. Alt-tabbing out and back in refreshed the screen and all text worked perfectly without problem. x6S Another special AA mode. The game came up properly but all text was blank. Alt-tabbing out and back in refreshed the screen and all text worked perfectly without problem. x8 I was surprised to find this mode worked perfectly. The game came up and all text appeared. So, all in all the 52.16's a step forward but still not quite perfect, yet. [ October 24, 2003, 11:55 AM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Try and install the 30.82 or 30.87 drivers FIRST before you mess with any of the 40.xx or higher drivers. Those are the last two version that still function 100% with no issues AT ALL. Once you get into the 40 and 50 series drivers you will encounter issues with the Anti-Aliasing, that can all be worked around, but which can be a little annoying. Get those drivers at www.guru3d.com Madmatt

Either system is good but the video card pretty much sucks in each. A MX card is NOT a good performer no matter how you slice it and that will be the primary bottleneck in performace that you will see with those systems. I would also suggest upgrading to at LEAST 512 megs of memory, assuming the motherboards allow for that. Madmatt [ October 20, 2003, 03:33 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

No game has yet been released that will take advantage of a 256 meg video card. In fact, most benchmarks will show that the 128 meg cards actually preform better. Why you ask, because the manufactorers usually use SLOWER memory to populate a 256 meg board than they do for a 128 meg card. For that reason, at present time, and probably for a while in the future, 128 meg cards are a much better, and less expensive, choice. Madmatt

As stated above, if for some reason you have compatability mode enabled for the game, it will NOT detect the CD. There is no reason you should ever have to run compatability mode in XP for either CMBO or CMBB as the games support XP natively. Madmatt

That article makes an incorrect assumption, let me clarify. On November 15th the CURRENT CMBO-CMBB bundle pack will be discontinued in anticipation of a new bundle with CMAK and CMBB taking it's place later this year. That does NOT mean that on November 15th CMAK will be ready and shipping. It may or it may not, we do not know yet, but thats the day we picked to stop selling the current bundle, regardless of when CMAK ships. Yes, no matter where you live, you will be order CMAK directly from Battlefront.com this time, even in Europe. As soon as we have a confirmed CMAK ship date we will be announcing it as loud as we can, you can be sure of that. Madmatt

They will be a mix of both this time. As to the flag, I think the one in the AAR was just using a placeholder graphic someone was passing around, the flag in the final game should have the correct 48 stars. Madmatt

To answer your question: NO, that feature is not changed from CMBB. Madmatt

Let me answer these for you: #1 NO #2 NO #3 NO (but I did make some nice new ones) #4 You can already do that using Shift-S #5 NO All good ideas for the most part and something to consider in CMX2, but CMAK isn't going to implement this stuff. Madmatt

Elvis has left the pre-order que. Madmatt

That article makes an incorrect assumption, let me clarify. On November 15th the CURRENT CMBO-CMBB bundle pack will be discontinued in anticipation of a new bundle with CMAK and CMBB taking it's place later this year. That does NOT mean that on November 15th CMAK will be ready and shipping. It may or it may not, we do not know yet, but thats the day we picked to stop selling the current bundle, regardless of when CMAK ships. Yes, no matter where you live, you will be order CMAK directly from Battlefront.com this time, even in Europe. As soon as we have a confirmed CMAK ship date we will be announcing it as loud as we can, you can be sure of that. Madmatt [ October 18, 2003, 07:41 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Hmm, tough question. Right now the best VALUE is probably the Bundle pack which we sell online. It includes both CMBO and CMBB but they are NOT the special edition versions. It is however only 55 bucks plus shipping. You may also have to apply the latest 1.03 patch to CMBB but CMBO should come already pre-patched. The 1.03 patch is 2 megs so its not a big deal though. The special editions are ONLY available in North American retail and offer up some new graphics mods and more scenarios. Most of that stuff can be found online (for FREE) at some of the CM Fansites, but the special editions offer it up to you at once without needing to search and download lots of content. If you want FEATURES, then grab the Special Editions which should be on the shelves at stores like Walmart, Best Buy and Electronics Boutique. Like I said above, they have tons of new graphics for units and terrain, plus some of the best 3rd party created scenarios and operations made and the CMBB Special Edition also comes with a mod manager program (CMMOS) with hundreds of mods already configured for it which allows you to preview and pick and choose which mod to install. But the games in all the various versions are the same, it just depends on how much work you want done for you (Special Editions) or how much work you don't mind doing for yourself (online and bundle versions). I hope that helped. As an added incentive, the current CMBO-CMBB Bundle is only being offered until November 15th and as I said above is currently on sale for just 55 bucks! Madmatt [ October 14, 2003, 03:25 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

We want to take a moment and welcome all the new people that have recently purchased the Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin Special Edition or the Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord Special Edition retail releases. There are a few points to clarify though. The newly released Special Edition versions (available only at North American retailers) DO NOT NEED ANY PATCHES APPLIED. They already come pre-patched. While the Special Edition offers the same gameplay and enjoyment as the version we sell online, the technical support for it, however, is handled a little differently. First off, if you are having a problem you should read through the current Troubleshooting Guide located here: CMBB Troubleshooting Guide If you have to report a technical problem with the game or its physical media (CD, manual etc...) you will need to contact the publisher directly, which is CDV Software Entertainment-US. Here is the URL for them: CDV-US Homepage Be sure and note that you have the SPECIAL EDITION version of the game. Only they can provide replacements for defective CD's or manuals. If you do not get a response from them within a few business days you can try and email their support representative directly at: david.green@cdvus.com And he will help you as best he can! If you have a technical issue that requires immeditate attention you can also post to this forum and we will *try* and help you as best we can but primary support does need to come directly from CDV-US. Thanks again and we hope you enjoy the games! Madmatt [ October 20, 2003, 04:02 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]