Imperial Grunt
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Posts posted by Imperial Grunt
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Hi !
I hope Battlefront does not plan any Marines or NATO forces module.
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Get those freak'n muzzles out of the water!
Great pic though!
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They look great. Outstanding job Vein!
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Oh, and I was NOT in the Gulf War (whipper-snapper must think I'm OLD!) - was at Armor Officer Basic when it went down, with my name on the "I volunteer, please send me now..." list. Obviously over by the time I got done. All my interesting time has been in IZ and AFG.
Talk about career tracks, same same here. I was at Quantico for the The Basic School and then the Infantry Officers Course when the Gulf War happened. At the time I felt like I "missed my war". Silly me.
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Actually pnzrldr is our final hope....
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That depends almost entirely on your access to the Pentagon's checkbook.
Crap. That would be zero.
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So, with that being said.... will the briefing text ever get any bigger?
It's been requested already!
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Exactly this.
If I could snap my fingers we would have:
1. Better graphics and performance
2. Massive multiplayer (i.e. two dozen per side)
3. Big online playing presence
4. AI that would make MIT think we should be hired to do coursework for them
But I can't snap my fingers (no, really I suck at it!), so these things are only dreams to be inched towards as we can. So not bad ideas at all, just not consistent with the constraints we have as developers.
Steve
Oh, I like that list. Can they happen if I snap your fingers for you?
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I can't speak for BFC, but I would recommend:
1) If you like WWII, try the other WWII titles. They are all good and BFC does its customers right by patching in the latest features. Get them all if you are a big WWII buff.
2) Keep playing the game and have fun with it. Be forewarned that its addicting.
3) Share with friends and play multiplayer. It's a blast to match tactical wits against another human being. You can even post videos of your tactical exploits on YouTube!
4) I forget number 4. Just send me money, no checks
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+1 vote for China.
I would love a Taiwan scenario game. It could start as a 'soft' invasion like with Crimea, but then it goes hot.
China gets a foothold and a substantial force on the island, backed by separatists armed by China. Then the 7th Fleet makes crossing the straight untenable for China and cordons the island. US then sends a joint expeditionary force to assist the Taiwanese military. China refuses to give in, trying to get a divided Taiwan at least. All kinds of scenarios!
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EDIT: Speaking of modding, I kinda like the idea of modding the map area to have a timber frame around the map edge and a skybox texture of a family or games room, to give CM that tabletop wargame feel! Am I alone on this?
Not at all. A 'board' or 'base' has been requested.
And welcome to CM!
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Pardon me folks, I typically do not wade into threads like this one, but Steve’s post on page two (#33) made me have a Colonel Kilgore moment…
There is not a single untrue word or sentiment in his post, which is why I got a bit of a twinge upon reading it. Having migrated from Close Combat to Beyond Overlord way back when, Combat Mission has earned the top spot in my rather limited gaming time over the years. It has been a fun ride watching the game, company and the people behind it grow over time. While I selfishly fantasize that Steve, Charles and the crew will produce Combat Mission games late into their lives the likely reality is, as Steve planted the seed, they will eventually move on to other pursuits.
As this thread shows, we will all determine how much enjoyment we permit these titles to bring us. As for myself, I plan to soak up every last minute of wonderfully engrossing fun Combat Mission brings because…
So your saying that CMx3 will start out with...
CM: I Corps, 1968
Complete with helicopters and F-4 Phantoms dropping napalm!
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"The bit that you are all overlooking is that this current iteration of Combat Mission is based on a engine designed by BFC sometime in 2005. It has matured since then, but at its heart it is still at 2005ish engine. It only has single core support, I suspect it doesn't utilize video cards very well, it is a 32 bit process which severely limits the amount of RAM available to it. These are hard limitations to what the game can do. So while Wargame or Arma can look better their engines are more modern and are able to access more power.
BFC just can't magically make things better, just like you can't drive your car across a marsh. A road needs to be built. The infrastructure needs to be there. My computer has a GTX 780, 8 CPU cores, 10 GB of ram.
CM can only use 1 of my 8 processors, 3 of my 10 GB of ram. There are hard limits on what it can do.
What Steve was alluding to early was that at this point to greatly increase the capabilities of the Combat Mission series a new engine would need to be built. The last time this was done it took something like 5 years before the customers saw any new product, and even then Shock Force had unpleasant teething issues for another year or two and I would say that it was only with CM:BN that things got smooth. So essentially 8 years of development. To get another big leap would require another big engine push and how many years to get it up to speed"
I think one aspect that is different is that the conceptual game engine function has matured while in CMSF it was entirely new. I don't know if CMx2 v3.0 can be upgraded to CM×3 by keeping it's current game engine but giving it the ability to use multi-core processing and maximize video card capabilities.
If the new 'under the hood' architecture could be added to what we have right now, I would be a very happy customer! I think that would completely open the door for the game to have all the functions we want, graphics and game-play wise and the game would run fast, even on my old laptop, which has 4×1.73ghz processors. (I know..I know, will be upgrading soon!).
I don't want a 5 year investment on an entirely new engine. But I want the above ASAP. And more CM titles.
CM with better gamer appeal = more customers. Mo' money for BFC means more games that we all love. Bring it!
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We've had the "your graphics suck" discussion since before we even had a name for CMBO in 1998. It's not hurt our sales because the game is what people are looking for. If we had graphics that were better than Arma3 (which would require about $50,000,000 just for starters), guess what an Arma3 fanatic would say? "Great graphics, but the game sucks". If the game doesn't appeal to the player, the graphics simply don't matter.
Now, I would love to have a $50m budget for a single CM title. That would be fantastic! But that's never going to happen, so we have to live within our means. When CM's graphics are compared against other serious strategy/war games we come out looking damned awesome. Could we look better? Sure, but see previous comment about living within our means.
Over time we have improved the game's look. We have improved its performance. We can continue to do that for a while yet. But yes, at some point it will run its course. Whether we'll be interested in putting another 2-3 years into a new game engine that caters to an exclusive and niche market remains to be seen. I'm not saying we won't, I'm just saying it's not a foregone conclusion. We have been at this particular game series for about 10 years now and 5 with the previous. Nothing lasts forever.
Steve
Steve is alive! I heard a rumor that he was dead. Or was that J-Lo. ****, I'm getting old...
I agree, CM has come a long way. The game overall looks great. There is room for improvement that would really complete the game in my opinion in the graphics department, namely better modeled destructible terrain and destructible vehicles and bringing up the sounds and SFX just a notch above what the mods that are out there do, but in a seemless manner. ARMA III level looks and investment is surely not needed.
Game engine wise, the game is very close to being fully mature. But there are some tweaks that would exponentially add longevity to the game, like updating the scenario editor with improved AI capabilities and functions, making a very user-friendly multi-player system that makes head-to-head games (besides PBEM) easy and fun, and perhaps adding multi-core processing for a fast running game for a wider variety of users.
I really hope tactical level WeGo never goes away as a BFC core product. New engine, new style, etc... bring it, but CM is very special for a reason! We love you for it.
And if BFC can master an tactical to operational level game that does not play like a game of cardboard counters but instead puts the player in the boots of a battalion or RCT commander with his Alpha and Bravo command elements, that would be groundbreaking for the next decade!
A man can dream!
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LOL... I know, just pulling your chain.
I can imagine a CM scifi 'universe' in which mother earth looks fairly similar to how it is now. But the US, China, and to a lesser extent Russia, have established colonies in space via a magical FTL propulsion system/using black holes, whatever.
The US military dominates mankind's universe and it is pretty similar to the early 1900's but in space. Marines on US Navy ships patrol the 'space lanes', suppress insurrection on colonies, perform crisis response, and are the initial landing force for larger operations when necessary. They are organized just like MAGTFs of today but with the appropriate technology.
The Army is still the principle war fighting organization with things heavy grav tanks, etc. They also garrison planetary outposts on the primary colonies.
The Air Force does planetary defense and supports atmospheric ops in land campaigns (the Navy having mostly space craft and only a few fighters and shuttles to support 'ship to shore' ops.
And the Chinese have their version to a lesser extent and sometimes there are "misunderstandings".
So between the 2 sides, third party colonial forces/military contractors, all kinds of human vs human material.
Then contact with the aliens happens and there are more than one species.
One could be a robot AI that savages planets for resources, another could be like the "greys", another could be 'space lobsters' like the aliens in District 9 (but not just the 'workers').
Etc etc... I'd buy the game!
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I'm sort of tired of Marines in space though.
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I would vote for Space Lobsters if given the chance since I love military science fiction.
I read this series as a distraction during my last tour in Afghanistan. It's human on human installer conflict but the physics and science is very well done. A zero-pressure combat environment would definitely suck!
The ship to ship combat is equally brutal. No shields. Short range microwave beams cooking crews and frying electronics to high speed kinetic mass rail gun type weapons fired at predicted vectors at super long ranges for a spectacular collision. It's very well done in that regard.
The storyline ain't Starship Troopers quality but the science is much better and explained. Overall, I really liked it. Besides it's about Marines in space. Yut!
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Just wanted to give another big Thank You! Can't wait to see more!
On a side note. Can anyone tell me how to take screenshots in Black Sea? It's not as simple as the normal "print screen" key is it?
I recommend Fraps. Google it, it's a free program.
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Special thanks to Blimey for the next one.....
Cars! Awesome.
couple of more flavour objects to be added in game... new textures pending...
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LOL! A couple of points. First, does this Apache come with "Whisper Mode"? (See "Blue Thunder".) Second, it's amazing what a bureaucrat will do when faced with extra money: give back to the citizenry, or spend it on a multi-million dollar, inappropriate, toy. Third, how will it actually arrest a criminal? Will the chain gun be loaded with non-lethal (oops, "less lethal") projectiles? Big taser missiles instead of hellfires? Rapelling station for the gunner to drop down, a la Robin, and apply handcuffs? Fourth, with a limited top speed, an enthusiastic motorcyclist can outrun it on the M5 (or whatever M passes through the County).
But, despite all that, it's a great idea.
Maybe it has a 30mm Nerf gun and sticky-foam rockets!
And of course it has 'whisper mode' DUH.
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I went for this one on mine:
Kieme, I thought the mix you made for CMBS music was epic. Really good job man.
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What a classic film!
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Yeah, Imperial Grunt is the villain to send the bill and hate mail to.
But I'm broke. BF doesn't pay for scenarios.
I'll make more though
Please NO Marines or NATO forces module !
in Combat Mission Black Sea
Posted · Edited by Imperial Grunt
More info than you probably wanted, but....
The USMC has always been a rapid reaction force alongside US Army airborne forces. The forces have different but mutually supporting capabilities.
The new "crisis response" special purpose marine air ground task forces" (SPMAGTFs) are a new standing task organization, just like MEUs. The SPMAGTF-CRs are essentially 'air contingency' battalions with organic lift and attached enablers. Both MEUs and SPMAGTF-CRs have a 6 hour notification, meaning that after receiving a task, they will plan and initiate a mission within no less than 6 hours.
The CRs can also vary widely in task organization, depending on their theater. The CENTCOM SPMAGTF-CR for example is bigger than the SPMAGTF-CR in Spain, which covers Africa/Europe.
MEUs are a lot more robust than a SPMAGTF-CR and have a forcible-entry capability. CRs do not have that capability.
Both MEUs and CRs are composed of conventional USMC units which get additional training for their mission sets.
Additionally they both are organized to aggregate into a single larger MAGTF in a scalable manner when required. They will usually be the lead unit for additional USMC forces arriving from the US or other bases. This is how these units would operate against a conventional opponent. Here is a shiny slide that demonstrates the general concept: