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CK, you truly get it! You are exactly right, the more support we gain the more attractive an automated interface between Theater of Operations and CM becomes to BFC. The public who is interested doesn't have to agree with the process, or like the process, but this is the only way an automated campaign layer is going to happen (according to BFC). CK, thanks again for your support thus far and being brave enough to help play test with converting to ASL! You have been more help than you know. For the rest of you, feel free to check out our forum and keep tabs on how the project is evolving. -Matt

For those that are interested I wanted to mention that I am currently doing the AAR. It focuses on the US 29th Infantry Division trying to take St. Lo. The AAR is being executed manually (i.e. I act as the computer using various spreadsheets to evaluate results, create visuals, and explain what is happening) until we get an alpha version prepared, but it still highlights the various capabilities and concepts involved. For instance there are 2 players taking the role of the Americans plus a German player. Of particular interest to you may be the ability to play out interesting battles using your favorite tactical system (e.g. Combat Mission).Currently we have a volunteer who wants to fight one of the tactical battles with Advanced Squad Leader! If you are interested in helping to play out a battle with Combat Mission or a different game system, come over and let me know! Feel free to stop over and take a look at: http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/board,36.0.html

Chromecast is certainly something to consider...of course we are still just slowly plugging away at getting a pc demo first! At the moment things are progressing quite slowly on the development front. I was hoping to have it ready by April, but clearly that didn't happen. When we get a demo ready we will be ready to attempt a kickstarter campaign to obtain the funds for full-time programming. It will be the same programmers, but it will allow them to dedicate themselves full-time without other distractions. Feel free to stop by the forum and check out what has been happening at: http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/board,36.0.html At the moment we are in a holding pattern to start an AAR for a battle. This could change any day now....

@IICptMillerII Thank you...I should have done the videos long ago, but better late than never! I have played around with Vassal quite a bit, and it is a great system. It does have its limitations though. Originally I started designed ToO for vassal, but I decided to take it further. Regarding modern, you may want to check out Flashpoint Campaigns by Matrix Games. I have never played it, but it really does look good. I realize it does you no good right now, but I hope to expand up through '80's Cold War, and perhaps beyond. Just some food for thought...

@IanL @kohlenklau, @mbarbaric @Broadsword56 @Blazing 88's @Los thank you for the positive comments. We need all the support we can get! As someone mentioned, we are going to attempt a kickstarter to help fund development. Right now we are only working on it when we have time, which means it is a painfully slow and erratic process. The money we raise will allow a number of people to dedicate themselves to the project. Over 75% of what we raise will pay for programming, but some will go to graphic design, etc. Here is something to consider...if we significantly exceed our goals we will be able to do more, and more quickly. One big thing will be the ability to have more sophisticated AI for single player gaming, and we will also be able to generate more DLC. I don't want to get into too much detail yet, but this project has picked up a lot of momentum in the last month. I am hoping that March is where we have a real breakthrough...IF we have a reasonable demo ready in the next 2 weeks, then we should be ready for the kickstarter by 1 April. Keep your fingers crossed, because the demo is the critical path. Once that demo is ready then lots of other things should fall in to place. My suggestion would be to check in to our forum at least once a week for the latest updates. Oh, and someone said we should team up with BFC...well I have attempted to do what you suggest, and we have an informal relationship with BFC at the moment. I want everyone to know that they have been very friendly and supportive of my efforts, and I bug them with regularity. I can truly tell they want my project to succeed, they just have to worry about their own production schedule. Oh, and I revised the video on how command roles will work, so anyone interested in seeing it can hop over to the forum: http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php?topic=1867.0

Well ya know guys, there is supposed to be this great new game under development that should satisfy this desire. I think it is called Theater of Operations... OK, I couldn't leave this topic alone forever. So I hope we have a presentable demo within a month, because that is what we are working towards. If you or anyone you know are interested in this project, please visit our dogsofwarvu.com forum. You can follow progress or give your opinions which may affect the design of this game. Seriously, anyone who wants a voice can have it here! I am a long time CM player, I was a beta tester on CMC, and I am constantly bugging the fine men at BFC while doing this project. So getting a link to CM is my end game goal, but we have a lot of work to do to achieve it. And when I say "we" I mean my team AND the entire community that wants this project to succeed. So we need as much support as we can get!

That's OK Ian, but thanks for trying! I got the data I was looking for. Since it came down to 2 different names with roughly equal votes, I think we are going to stick with Theater of Operations. If another name had run away with it, then I would have chosen that name. Moving on...as we lay the groundwork for a new run at Kickstarter I am looking for some volunteers to actively post and otherwise get the word out on various different forums and websites. Right now it is just the planning stage, but if you are interested in being part of an organized effort in getting the word out then please email me at the cmbnrocks@gmail.com address. Several of you pitched in and helped out the last time, but I want to take a more organized and thoughtful approach this time around.

Ha, you guys are cracking me up! I think I know which way we are going with the game name, but I need to confirm with the rest of the team. Thank you to those who participated, even to those that chose "wrong", right Ian? Check in to the forums and see our progress. I hope to have a new video up in the next week that directly talks about Combat Mission players. Till next time!

Happy New Year to you all! It has been awhile since I have posted anything here, so I figure it was about time I made an appearance. In case you have not been following this project since my last post I have a fair amount to report. October was spent reorganizing and preparing our game concept to show at a game expo. Side note: in preparation for the expo we decided to change the name of the game to Theater of Operations (TO). It ended up being a hurried process,so yesterday we opened up a new poll on our forum for members to vote on a new name. Feel free to join and cast your vote! Back to the expo; while we didn't find people flush with lots of cash to fund game development , it was great exposure and a great experience . Lots of new contacts were made, and we generated a lot more interest than I anticipated. Since the expo we have been focused on creating a working demo. Since TO is an indie project with people volunteering their time progress is slow, but we hope to have the demo ready by the end of February. The demo probably won't be very fancy, but the plan is to have it show basic game play and concepts. In the mean time I am producing some short videos to help provide a better understanding of the unique features TO will have to offer. The first video is currently waiting to be edited, and the topic will discuss how command roles will work for multiplayer games. I hope to post this first video early next week on our forum. Other videos will follow, so stay tuned. We were due to roll out a better looking website this week, but like everything else, it hasn't gone according to plan. I am hopeful this will get remedied within the next week...keep your fingers crossed. Feel free to stop by our old webpage at www.buckeyebg.com. We are trying to provide more content all the time. Soon after we complete the demo, we will attempt another Kickstarter campaign. To stay up on all the latest and greatest I invite you to stop by http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php#c10 and check out our current forum. There is lots of additional content in the forum since I last posted here. You don't have to be a member to view the topics and discussions, but you do have to be a member to interact. Please join us! I can't stress this enough: this project will not survive without your support. If you are interested at all in seeing this project succeed, there are many ways to actively support this game project short of funding us. Bottom line is we need funding, but helping us advertise by spreading the word, supporting our efforts on other forums, etc, will be key to success. Feel free to contact me at this forum or at dogsofwarvu if you want to talk further about supporting us. Otherwise stay tuned and check out our latest efforts. Regards, -Matt http://www.buckeyebg.com/ http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php#c10

Hey all, I guess I only posted in a different thread... For those that are interested, come to our new forum at http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php and see what is going on. It became clear that we needed much more information presented for our KS campaign, and we weren't agile enough to respond in a timely manner so I cancelled the campaign. We failed to reach our monetary goals, but we came away in a stronger position with the contacts made, and awareness. We have re-grouped, done some reorganizing, and work continues. Thanks to BFC, I will come here and post an update from time to time, but if you want to join the conversation or see more of what is going on please come to our new forum. Thanks, -Matt

Hey guys, anyone got $32 grand laying around? Anybody ever tried to do a large technical project on a pure volunteer basis where you had to find and recruit those volunteers? Besides constant turnover, the lack of leverage (i.e. you're not paying them), widely varying levels of interest and motivation, and exceedingly slow production it is an extremely simple thing to execute...NOT!!! Without boring you with a ton of backstory, it was quickly realized that we needed full time dedicated programming if this game was ever going to get produced, which is why we went the KS route. 2 of the programmers said they would do this project as long as they made enough money to "keep the lights on" as they put it. We met 2 times face to face to go over the project, its goals, etc. and they told me both times they had the capability to make it happen. I quickly saw after the campaign started that I had failed to convince the general public of this (among plenty of other takeaways), and we were not going to be agile enough to mitigate the concerns. Now moving forward, I came away with a ton of lessons learned, and you can make damn sure will be addressed the next time. The programmers had their own takeaways, and they came away more motivated too. Yes this campaign was well on its way in falling short of the funding goals, yet there were several positives to be found for those looking for them. That is what we are taking forward as we prepare to mitigate the shortcomings of this campaign. For those wanting to continue the conversation, feel free to go to our new forum at http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php and sign up!

c3k, it is WAAAAYYY to early for that. I cannot stress this enough: CO must be created first. Then BFC must agree to allow interfacing...then we start to talk specifics. If I had my way we would have been talking specifics a long time ago.

HA! You wish...No man, I am taking the lead role on that one.

Whew, amazing what a good nights rest will do! Let's hit it men (and women??)! We are going to get another boost next Friday, because CO is going to get another piece in Rock, Paper, Shotgun! So I am still working away to increase visibility...and speaking of visuals, our programming team is working on some program visuals as well!! Work continues...Thanks again to everyone for all you are doing! -Matt

WOW...it's been a long week for me, but what I am reading is just what these haggard eyes needed... A lot of GREAT conversation here... Ian, you are absolutely correct. Has anyone ever thought about the casualty rates in CM vs reality? CM is high fidelity in simulation, but the overall situation is NOT realistic. It's all or nothing, with no tomorrow. For me, I like the thought of an operational layer so I can create overwhelming odds in my favor to make up for my CM ineptitude. Christian, thank you! No apologies necessary, because you did your part! Lt Rocketman, nice to see those gold bars on you! Skwabie, we have moral support from BFC right now only. You are correct that there is NO CURRENT link between CO and CM. Simon21, no we have made a MASSIVE amount of noise all over...the most outspoken (and perhaps comfortable) are the CM guys since we kinda know each other. I think I got everyone...now I'm gonna go make sure I still have a wife!

Yes, kohlenklau speaks accurately (for once) ...sorry buddy! Anyway, yes lets continue to spread the word! We are in a constant state of evaluation, but we are full go rattling those cages. I have also been working overtime to see if we can get some prettier pics to share, and production on a video.

RCMP and Ian, I am pleased to confirm what you say! There have been a number of people who have bumped up their pledge! We need to continue to help convince and turn some of the doubting Thomases out there. Just letting everyone know we are busy behind the scenes addressing feedback, and correcting incorrect assumptions. We are in the process of producing a small video AND provide some better graphics to showcase. I will also post this here as well. Asid at Dogs of War vu has been kind enough to let us migrate our google forum over to his forum. I will support both and eventually fade away from Google. So we can start to migrate over there at http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php . You will need to register, but it is set up.

poesel I understand your motivation and I happen to agree that it opens A LOT of other possibilities. Now we just need to keep convincing people to back the project so we can get to that point!

Thanks Placebo! Hobo, I was hoping to be at Blacksburg, but it just isn't going to work out for me...but it would have been fun to meet up!

Thank you Fenris! I will take all the luck we can get. And Hobo, touché! We owe you one after what happened last year, but we won't know anything till Monday night. Right now we are on the same team though!

Wow kohlenklau...that was quite a heartfelt speech...and well stated! I was going to respond to something I saw earlier, and then I saw this! This is going to be a tough act to follow! OK, so I am not going to try to get you charged up to run through a brick wall, but I do want to make something perfectly clear: CMC is dead...it is gone...a little piece of me died when that project died...OK, that's going a little far, but I was part of the beta team and was greatly disappointed at its demise. A little back story for you...I first talked to BFC about an operational layer in late 2004, early 2005. That was how I discovered CMC, and I was instantly on that team. But CO is a COMPLETELY different project in a completely different time, with a completely different game! So anyone hung up on CMC needs to...look out cause here it comes..."Let it go, let it go"...Yes, yes I went there...Anyway, I have had multiple discussions with Steve that involved CMC. CO has one immense advantage over CMC: CO is a complete standalone game that doesn't have to interface with anything directly to be fully successful. Furthermore, if the support we get inspires BFC to work toward an interface, CMx2 is a completely different architecture that is far more open to interface with! That isn't my opinion, that eval came straight from the Brain in the Jar at BFC. BFC is hesitant to do an op layer primarily because they don't think the market is large enough to justify the expense...not just because of the CMC experience. So don't hear me wrong, if anyone is not in a position to donate, or isn't interested enough to donate, that is completely your prerogative and I fully respect that. I just want to publicly divorce any notion that CO has anything to do with CMC. And for those that donate to a successful campaign...well you can bet your a$$ that I am going to take care of you as best I can.

Yes, thanks to all of you who have contributed!! I saw this on another thread, but I figure I will mention it here. Remember that this is an all or nothing campaign...If we don't make the goal, then no one owes anything to the campaign, and the game gets nothing. If we make the goal, then the money all goes towards making the game, with the stretch goals of making the game better, then expanding the game! Ask ANYONE in software development how much $32,000 buys them....not much. This is a righteous deal to get a game of this complexity for that amount of money...and no, there is no illegal dealings going on...at least that I am going to talk publicly about.

Ahh yes the name...the name recently evolved to just CO, and you are not the only people to comment. I am inclined to stick with CO, BUT how about adding something after. Here are some thoughts... CO World at War (COWW), CO Battle Staff (COBS). I am open to suggestions.... Oh, and things look good for a rollout tomorrow of the Kickstarter campaign. September 1 was a convenient date to get things in order and launch...but I also chose it because of what occurred 76 years prior. I will make sure I post here when we go live. Please remember there are lots of ways to support the project other than just money. Please tell the world and help create a "buzz", because the more enthusiasm the more momentum we build!

Hey, for those keeping track, we made it to RPS: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/08/28/the-flare-path-more-from-the-web/ RCMP, just for you: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/combat-operations-overlord-game-group You appear to already be a member, so this link should take you right in.

OMG, you guys are freakin cracking me up!! This is priceless!!