BDW

That is interesting that we can torch everything on the map that is burnable. what are the effects of that, just a bunch of smoke? Or can we actually burn stuff out of the way? Like hedgerows or fences? Alos, will fire spread? Like if we torch the corner of a fence, will the fire spread down the fence in both directions? Or from tree to tree? House to house? I assume there will be wind in CM, so what effect will the wind have on fire? Will it make fire jump roads? If rain and snow effect fire, I think wind should too. Especially when it comes to smoke. The direction of the wind should determine the direction the smoke blows. (i noticed on the screen-shots that the smoke was going directly straight up into the air...was there no wind in those shots?)

Hmmmmm... Ok, I think I can reconcile that with reality. That is like the truck driver saying, "OK, out of respect for your superiority and wisdom, sir, I will drive this truck 55mph directy towards enemy positions, but if it starts to look like a suicide run and people start shooting at us I am turning around and getting the hell out of there!" So...let's see... what HAVEN'T you guys thought of and addressed in a perfectly reasonable way? There must be SOMETHING....! (something that doesn't require absurd amounts of coding, and is within CM's scope, of course!)

"truck recon" is when you are playing a war game and you send a cheap and fast truck careening behind enemy lines to try to see what is up, right? Well, if that is the case, then it sounds like a guaranteed suicide mission. In real life, if I was a truck driver in combat, and I was told to do that kind of suicidal recon by my superiors, I'd say, "Now way, man! Are you nuts?" I wonder how close CM will come to simulating this response. Surely the truck drivers in CM aren't mindless automatons who will do anything you tell them no matter how suicidal or absurd! Right? Steve? I guess it is one thing to be driving down the road and unexpectedly bump into the enemy. but it is quite another to be told to drive at full speed through known enemy territory! I wonder how CM will make that distiction?

Hey BTS are you taking any requests for those movies you are going to make? I don't know if the infantry graphics are up to snuff yet, but if they are, I'd like to see a "medium shot" of some infantry doing something fun. Like taking out a bunker with a flamethrower - or something else with lots of action. Maybe lobbing grenades and running around or something else where we can see the different infantry moves. The infantry units were too hard to see on those small movies and they looked kind of "hokey" in those static screen shots. You had mentioned that the graphics were going to be improved for the infantry, as I recall. If progress has been made on that it'd be great to check them out! thanks!

Thanks for the large format movie, BTS! Will it have sound, too?

Yeah I recently downloaded the "Mech Commander" demo. It was over 100meg. I started it, went and made a "turkey burger", then when I came back it was already done! So as far as I am concerned, the bigger the movie clip the better. Hell, make it 500 meg for all I care! I just want to see this baby in all it's splendor and glory!

That is good news! I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I have a request... If you are going to release more movies, can you do at least one in a higher resolution format (for those of us with faster connections or those who don't mind long, even very long, downloads) My connection can go up to 400K/sec depending on the server on the other end, so I wouldn't mind it at all if you posted a 640x480 150meg movie clip of CM in action! That would rule! Or maybe something in between. But last time I had a hard time making out what was going on because the movies were so small. Thanks! [This message has been edited by BDW (edited 04-30-99).]

Don't mean to be a sourpuss, but there are just too many smiley-faces on this board. I think people should be more secure in knowing that what they write probably won't be taken the wrong way and that if what they write is intended to be humorous the reader will probably "get it" without the overt smiley-face hinting.

OK, well then let me ask you this: does taking out an HQ weigh heavily against the party that loses the HQ? Which leads me to ask, are some units more "valuable" than other units when it comes to tallying up the score at the end? If so, how are those values assigned? Do they vary depending on the scenario and circumstances?

That reminds me of a queastion I have been meaning to ask regarding victory conditions. I thought of this back when BTS said there WOULD be snipers included. My question is: will we be able to design scenarios where the victory condition (or one of them) is to off a particular enemy HQ? That would be kinda fun I think, to have to take out a particular enemy unit.

Cool! That is good news. The more I learn about this game the better it sounds! Early summer or late summer?

Hmmmmmm...Steve your response partially answers my question. I was thinking more about mistakes made by units in hiding/ambush mode that are INDEPENDENT of the enemy's actions. Using the above example, it would mean the Panzerschreck team having and itchy trigger finger and firing too early (before the lead tank hit the ambush marker). Or the unit hiding along the road making a "loud noise" (or something) thereby revealing itself to the US units. Either mistake would put the US on notice of an impending ambush, without the US doing anything differently. They would be mistakes by the German units in executing the planned ambush. I think it would be exciting for both sides. Say, for example, the German unit in hiding accidentally revealed itself to the US somehow (simulated noise or poor ambush preparation, etc). The German player would be saying, "Drats! They messed up the plan - those idiots!" Meanwhile, the US player would be saying, "OH NO! It's a freeking ambush!" Both players would be biting their nails as the unexpected results unfolded in front of them. It would be interesting if the German unit was revealed right at the end of the action phase. That would give the US player a planning phase with which to make adjustments and deal with the ambush. Hmmmm. How would that work out?

Steve, when you guys get the ambush marker system up and running, I think you should run the scenario you just descibed and tell us how it turns out "for real". Question: if your units are hiding, waiting to ambush, is there any chance at all of one of them blowing the ambush - like making a noise, or opening fire to early (itchy trigger finger or misunderstanding), or any other human error type of thing? Wil you simulate that? I think you should. It seems to me that in real life even the most well planned ambush could be blown by some unforeseen circumstance. It might be a small chance, and relatively uncommon, but wouldn't it be easy to include? I think the benefit in the game setting is that it would make things more exciting.... Just knowing that your ambush is not absolutely 100% guaranteed to be executed precisely as planned would add a LOT of excitement during those very tense seconds when you are waiting for the enemy to spring the trap!

It did for me. That is perfectly clear and exactly what I had hoped for!

English classes, today in our schools, which is not the case in the past, have seemed to be failing in their duty they have, to all of our children, and moreover to all of us and society in general, with respect to properly diagramming sentences, indeed. Furthermore, the drawbacks, in the obvious senses, is that the reader becomes unfortunately lost as to the meanings of the communication that was to be intended by it. It seems as well that the definition of the word "pedantic" has suffered from the enduring of much neglect, more than it should be. (sorry I could not resist)

Wait a second, now I am confused. If you quit a scenario within a campaign, then you just quit the whole campaign? Game over? huh?? I must be missing something

That is good news about the convoy and the flexability with the campaign. I hope your pocket battle makes it into the game! Two more questions... re: convoys - so, if I understand you correctly, if my "convoy" is all lined up on the road, ready to go, all I have to do is select all of them at once, then choose where I want them to go, and they will handle the movemtn on their own, avoiding objects and maintaining the original distance between each other? re: clearing roads - how do you get a dead vehicle out of the way in CM? thanks

Steve, I don't think you really answered Bobb's question about whether there are any other options other than the "QUIT" button. I realize the efficiency of the QUIT button. However, I think Bobb's questions is interesting in the context of a campaign. What happens if you are losing a scenario and you want to get the hell out of there without taking too many more losses? Hitting the "QUIT" button seems like an easy, unrealistic way out. Wouldn't it be exciting to have to coordinate a retreat of some sort? Like a move to a fall-back position. I think it would be fun to have to get your units off the map to safety in order to use them in the next scenario of the campaign. I suppose the QUIT button could simulate this, but it seems like that would take some of the fun out of it...? Also, can one side's "objective" be a retreat? Like "Allies must exit as many units as possible off west side of map". That sort of thing might be fun and interesting in the campaign context. Is that type of objective even possible? Along those same lines, what if I wanted to design a "convoy" scenario? Could I make the objective to get as many vehicles as possible from one end of the map to the other? ok no more questions...! [This message has been edited by BDW (edited 04-20-99).]

My stupidest firework story ever happened when my friend and I bought a box of "fountain" type fireworks. These things were SUPPOSED to spray out colorful sparks, whistle, then shoot out a bunch of firecrackers. Much to our delight, they turned out to be defective, and instead of whistling and throwing out firecrackers, they would explode like and M-80. These things were DANGEROUS. So of course, the logical thing to do was to stick one in the big round Weber Barbeque and seal off all the air holes. We stuck the thing in there, lit it, and quickly stuck the lid on the barbeque. Then we stepped back. A lot of smoke started pouring out of the cracks in the barbeque. Then we heard a muffled whistling sound.... "DANG! It's gonna work normally!" I rememnber thinking. Then, at that instant there was a huge explosion and I was engulfed in a cloud of barbeque ash. I could not even see my friend who was not more then 10 feet away from me. It was eerie and silent, except for our coughing sounds, for about 5 good seconds. I think we were a little stunned and disoriented. Then, there was a very loud CLANG!!!!!!! And my friend screamed, "Arrrggghhhh!!!" I remember I got that horribl;e butterfly in the gut feeling when I KNEW I had really screwed up. Fortuantely, all that happened was the lid to the barbeque landed right in front of him, bounced off the concrete, and then ricocheted off his body. I was like, "NO WAY!!!" Then when we realized all was well, we were laughing like crazy becuase we pictured what that must have looked like from the neighbors' perspective. Nice summer day, enjoying the sunshine, when they hear a loud explosion from the house across the street, look over there to see a barbeque lid shooting 200 feet in the air trailing grey ash! Then there was the time my friend stuck a fusein a "D" size model rocket engine and aimed it at me. I danced aroundin a panic while the damn thing did circles around my feet and burned holes in my socks and my pants. Melted nylon sock HURTS! Or the time we tried to make flamethowers with spray-bottles, gasoline, coathangers, rubber cement, and metal lids. (i'll let you figure out the design) The gasoline spilled and created alake of fire in the middle of the patio, which my friend tried to extinguish with the hose. BAD IDEA. The lake of fire spread to the shrubbery and lit it on fire. Total panic and chaos with the hose and two kids trying to stomp out gasoline fire. no injuries. Then there were the BB-Gun "wars". And the roman-candle/bottle rocket "wars". Ever tried to extinguish a roman candle by jamming the end of it into the ground? Yeah, it blows up in your hand and shoots those fireworks granules into your eyes. OUCH. never would have tried that one if the neighbor hadn't been screaming at me. It was his fault. Oh, and by the way, if you want to make napalm, use styrofoam and gasoline. Works like a charm. Not very much fun though - unless you can figure out how to have fun with napalm. We tried many different experiments, but usually we just wound up throwing it on a wall and then lighting it. Kind of anti-climactic. Ahhh..memories of growing up in suburbia in the 80's.

Oops forgot to tell you my idea: Steve, I've been trying to come up with a way to use the "big stuff" in light of what I learned from your last post. The only thing I could think of that sounds fun/interesting is to have the big artillery used by one side at the very beginning of a scenario before the other side has brought all of his units onto the map. In other words, the scenario could start out with the Americans getting a salvo of battleship artillery on the first turn to wipe out a few Germans who are left in a town before the Americans advance. But on turn two or three, the German reinforcements arrive, and the scenario is off and running. I think it would be interesting for the Allied player, especially in a campaign game, to choose which buildings he wants to destroy with the battleship and which roads or bridges he wants to blow up to hinder the advancement of the German reinforcements. Kind of like using the big guns as a terrain altering tool. It could pose some interesting questions for the Allied player: like, say he is in a defensive position, knows the Germans are going to be pouring onto the map on turn three, and has to carefully choose his placement for the artillery. There is a bridge, a couple of roads, and a small town on the map, any one of which the German player might be able to use to advance the reinforcements, each with it's own advantage and disadvantages for each side. By choosing what to blow up, the Allied player could change how the German player deploys his forces, and what happens in future scenarios in the campaign. This idea would be cool and add a dynamic to a campaign game where the American player might wind up wishing he had not blown up all those houses in the earlier scenario, becuase now he needs them for cover! Or wishing he had not blown up that bridge, becuase now he is wanting to retreat but is backed up against the river. This idea assumes that: - I have a clue what I am talking about from a historical point of view. For all I know, the situations I described above would never happen and make no sense at all - reinforcements can "enter" a scenario at a particular time from a particular direction(like in squad leader) - campaign games take place on the same map and use the same terrain from scenario to scenario. If all this is true, then I think the use of big guns could be fun, dynamic, and exciting, and lead to some irony in the campaign game, without necessarily spelling complete doom for one side or the other. OK Steve, tell me why not...

Steve thanks for the good reply! I think it is great you take the time to school us on this stuff. Funny thing is, we've never even played the game yet. Can you imagine what is going to happen to this board when a demo comes out? Oh man, I feel sorry for YOU!

Steve, looking at the screenshots, it looks like the maps are pretty good sized. I am having trouble seeing how a single round from a battleship can be so devastating, unless it lands really close to the enemy unit. But then again, I don't know how big the blasts were from those guns. Despite my lack of knowledge on the subject, it seems to me that even a half a dozen shells from a battleship can be avoided if your units are spread out properly on the map. Or am I wrong? Just how big are the maps during a normal CM scenario? Also, I assume there is a delay from the time you call in the fire order and the time the rounds land, which would add an element of chance as to where the enemy will actually be located. Another question I have on off-board artillery generally is: can the scenario designer choose how much and when? Or are there going to be historical accuracy limitations placed on this. For example, can the desinger give the allies a single battleship round every other turn or would that not be allowed becuase it was not historically accurate? I mean, would there be a minimum salvo or something? thanks for the info!

That's more like it! Curious - with those 14" battleship rounds, does the game track each round? And how accurate are they? Also, how many rounds would normally be fired into an area? I'm glad you left in the big stuff. I think someone will be able to design some kind of exciting scenario or campaign around it. Like in a campaign game, maybe the Germans have to endure a battleship strike one scenario, then get reinforcements the next scenario to balance out their losses and push the Allies back through all the rubble. Or something like that. Or maybe a scenario where the Allies have very few/weak units on the map but they get a little bit of battleship support...? I think something could work that doesn't turn the scenario into a lark! having said that, steve, I am expecting a reply from you explaining specifically why that would not work and giving me a learnin' in big artillery

The details of CM gameplay have been discussed quite a bit on this board. What about the pre-gameplay and post-gameplay part of CM? I guess I am asking about the (planned) overall design and set-up of the game - hasn't been discussed too much on this board. Like how will the game begin? What menus will we see? I assume there will be: -options -play scenario -play campaign -load saved game -editor How will the scenarios and campaigns start up? Will it be like CC where you have a certain number of points to spend on units you choose? Or will the units be designed into the scenarios? What other sorts of options and things will be included in the pre-gameplay? How about when a scenario ends? Or when a battle during a campaign ends? What sorts of things happen then? ok - this was kind of random, but I think you get the idea

Just curious - at this point in the development of CM, what is the largest, most destructive artillery that is going to be included? Also, what sort of limitations will be placed on the big stuff? I remember hearing about massive off-board artillery strikes from battleships a while back...! Also, in your answer, can you give an exciting, colorful description of what might happen in a CM scenario when we use this massive artillery effectively? Thanks!