CRourke

>Hehe, I do the same to my girlfriend Brian, but they never do really Your girlfriend is named Brian?? Sorry, couldn't resist. Chris

Amusing to see that the CM discussion board is finally getting some decent trollers.. but they really aren't up to usenet standards yet. I would suggest Mr. Parker spends some time polishing his message, and tries reposting the improved version in a couple of days. I would suggest adding a few paragraphs of personal attacks against steve and charles, a paragraph proclaiming BC3000 as the ultimate game, a paragraph denouncing scientology, and throw in some antisemitism just for good measure. Don't forget to follow up additionals msg's criticizing anyone who replies to you. Point out their spelling mistakes. Use the phrase "tupid click and play lamers" often. Looking forward to seeing the new and improved version of your post, Chris ps The really scary thing is that he probably wasn't trolling. pps Or maybe we were just missing the sarcasm.

At least no one has mentioned killing the president yet. whoops. Chris

I imagine for the fire modifier, it would just be like troops standing in the open.. From the photos I've seen, they really have to pack on there, so theres bound to be a good target or two for enemy riflemen. And my guess is, if they take any real fire at all, they're gonna bail anyway. Chris

I think theres alot of attraction to the red dawn type scenario for us yanks who grew up playing soldier in the age of the cold war. I don't think I'm the only one who imagined what it would be like if russian paratroopers landed on the school football field. My friend and I had it all planned out. Then again, we were a little bit weird. I looked at the "russian invades alaska" thing a couple years ago. This was back when that fanatic nationalist russian guy (zhironovsky?) was getting alot of attention. He did a tv interview in his office where you could see a big map of russia behind him. The catch was the map showed afghanistan, the ukraine, and yes, alaska as all part of russia. Funny guy that zhironovsky. Anyway, the conclusion I came to was that there was just no way in hell for a russian to win any sort of conflict up north, even assuming US attention was diverted to another theater. The totally lacked the necessary navy, airforce and logistics. As for the canadians, I have no fear. They're simple little metric minds just couldn't handle the complexity of taking over a country that uses the english system. Chris "My car gets 30 rods to the hogshead and thats the way I like it" -Grandpa Simpson

Could this be extended to LOS's drawn between a tank and empty ground? After all, once you've spotted an enemy tank, its a little late to be seeking that idea hd position. I realize that the engine would have to assume an avg gun height for the imaginary enemy, but it still would be accurate enough to give you a feel for the type of cover a slope is giving. Chris

Still, some addition tool to help would be nice.. it seems like a major game distraction to have to move the camera perspective and make minor unit position adjusments to get tanks hull down. You could let the player drag an LOS line from a selected unit, and change the lines color depending on whether the terrain is visible from the commander's hatch, the gunners sight, or the drivers periscope. I guess I'll just have to see how it plays, but I do remember the nightmare of making countless tiny adjustments to my platoon in M1TP. Of course, the pyramid shaped hills didn't make it any easier. Chris

Thats a great idea.... I imagine its almost impossible to implement at this point (and would delay the game by a good bit too), but it sure could be neat for future versions... Chris

I played the 101 demo.. I loved how deep the game was.. very well thought out. But I have alot of trouble with turn based squad level games.. sure that sorta play might work on the division level, but it really doesn't work for me when your pushing around individual men. If anyone out there played xcom 3, I thought that was a great example of what can be done at squad level with a wego engine. If only it was set in ww2. I think ISI was considering pausable realtime as an option in the sequel. Chris

Los, I've always wanted to see that too. I'll make a deal with you.. if one of us wins the lottery, we agree to pay someone to make that game. Of course the first person perspective would make things pretty hard.. I imagine its hard enough in real life.. controlling your body with a keyboard can only make things harder. And you'd have to put a lot of faith in your sub-commanders.. once again, the AI issue rears its ugly head. Unless of course you replaced them all with humans in a multiplayer environment. Actually the part I really like is the idea of a detailed planning/scouting phase before the battle. Too many wargames just throw you right into the start of the battle, as if your old CO had just had a heart attack and you've just assumed command Chris

Doug, if only that were true. Despite all the games of quake I've played, I still miss over 40% of the shots I take at those pansy christians. Chris

I think a melding of something like panzer elite and cm, with the commander giving orders to real tankers on the net would be even better. It would be very high on the "neat-o" scale but rather low on the practicallity scale. As for manning MG's and whatnot, I don't see much wrong with this suggestion, assuming you don't mind waiting for BTS to make an entirely new game. As it is, I don't think such a thing would work real well with CM's current graphics, interface, PBM system, morale model. But thats nothing that a few more years of programming couldn't fix. For whats its worth though, the idea does score a few points on the neat-o scale. Chris

Actually, in my opinion, the big problem of FPS is that they rarely reward doing the smart thing, that is, laying down next to cover and firing. Generally, the player who runs right at you and then spins circles around you while shooting, wins. In real life, you'd nail him as he approached, but the difficulties of aiming in fps games, combined with the usual hardiness of the players makes this impractical. Mind you, just because its not realistic doesn't mean its not fun. Chris

I never really had any problem with cheating until I played a few "ladder" games.. Something about playing for a ranking really seems to drawn out immature behavior. The solution was simple enough though, I stopped playing ladder games. Chris

Wood?? Thats amazing. Imaging having to worry about your tank getting termites. Chris

Hmm.. I tend to think the resistance would have been a heck of alot less fierce if it was the americans making the attack. Especially with russian armies closing from the east, and the terrible stories circulating about the attrocities the soviet soldiers were committing. As I understand it, in the last phases of the war, both refugees and deserters headed west with the intention of getting conquered by the americans rather than the russians. I'm sure there still would be fanatical hold outs in berlin, but I don't think there was the same base of racial hatred and fear towards the americans. Chris

Me, I'm keeping an eye out for the duller knives in the drawer as potential opponents. I'll need all the help I can get. I may even resort to only playing RTS gamers. Chris

My understanding is the AI and iron out the bugs beta phase is the biggest thing that needs to be finished before release. Certainly not something that should be skipped for a later patch. While I'm in favor of seeing the greatest variety of vehicles ship with the product, I think it would be neat to see a weekly or bimonthly release of additional vehicles. Cavedog software did something similiar with an RTS game they released, and I think it added alot of longevity to the game. Now, admittedly, longevity shouldn't be a problem with a wargame like cm, (unlike rts games, where its measured in weeks rather than years), but I think periodically issuing new units would still be darn neat. It would bring gamers back to the battlefront website, which is good business for bf, and helps to build community among the gamers. Plus, its a good way to get some more that the eclectic german vehicle fleet into the game. In the past, developers showed very little inclination to improve their product after release. At best they'd just fix the things that were obviously broke (and re-release it as a gold version). Only a few ) chose to add improvements after release, out of a real desire to make their game better. As 90% of most modern title's sales are probably made in the first month or two after release, there is little monetary incentive. Hopefully with the BF system, developers will see financial rewards for improving their product after release as the life cycle should be alot longer. Chris

Yes, at my school we have an honor code. This code protects the right of all students to be treated as potential cheaters. It also builds honor by forcing us to sign pledges on every exam stating that we haven't cheated. Sure, when I was freshmen, I had trouble understanding the link between a coerced agreement and honor, but now, as a world wise senior I understand. Apparently, its actually ok to cheat, as long as you haven't signed the pledge promising that you wouldn't. But I digress. Chris

I've long believed that BTS should appoint a "Vice President in Charge of Screenshots". While my life is a bit busy at the moment, I'd be happy to take on the job as a service to gamer's everywhere. Chris BTS: We can talk about my salary and benefits package later.

I too, am absolutely in favor of BTS waiting until CM is totally finished before release. My impression is that they're going to that anyway, even if we all were yelling "Screw the bugs, I want it NOW!". But, just to play devil's advocate here for a moment, the decision to "release now or develop more" isn't as black and white as alot of people think. First, every month that goes by, the game and graphics engine gets more dated. Now, I know that many wargamer's say graphics mean nothing to them, but then again, I hear alot of people asking for blowing translucent smoke from wrecks too. And better graphics, by the standards of the release day, mean more sales to the non-wargamers. This means more chance of CM follow ups, and more new wargamers brought into the fold. The greatest wargame in the world wouldn't stand a chance, even with grognards, if it was in 4 color CGA. Also, since no one at BTS is on a salary, I assume, the money they make from CM is going to have to spread out over the time they spent working on the game. So if they spend 20 percent longer on the game, that means a corresponding 20 percent cut in "wages". Anyway, like I said, I'm glad BTS is waiting til its all done before release. I'm glad BTS doesn't follow the industry's lead of allowing customers to pay $50 for the priviledge of becoming a beta tester. But whenever I hear everyone saying "take your time", I like to interject that there is another side to the issue. Chris

But I think any offensive patton made wouldn't have to had to be kept such a ridiculously narrow salient. And while the terrain patton faced wasn't very tank friendly either, I think it was still better than the netherlands. In any case, it sure would have been interesting to see what patton could have done if he'd been given priority for supplies. Chris

I'll see if I can save Steve some typing and field this one.. The word has been that it'll be done when its done, and not a moment sooner. Right now this is shaping up to be the end of the summer, which I take to mean "somewhere in september". Obviiously alot depends on how the beta test goes, which I understand should be starting fairly soon. Chris

I was thinking about the "not modeling the interior of buildings" thing (which I totally agree with), and it got me me wonderng about just what kind of interior favors the defender most. Obviously stuff like stairs and scarce bottom floor entrances are best, but what about stuff like wall thickness? Better to be able to fire that SMG through the walls at the attacker, and risk the same from him? Would alot of small rooms be easier to defend that a few large ones? wall-to-wall carpeting vs numerous throw rugs?? Anyone with training in this area have any idea? (urban combat, not carpeting). Chris

I've always been sort of curious as to what would have happened had the british army arrived in the knick of time and save the paratroopers... That still would have left an exhausted force in one heck of a salient. Admittedly, the germans would have lost a rhine bridge, but I tend to think their response to this would be a large counterattack if forces and terrain would allow. As it was, I think the brits had to surrender many of the gains that XXX Corps made from market-garden as they were untenable. Any of the real history buffs out there care to comment? Chris