Dschugaschwili

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lurker: Here are some questions for our experts who seem to know everything (including the kitchen sink): What type of fuses did the kitchen sinks use? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, the kitchen sinks didn't need fuses. That's what made them the cheap yet devastating weapon system they were. With an impact velocity of about 100m/s (when used in the indirect fire role), even on soft ground enough the projectiles burst into several thousand fragments, enough to take out quite a few men. There are even reports of knocked out half-tracks that suffered a top hit. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> Could a kitchen sink be made to bounce to create a more devastating air burst? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> There are rumors that some of the Schwere Küchenspüle batteries were equipped with a VT fuse similar to those used in Flak units, but I couldn't find a source confirming this. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> If kitchen sinks can be made to bounce, how effective were they when bounced against the underside armor of enemy tanks? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The kitchen sink was designed to be an anti-infantry weapon primarily, successful uses against lightly armored vehicles were common, but it was rarely used against tanks. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> I seem to remember hearing reports of special "low rider" tanks developed to protect the weak belly armor of tanks. Can any one corroborate these reports? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, I will have to leave this one to others. I don't have reliable sources on this topic. Dschugaschwili

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn: Personally I think that the "porta-sink Ausf D" is extremely important and that the two-man "throwing teams" which were utilised to deploy this weapons system should be modelled. Oh, and before anyone asks... No, I don't think the toxic and biological aspects of kitchen sinks (or even "public toilet Ausf Ds") should be modelled since we're not modelling conventional gas shells either. Also, does anyone have any info about the nahverteidisinks mounted on late-war AFVs ?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You can't have put very much time on researching this topic, right? I mean, you didn't even find the correct German terms for these weapons. Apart from that, (and considering how the Germans loved heavy stuff) I tend to agree with GermanBoy on the Schwere Kampfspüle Ausführung Y. And it's really a shame that it isn't included in CM in the first place. By the way, did at least the lighter Kloschüsselwerfer Ausführung E make it in? I've heard they were highly effective and much cheaper than regular arty. Dschugaschwili

In a PBEM game I'm playing at the moment (by the way, the same game that caused the "that building ate my unit" thread - answer: There was a SMG squad inside :-D) I've discovered something I find very strange: If you place a squad in the middle of one of the big wood buildings, you can't see/shoot out of it, but you can be fired at from the sides. Can anybody explain what's happening here? Oh, and another thing: I know it's too late to make feature suggestions for CM, but I would like it if tanks would stop their area fire against buildings as soon as they collapse. In the beta demo, they continue firing and waste precious HE ammo (especially those hellcats where HE is always low). Dschugaschwili

Why do you actually keep a Voodoo1 card in your computer when you have a TNT2? Even Glide applications will probably run faster if you use your TNT2 and a Glide wrapper. Dschugaschwili

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CoolColJ: There is also a new ATI card competing with the Geforce 2 GTS, so hang on folks its starting to get exiting. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> CoolColJ, This new ATI card is not really competing with the GeForce 2 GTS (or the Voodoo4/5 series) because while the new Voodoo5 / GeForce2 cards will be available in May (if everything goes right for both companies), you won't be able to buy a Radeon256 card for a couple of months. I don't think you'll want to wait that long before you can play CM without limitations. Dschugaschwili

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Big Time Software: I do think there was a spotting bug with foxholes in the demo. I can't say for sure, but it does ring a bell. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> There definately is a (reproducable) bug in the beta demo that let's you "see" foxholes without having spotted them. For those who don't think this sentence makes any sense, forget it. The others should know what I mean... Dschugaschwili

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CoolColJ: Think about this the grass in the gold/my mod was at 256x256 - which 192kb per grass texture, and there are at least 8. This still looks too large for the area that the texture covers. So I'd like to increase that to least 256x512 (384kb), or even better at 512x512! That's 768kb per tetxure! Hmm that's 6 megs already for 8 grass tetxures alreay! You do the sums. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Does anyone beside me think O.V.E.R.K.I.L.L. ? <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CoolColJ: I want no limitations with my CM gaming<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Sigh. I guess I can't argue with this one. Dschugaschwili

Well, if your TNT2 is painfully slow when using 3d apps, you can always give it to me so I can replace my Voodoo2. I guess our understanding about sufficient frame rates differs somewhat. By the way, have you even read my reply? But anyways, with the texture compression of the GeForce 2 you should be able to cram 60 MB of textures into the 32MB the GeForce 2 cards will most likely have. Dschugaschwili

Great post! Just one thing: most rhetorical devices have Greek names. Dschugaschwili

Well, considering that the GeForce 2 GTS has on-chip texture compression, there isn't a game out there that would benefit from having 64MB ram. Talk about overkill... And I don't think it will be at least 60% faster in real world scenarios. Ok, at resolutions above 1280x1024, it may be true, but do you have a monitor that can handle 1600x1200 physically? I don't. And I don't mind. By the way, who needs 60 fps in CM anyways? Dschugaschwili

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bakker@home: Well,clearing buildings can be interpeted as 'clearing the town of buildings' so bring in the stuh42 ! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Is that what you're doing in Riesberg at the moment? Dschugaschwili

CPU speed isn't the deciding factor on low end computers, it's the graphics card. I've tried CM on a Pentium 90, and it was unplayable because the drivers of that ultra-modern ET4000 card couldn't handle transparency effects. Reading white text on white background isn't really what gives you an idea about how many men / how much ammo ... a squad has left. Dschugaschwili

It has nothing to do with Windows' virtual memory. I have the VM settings exactly the way you suggest (except that I use 256MB). It doesn't effect the CM scratch files.

I've had these files before. I got them when I was trying to load a corrupted PBEM file. It seems that the game then allocates more and more memory until it runs out of space (that happened to me) or you kill the program. However, the files stay there and waste space. If CM isn't running and there are CM scratch files in your temp directory, simply delete them. Dschugaschwili

Well, I obviously didn't see the command lines, but the unit disappeared upon entering the building. So the staying command lines seem like a bug to me, I think the rest has a rational explanation. Dschugaschwili

I'll have a look at the movie as soon as I get home. It will take another day before I can give an answer to that question though. And I don't promise that I will give one for FOW reasons. Dschugaschwili

Well, I guess it's time for a slow PBEMer to raise his voice. I have 3 games going at the moment, with two of them lasting ~2 months now, and at least one of them won't come to an end anytime soon (at least I hope so). Even if it wasn't for the time zone issue, I couldn't send more than one e-mail a day, and I don't have a CM capable computer at hand during weekends (at least now). What I like about PBEM is the lack of I-have-to-get-this-turn-out-within-the-next-20-minutes spirit. Don't impose silly rules on this playing mode. Dschugaschwili

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wittman: How did I choose my battle-nick? Well, let's just say I mostly play as the Germans shall we? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Wait a minute... Wasn't Wittman Fionn's smurf name on this forum? I remember a tactics post by Wittman a while back where he had to admit it finally. Although as far as I know, it should be Wittmann (makes much more sense as a German name). Dschugaschwili

Ahem, an Athlon 600 with a TNT2 won't run Quake3 reasonably??? I'm playing Quake3 with my K6-2 333 and a Voodoo2. I'm not euphoric about the performance, but I can live with it. Just don't try to run at 1600x1200 with FSAA and every picture quality option set to highest. Fionn's planned system is fine. Dschugaschwili

If you want to upgrade an old computer (say <250MHz) take a Voodoo card for two reasons: 1. They are available as PCI devices and you probably don't have an AGP slot anyways. 2. They don't require a fast CPU to run properly. This isn't well known anymore today, but if you stick different video cards into a slow computer, the Voodoo cards win performance wise. Obviously the drivers have a lower CPU demand than those of other cards. 3. They're cheap. Ok, now it was three reasons, but still: a TNT2 or even a GeForce is definately overkill for slow computers. Dschugaschwili

I think these points are mutually exclusive because you just can't handle the amount of micro-management required in a realistic (that is not abstracted to a point where you can't see the "atoms" anymore) environment, or only under heavy stress that detracts from the fun. Try to restrict your orders phase in CM to one minute, and then think about how many times during the movie you would want to intervene and give new orders. It just isn't practical for one human to control dozens of them. Dschugaschwili

Well, I don't think it's possible to make a realistic RTS that's still fun to play... Actually, the only RTS I liked until now is Starcraft. Totally unrealistic of course. But lots of fun when playing multiplayer. As far as I can see, you can get at most 2 out of the following: - Real time play - Realism - Fun The actual choice depends on personal preference. And as far as game magazines go, I don't deny that there may be a few good ones. But overall, I found it a waste of money. Just my 2 Pfennig, Dschugaschwili

Jochen, that's exactly why I've stopped reading game magazines. Strategic/tactical wealth and depth isn't appreciated anymore nowadays, it's all about graphics. Dschugaschwili PS: Sei deshalb nicht traurig! Kündige das Abo!

Kettle Black, I won't correct you on the Geier/Vulture thing because you're right. For my name, I was looking for some nickname I could use for Quake. (I had been using Redbaron for Descent, but it just didn't seem to fit for a FPS ) Then I stumbled upon Dschugaschwili being Stalin's "real" name in a history book, thought: "sounds cool!", and kept the name in every computer game that supports names with at least 14 characters. By the way, it was really nice when some of us students at the university met for a private LAN-party, and someone suddenly asked (slightly unnerved): "Who's this Dschu..., Dschuga..., Dschugawhat?" Dschugaschwili

Hooray! There's someone out there who can spell my name. Dschugaschwili