Lee

Well, I hear that Mechwarrior IV will actually be designed by Fasa itself. So this should make for the best Mechwarrior game ever. It's due out at the end of the year. I would kill for a game like Mechcommander but turn-based instead of real-time with all the detailed combat options that the tactical boardgame has. I think that real-time ruined the game, it took away all the minute tactical control that is so important to a Battletech wargame. Turn-based rules for games like Battletech. What I want is a game engine like the one used in Jagged Alliance II but for Battletech.

Interesting. So, in a heavy squad the assistant gunner is assumed to grab his own weapon in a close range fight, thus lowering the effective firepower of the MG-42 but increasing the overall firepower of the squad at that range due to the extra personal weapons being brought to bear? But once the range increases to 100 yards or so then the assistant gunners go back to helping the gunners fire the mg and this causes the spike in the effectiveness of the mg's at the longer ranges. I have that right, Steve?

Well, if these AP rounds with an HE charge in them were significantly more effective than AP alone if the armor penetration was only partial, then it would be nice to have it modeled. Does CM model this? Or will we have to wait for the add-on to get this refinement to the armor penetration model? If these HE charges made such a big difference in performance, then I'm surprised that Steve or Charles hasn't already mentioned it as a factor in combat in CM.

Hmm, tanks battling it out with warships, you gotta love that. I would also like to see the earlier panzer IV's be included in the add-on to CM.

Well, you should never have anything running in the background when you are playing a game. Doing this can often lead to weird glitches and crashes that seemingly have no cause. I always run a very clean setup when playing games. Nothing but the windows essentials running in the background.

Yeah, one does get the feeling that perhaps the game mechanics do tend to exaggerate the advantage a defender might have in this particular situation. Perhaps Steve or Charles can comment on this important aspect of CM and help make this clearer.

Good questions, I'd like to hear what Charles has to say about these issues.

Well yeah, if there is some deranged fellow running about who's always dreamed of shooting it out with reenactors, then you might have a problem on your hands. But you're probably just as likely to run into a similar nut who's always wanted to shoot everyone standing in a McDonald's, while you happen to be there. So I don't think the risk factor is worth worrying about really. And as far as some unstable guy getting into an argument with someone and then deciding to shoot at them, well, if he's that touchy then he almost certainly would have already shot someone long before getting anywhere near a reenactment field.

Uh, I didn't mean use live fire without warning and directed against your fellow reenactors. If some nut wanted to shoot at people I doubt *very* seriously he would go to the trouble to join a historical reenactment group and then open up on the "enemy" for real. There are a million easier ways to do it.

There will be quite a few vehicles going in, I imagine.

Ah, but in the first expansion pack to CM this is just the sort of vehicle that will likely be added. Steve said so. I'm looking forward to seeing it added.

I'm curious why the Tiger didn't do a sharp turn (while slowing down forward speed so as not to leave the road if there were trees in the way off the road) to present it's side/front armor to the scout? Plus that would make the 88 come to bear faster as well. One thing is for sure, that M8 would have been blown clear off the road had that Tiger gotten it's gun around in time.

Audrey Murphy???

I, for one, would love to hear a comment/update from Steve on this subject. I'm also still very curious to see the results from a test with the 88mm and near-misses against light armored vehicles with the tac AI turned off so you can target right under a friendly vehicle.

The problem here is that I don't know exactly how CM models assaulting a building. Does running in mean in the game that your guys are busting in the front door and aggressively taking on the defenders or does it mean a reckless entry? On the other hand, does sneaking in mean skillfully entering the building so as to avoid unnecessary losses or does it mean your men are entering the building too slowly and thus losing any shock value as they assault? These are important questions. Steve, just how are building assaults modeled and what do the different types of entry mean (crawling in, sneaking in, running in, etc.)? How do they affect combat modifiers?

Wouldn't it be great if they could incorporate live fire somehow? Firing on somewhat hardened targets at various distances with accuracy and damage effects used to score kills on bunkers, APC's, etc. That would be neat.

Interesting about the berserkers. I knew they were fierce warriors that fought in a crazed and frenzied manner and were much feared for their ferocity but I didn't know about the first one having fought as a bear on his lord's side in a battle.

He means the orginal one that came out like 4 or 5 years ago. It's a fun game but I had a long list of improvements that I wanted to see implemented but they never did a sequel. The new one coming out from Codemasters (who bought the rights to the game off of Sierra) uses the Unreal engine and looks to be very cool. I just hope they make it realistic, like Rainbow 6.

I'm impressed. Sounds like Charles has worked more of his programming magic on the AI. That AI sounds so far superior to any other ground combat AI out there that I'm sure it will set an entirely new standard for AI in wargames that others with less skill than Charles will be hard pressed indeed to keep up with. In fact, with all the experience and in-depth knowledge that Steve and Charles have about CM and WWII combat, I would imagine either would make for a formidable opponent on the battlefield. How have you fared against them in battle, Fionn?

RobVarak: Why does everyone call it the "congressional" Medal of Honor? It's just the Medal of Honor, I don't know why that name is gotten wrong so often. As far as fanaticism goes, I think one has to distinguish bravery from fanaticism. Fanaticism would be more along the lines of fighting with an almost, if not in fact, suicidal disregard for losses in the pursuit of achieving an objective. Sometimes even when the particular objective in question isn't of that great an importance. Some elits units might exhibit this sort of behavior. In CM this would be manifested in hugely increased resistance to suppression. And I would also hope CM has a very large bonus in close quarters combat as well. This would simulate fighting it out hand to hand with a bunch of lunatics. [This message has been edited by Lee (edited 02-24-2000).]

Yep, those are about the reasons I figured, Matt. Like I said, we need to upgrade the net's capacity (the internet 2 standard of system-wide bandwith seems like it might to do the trick).

I'd like to see some cool armor on the manual cover. And the CD slip cover.

Hmm, the whole U.S. internet is running at only half the speed of last year? Why is that? The backbones not keeping up with user demand? I'm on a cable modem and most sites don't load in the 3 secs you might imagine they would. The problem is that most servers (and the net in general) simply don't have the bandwith to feed me the data as fast as I can take it in. This is just the opposite of the problem I had with my 33.6 modem (usually only could connect at 28.8). I have tested my modem on servers that I know have fast connections and I can dl at over 1 meg every 3 secs if the server's connection can keep up with me. In fact, even faster than that but there are almost no servers out there that have the bandwith to let me go that fast. Such are the troubles of a cable modem user. *sigh* The internet infrastructure needs to be 4 or 5 times as fast as it is now. That would go a long way to help out with this sort of thing.

Sorry to hear it, Fionn.

Speaking of frame counters, I think one highly desirable feature for CM would be a menu option to display the curent frame rate during playback of the turn's combat. The number could be discretely displayed in the corner of the screen and could be turned on or off with a keystroke or click on a menu. This would help one to see how much of a benefit their new video card has provided them, or if they are in need of a more powerful one.