Colin

Hello again all, long time. I've been playing the CM:FI demo and it's really lovely. Which engine does this game run on? It's time for me to reinvest.

Any chance? I'm sorry if this has been covered, I searched on the website and the forum for Mac and found nothing. Pretty pretty please. I've been waiting for Normandy in a new engine since CMBO. Also I just found this on my old CMBO site. http://cm4mac.tripod.com/stuff/sc.html lol!! never finished adding screen shots. i also have a few pics of matt and a tribute page to him. i may even have a look at updating those scenarios for the new CM. good times. hope all is well matt charles and steve.

anything coming soon?

I am aware and I've edited to explain a bit. RTS beyond Red Alert 3 is the a new convention for me and is default when starting a scenario. Realistic RTS isn't something I've thought much about until now.

Wow, so I just played through some of the latest CMSF Demo. After sorting out the ATI mouse bug (thats a nasty one for sure) the audio worked properly, and the immersion level is really really good. I played CMBO heavily, and followed its development from pre-beta demo through the night of the refresh monkeys and into the early CMSF days. I didn't play much BB or AK because I wasn't going to boot into OS9 or XP and really those weren't my theaters of interest. Also high school and college got in the way a bit. I did try the initial CMSF demos but they seemed buggier then anything I'd ever tried by BFC so I didn't bother. 1) I keep waiting for the turn to end, but it never does. I actually think the TBS formula suits these games much better then RTS does. Each platoon leader would be making critical decisions quite often, and although having full overview of the AO is unrealistic as is planning movement in approx 1min increments (as tends to happen) it is better than making long sweeping moves and having no time to get into the platoon level command structure. I found I was just moving little markers around and never felt the need to get right in and watch the details like I did with CMBO. You just play a numbers game and try to put an Abrams in overwatch and see the game lose its intimacy. Being able to watch the same turn 4 times and see each units response to the events unfolding in front of it really made you appreciate the tacAI. I realize that RTS has many inherent realisms in that the nature of time is uninterrupted. 2) Immersion level is good, if not great. Lighting was wonderful. Textures great. A couple issues with draw distance on shrubbery's but its nothing a two level effect with a path down the middle couldn't fix. There was a slight delay when clicking on a unit before its stats are displayed. Because of the RTS nature of the game, its hard to enjoy each round, and theres no feeling of sitting in the turret of your tank and praying that the tungsten round is going to KO that hull down Panther at 1400m before he sees your Firefly on the horizon and one shots you. Again, I know that is optional and I could play a minute at a time to get what I wanted. 3) Artillery system is great. Quite realistic, good radio chatter to add to the immersion and reflects the improvements in arty over the years quite well. It feels like a precision jackhammer when compared to WW2 era 'prefire and pray'. 4) Fit and finish of the title is great. A new font in the briefing really wouldn't hurt though. It does look like an ACSII. There were a couple of strange audio things when selecting Stykers (sounded like engine noises or something) but barely perceptible. A million times better then the original demo. If there was a Mac OS X version, I'd have ordered the game as soon as I quit the demo. 5) Windows 7 compatible. Worked like a dream in Win7 32bit using my cobbled together BootCamp/OEM drivers. No compatibility modes. All in all, I am so excited for Normandy now, and as soon as I get a bit more time or a second Windows box I'll pick up CMSF. A couple questions I could probably find the answers to easily but haven't tried yet: Is there any easy way to compare relative unit power, penetration range etc? I know generally but I know in CM1 the M1 Garand (or was it carbine) was given a score of 100 and squad FP extrapolated from that. One of the briefings says something about not forgetting your mk19 to flush out the infantry. I just couldn't see which of my Stykers had it, or if there was toggle for the main gun or what was up with that. Now gimme a Mac version. Is there any hope of a Mac version for CM:SF? NOTE: I AM AWARE THAT RTS IS AN OPTION. It is however the default, and its new to me so thats why I comment on it.

Hey folks, I see there is still no Mac support for CMSF although I'm glad to hear the game improved since release. I tried it on my Windows box and it was quite shaky off the bat. Seems to have had the love and care that it needed and that reminds me of the Steve and Charles of old. Is this how things will be left? Has Battlefront shifted its focus to CM:Normandy? Is there any hope of an OS X version there? Obviously we can dual boot or virtualize Windows on our Macs. That is not the same as having a Mac OS X version for many reasons which I won't get into here. I'm still not going to change my signature. Can you elaborate on the technical difficulties you see in making a port to the Macintosh? Has your dev team considered TransGamings Cider SDK? Is it a matter of capital required to develop software that you suspect will not sell sufficiently to recoup dev costs? I realize this isn't all Shock Force related but this is somewhat tech related and this forum is probably one of the more active here.

this is why i am still here. patiently waiting for my CM. Steve please don't fail me and my sig! I still love you guys.

So it is time to change my sig? Or yes, something is indeed happening? A little more clarification would be nice.

I did a search and can't find anything up to date. I got an email today about the new CMSF expansion module. "Yay!", I think to myself. Except they still have no Mac demo, or Mac version, yet are producing an expansion...hmmm..is it time to change my sig? Is anything happening with regard to a Mac version? Ever?

if this ever happens properly, i will make my return, until then i lurk. ever ready.

So it's gonna be crap? </font>

I play the CMAK demo on my MacBook Pro in Windows at 1440x900. The interface is smaller but the game runs just fine.

I want sniper head shots counted.

Okay I was going to say it is a bit misleading to show a fully rendered scene w/ terrain etc, characters posed as though they were in game. But if the textures are going to look like that!!! Still WOW!

Okay I was hoping they weren't. Nice renders though.

Please pinch me I think I'm dreaming. http://www.armchairgeneral.com/articles.php?p=2774&page=1 Is that screenshot real? Please tell me the game will look like that! This is so far beyond what I expected, I'm so excited. It's not that I didn't think Steve and Charles and crew weren't capable of it, but I thought the graphics would always be worse then current gen. This look spectacular, and it needs its own thread. If you bring me a Universal Binary for OS X I'll send you guys some fine Canadian beer/wine as a thank you. I am hyped. I think a new website could be in order, LOL. I'm not 14 any more.

Dual channel performance is hit and miss, seems to be different for many apps, ie Q3 apparently benefits a lot (20fps+) but Doom 3 shows little difference (2-3 fps). I think barefeats.com has the benches. And yes, more memory is still better then matched memory in these machines.

Here's hoping for a universal binary version of CM:SF. They have no surprises like RAVE to OpenGL that hindered CM1 based games.

OS 9 is the exact opposite of vaporware. I'm sure the GMA950 plays CM just find, remember the graphics engine is archaic compared to say World of Warcraft where it manages to do just fine (10-13fps).

Okay well I lied I do have some idea about it. Coding for multi-core isn't that much harder then coding for single core. It's not like it's a different syntax or anything. It's all about the API's for interaction of the threads. The problem has always been the limited support. It was difficult to implement because of the limited return. It used to be that you'd only really hit a small target market with SMP optimizations. Now we're potentially looking at a large number of users with more then one core available. With the CM engine's stretching over a number of games usually I could see this being beneficial. Does anyone know if it's a Universal Binary? Edit: It will be UB. However it isn't coming out simultaneously for Mac and PC. Bah, I must wait to play LAN games then!!!

Honestly, I'm not sure why they wouldn't reevaluate that descison. Designing with the same chipset in mind for both platforms is a bit nicer anyway. It seems like Intel figured out that you can only clock so high with todays metallics so they are adding more cores. They are really pushing MP designs with multi-core notebooks and even consumer machines have Core Duo's for media apps. The Mac Mini and iMac for example. Unless something major has changed turn crunching was always CPU intense and this real time thing will make it even more difficult. I have no idea about the coding standpoint, but I think it could be worth while. That said I am on a G4, I just think one should make a game support the features it needs to make it complete. I trust BFC here of course.

This thread makes you appreciate just how talented Charles is. SCREENS?!?!!??

It's DARPA that has the $2bn budget not this program.

I wasn't planning on buying Convoy Mission. That is neat, but not for combat.

Wow, this is a horrible thread. Bad OP and no good in any of the following posts. OP: At least you admit to using the thread for your own rant. As for what you are trying to articulate, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume your trying to suggest that it's inappropriate to use the 'shock force' title as it alludes to the 'Shock and Awe' campaign that had negative connotations to most around the world. It's too bad your didn't think to phrase it like that. Next time, please think about what your posting and do a little more to shroud your idiocy. I think you need to do a little bit of research and maybe a little practice with your presentation. Reply: Maybe your right, however I don't think it's worth changing because of it. It will sell copies of the game if it is linked with US 'shock and awe' warfare. Sad but it's true. What's good for BFC is good for me. It is also somewhat descriptive of the blitzkrieg style action that the Styker force executes. AN ASIDE JUST FOR YOU: Keep your anti-semite **** out of here, it's not welcome. I'm willing to bet you don't know dick about the situation in Isreal/Palestine and probably aren't from there. Don't be an idiot and confuse zionism with being Jewish. You aren't allowed to justify an opinion like yours without knowing your stuff, and 'Jew's are bad' isn't a legit argument among adults. I'm not Jewish but I'd be pissed that you'd pick that Patton quote for posterity. Grow up or move along, or else I sense we shall not be board mates for long.