maxm2

For me, email fits in perfectly with my schedule. I work during the day and have various things to do during the evening, so I have to squeeze in game time when I can grab it. Also, I may be interrupted in the middle of a move/game, and have to answer the phone or go attend to something else for a while, then go back to the game. Can't do this conveniently with another player sitting in front of his screen waiting for my next move. Out of curiosity, why would you want to play a game like CM "real time?" You have to sit and wait for each other to plot your moves for about the same time it takes to email something (or use ICQ or some such). And where's your LAN? Do you get to play at work, or do you have two (or more) computers hooked up at home?

John is absolutely right in my opinion: Angel in the Whirlwind is a really excellent book. Even if you're not particularly interested in early US history, if you have any interest in war, diplomacy, etc., this is a terrific book. Best first person account of the Rev War: "Private Yankee Doodle." Terrible title but great book.

Thanks very much for the good wishes. Even though I'm a Revolutionary War re-enactor (some of the people from my regiment were down there with Mel) I have to say that I wish we had passed on the revolution thing and ended up more like Canada: quicker end to slavery and a much more equitable (notice I didn't say "better" for all you US healthcare system boosters) health care system today! A historical note: the Brits were being taxed more heavily than the colonies, and taxes & duties were routinely evaded (that is, people smuggled and/or ignored the taxes) by the ingenious Yanks. There are almost always alternatives to military action to the creative mind.

Question: Exactly WHY would a game business want to keep sales figures a secret?? I can see the point when, say, a copier manufacturer might not want to save a rival the trouble of determining which part of the line of products is doing better or worse. I can see the point if one is thinking of selling the business and, if there were a poor showing, one wouldn't want potential buyers to know up front that a certain product was a flop (or maybe exactly how big a success it was). I could even see it if there were stockholders....but there aren't any stockholders to keep in the dark about the current situation if it's a flop (so you can hope for a later success to sweeten the annual report). We're talking about a game from a small compay ("not that there's anything wrong with that"--J. Seinfeld) which is not positioned in a head-to-head competition with some other company (is it?). There isn't even another game that compares (in feature mix and quality) with CM. So what if another small game company selling military games is doing better or worse? Steve/Charles--or anyone out there with a game business background--what are the considerations?

Ah, but this opens up a whole new area for CM to explore. You have your crack band of French partisans, drinking a little wine, having some nice cheese, smoking their fine Galois....suddenly they spot German troops! Can they hide successfully?? Can they convey their precious information to the Allies? Can they stop arguing about who will take the information to the Allies and who will carry the wine long enough to actually carry out their mission?? Only YOU as player can decide!!!!

You may be too busy, but by my count you have gotten at least three "best buy" "must have" pick of the week" etc., etc. awards from web sites. Going to display those (plus all the magazine awards you'll get) somewhere???? --Max

Hey--I still haven't gotten it and I live in Philadelphia....which is downhill from Maine, so I should have gotten it faster than anyone!

They French kiss, they eat French Fries, and they put French's mustard on them.

Thanks once again to BTS for the timely and welcome updates! I preordered on April 5th, 1923. I received my Gold copy some time in the 30's, if I remember correctly. Sorry boys. (Of course, I had to wait until they invented PII computers to play it, but I have the patience of Job. While we're getting biblical) "And Lo a mighty Wind with Fire and Locusts was summoned by the Lord to smite all the enemies of whatever particular tribe he was smiting enemies for on that Particular Occasion..."

babra that screen shot/menu is a scream! Very funny!! ------------------ Max Molinaro

Thank God we have the Phillies to boost our self-esteem! And now---off to Cape May!

To be totally accurate here, all I told Elvis was: "The check's in the mail." (heh-heh!) Now where are all the other Philly guys (and gals?) so Elvis can drop the dues just a tad....?

One of the Golden Agers: 53 (but I look 52) year old psychologist, been gamin' since Avalon Hill came out with Gettysburg in 1963(?). My professional opinion is that most of us are really sick puppies, but with a lot of love and heavy medication, we can recover.... : )

AWWRIGHT PHILLY!! OOOOOWEEEEE!! PHILLY RULES! HOO-HOO-HOO! WE DA BOMB! CHEESE STEAKS! MAYOR STREET! DIRTY STREETS! UNDERWATER NIGHT CLUBS ON THE WATERFRONT! Yes, I think I would agree that a Philly chapter would be, as Martha says, "a good thing."

Good guess, Pham---and funny!

***VOT SPOILER*** I used to get nailed regularly by schrecks hiding in the woods in the beta CE scenario. In my current game of VoT with Marauding Mark Ezra, he had a tank on a hill and one of my schrecks opened up from well over 100m away. For some reason neither the tank nor the infantry with it fired on my schreck, and after expending all his ammo, my schreck guy got the tank on the last round he had. So it wasn't real accurate at that distance, but it was enough! Incidentally, if you're laying the gold demo, SS_Ivanivsky, I hope you're using protection.... : )

Aw, Mother Teresa and Ghandi were 'way more patient than Steve and Charles. Shoot.

>ahem< I would like to humbly point out to Lurker and the rest of you that fuzzy dice were first used in my Skrewee Skreen Shot: "Detroit Motorworks had a slightly different approach to tank manufacturing. Introducing the Custom M4 Boss 75's" (caption by Madmatt) on page one of Max's Gallery at CMHQ. Bringing together the disparate elements of battle tanks and hot rods was achieved through the use of fuzzy logic. On the fuzzy edge of technology (not to mention insomnia--why do you think I'm writing this crap at 5am, my time?), --Max PS: Hope you're feeling better soon, Madmatt! [This message has been edited by maxm2 (edited 05-18-2000).]

Ah yes...thank you for bringing that one back.

I've been using Hypersnap with the beta and Gold Demo and have had no problem with either. I have a Gateway 400Mhz pc with a 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee AGP card w/16mb RAM.

NowTHAT'S the article I've been looking for! Thanks for posting the url!

To start out, I think most of the people I "know" from this forum are doing an excellent job promoting our beloved game in doing reviews and responses to reviews on other web sites. But I also see some very negative stuff at times, and want to suggest that trashing the intelligence and judgement of people who don't "love" CM and instantly grasp all of its many wonders is very counter-productive to good PR for the game. When I see fanaticism about other games (or anything else, for that matter) expressed on the net, it makes me wonder about how biased the supporters might be in all their judgements. It also leaves a bad taste about the product being promoted through an attack on critics. That's irrational, but we ain't the most rational species. In particular, when the issue is using a valid standard of comparison (such as why CM's graphics aren't as good as the latest first person shooter, or why the AI is "only" better than any other wargame), it doesn't help to dismiss using the wrong yardstick as the ranting of an idiot. When I first saw CM's graphics in POTDs on CMHQ many months ago, without knowing anything else about the game, I was put off. And BTS obviously knew they could look better, because a lot of improving was done since then. Yet even back then there were still posts on the forum tearing into people who dared to suggest the graphics were not perfectly fine. CM still doesn't look like the best FPS games. And nailing someone who is disappointed will not make them think: "Of course! How stupid I am!" But patiently explaining why an FPS standard is not a good one to use with CM, and urging doubters to just try a few scenarios where they get down in the middle of things, will go a long way to get people reading the reviews and the dialogues to try it, and will avoid a "CM and its attack dog fanatics" rep which will not do the game any good. I don't want my opinion concerning CM to be dismissed on other forums or in other venues because I'm assumed to be "one of those CM crazies."

Thanks, Lurker, for clearing that up. I hadn't realized that "pay you a visit" meant friendly socializing. Is my face red!

And peace on earth to women too. Even if too few of them have the acumen to play war games. (I get a kick out of those game ads where they show some female model supposedly engaged in internet game playing, shouting to her cybercomrades: "Watch your six! You got company but he's gonna be dead meat!" Yeah, right.)

Just wanted to say I see no humor in someone threatening (even if it's only irritated hyperbole) to take action in "the real world," as in paying someone "a visit." And over opinions about a computer game???