David Aitken

I swear I just saw a DrAlimantado drive-by posting. Who needs Lord Lucan?

Just wait until my new monitor and video card arrives on Monday. The resolution and clarity of my troops' view of the battlefield shall render all my shots ten times more accurate, and I shall be unstoppable. Why do you think I've suspended play while I'm limited to a paltry 1024x768@60Hz? dumrox, scaling is an important tactic to learn. Switching from +4 to realistic just as an enemy unit fires on one of yours usually causes the shot to miss completely, while scaling back up before your own units fire quadruples the size of your shots, so your machineguns fire 30.48mm bullets and your tanks use 300mm AP. Removing trees at the appropriate moment is a killer move which can decide the entire battle.

Have a look at these threads, which both relate to graphics in CM2: CM Graphics - Room For Improvement BTS - Is it time for a separate CM II forum?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>PawBroon wrote: Would that mean you'd then be able to see the error of your way and tell Maximus how wrong you were in your non MODing heresy? Be a good sport, go sooth Midgetus!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The monitor alone wouldn't have made any difference, because I already play at the maximum resolution where the game runs smoothly on my machine. However, today, to assuage my seething bitterness towards sundry factors making me wish that guns were not banned in this country, I condescended to blow some more money and get an ATI Radeon to replace my Nexus (which I bought for... err... the CM Beta Demo). So, assuming my theories on the relationship between computer speed and graphics speed pertaining to Combat Mission are correct, on Monday I may be playing at a resolution of at least 1600x1200 on my shiny new 19" monitor. Otherwise I'll just have to sell my soul to Berli and get whatever new toys Apple introduces at next month's Macworld Expo NY. Of course, this doesn't mean I'll be wanting to use new bitmaps, but it will hopefully mean I can see the whites of the enemies' eyes without having to relocate the camera. And I expect my men's accuracy to be improved as a result. BTS has modelled that, haven't they? That'll mean I get quadruple points – double for my increased accuracy, and double for knocking out Lawyer's fancy high-res tanks with my v1.0 low-res jobs.

I can't believe those gits on the Outer Board™. You could give them a scale model of the world in the 1940's and allow them to zoom in and see what's happening in any place at any time, and issue orders to try and change the course of history in absolute realism, and they'd still be complaining that they don't have a proper way to group-select their units or their men aren't executing orders according to doctrine. God help BTS.

Most of the competition is rather stiff after rigor mortis sets in.

I can't imagine why Berli thought Panty Liner and MrSpnkr's souls worth the bandwidth he's granted them in exchange, although I'm sure the gall to cast themselves as Peng Thread Historian and Playwright In Residence grew all by itself, like a fungus in the festering mass that passes for their cerebral cortex.

I don't need shotguns, I have a nice heavy 17" ex-monitor to clout people like Maxipad over the head with. Actually, strangely enough it still does 1024x768@60Hz or less, except a bit distorted. Not worth fixing things these days. Aye, in my day, they built things to last! Nowadays you buy a computer for a tenner and then replace it next week. No such thing as craftsmen or engineers any more... they'd just replace all the wiring and give me back the same shell with a different monitor inside, and that'll be 300 quid please, and 500 for the labour, and oh guess what, you could have got a new one for 200! Pff.

Important Announcement Involving matters from the Real World™ My monitor has succumbed to the horror of having to display not only your butcheries of the English language and insults to the intellect of a woodlouse, but also your pathetic attempts to emulate a hyperactive three-year-old's idea of military operations. It is currently running on half-speed, and I fear I may soon be stranded in the computerless wilderness. Until my replacement arrives, hostilies are suspended, so you are all granted a few days' reprieve until I may continue kicking you around the battlefield in 19 inches of flat-screen trinitron glory. You are again returned to your previously-scheduled halfwit droolings.

It appears there has been a mix-up between CM2 and CMII. The sequel to CM will not include relative spotting, this is for the engine rewrite. See Madmatt's post here.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Robert Mayer wrote: I think each soldier needs to be tracked by name and personal history.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, the true wargamers among us have felt short-changed since Hasbro's Squad Leader, that fine production which remains true to the principles of realism and accuracy upheld by Avalon Hill's original board game, introduced a feature whereby a soldier's morale can be harmed by events such as a 'Dear John' letter from home. I know why that 6lb'er didn't take out the Jagdpanther through its frontal armour – it's because Corporal Perrin just got ditched by his girlfriend, but BTS is hiding this information from us! Heck, I don't even know what he had for breakfast!

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Panty Liner wrote: It is so hilarious, and you know the rest of the world is thinking "Oh, those crazy French, when will they learn?"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The "rest of the world" being the Untied State of America, I assume? That fine, democratic country which swiftly punishes power-abusing corporations, and wouldn't dream of allowing them to do whatever they please in the name of The Holy Quest For Financial Profit, and destroy anyone who might stand in their way? Yes indeed, the French are crazy for standing up for their rights – everyone knows the general public doesn't have any rights.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>MrSpnkr wrote: SIX whole games? Wow. Don't want you to strain yourself or anything.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes, I prefer to spend some time executing a battle plan and employing sound tactics. I apologise for using such complex terminology in conversation with someone such as yourself, who doubtlessly enjoys pressing buttons randomly, drawing lots of colourful lines across the map, and then sitting back and watching all the pretty explosions. And on the inevitable occasions when my opponent gamily overcomes my stoic and valiant forces using extremely rare equipment and ahistorical tactics, whether I succeed or succeed (but less so), I do it in style. You miserable adrenaline-freak keyboard-bashing click-junkies don't appreciate the fine art of making war – or making love, or even making a cup of tea. I will crush you when you begin to irritate me sufficiently that I can no longer bear your presence (hence my swift acceptance of Panty Liner's gauntlet). I shall now return you to your discussion about plastic young women with more implants than brain cells.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>MrSpnkr wrote: Care to voice any preferences<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes, I would prefer if you would sod off and go back to watching your favourite thirty seconds of Under Siege over and over again. I have five current PBEMs (six if Geier either wakes up or gets his eyes tested), and one of these is a grim assault against Fort PantyLiner which is worth five normal PBEMs, in terms of hatred if not in terms of value. So if you really want your teeth kicked in, I can put you on my waiting list.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Panty Liner wrote: (as is obvious by his uncomfortable camplaining when anyone mentions the female genetalia)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Did anyone? I didn't think we had stooped that low yet, but the way your're going, it won't be long to wait.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Speedbump wrote: Oh, the Daily Sun is a porn rag?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Congratulations on getting your first clue.

Napoleon, if you have not already, I suggest you read the above linked threads. These explain why the soldiers in CM do not appear to be doing what you would expect to see.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Selfhump wrote: Someone sounds like he is just a wee bit tired of the Plump Page 3 girls available in the UK!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Ah, looks like we have an authority in the house. I'm not acquainted with any pornographic publications, so I'll be sure to call upon your expertise if anyone ever threatens me with a knife in the street and demands to know which is the tackiest available porno. "Hold on", I'll say, "instead of snapping your elbow joint and doing a tapdance on your prostrate body, I think I know a chap who can help you!", and I'll give him your e-mail address, before snapping his elbow joint and doing a tapdance on his prostrate body. Unless, of course, you would want a shot of his prostrate body before the police arrive.

I actually just explained that to tom_w in another thread. I was referring to the performance of the Search function since the forum 'upgrade'.

Was it just a hallucination inspired by the musical ecstasy that is Amnesiac, or did I just hear Panty Liner fantasising about seeing Emma naked, Stuka and Speedbump drooling over Denise "pneumatic bimbo" Richards, and MrSpnkr getting all worked up about Erika "pneumatic bimbo" Eleniak? Sorry, I thought this was the mighty Peng Thread, but it appears I've walked in on a male onanistic orgy (I suppose that's what happens when you spend time prowling around the dank recesses of civilisation). Yes, I know Mace just burst out of a large cake and performed a striptease, but for someone with an unhealthy affection for sheep that seems refreshingly normal. You lot, I gather there are plenty of websites for that sort of business, and this isn't one of them, so zip up and let's resume the noble art of killing people and blowing stuff up.

I have a short list of threads pertaining to some of the main topics which have arisen over the past year or so. I gathered the actual URLs using the search engine, but only because I had read or participated in the originals and knew what to search for. I did all this before the latest forum upgrade, but unfortunately I'm not sure it would be possible now.

Here are some threads which should interest you: #'s of soldiers in future CM titles - will modern tech help? men flying from explosions An interesting idea for squad representation! A Case For Full Squad Representation As for terrain, I think we can expect moderate improvements in CM2, particularly in terms of buildings, as city fighting was very prominent on the Eastern Front. I have just heard from Steve that there will be major terrain improvements, as we might expect, in CMII (the engine rewrite scheduled for after CM2).

Tom, threads from the old forum are present in the new forum. Simply copy the URL for a current thread, and replace the number with that of the original thread. As such: should we be able to see so much?

I also recently lost a tank through armour flaking, a Challenger hit by a 50mm gun from a few hundred metres. The tank, however, had already lost its commander to an enemy marksman, so the flaking caused the second casualty out of five crewmen. Armour flaking, in my understanding, is not just a bit of metal peeling off the inside of the hull – in effect it is like a minor penetration, because the shell stops outside the hull, but the force is translated into a large chunk of metal which is propelled through the interior. This could injure or kill crewmen and/or cause damage inside the tank. I don't think it unreasonable that the crew should abandon, either through shock from what may as well have been a proper penetration, or fear of a subsequent penetration, or necessity through loss of vital crewmen or mechanical damage.

This thread should tell you all you need to know: Gamey Recon?