Marty

Oops - wait one. I first missed your comment about a zip file. The one I just downloaded is a cmg, so the previous version is apparently still in place.

I just tried again with the same results. I can't be sure whether I had the new file or old one again, as the download overwrote the existing one here. Is there a delay between your upload and it being placed for download?

I downloaded your scenario from TPG but was not able to play it. Although the file is properly located in the directory, it does not appear in my game list for selection. When I go into the editor and try to open the file, I can see it in the directory but get an error message telling me to "Update to a newer version." I have the standard CMAK version 1.0 from Battlefront. Is there a patch out already, or did you do something special in creating this battle? Marty

This is my first post in a long time - been out of the loop for awhile. This subject seems as good a place to jump back in as any! I have two features I would like to see in the next version - 1. A standard map editor format for all theaters, with all of the terrain types built in, or in modules that can be added. Standard scenario format would be really nice also, but it seems easier to reconstruct those details than it is to rebuild large maps. 2. A parameter or button that allows for more than the 60 second action turn. Perhaps 2, 3, 4, 5 minutes, or my favorite - continuous until all current orders are completed. Item 1 is just a plea for modular standardization and flexibility. Some days I just want to make games with whatever nationalities, in whatever terrain, at whatever time I want - no historical limitations other than the units available in the modules. Item 2 is for the more passive side of me, although there are certainly wartime uses for it. Sometimes, I like to create a battle that only consists of some impressive terrain and one vehicle, or perhaps a few of them, with no enemy units in play. Then, I plot a move that takes a lot of waypoints along the various roads and over the countryside. Next, I take a "locked on" view from one of the vehicles and proceed to "go for a drive" by letting the turns execute. The run can be exhilirating, especially from the second or third vehicle in a convoy, in mountainous terrain, in the winter! The 60-second interruptions are a bit annoying, especially since it loses the vehicle lock each time. :confused: Flowing from that is the issue of how much of that long drive should bae available for playback? As much as I can get, of course!

Thanks to Hubert for this fine game! Reading through all these messages it is apparent that many people are interested in expanding the capabilities of this game. Most talk of WWII variants or a WWI expansion. I'd like to carry that idea just a little bit farther. It seems to me that the system Hubert developed has the flexibility to cover: The Great Wars of 2oth Century Europe! Great War 1 (Will it be the one to end all wars?) Great War 2 (My tech is better than your tech!) Great War 3 (Speak deftly, carry a big nuke!) I don't know how hard-wired the game's settings are but with a small touch of additional "diplomacy" applicable to each of the eras, some combat could be done with units representing political actions, freedom fighters, financial actions (lost production points) and other aspects of non-combat warfare. Some calculation would have to account for events taking place in other parts of the world at the same time. The WW I and Cold War periods would each have their own distinct flavor because of the prevalent weapon lethalities and maneuver capabilities,or lack thereof. The implications of nuclear weapons would make for a lot of careful balancing in a Cold War module. If one wanted to push it a little more, you could probably have editors that allowed you to set the start points for WWII and Cold War based on the ending position of games played in WWI and WWII. You could, in effect, attempt to play a campaign covering the entire 20th Century. Even if the 3 wars had each ended differently, I'm sure mankind would have found a way to carry on with other major wars about every 20-30 years anyway!

From Trooper... Finally, might I point out that in the British forces, where there's a whole crowd of different beret colors and cap badges, the whole idea seems rather well received? ------------------------------------ What an understatement that is! It seems like every regiment in the British Army has its own uniform. I almost tripped over a curbside the day I saw a soldier in red CherryPickers standing next to an Irish Fusilier (Guards?) musician wearing an orange skirt, errrr...., kilt! I must admit, the regimental uniforms do look nice on parade - now I know why Humbrol has so many shades! The U.S. Army might not do badly by keeping the standard uniform and using assorted "regimental" headgear, based on traditions inherent to the regiments or divisions. Such as the Cav using the frontier cavalry hats, specialty troops with the various berets, and perhaps National Guard units with "local" flavor! (Now that ough to be a real trip...) I'm all in favor of leaving the black berets to the Rangers. They may look sharp on a group of Gung-Ho troops who have sweated hard to earn them, but hand them out to the whole army and you'll soon see why the Ike jacket went out of fashion! Looked great on SGT Rock, not so hot on Jackie Gleason. If you've ever seen some of the mediocre war movies from the 60's and 70's about Vietnam, you'll probably quickly realize there are a lot of people who don't have the faintest idea how to wear a military beret. My favorite is the 'eraser look', centered on the head and pulled straight up. The Army's got recruitment problems, officer losses, equipment and logistics shortages - we can fix it - change the hats! (Sorry, I just couldn't resist that... ..the name Beetle Bailey keeps popping into mind.)

I've been trying a demo program I downloaded awhile ago. It's pretty interesting, but what struck me about it was that it is produced by a small company, like BTS, and is developed for both Windows and Mac. The program, 3D Railroad Master, is a train simulator. You get to drive a train throughout a specified "layout", dropping and shunting cars, delivering and picking up cargoes, etc. All done in realtime 3D, with appropriate sound effects - great whistle! The primary view is from the engineer's position, but you can shift to external views also. The graphics are acceptable, but slightly outdated 3D. It has very much the kind of feel that CM does, or would if we could drive the tanks! If you ever liked toy trains, here is one program worth a look. This program, an excellent stand-alone simulation, is apparently an adjunct to the company's other program - 3D Railroad Concept and Design. That program is intended for those really into model trains, as it allows you to design and test a complete "layout" on the computer before ever laying spikes. The design program has its own views of the finished "layout", but, as I understand it, you can actually use those layouts in the RailRoad Master program - driving the trains on them as if real. The company even has contests for the best designed layouts submitted to their site, which can be downloaded. Four things strike me about the program: - The developers seem to be very much like BTS, working on a specific area of the hobby because of their interests in it - The common development for both Windows and Mac, although the developers have bemoaned the apparent lack of interest in the Mac version of the program - The sense, as in CM, that basically it just "feels right" for what it is trying to convey. - As in CM, there are things that can be mod'd, from the various cars and locomotives to the layouts mentioned above. Obviously, there must be some interest in the idea, as Microsoft has annouced they will introduce a Train Simulator early next year! You can download the demo, about 11MB for Mac, there is also one for Windows, at www.abracadata.com Now, if I can just figure out some way to meld 3D RR MR with CM so I can have military trains to drive through my CM battlefield! OK, OK - just so there is something on topic - what's the penetration effect of a 75L70 on a diesel locomotive?

Ok! Please disregard all above - I finally have the Mod Managers working. While reviewing the earlier messages for the fourth time I noticed a line in one of bsoplinger's texts that I missed previously. I have all of the File Exchange entries correct but that didn't seem to make much difference. What did, however, was the line I missed about converting bad bmp's to good bmp's. There is just something about having to convert a Windows file to a Windows file, so I can use it on a Mac, which leaves me speechless! Many Kudos to the developers of both Mod Manager programs! These are really excellent. I sat entranced watching all the pretty little pictures flit by. I could almost feel the personality changes affecting my computer as CM tried on the new accoutrements. Let' s Rock and Roll!

I downloaded the MDMP2 pack and both Mod Managers. They all unzipped fine and all configurations seem correct - however, I can't get either Mod Manager to work. First off, I don't think it is a problem with either program since everyone else is doing so well. rather it is a problem with my computer recognizing the files. The symptoms are: 1. If I try to drag the MDMP2 .bmp files over the running CM MacMod program, the program does not accept them as drag and drop they just snap back into the MDMP2 folder. 2. If I open the MDMP2 folder in MCM3 the program will not let me select any of the files. It gives me an error message like: "13390.BMP can not be selected because it is not a PICT or BMP file." Since I can't select any of the files I never get to the "Convert" function. 3. If I click on one of the bmp files in MDMP and then check it with the "File/Get Info" routine it tells me the files are Windows BMP graphic files. 4. If I doubleclick one of the MDMP2 bmp files I get an error message "that the file can't be opened because the file that created it is unknown." 5. If I drag one of those files over Quicktime PictureViewer or GraphicConverter, the program opens fine and shows the picture. 6. In the File Exchange control panel, the PC bmp format is set to use GraphicConverter. Does anyone have an idea as to what the problem is? TIA

howardb said: ...you're looking for the game: Driving miss Daisy Wrongo Grasshopper! With this crowd it would more likely be: Driving Miss DaisyCutter!

howardb said: ...you're looking for the game: Driving miss Daisy Wrongo Grasshopper! With this crowd it would more likely be: Driving Miss DaisyCutter!

I was just playing around with a couple homemade scenarios and it hit me that one feature I would like to see is an un-interrupted drive. Huh? What I mean is that sometimes the blood and pixels have worn me out. I can't bring myself to shoot another thing. However, I have all this beautiful terrain and all these snazzy vehicles! If I drive them around in view 1 it's better than a movie. Surely, there must be some way I can just take the Puma for a spin in the park or take the Crocodile around the block. Or maybe, I can hitch up the halftrack convoy and run 'em around the terrain just like the real thing, except no body is shooting at us! The only way I have found to do this so far is set up some vehicles on both sides, start a game and then drive whichever ones I want, except that: -it has to stop every minute as the drive is rolling along -the other side shoots at me! -if there is no other side, the game just declares a victory for my side and ends. How about making a "Sunday Drive" mode where the vehicles run for longer than 1 minute (5, 10 or continuous unless interrupted) and combat is not a consideration at all? I know, Iknow... ...shades of model trains and all that. Well, damn, so what! I didn't get to play with enough trains when I was young and I want to play with my tanks now! A moving convoy of vehicles looks pretty good in view 1 from about the 3rd or 6th vehicle back.

I just logged on and there is a new update already! I am still trying to digest everything that's in 1.04 and we're moving on to 1.05... I had to think about this a little bit but I think I've got it now - the truth is, there will never be a CM2, CM3, or CM4! Quick! Grab me before I faint!!!!! The pattern is emerging and the mists are fading... ...I see patches, lots of patches, like these: 1.0 Combat Mission (THE Game to end all games) 1.01 to 1.09 BTS declares they are cleaning up the 'system' and correcting bugs. Gamers worldwide impressed with their diligence and support. People everywhere rush to buy the game, even if they don't have computers - so desparate have they been to see a business, any business, provide real "support." 1.10 to 1.19 BTS declares addition of small improvements like additional terrain and gameplay mechanics. 1.20 BTS declares a little additional flavor to the game by adding a few vehicles - Eastern Front German panzers and the entire Russian Army. 1.21 to 1.29 (See 1.01 to 1.09 and 1.10 to 1.19) 1.30 BTS throws a little more spice on the meal by adding a few vehicles, including the Desert Rats and the Afrika Korps. 1.31 to 1.39 (See 1.21 to 1.29) 1.40 BTS melds in a few additional items by including all of the world's armies, and their vehicles, active between 1930 and 1940. 1.41 to 1.49 (See 1.31 to 1.39) 1.50 Having recovered from their lonnnnnnggggg visit in the Rest Home, BTS meisters Steve and Charles, with a newly rampant interest in the Pacific Theater will release their first mod - Struggle of Titans - the M3 Lee challenges Chi-Ha for supremacy! 1.51 to 1.59 Never done - the BTS boys have a relapse and lose all interest again. 1.99 Combat Linux - to be released as open source by BTS shortly after their acquisition of Microsoft. The acquisition provides Bill Gates with some new responsibilities - waxer extraordinaire for the collection of armored vehicles BTS gains when they buy Aberdeen Proving Grounds. OK... the mists are starting to close in again....

Just finished a QB with 1.04. (Thanks again BTS!! Great Support) I played as the German and had, in addition to other stuff, two Sdkz 250/1 halftracks. About half way into the game, I noticed that they didn't seem to be very effective against the opposition. I clicked on one to check what it was targetting, and it was locked onto the appropriate enemy unit, but had no ammunition left - not low - none. Same with the other halftrack. I don't mind if they started out with low ammo, just didn't notice it. What I found disconcerting was that both of them continued to have the red targetting bars and followed the targeted units for several turns until I finally clicked on the "Cancel Target" entry. I don't recall this happening before 1.04, but then I don't recall running out of ammo much either - so may not have experienced this. Personally, I would prefer that units which totally run out of ammo completely drop targetting automatically. When quickly clicking through the units to find available combat units, that ammoless, but targeting, unit can be a bit confusing.

IntelWeenie said: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I think it's just as interesting to think about what HASN'T changed since WWII. Up until 10-15 yrs ago, the US still fielded the same helmet, several small arms (M1911, .50 cal MG, etc.), nearly identical personal accoutrements (pup tent, mess kit, web gear, dog tags) among many other things. On the infantry side especially, things aren't so different from what they once were. Hmmm, MP44s vs. M16s.... Granted, things have really changed in the last few years, but its amazing how long some things lasted! (and we still use the Ma Duece! -------------------------------- And if the U.S. Air Force gets it's way, some bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young officer, along about 2030, is going to have the chance of flying the same B-52 his great grandfather flew almost 80 years before!