Buckeye

LOL. Looks like a German version of a Chinese fire drill!!!!

Well, it hasn't totally stopped the random lockups, but it has seemed to make them much less frequent. Probably some quirk of OS 9.

Congratulations on the smashing success of CM! You earned it!

Hey, Supertanker, I wasn't saying I agreed with restrictive clauses in software licenses. Actually, my own view about attempting to prevent transfers is ambivalent. I was just alerting Norm to the possibility that BTS might not want him selling his software that way.

I don't know the answer to that question. I sort of suspect that you can't upgrade the graphics cards on iMacs. They didn't make the machine that easy to upgrade. My machine actually indicates it only has 8 megs VRAM, but I could have sworn the DV SE's had 16. Could be I'm wrong, or the System Profiler is set for older iMacs! In any case, it seems to work fine, but does slow down during very large scenarios, or when there's lots of smoke. But the graphics look fine. Sounds like you may have a good excuse for buying a new computer.

How much VRAM do you have, and what kind of graphics card? I play on a iMac DV SE with 196 megs RAM and a 16 meg VRAM ATI 128, and the graphics look very good. I'm not sure, incidentally, that you can actually install a different graphics card in an iMac. Bottom line: Faster cards, with more VRAM, = better CM play.

Not sure that's legal, Norm. Could be that the software agreement precludes unauthorized resale. You really ought to check with BTS.

I'm not sure you want to do that. I'd check with Steve/Charles about whether the software agreement you implicitly signed makes unauthorized resale a no-no.

It can be done, but not easily. Two options are possible: 1) Have the TD target what you want it to shoot at (so that it will be "looking" for it), use Hunt to move it up to hull down position, and have it immediately reverse. I've managed to get off one or two quick shots that way. 2) The other way is more complicated. Insert one or two pauses before the Hunt move, again target your main objective, and have it move to hull down. Then immediately on the next turn, have it reverse out. Even if you select a target before getting to hull down (and it can help, believe me), there's no absolute way to guarantee that you'll be shooting at the tank vs. the scout car, b/c that depends on a variety of factors (e.g., your TD's experience level). Also, you have to factor in the delay times before the TD initiates its response. But these can work if used judiciously.

Hmmm, this thread certainly has taken a strange course, and hardly seems relevant to CM any longer. Fionn issued a challenge. Some of chose to respond. He didn't ask for everyone's political views, or for that matter for a personal pissing match. This isn't a defense of Fionn's views, not all of which I agree with, but this thread is just a bit ridiculous. If it keeps going like this, I think Steve should just close it up. It seems almost bound to deteriorate further.

There's one suffix for scenarios and one for operations. All of the downloads should have one or the other. Can't recall which is which just now.

Yup, I agree it can be annoying. It always seems to happen to me just when I've got all my orders about finished. Aaargh!! That's why I've taken to saving pretty often.

Upon further reflection, and in response to Fionn and Mattias's responses, I have edited my initial post. It no longer explains how it is possible to cheat by viewing your opponent's unit selections in a PBEM game. I do not want to make it easier for anyone to cheat. I also have sent a follow-up message to BTS, giving them my permission to delete the entire thread, if that is their preference. I certainly will defer to their judgment. However, I still think that not sharing the problem with the rest of the forum is akin to the ostrich sticking its head in the sand and hoping it won't be seen.

Did you start the software and actually turn off the cache? I assume you did, and I'm not trying to insult you, just asking. If you did everything right, then I'm not sure what the problem is. Could be some kind of extension conflict. Try minimizing your system, so that you only use the extensions you absolutely must have. Our machines are identical, and I haven't had nearly as many lockups as I did before deactivating the cache. In fact, I think it's only happened once since then. For me, lockups virtually always happen during the orders phase. I did find, before I installed the cache software, that saving regularly helped (reduced the number of lockups substantially, and also made it easier to get back to where I left off if needed). Good luck.

Okay, Aikidorat, sounds like you're already a step ahead of me. Glad to know the mods will get done somehow.

Fionn: First, I didn't figure out a way to look at the location of your units, just happened to see what they were. If there's a way to do that, I didn't notice it. Because I don't know where you put your forces, I really don't think it unbalances our game. Second, I hope you didn't mean to imply this, but I didn't come across this problem in an attempt to find out how to cheat. It just occurred to me it might be a problem, so I checked it out to see. Third, I don't think that ignoring the problem will make it go away. I have let BTS know, and I hope they have a suggested fix. But I really doubt that I would be the only one who happened to notice this. Finally, how would you propose I edit the post? I'd be glad to do so, but it's sort of like putting the genie back in the bottle (one that someone else would have opened if I hadn't, and perhaps not shared their insight).

Hey, Freyland, congrats! Get ready for me to whoop your troops. I'll wait to hear from you after you get done with your shift...

Thanks Mattias. I agree with you, it's really a matter of honor and trust. Personally, I agree with Manta, that it's no fun to win by cheating (must less to lose that way ). But I still thought it worth bringing this problem to attention on the forum. On your advice, I did send BTS an e-mail, in case they didn't read this thread.

Gee, Joe, I'm touched... Yeah, I don't plan to take advantage of this loophole, but folks should be aware of it.

Well, Mattias, I don't really agree. I'm sure I wouldn't have been the only one to figure this out. And it's better that it's public knowledge, to my way of thinking, so that everyone is aware of the potential problem. The less scrupulous among us might discover that they can do this, and not let others know.

Seems like several people are working on this at once (Berlie, aikidorat, G4A ?, Colin ?). It'd be more efficient if you all combined forces and shared the work. I'm sure MadMatt and CoolColJ would be willing to work with a team. Just a suggestion...

It can't be done with the game as it stands. BTS says they'd like to add it as a feature in the future. I agree it would be cool. There have been some CM films made (look on the CM web ring for the site). But it isn't easy from what I understand.

Sorry my suggestion didn't work. But what do you expect from a PC? Netscape doesn't behave as well for you guys...it's a Microsoft plot. Mouse button impaired? I've got plenty of buttons. No one-button girly mouse for me!

Yup, despite the fact that you're a stinkin' PC user, I'm not sure if there's a suitable workaround for this problem. But I don't have the experience with the game that many others do. So I'm interested if anyone knows how to solve this problem.

I was fooling around with the game a bit, and discovered that there unfortunately is an easy way to find out what units an opponent has selected in a Quick Battle. Has anyone else realized this? [This message has been edited by Buckeye (edited 06-24-2000).]