Franko

Battlefront has about lost its mind...well done, guys. WAY above expectations.

Holy Crap. You're right. They totally STEALTHED that in. Damn clever sneaks. Whats this mean? This is 1943! They're going backwards! yay!

HOLY SH*T SNACKS! Stealth announcement there guys. Clever sneaky battlefront geeks -- we LOVE you man.

We got your back. There's still some serious BRO-mance going on. We're all gay for you in that straight sort of way. You're the badass grog rock star baby. Don't be scarce.

Yo, Steve and gang. We go back. Back to 1999. We love you, man. We all got heterosexual man-crushes on you guys. I mean, where you been? I checked the posts and all, but I searched and searched, but you guys haven't made a meaningful appearance since March. I don't count that whole Ipad thing. Thats cool and all, and sure, I bought it, because I'm a big fanboy (I can say it), but seriously, it doesn't count. I mean, I hope you make money and all -- but seriously -- doesn't count. You got to visit more. You have to announce stuff. You have to periodically get in the mud and fence with some of the dummies around here. We've come to expect this. How dare you think you can just vaporize. Yeah, and I know you made brief appearance today (although I wrote this earlier), but that doesn't count either. First, you weren't nearly as pissy as sometimes I've come to inspect (and welcome that -- we LIKE pissy), and second, it didn't tell us anything new. About a year ago, I started designing some scenarios. I have four or five nearing completion. But I got an ASS-ton of questions about the AI. Can you open up a folder on scenario design tips? You know, you have the one on "tech support" and one on "Maps and Mods" -- how about a discussion where you guys can chime in and explain some design nuances? That would be useful. I'll even start with the first post with a whole list of questions. Would you be down? Seriously, I think many more scenarios would be forthcoming if we understood the AI more. So, show up dude. Face the facts -- this is your guys arena. You're the house band. The band has gotta take the stage once in awhile. Your patrons get drunk, and they may start breaking things soon. Out. F

I agree. Normandy is GREEN. Its not "subdued"...its vibrant, almost comically, green. I was struck by it during my visits there. The only time I've seen it THAT green is near me, in wine country, Northern California. I know we LIKE subdued grass for game reasons, and perhaps because it looks more like SPR -- but SPR and Band of Brothers was deliberately altered to make the landscape more dreary), but Vanilla CMBN is closer to reality that we often given it credit for.

Okay, maybe not Disneyland. Sorry Battlefront. But seriously, your stuff rocks the house.

Where the heck are these? i'm dying over here! Release! The stock buildings look like Disneyland.

Okay, Ive been trying for months to get a sense of what the AI's movements will be for certain commands. Its a bit frustrating. The manual paints it in broad strokes, but a bit more precision would be nice. Also, if anyone has done a guide for designing scenarios with the AI (even a CMSF one), please post the link. My first question is this: I tried to have a whole armored company move (really for testing purposes) by "advance command" about 100 meters. The tanks then move FAST, and do wild, criss-crossing patterns, exposing their flanks to the enemy to their front (in effect, they turn sideways, and move "diagonally" towards their objective -- not straight). I tried it with the "Max Assault Command", and they did the same thing (although annoyingly bunched up), using the "Quick" Command. Does anyone know: (1) whether the AI can handle company level movements, and if so, how so; (2) same question as to platoon level movements; and (3) what the precise affect of the individual AI Commands are? For example, when a designer uses the term "Advance", does that mean units will move "quick", move "fast", or "move fast to contact", or what? Is there anyone has done a thorough or at least helpful analysis on this? Sure would be nice. I'm having to quit in frustration at times. Its maddening. And I have about six or seven scenarios "in the can" I want to finalize. Any help on understanding what these AI Commands do would be appreciated. Thanks, Grogs. F

I wonder if BF models "loudness." by that I mean that tanks on the move are LOUD. I doubt that a TC can even hear the first few rounds zipping by his head over the din of noise. He probably never even hear the shots that kill or wound him. Remember, we are above the ground watching the action, not down in the dirt with the noise.

I haven't had one get shot yet, so it sounds like I'm getting lucky and you're unlucky. The Fog of War.

A head-sized target at 100 meters is not that hard. Especially for a trained rifleman, to say nothing of a whole squad of pissed off enemy riflemen. Button up if you're within 100 meters of cover which may contain bad guys. Or scout with infantry.

Midway and Stalingrad. The others, not so much.

Good stuff. And BTW, RSW, I read your website every day. Keep it up!

Excellent overview. I printed your post. Thanks.

Not true. I'm a little anti-German. But only if you give them uniforms, ideology, and firearms, all at once. If you keep all three away from them, they make good cars and keep their cities clean. Smiley face, dammit.

Again, another way to do LOOK at this is some panicky green idiot set off a panzerfaust in the middle of the squad. If CMBN did NOT do something like this once in a great while, then I'd be MORE concerned.

They should post some kind of update, though. I sense the amount of posts generally are down, and peoples interest is waning.

+1 zillion. Nothing hurts like playing a campaign for hours and having something mind-numbingly stupid like this. I mean, I'd rather play Battle Academy.

For the record, I'm a total fanboy.

Well done! Keep up the good work!

It says something about Battlefront's self confidence that they allow this thread to continue.

I do not do criminal law, except for some white collar stuff. I mostly do corporate and commercial trial work. You'd be surprised how much war studies have helped my career.

For the last few months I've been working on an "Old Hickory" pack: I love the 30th ID. I've created a series of scenarios, and one, "Bullets Like Rain" is ready for play testing. I've used many books, real after action reports, period post cards and topographic maps, recon photos, etc, to design the map, and several sources to created the order of battle. The scenario "Bullets Like Rain" is about the defense of Sainte Barthelemy (misspelled frequently with only one "e") against elements of two panzer divisions. It's meant to be played head to head or US vs the AI. I've designed dozens of scenarios for the old CM series, and this is my first of several scenarios with the single player primarily in mind (most of the 2 player games I've played have been with flakes, so that sucks). I actually had a few published in the retail release. However, I've spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the AI for the new series, so my hopes to get stuff out earlier have been stymied. Oh, and I'm a busy trial lawyer, so that screws me up. Anyway, if you're interested in play testing, drop me a note. Please test as the US player or H2 H. I need help tweaking the victory conditions, etc. I'd like to be able to release in next month sometime and "fresh eyes" on the map to see if there are glaring errors. I've walked the actual battlefields, though, so they should be pretty good. I have one for L'Abbaye Blanche, next. Regards, Franko

Thats a fun read. And the writer has a point.