kgsan

Its been a long time since BFC gave out any significant information on the much awaited CMx2. Of course back at the beginning of the year when BFC last did so, the forum descended into pandemonium over PBEM, the proper design of cup holders, and other assorted crises, so maybe they have thought better of saying anything else until the game is completed;)

Thanks for the response Steve. What I was wondering but didn't express very clearly was whether the player is able to give orders to the various team components of a squad when they are "together" rather then being broken off into separate units/teams. For example, could one task the bazooka compnent of a squad to target the nearby half track, while the squad's riflemen target infantry which are next to it? I am presuming that there is some sort of downside in terms of morale and possibly some additional C&C strain when squads are broken down into separate units/teams.

Could this mean that the player will be able to assign orders to the designated sub units within a squad? I thought elsewhere, Steve said that the squad level was going to remain the basic unit of control, so I may be off base on this. I guess another alternative would be to allow the player to split of the new unit in the orders phase, and assign the now seperated unit (i.e. bazooka team) but that seems back to the way things are handled in CMx1, except that the team could rejoin the squad later.

What Redwolf said. Unlike some posters here, I agree with BFC that the majority of CM players (as opposed to the posters on the forums) still play solo for most of their games. However, if the PBEM capability is included, fans will likely find a way to make it work, no matter how awkward it is. In addition, with ever increasing bandwidth and storage capabilities it seems likely that what may not appear practicable now might be doable 12-18 months hence. Of course including a component which does not work flawlessly always risks negative comments, especially from reviewers who often only give the game and materials a fairly cursory glance. But perhaps a clear statement in the manual and other materials that PBEM functionality is simply being provided as a bonus for those who want to go to the trouble would nip any bad press in the bud (Perhaps something along the lines of the notices now included on irons warning consumers that they should not try to iron clothes while wearing them, etc.)

My apologies if this has already been answered, I know CMx2 bones are kind of spread around the forum and I'm sure I haven't found them all, but Steve's comments put in mind a questions about how the new system wil handle spotting. With individual men being shown and tracked how is LOS being handled? Is each man individually tracked to determine if he sees and has LOS for a given target or is it based on a single point for the whole squad as (I think it is in CM)? Must each man fire at the same target (i.e. the squad 100 yards away in the woods), or will a squad now have the capacity to direct fire in more than one direction (i.e. 3 men continue to fire on the squad in the woods to try to keep their heads down, while the rest of the squad opens fire on the squad which just popped up on their flank)?

Steve thanks for the info on movie playback. I hope y'all can work it in this time around. I think it would be a popular feature with a lot of customers. CM is an immersive game and I'm sure CMx2 will only be more so. Full movie playback is a great way to enjoy and share some of the highlights from that experience. If you are able to include movie playback, do you think the movies would be exportable, or only viewable by running the CMx2 game program? If the movies were exportable, they might make a pretty good marketing tool as a bonus. I imagine that exciting full game movies posted up on the web could go a long way to interest potential customers who might not have otherwise given CM a look.

I'd like to second this request. I realize that this feature may be disparaged as chrome, nonetheless I think its addition would be popular. It would just be awful fun to watch the battle unfold in all it glory after a hard fought game. In the event this feature is being considered would it be available for all game play options (i.e playback of solo, PBEM and networked games)?

Thanks for the info Tooz. I think I'm going to look for a laptop with the Pentium "M" Centrino processor. From what I've read it sounds like it is pretty powerful but runs much cooler than the Pentium 4s. Now I just have to find a dealer selling one with the right configuration.

Thanks for the replies. In light of your advice I won't be ordering that configuration and will see if I an reach a better balance of hardware and price. With regard to the monitor issue, it seems strange that as the screen gets bigger, and there is less need to shrink what is on the screen in order to fit, the native resolution gets smaller and smaller. Oh well, the ironies and marketing pressures of life. Thanks again for the quick and informative response, don’t you guys ever rest

I am thinking about plunking down for a laptop. While I would like to get a real desktop replacement such as the high end Alienware laptop, I just don't feel I can justify the cost. So anyway, I'm now looking at a Dell Inspiron 9200 which comes with an Intel Pentium M 725 processor, 17" widescreen XGA+ display and a 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9600. I know about the lack of fog with the Radeon card, which I can live with, but was wondering if there might be any other known issues with such a set up while trying to play everyone's favorite game? Also, (this is my first laptop purchase so my apologies for the stupid question) but would using a widescreen laptop display create any distortions when viewing CM or other games?

But we need the Indian theatre, that is where things really got interesting.

Schrullenhaft & Hpt. Lisse, Thanks for the advice. Glad to learn this before making a purchase. Regards, kgsan

Schrullenhaft, I am looking into getting a laptop computer and found your above advice helpful. I also saw another comment by you in another thread in which, if I understood it properly, you were saying that you cannot upgrade the video memory card in a laptop computer. Were you referring to those that do not have dedicated video card, or are there issues generally that make it difficult or impossible to replace the video card which comes with the computer. The reason I am asking is that, if replaceable, I am inclined to buy laptop from Dell (or whoever) with cheaper card, with eye to replacing it with better card down the road. I did this with my desktop computer and it worked fine, getting me better video card at lower price, and wanted to know if this is a practicable option with a laptop. Thanks in advance, kgsan

Thanks for the explanation Pinetree. Like the Junior Woodchucks guide book the CM Forum seems to be an inexhaustible fountain of knowledge. (Although I'm still curious about the origin of the phrase "Tory trout")

Yep, very entertainingly written. He seems much more well versed than most reviewers and his criticisms are on point, noting deficiencies with the current engine which have been often discussed on the forums. However, I have one complaint, he should he have included a glossary for his American readers. Perhaps our commonwealth brethren on the forum can explain what he means by "toffee-nosed." I can think of an Americanism that bears a surface similarity, but it doesn't seem to fit here. And as for a "Tory trout" I can't even begin to imagine.

Mr Madmatt, What about giving the player in a QB the option to set regular experience as the sole baseline for AI unit purchase? I think given the nature of the QB a lot of players might prefer this even if it is ahistorical.

Mr Madmatt, What about giving the player in a QB the option to set regular experience as the sole baseline for AI unit purchase? I think given the nature of the QB a lot of players might prefer this even if it is ahistorical.

Actually in CMBB before the final patch I seemed to notice a tendency of the computer to pick green forces when I set the experience at medium but let the AI purchase the forces. I tended to play early war QB's and was surprised at the number of times the computer provided me with green German troops. The frequency seemed to decline after the last patch. However, I never saw anything in the documentation that BFC had changed anything in this regard, so go figure.

Many thanks Mr. Dorosh. As one who has never much liked the full picture unit portraits used for the allies these are a welcome relief (and as a former Squad Leader player it brings back some pleasent memories from the pre-CM days) I look forward to downloading these when I get home from work.

Received in the New Orleans area today, too

I'm pretty sure that BFC has said that there are no new orders in CMAK. In addition to the new theaters, units, graphics upgrade, dust, etc., I think that other changes are "under the hood" undocumented Tac AI behavior changes which some have reported seeing.

Sure, buy two (you can always give one to a friend) Martin [/QB]</font>

I have to agree with kalkkuna on this one. Having the same face appear for squad after squad sort of brings on the feeling that I'm a commander in the "attack of the clones" and actually reduces the immersion factor for me. I prefered the way CMBB handled these.

One more vote here for the shoulder view for all the units (or else Mr. Dorosh's squad leader mod )

I recall one of my professors in college, Holger Herwig, referring to Hitler's general plans for developing the "Z" fleet for invasion of the U.S. sometime after his conquest of Europe was completed. If I am remembering correctly, I think Prof Herwig referrd to discussions on this matter given in Hitler's regular after-dinner speeches/monologues/rants which were transcribed and may have been collected and published at some point.