Macisle

Thanks, guys! It's going to be a long road. I may become a Java Junkie. By the time all is said and done, they may have to check me into Maxwell House. All doors and windows are being lovingly chosen by yours truly. There are a good number of building complexes in this that will be the sites of epic struggles. I don't want to show off too much yet (and of course, much is unfinished). However, I have decided to make a vid of my playtest on the SW slice (not the final cut shape) to show some of the combat you can expect and help keep folks entertained while they wait. It should also provide a nice catalyst for shop talk on map techniques. It's against the AI, but also shows how much SP play potential there is. It's looking like there are going to be a fair number of slices for the H2H campaign (H2H single scenarios that can be played according to very simple campaign rules), as play will be slow and deadly, just like in the history books. That's good news on getting value from the master map. Other good news is it looks like players are still going to get to use lots of heavy artillery, despite the smaller map slices (haven't found a battle that lets you use those 300mm rockets? They're comin', baby!) Anyhoo, I I gotta' log soon and only made a dent in the first video installment (will have many parts), but I'll wet your appetites with some screenies from the upcoming video: The last few seconds of peace... Soviet 300mm rockets rain down. B-O-O-M! My Soviets advance under the thick blanket of smoke created by the barrage. And then? Well, yer just gonna' have to wait to find out. One thing I can say, it may not be a Stalingrad map, but...it sure feels like it!

Oh, wow --great! That makes me feel good. I do need to update that map, though. The White Manor is actually a level too short and therefore doesn't offer the defender the LOS that I intended. Kind of a big oversight! I actually started on a battle pack for it that would have a SP version for both sides, as well as an updated H2H version, but then I got into TRA and then the new map for CMRT and never got back to it. It's quite fun to play defending as a reinforced company of Amis against SS hordes and Panthers as AI attacker. I did some initial testing in that area back when I was working on the battle pack idea. I'm not sure if the pack will ever happen, but I will definitely do a H2H-version update. The map update itself is already done, IIRC.

Yeah, I've got a few floating out there. One even made it onto the livestream back when the Vehicle Pack came out for CMBN. I think all them besides TRA are H2H-only, though. I make a lot of SP stuff for myself, but just play and delete it.

Posting to add my support to what RepsolCBR, ThePhantom, and others are saying about the current 16 AI Group limit. Expanding the number of groups to 32+ is my top choice for new Editor features by a mile. Others have detailed the issue, so I won't go into them again in this post. The design of my scenario, The Radzy Award, faced exactly these issues when being made. So, if you want to play a defensive scenario against an attacking AI (that uses extensive AI Area Fire), please check it out. If you're a designer, playing it and then analyzing how I dealt with AI Groups and the AI plan might be a useful experience. (BTW, the scenario was released mid-July and has had 170 downloads. However, I have received flat zero feedback on it and no ratings. )

Thanks for checking in, Ridaz. Things are going well. S-L-O-W-L-Y, but well. Here is a screenshot of recent work: There are areas in the background that are still in the initial skeletal stage, or are currently being brought out of it. The area filling out the center and foreground of the pic is largely done, except for the southermost trees that need to be tweaked a bit more. I am just finishing up a test battle on the SW slice from my Dec. 2nd post above. I am very pleased with the action. In fact, though it wasn't intended for it, I am fighting the urge to make it into an AAR video. I think the action would make for pretty entertaining video fodder and it would give people a taste of what the map will bring while sitting through the long wait for it. The downside of the vid would be that it would take time away from making the map. Not sure what to do on that. The map isn't going to be out until after the next module anyway, but I have a mammoth amount of work left to do on it. Another option would be a screenshot AAR. But, that might end up taking as much production time as a vid series.

The SW corner of the map is coming to life.

Thanks. The plan at this point is to get the map finished (no ETA, it's going to take a long time) and then integrate new units/formations from the next CMRT module into a H2H campaign using map slices. That, and/or make QB maps from it. I'm not planning to do single-player scenarios or a campaign with it, as the workload is too prohibitive.

Thanks, Aragorn. I'll try to mix up the weather a bit as I do these little micro-story screens.

Thanks, Harry. Yeah, it's nice to be able to finally start kicking the tires a bit.

I'm doing my best to keep them to a minimum, but there is only so much that can be done without sacrificing higher priority design goals. The screenshots come from testing that is actually primarily to spot pathfinding issues. So far, things are looking very good, other than infantry units sometimes not taking advantages of the cover I've created for them when the TacAI decides to displace/rout.

It's time for another push. Keep their heads down! Go boys, go! So far, so good... Left flank, GO! AT teams spotted. We're in a crossfire! The push is crushed...

It's definitely something to be divided into small tasks, spaced across time, adding up to a completed whole. Taken in tiny bites, it's an enjoyable way to start the day with morning coffee. 10-30 minutes and you've got a new building complex, skeleton of a city block, initial road layout of a park area, etc. Quite a cool feeling to hit the bottom of your cup and see a new piece of your vision move from imagination to (virtual) reality.

Thanks. It's 1,440 x 1,440 meters.

Thanks, Ian. That's not the article I remember, but it is the same technique. It's also more detailed than what I used and so a better aid. Now I don't have to dig through my files !

I don't think I have save games for the "outlier motherlode" QB that spawned my earlier post. -Will check, though. I have started saving turns when the issue comes up and have a couple of things so far that I can send. I also did some arty testing that I can report on. However, I'll be tied up for a day or so before I can get around to it. Perhaps I should try and get a few more examples from freeform combat and send you a batch in one go.

Okay, this really will be the last map screenshot for awhile, but I couldn't resist a little QB action on the new section and caught this cool little moment:

IIRC, I got the technique off the forum (a post by Pete W?). You give Google Earth a solid color image to use as a layer mask and set it to mask everything in relation to an elevation. Then you take screenshots using different transparency levels and layer them to identify the elevation lines. IIRC, I gave up on that exact process and instead took a bunch of GE mask screen shots, then made the color layers in photoshop, working with each elevation layer one-by-one. It's been about a year since I did it. I don't have time at the moment, but I'll check my files when I can to see what I have to spark my memory. Maybe I still have that link (or the author will see this and chime in). I do remember that it was a LOT of work. The close proximity of so many of the lines was a bit of a pill and has created some areas I need to polish (got some buildings with "sinking" first floors, too.)

Thanks! I'd love for it to be included in your db. It will be uploaded to TSDIII and a link put here. Currently, there is no ETA on it, other than sometime after the next CMRT module. I want to integrate the new material from that and have tons more work to do on it as well.

Oh, yeah. Man...I don't even want to think about trying to redo this sucker from scratch. But speaking of importing, seeing as how it is essentially modern Kharkov, it could be a good candidate for port into CMBS if that ever becomes possible. On damage: Pre-placed damage can really add to the atmosphere of a map. But if possible, I like to let the player make his own. For the battles in this campaign, I'll probably just add a very light amount for flavor in the overlap zones between map slices. That means that some buildings may magically reappear, but better that than eliminate cover. One of the tricky things will be deciding how to deal with the river and bridges in regards to slicing. For realism, the defender needs to be able to put fire on the attacker from across the river if he holds that terrain, but the map cutting will create decision-making work on how to facilitate that (isolated units across river or with a path across a bridge? If so, where? How many setup zones? Etc.).

Definitely. Speaking of which... Here's an initial stab at putting back in some big buildings. Just finished the doors on 'em. Taking these puppies are likely to be among the Soviet player's first tasks.

Thanks for the kind words, guys! Well, since the cat's out of the bag on this project, I'll go ahead and post a few more pics. Again, it's early days and this won't be out until after the next CMRT module is released (KV-1, baby! Plllleeeeeaaase!) I've only added temporary foliage in areas where the door networks are largely done so I can get a little test combat going there. Also, I obviously, haven't finished adding all the buildings, let alone fleshing out the other terrain elements in those areas (or most of the areas with buildings). Since I'm going to have to slice up the map, I'll be adding some tall buildings back in later that are currently cut down in size. Here is an overhead. I just grabbed the Google Map screen on the right, so this is not my working overlay. Currently, my plan is to have the Soviet attacker start in the SE corner. I'd like to thank the people of Kharkov for providing a ready-made setup zone in the form of a large park and cushion of buildings! Here's the elevation overlay I did (which is, of course, matched to my working overlay). I will be doing some polishing work later, once everything else is in. Sorry for any seizures or flashbacks! It's not Stalingrad, but in winter, this area might serve for a little "Fallen Fighters" combat. Another angle on same area: And lastly, a bird's eye of one of the little neighborhood areas. I'll call this shot "Mean Streets." That's it for now. It may be awhile before I have additional pic-worthy content. I'll post it as I have it, along with any interesting combat test results (suicidal rout, path bugs, arty effects, etc.).

Thanks! Yeah, that's really want I want--the early equipment. Here's hoping we might get some kind of early war bones, even though the time frame is late to end of war. I may do a winter and summer version so folks can choose. I am planning to have the Germans be SS, but with the Soviets attacking. I also may do some original textures to give a more authentic city architecture feel. Looking at the stock independent textures from RT and BS, I might be able to adapt them to make some acceptable modular textures for that. I would definitely want to use those on the palace-like building from above. Here is that building from the front:

Thanks! Actually, it's Kharkov. I'm not doing any official work for the new CMRT module. It's not a historical map. I'm generally just recreating whatever I see in Google Maps, but cutting building heights down (trying to keep them relative) to save on performance. I had some very tall buildings, but cut them recently to save on frame rates. I'm giving the project the working title of "Kharkiveskya." In other words, Kharkiv(Kharkov)-esque. The original idea was to have a 4-hour H2H mini campaign covering the whole map. Basically, the equivalent of 3-4 scenarios under one roof, with persistent damage. The full map can absorb a ton of heavy artillery and I got beautiful results playing around with it. The "terra-forming" added a great dimension and would make the map change each time it was played, creating new tactical and supply line dynamics. Alas, as I expected, the system chokes on the number of units that eventually come in. So, I'm going to have to slice up the map. (Note: this thread was relocated from a sub-conversion in another thread. Thus the seemingly out of context jump to the following topic.) Here are a couple of examples of the building complexes I'm talking about in relation to the suicidal rout issue. First, the ring effect I mentioned: Again, regardless of height, troops in the tall section who panic will tend to run all the way down, then through the ring and right out into the street to their death...negating the whole value of the structure (see edit below). EDIT: The above building is not one of the actual buildings that displayed the problems encountered during the free-form QB test I posted about above. I was just using it for posting here because it is a nicer-looking example of the kind of "ring-base" building complex I was talking about. However, I just ran two structured tests using this specific building and the defenders actually used the complex quite well. I tried it with Vet High Motivation and Reg Normal Motivation (all other attributes 0/neutral) with the same results. Hmm..that is weird. I never meant to say that the suicide rout issue happens every time, but more testing is definitely needed. These tests used mostly incoming small arms fire and no artillery. -Will do more tests as I have time. I've had better luck with the one below, but when they panic, defending troops still tend to run outside toward the enemy rather fall back deeper into the safety of the building. Oh, and to be clear, the door paths needed are there.

Lots more work to do on this, but... Sneak Peek:

Any news on a patch that will fix the current suicidal rout issues? I've been working on a large urban map for CMRT with heavy use of multi-part buildings that should be offering excellent defensive material, due to the potential for units to ambush and fall back to safe parts of the building out of LOS. However, very frequently, units are running out of the building into the open (and usually toward the enemy) once they receive any decent enemy fire response. This is happening even when they are protected by an outer ring at the bottom floor of a multi-story complex. In other words, say they are on the 3rd floor (but could be the 8th, it doesn't matter) of a central part that is connected to a 1-story outer ring that would completely shield them if they just go to the bottom of the 3-story section they are in. Well, instead they are passing through the safe ring and out into the open to be shot down. This makes what should be very formidable building complexes rather easy to take. No flamethrowers needed. Just rattle the cage and shoot the birds when they fly out. This problem also seriously affects infantry AT teams in buildings. Unless the unit pause workaround is used, once they fire from a building (and thus panic themselves), they tend to suicide rout into the open, despite any available out-of-LOS cover in adjacent connected building sections. Of course, if they are hard-paused, they will also stay put to receive any enemy return fire instead of the ideal of taking a shot and retreating to sure safety by use of an initial timed pause (the use of which currently makes them vulnerable to suicide rout once freed from the pause). It seems that complex building structures that should be supplying super-cover might actually make the potential for suicidal rout worse. Without the pause command used for a hard pause--maybe dealbreaker worse. I know that the next CMRT module is supposed to have huge Berlin maps. Both for my map (which will probably be used for a H2H campaign that integrates the new units, to be released post-module) and for those, I'd really like to see the suicidal rout issue taken care of.