Macisle

I find that the "highly optimized" thing tends to make a game look sort of airbrushed and generic. While bits and pieces of the graphics may look very good, overall, it just looks "gamey/cheesy" to me. The overall effect of this type of art direction impacts me as being kiddie/cartoonish. By this, I don't mean that some of the textures and models aren't high-quality. Rather, the overall impact is that of a visual experience that looks like what a young person would like. Generally, young people are attracted to highly stylized presentation, whereas adults want a more “realistic,” neutral approach. I'm not saying highly-stylized/optimized, etc. is bad--just not my taste. My visual goal post for CM is to look as much like a real WWII battlefield (minus the human gore) as it can. How big should the explosions be? As big as they are IRL. How much smoke? Same answer. How fast should things move? Same answer. I play CM because it is the only game that feels, and increasingly, looks realistic. It’s the only game I play these days, because I have lost interest in the others. Ruse looks like all the others. So, while I certainly agree that CMx2 could use work in terrain dept., to my mind and taste, this is really a question of budget and not art direction. If I had a magic wand, I would have BF make more and better models (the vehicles are already way awesome) and improved textures, but continue in the same general stylistic direction they are going in now. I'm not old--just a few years beyond the prime video game demographic these days. And, I do use mods for CMBN. The mods show what can already be done within the current game engine. I'm all for improvements in eye and ear candy. I just want them to be in the direction of ever-greater realism and not "Hollywood." To be honest, the combat in Ruse looked very cheesy. I had to laugh when I saw the air battles. That kind of look and game play is why I don’t play other games these days. Whenever people mention them, I’ll check out vids, reviews and demos, but they never make it onto my hard drive.

I'd like to add another heart-felt "THANK YOU!" to the modders. It's amazing how much some of the better mods can enhance the game experience. Please know that your work is greatly admired and appreciated. Here's a list of my favorites: Must-haves: --EZ's US Uniforms (the earlier pack, I usually use 1st ID) for regulars and Veins Airborne mod for airborne. EZ's US helmets are superb. --EZ's German Uniforms (from the second pack that also has US, but I like the orig. US pack above better, so I just use the Germans from this one). Veins Germans is also an excellent mod for regular German inf. --Veins Flames. I'm in love each and every time the flames start dancing up on a kill! Excellent further additions that are always in the Z: --JuJu's Tweaked UI. --Veins Explosions and Smoke, Small Arms and Muzzle Flash, Tank Muzzle Flash, Tracers, and Skies. --Aris's Terrain Mods. --Lt. Smash's WWII Floating Icons. --Mord's Immersive American Voices ("Son of a ...!"). --Dietrich's German Voices --Veins Support Chatter. --Mike's Vehicles of War Sound Mod. I rotate some others in and out. Aris does outstanding work, but my personal taste is for less weathering on my vehicles than he likes. I'm actually quite happy with most of the stock vehicle textures. I usually just rotate in a couple of Aris's for variety. I haven't found a weapons sound mod that I prefer to the stock sounds. The ones I have come across so far tend to have a reverb effect that isn't my thing. Also, the stock weapon sounds seem to have more natural relative volume and placement in the 3D world. I love the ones I list above, though! For readers viewing this who haven't tried these/any mods, you should really check them out. It's just amazing how much they enhance the game! Macisle

-Never meant they could put a fork in things and call 'em done! I'm looking very forward to seeing that stuff myself. I spent more time with early war equipment in CMBB than the later gear. I'd love for them to do a Battle of France module, too (but I know that's probably not going to happen).

Yeah, there was a lot of footage in the OMG episode that clashed with what any enthusiast or beyond would expect to see--like "American Paratroopers" being talked about when regular GI's in winter gear ala Bulge are being shown. I got my WWII fix, but it sure felt like they added some baby-powder!

I enjoyed the CMA demo quite a bit. The CMSF demo also--though less so. But like you, modern is not my cup of tea and WWII is where it's at for me. So, I didn't get those titles.

That seems to fit the bill for the Battlefield II stuff I've been watching recently on YT. I made it through all 11 slices of Operation Market Garden. The uploader got rid of the commercials of course, but it was painfully obvious that the program was built around tons of commercial breaks with new viewers popping in each time. I almost didn't finish it due to the annoying recap. I'm about a third of the way through the one on Monte Cassino. -Had to laugh when they did the Weapons segment. For the Allied infantry, they showed the Lee Enfield and for the Germans the MG-42. Gosh, it sure is a shame that the Allies had to do all that fightin' with only rifles against them nasty German machine guns! Macisle

RL time demands have put me on a one game-day a month schedule, but I saw this thread and thought I'd throw my two cents in. I play because I am looking for the most realistic depiction of WWII tactical combat possible, at the 1:1 level, in a game that is also fun to play. This is what CMBN gives me. There are no close rivals from what I've seen. Sure, game X may have better terrain graphics, or game Y may have a nicer overhead map. But when I watch the gameplay vids on YouTube, or try the demos, I quickly realize that they do not measure up. CMBN is simply, IT. -And it's going to get even better with each new module and engine update! I'm a gen-X'er who had the original Squad Leader board game as a kid (but couldn't find players and so tried to play alone). As pc games evolved, I was always hoping to find that magic in a digital format. I was playing Close Combat III when CMBO came out. CCIII (had IV, but never played it) was okay, but by halfway through my first mission in CMBO, I knew that the CC series was obsolete. I played various other WWII-based games, but gradually, they fell away and only the CMx1 series stayed. Then, I stumbled on ASL and got into that. Despite CMx1's advantage over ASL in things like FOW, artillery modeling and vehicle gun modeling (as in realistic shot output per turn, rather than abstracted), I felt that, overall, ASL was richer game experience and that became my game. Then came CMx2/CMBN... In the weeks leading up to the release of CMBN, I prepped a bit with the demos for CMA and CMSF. I had no problems with the new interface and such. When CMBN came out, I went right in on Elite level as my standard. Scenarios are challenging to various degrees, but against the AI, I've never found things remotely close to being too difficult to be fun. Sure, it can be work. But if what you really want is checkers, just admit it and go with that. Don't keep trying to convince the chess players that they'd be better off moving chess closer to checkers. To make a long story short, CMBN has replaced ASL for me. In most (all?) important ways, it has caught up with or surpassed ASL in terms of game depth and richness of play. With 1:1, relative spotting, the new artillery modeling, the various team-splitting options, infantry interaction with vehicles, buddy aid/weapon recovery, ammo acquiring, etc... well...ASL just doesn't cut it anymore. My eyes now see the holes too well. There are so many things in CMBN that make it the King of WWII Tactical Combat Games. Others have pointed some of them out. I guess in a nutshell it is that you are playing a great game that usually genuinely feels like you could be witnessing a real WWII battle. And the micro stories really solidify that feeling. Just in the last two weeks, Iron Front came out. Yeah--great graphics. So I look at the gameplay vids. Same old death match, capture the flag stuff. ZZZzzzzz. All that work and not even remotely close to a WWII battlefield. No interest. Now, in CMBN... perhaps your only bazooka is lying beside its fallen owner and the enemy is going to be pushing his attack soon. Your few remaining men are spread out, laying down some fire and displacing to keep your opponent guessing. He hesitates. The ground holding the bazooka cools down just long enough for one of your men to get it. He makes it back to his position covering the armor's likely approach. The enemy begins his final push... This could be right out of a WWII battle diary. In ASL, he'd know what you have and where the bazooka is and push forward before you could get it. In a game like WWII Online or Iron Front, no one would stay in position, coordinate or maneuver in a realistic fashion and you'd be shot by someone with better mouse skills. Then, the battle would be won by whoever had more players still spawning in. If realistic WWII tactical combat in the form of a game is what your are looking for, CMBN is the King. Period. Macisle

Wasn't Kursk an example of one of the few situations where Hitler made a better call than his generals? I don't know about him having an alternate plan of attacking the center, but I remember reading that he did not want to make the attack at Kursk--that it made him "sick to his stomach" every time he thought about going forward with it. I can't remember the book, but it otherwise painted him in the usual bad light regarding his military decisions.

There are lots of good immigrant-owned Indian restaurants in Japan too. I think the fish is generally better in Asia, but watch out for the current cheap Asian shrimp--no matter what country you're eating it in. If the price seems too good to be true, it's probably from one of the (usually Thai, I think) battery farms where they basically pump in vast amounts of antibiotics and such to keep the shrimp alive in the horrid environment they grow them in. If you're looking for less costly shrimp these days, you might want to make sure it's American shrimp. They have the regulations in place to make sure it is safe stuff. On the cease-fire idea... The only possible scenario I can think of where the US would have stayed out would be one where Britain was both free and at peace with Germany (and of course no attacks had been made on the US itself). The only chance I can see of that happening would have been for Germany not to have engaged in the Battle of Britain. Rather, had they immediately declared ceasefire after securing France and been willing to do whatever it took to make the Brits think that they were in acting in good faith (meaning absorbing British attacks without counter attack and perhaps even shipping aid to Britain, plus a major propaganda effort). No, Churchill would never have gone for it, but he may have been forced out, given enough public anti-war sentiment. Once Hitler bombed the British Isles, that option was gone (along with a good part of his air force--which would have come in rather handy in the East...). At that point, Britain was never going to cease-fire or surrender, as Dave85 so rightly points out. And, FDR was never going to allow Britain to fight alone--if it looked like they might actually lose the homeland. Had it ever come to that, I think he would have outright declared war and sod the isolationists.

(It was late when I read your post and didn't catch that you were actually posted at that office. Sorry!) My UK experience was well before my Japan experience, so my taste may have changed, but I remember fish and chips as being super good. In general, I remember liking British food a lot. However, like with American food now, I'm sure I couldn't eat too much these days--due to the heaviness. I'm just used to much lighter, healthier stuff (I eat genmai and natto every day for breakfast, for example). Now that others have mentioned it, I'm sure a lot of the fish and chips I ate were Haddock. I also had the best Chinese food I've ever had at a small restaurant in Edinburgh. As for haggis--I adore it (or did--it's been at least a decade since I last had it), but many Scots, including my former girlfriend, aren't that big on it (a bit like US southerners and liver pudding, I suppose). I eat very little red meat these days, but as you know, Japanese steak is usually better than American steak, with its smaller portions, but higher marbling and tenderness. But perhaps the thing that I like the most in Japan is access to good tasting produce. Quality varies, but it's still possible to usually get stuff that tastes like it is supposed to taste. It may be hard for Americans under say, 25, to understand that what they are eating in the way of fruit and vegetables are only ghosts of their formers selves, due to modern US agro methods. When the Kyoho grapes are in season--oh, man!

A deep bow to a fellow member of the Japanese Wives Club! Yes, I am a lucky man, indeed. Like anywhere, quality varies, but I agree--overall, it's the best food in the world. I no longer eat much western food and eat rice (usually the brown genmai) 2 to 3 times a day. Bread is an occasional weekend treat (great bakeries here). I'm not in Tokyo, but have heard about Tsukiji. I'd like to see it, but the workers there have grown to rather hate the tourists. For some reason, many foreign tourists seem to lose any sense of manners while visiting there and are also oblivious to the fact that it is not actually a tourist site, but a functioning place of business. I remember seeing a report a couple of years ago showing hidden cam video of tourists doing things like spitting on the fish, or putting cigarette butts in it, or stealing one of the motorized carts they use to go for a joy ride. Crazy stuff. So if you ever do go, don't take offense if the workers give you dirty looks. They've been given a good reason!

Wow--that sounds like an awesome place! It's been over a decade now, but it seems like I remember most chip shops offering around 4 varieties of fish. And as you'll recall--REAL fish. Not like...reassembled fish cube thingie. And IIRC, a whole fish was between five and six pounds. That was a full meal and then some. And like you said, great variety. I'm a proud American, but we are kidding ourselves when we say things like, "we have the best food in the world." That's BS. As I recall, British produce was quite good and not too pricey, either. And of course--wonderful beer and excellent cheese. Oh, and I LOVE haggis. I used to work at a pub called The Conan Doyle in Edinburgh. They had a high quality brand. -Ate it often there and other places. Oh, and the cheese and onion pasties at Gregg's Bakers...holy chit were those good! -And only about 60p. I got to experience the Christmas works in both London (host family) and up near Aberdeen (Scottish girlfriend). Oh, man was the food good! I live in Japan now (wife is Japanese) and so I get great food all the time. The fish here, as you would expect, is tops. I've even had fish and chips that were pretty close to the real thing. Man...I'm hungry!

He-he. -Gave me a good chuckle, that one.

Has our fish n' chips envy gone THAT far? I mean, my god, why don't we just send some special ops boys over there to get the damn recipe or something? Surely, if we can get OBL, we can at least do a chip shop op to get the real thing for once! (And in all seriousness, I've lived in London and Edinburgh and British fish and chips are da' bomb. I have never found the like in the States. It is the same in name only.)

Congratulations! CW Platoon 18 and Platoon Patrol are tiny, infantry scenarios. --Good for getting your feet wet. Have fun! Macisle

Thanks, GVT! I'll check out both the book and the movie. I may have seen TBaR long ago, but have forgotten it. -Sounds good.

I'm sure others better-informed than I will chime in, but I would say, "yes." If my history is correct, FDR felt that it was inevitable, and was looking for a way to get us in to the fight that would also satisfy the isolationists. The Japanese attack gave him just what he wanted, but I don't think the US would have stayed out permanently. The only scenario I can think of might be like the following... No Pearl Harbor attack. Germans declare an end of hostilities towards the British and a defensive posture only in the West, hoping that the British will agree to a ceasefire, which they eventually do. The Germans and Japanese then concentrate on the USSR. The East front stays engaged until Germany gets the bomb. The USSR then capitulates. The US gets the bomb around the same time, so a cold war begins will the USA and UK free with continental Europe and all/most of the USSR under Axis domination. After that...dunno.

-Just saw this again night before last. Someone (not me!) put the whole thing up in HD on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH0uC2XUuaA). It's one of my favorites. I haven't read the book, so that is not an issue for me. If you haven't seen it, you really should. And for you youngsters. There is NO CGI in this. All those planes and paratroopers jumping are REAL. Effing amazing, really. I think the whole thing was what, like $28 million. That's like half of what the top names get now for one picture. You can also see loads of period Allied equipment. I don't think I've ever seen another WWII movie that does Allied gear as well (particularly the Shermans). The German AFV's are not so hot (the tanks aren't even close) and their uniforms are a bit thrown-together looking, but hey--it's still worth it for the Allied stuff! Also, I have to say, seeing the actors was like a visit from long, lost family. These guys were in their prime when I was a young kid. --So many of my favorites in here. I miss them greatly.

Mo74, I think that at the very least, you will feel that you got your money's worth with this game. And more likely, you'll want to pinch yourself that it was ever possible to get this much entertainment, and get so close to a realistic WWII battlefield experience (from the armchair side of course!), for so little money. I had the first MTW game and I certainly don't think the CMBN AI suffers at all in comparison. On the defense, it can certainly put up a good fight. On the attack, well...not as often, but sometimes--yes. As for scenarios being canned, it's mainly a question of how much work the designer wants to put in. The tools are there for them to put in more plans than you will probably want to play for that given scenario. And from what I've seen, many designers are good about letting you know how much replay value there is in a scenario they've uploaded to the depot. Also, something to consider here is that BF has given you all the tools you need to make your own maps and/or take existing ones and alter them. So that means, terrain, units AND AI plans. For example, you could grab a map, create a few devilishly clever AI plans and then leave them for awhile while you play other battles. Then, when you've forgotten about what you did, go back and play against your custom, heightened AI plans. So again, while the AI is not perfect, it can be very fun to play, and you can even try to make it better through your own scenario tweaking. Really, the game is in a class by itself. Not perfect--just better than anything else for what it is trying to do. Macisle

Yes. The CW forces are very fun to play and require a different tactical style than the American forces (smaller squads and less firepower). Also, the CW module offers German additions like the Waffen SS units, again offering the player a richer, more diverse tactical universe. Furthermore, the module gives you two great campaigns, a lot of scenarios and TONS of quick battle maps. If you are going to get the game, get the CW module, too. You won't regret it. Macisle

Thanks, Frankster! I've got a ton of output options on my software, too (Premier CS5). But so far, I haven't found a flavor of HD 1080p that YouTube's video processor likes. They all get dropped to 480 max. Their FAQs haven't helped so far, either. I'll see if I can find an output template similar to yours and keep working on it. Thanks again and please do more vids!

Thanks for posting that. I enjoyed watching it! What encoding settings are you using to upload full 1080p HD? Even though all of the videos I have uploaded have been 1080p HD (avi) files, the highest quality that YouTube will give me is 480.

Here are the Lynx and Wespe: The Jagd looks great! The Marders look good to great to me.

Here's that first image: And from the rear: And how 'bout those Allied tanks!

Man, and I looked up a pics on Google images before posting! I don't have time to find them now, but strangely, the pics were marked as being the same tanks but had completely circular barrels. Well, shoot. Sorry! My bad.