deanco

I'd like to see medals given out for heroic action 'cause I like to get emotionally involved in the lives (and deaths) of my men. Almost every game I've played the game, I've had a 'hero'. The Stuart that takes out 4 AFV's, the squad that got 20 kills, etc. I'd like that guy to get a medal, at least! And I'd like to see that medal in the detailed Unit Info screen, when I review my troops after the battle. It doesn't have to affect gameplay squat. He's still the same guy he was, he just carries that medal with him to the next battle in the operation. I've never played an operation in my life, but this feature would get me to play one. And just to be ABSOLUTELY clear, this addition would be of a graphic nature only. The game looks to see who does good, and awards medals, and put's the bmp's up on the screen. End of program. Yes, it's childish. I proudly admit it.

From the article: ----------------- What gameplay or technological differences will we see between Combat Mission 2 and the original? Besides what I've mentioned so far, one of the biggest changes is a new in-game interface that puts a lot more game and unit information on the main screen. Those graphics haven't been finalized, but we're working on a new look. ---------------- I guess reposting this doesn't violate the NDA. Now you know.

OK, now I'm SURE I'm crap. However, I have got 1000 pt meeting engagements down good against the AI, and when I need an ego boost, I'll play that. I'm pretty much sure to win. And when I'm feeling confident, I'll try an attack. I really suck at attacks, but I guess I win 50% of the time. And when I'm feeling REALLY good about myself, I'll try a defense. Now get this. I have won ONE TIME playing defense against the AI, and the AI is supposed to be better on defense than on offense. I don't get it. It's gotten to the point that I've stopped buying those field guns, since I have never, EVER, yet put one in a good place AFAIK. Usually they either die on turn 1 in a shameful manner, or they spend 25 turns getting pushed 170m to a place where they die in a shameful manner. I can't bear the humiliation of it all, so I've stopped playing defense. Sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I? What was the topic again?

Man, I haven't laughed that hard in a good long time. Brilliant. I'm actually afraid to read it again, I'm afraid I might split a gut. Many thanks for starting my day off with a hearty laugh.

Um, cheers, you guys. That's very nice of y'all. Thanks very much. I'm just gonna say one more time that this is a two-way proposition. Without the encouragement and constructive feedback from y'all, everything could have turned out quite differently. Really, fan encouragement, and fan interest, means a lot to a modder. It means he's not in a vaccuum, that he's having an effect on the world. So really, it's a 2 way street.

Yo, I couldn't get anything done with Black and White's mouse control when I first started. But after a couple of days solid playing I actually prefer it now, and am now so used to it that I subconciously try to use it with other games... such as CM. Really though, moving the mouse to the side of the screen and clicking and holding, to turn and tilt is pretty funky. I don't see any advantages over your usual "push" style RTS scrolling. The real innovation here is completely controlling the camera with the middle button IMO. Now THAT is a powerful tool I would like to see implemented. (OT) If anyone would like to see an advance preview of what the new CM2 engine will be capable of (of course, I'm only guessing here), I suggest they pick up a copy of Black and White. The thought of tanks and soldiers moving through terrain like this has me drooling with anticipation, I can tell you.

I know next to nothing about WWII, and this bug is the only time I've ever 'reported' a bug on this forum. Even someone who is basically ignorant about armies, WWII, etc can see that this is wrong. Funny though, all the other bugs in the game have gotten fixed quickly. I'm just guessing, but this MAY be a thorny problem programming-wise. Maybe that's why it hasn't been addressed yet. At any rate, I know that BTS is checking this board all the time, so it's sure they at least know about it. Their past record with this kind of stuff (bug-fixing) has been top-notch, as I think everybody who hangs out here knows. So let's be cool and see what BTS has to say. Even, 'we don't have time right now to look at it because of CM2' would be welcome. ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

I see houses that look like this all the time in France. It looks great, but I go along with the others, it looks too new. Age it up a bit and you have a sale. It really looks great for a first try. Well done. Man, I'm gonna have to try modding bulidings myself one of these days... ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

That is a waaay cool mod. I like the way it looks better than mine in fact. Like you said, the monocolor thing seems to go with the German vibe well. Looks killer, man. ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

Looks better darker like that. Good job, it looks really tight now. ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

Hi Mos was 71331, Yeah, I posted the same idea a while ago about Option-T and Option-V. I would add Option-C to access the first crew as well. And make it so you are obliged to hit Option-C to be able to scroll your crews. In other words, during normal + and - scrolling, the crews would never come up on the list. One would have to click a crew first, or hit Option-C, then + and -, to look at every crew on the battlefield. Perhaps these could be made mutually exclusive. In other words, when you click a crew and hit + and -, you will just get crews in the list. This would be a way to rapidly send your crews to the rear, easily. Let's face it, crews in CM have gone from being rather interesting "pieces", capable of limited offensive action, to their current status of scaredy-cat wimps with broken morale and low ammo. Whether this is right or not is not for me to say. This subject has already been discussed, heheh. But the end result is that now crews have become nothing but a liability to the player. They are good for absolutely nothing except running away to fight another day. OK, so let's make an easy way for the player to retreat them, what say? They are just cluttering up the battlefield as it stands. I honesly wonder if there is not a way to conceptualize crews and take them out of the game entirely. For example, 'you lost 5 AFV's, that's 24 men, so since you lost a tactical defeat, you lose 17% of your crew strength to wounds or death, and that will be subtracted from your VP total or your availble crews for the next battle of the operation.' Save some polygons this way too. Anyway, glad to see others joining the bandwagon when it comes to these questions of ergonomy. Give me more! (edit) To select a unit in a vehicule, hit Shift-V. It turns off the vehicules in the game. Then you can easily click on your guys. Don't forget to turn it back on, eh? You will be wondering where your tanks went! ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time [This message has been edited by deanco (edited 03-22-2001).]

To differentiate from 'Rocker' ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

Really you guys, thanks a lot. I just wanna say a couple things here. One, I never meant to be a CM modder at all when I did my first mod, the C&C indicators. One day I said, "Hey. That's some pretty important info there. I should be able to see that better." That's it. Then, I got a lot of encouragement and good, constructive criticsm from certain people in the very beginning. Those people, and the folks that came after, kind of led me on my way, so to speak. They made me want to make more mods, and they reminded me that I must be very critical of my own work, since grogs will be using it!! The other thing is, I visited the Tribes board and saw some of the "All Your Base" photos. Now THOSE guys know how to use Photoshop, eh? So it's important to keep things in perspective and know where you stand in the world. I guess the thing that's most in my favor here is that I really like Combat Mission a lot. But really the biggest thanks are to the people who took the time to write and encourage, and also find fault with. So it really is kind of a relationship in a way. I wouldn't be here, and I definately wouldn't be so 'good', if it weren't for y'all. ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

Hi Kingfish, I'm not worked up anymore, I've calmed down. I guess what got my goat is the title of the thread. If you call "A NEW OUTLOOK" (in caps, of course) asking one 12-year-old what he thinks about CM... well, that's a little thin to be calling it a new outlook, don't you think? If the title had been, 'My 12 year old friend's view of CM', I might even have contributed to the thread in a useful manner. But really, the gist of the thread was, "the 12 year old don't like it because there's more than 1 guy to control". Getouddahere. WCS, it's an insult to all 12 year olds who are capable of controlling 2 or more units at a time. And not to mention that it is a sweeping generalization, and stereotype, which has very little basis in actual fact, as others have pointed out. ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

Buildings, terrain, sky, and interface make the biggest difference to the overall look. (And, yes, I am Teuton my own horn here) After that you can start collecting tank models, get the hamster mods, etc etc etc. ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

LOL!!!! Gotta split now unfortuately, but I have some dialogue from "Combat Mission : Colonel Klink's Big Adventure" I will post later.... hohohoho..... ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

Glad to meet ya, Griffin. I never could figure out those puzzles in adventure games either. To this day that's the only kind of game I don't play. Come on, how am I supposed to know to put the mustard on the flagpole?? ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

What a bunch of crap. THIS! THIS!! is why I sometimes swear to never come back here. I guess people deep down need to be snobs about something, anything, so they can lord it over others. All I can say is this is the most biased and unscientific "analysis" I've ever read on this board. And yes, I'm disgusted. ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

Tiger, man, I'm going through the same thing. I can relate. Hey, no video game, not civ, not x-com, not CM is gonna last forever. We've seen em come and go. What I'm doing is taking a complete break and playing other games. I promise you, when you come back to CM (as you WILL come back, this game is a classic) the old magic will return. ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

I think jd is talking about that "old world courtesy". The sense of how things are done in the world. Some people have it, and others don't. Sure, it's a nice gesture, but not everyone has that old world courtesy, eh? The only problem I would have is with someone passing off a slightly modified version of my work as an original creation, without giving me credit. And, as Clubfoot says, if they credit me in the readme, I have no problem with it whatsoever (and actually encourage it, as I've released the DO IT UR SELF MOD PAK). ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

This will change the in game Mac-style font to a kind of Ariel font. If you hate that Mac font as much as I do, this mod's for you. For the rest of you, try it, you might like it! Only 1 file and 2k in size. In the MISC MODS section. Enjoy! ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

Nope, not with CM. Yep. Probably a pain in the butt to program, and of course that would be taking away from the time to program the realistic stuff in, and it's only the one guy programming... Don't get me wrong, I like the idea a lot for the immersion and personalization factors you mentioned. But... it's only one guy programming it... ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

Bottom of page 3 already...hmmm. Guess nobody cares. I'll bet if some grog type had posted this same thing there'd be 50 answers by now. Amazing too is that a Gunny Bunny post gets 150 responses, while a real discussion about how to implement limited C&C in CM2 goes nowhere...... BTW I tried to answer you, russellmz, but the board ate my long post. That's the first time that's happened. Anyway, last bump, I guess I didn't criticize BTS enough. (edit) Forgot to add, thanks to those who did post. I learned that this same technique has been used in other wargames to good advantage, so this idea is not completely off the wall. ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time [This message has been edited by deanco (edited 03-05-2001).]

I was reading about this game, Master of Orion 3, and I came across an interview with the designer, Alan Emrich. He talked a little about the concept of Imperial Focus in the game, and I am gonna quote the design related aspects of part of that interview here, and leave out the stuff specific to MOO3, since it's not relevant. ---------------- Imperial Focus is the Leader’s ability to get things done during a single one-to-two year Game Turn. During a turn a Leader can only focus on so many issues. To simulate this, each player has only so much Imperial Focus each turn. With it, he or she reviews the current standing orders throughout the Empire and spends Imperial Focus Points (IFPs) only when he or she wants to change the status quo. With Imperial Focus, the player can choose to do anything but cannot do everything. Imperial Focus offers several design advantages. In addition to keeping players properly focused on their role, it will also help keep turns moving along. This will be a great asset to those who enjoy multi-player play and even solitaire players who want to spend hours rather than days to see the end of the game. Imperial Focus is also a malleable number. Certain races, Events, Leaders, etc. can increase or decrease a player’s available Imperial Focus Points. It adds play balance, too, as the best overall manager has the edge each turn, not just the most time-taking, horrendously optimizing micro-manager. Everything is important, but you can’t do everything, so the best players are those who can deduce which things are the most important in their current circumstances. I believe it takes far more skill to do that than to do rote micro-management in an effort to achieve a tiny bit of optimization. ----------------- Now, I'm wondering if this concept could be applied to command and control problems on a WWII battlefield. I am not advocating it per se, I'm just throwing out this idea to bat around a bit if you feel like it. Of course the WEGO system already operates a little like Imperial Focus in that you can't be constantly babying your troops. I guess the application of it in CM2 would be a limit to the number and kinds of orders you could give in any one turn. Anyway, I read it and thought of CM2 right away so I'm posting it, voilà. Expert and not so expert opinions welcome. ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time

I think we've all been spoiled a bit by the AI in this game. BTS have gotten so close to perfection that now the faults in the AI that are still there show up like glaring faults, instead of AI programming bugs that the player integrates into his perception of the game. I'll say it again : the success of the WEGO system of gameplay is DIRECTLY RELATED to the quality of the AI. Can you imagine how much fun CM would be if you hit GO and watched your units making all kinds of stupid maneuveurs and getting shot up. And you, the player, helpless to do anything about it. At least in RTS titles you can redirect them, but no such luck in CM. So IMHO if the AI programming woulda been anything less than stellar in CM, it woulda been one of the worst games ever made. The two go hand in hand. The better the AI, the more satisfying the WEGO experience is. In fact we can pretty much say, the fewer AI bugs, the better the game, in a global sense. This is because of the fact that WEGO makes the computer AI CRITICAL to the success of the game. My 2c, ------------------ DeanCo-- CM interface mods: http://mapage.cybercable.fr/deanco/ so many games...so little time