Fuerte

"Whiney BS?" Do you mean what I said? The only thing that is "a matter of laziness and convenience" is the command line option! PBEM Helper already has fully automatic sending of file name and password, so the command line option is not needed anymore, but it would have been great, because it would have been much easier to implement into PBEM Helper. And I have only tested it with 1152x864 resolution. The two other things (90%?) are much more important: 1) Faster PBEM play (replay with every turn) 2) Replay of previous turns or whole game I have an idea how 2) could be implemented without making PBEM files any bigger: a) Generate a GUID (Globally Unique Identifier, I'm sure that something similar exists in Mac as well) for each new game Save this GUID with every turn file (its only 128 bits) c) Create a subfolder MOVIES\GUID for each game d) Save the movie from each turn into this sulfolder e) Add controls into CMBB to view previous turns f) When the game is over, allow viewing the game from other player's perspective, and also so that all units are visible all the time g) Add a screen into CMBB where you can browse all these old movies, view them, delete unnecessary ones Still I think that 1) is most important. Then you would always first view the replay, and then make moves for the next turn, in each turn! No more turns where you only either view the replay or plot moves. But we have to wait for CM II for that.

It is time-consuming... that's why I use PBEM Helper and never have to 1) click "Join Multiplayer" 2) click "Load.." 3) select the correct file 4) enter password Adding command line options would be... trivial? Some other games do it, why not CMBB?

All right, thanks for the comment, I really missed this one. I guess that there is some button or keyboard shortcut somewhere that shows these settings. Or these are visible only in generated battles, not ready made scenarios.

And the user interface! The original in CMBO was much better! The dark brown in CMBB looks very unprofessional... (really in fact)

I don't know, it sounds pretty trivial to me. Btw, full CMBBdemo support is now in PBEM Helper, try it out. Automatic sending of file name and password has only been tested in 1152x800 resolution, though.

1) Does not make the files any bigger! You just get a replay in each turn... works like this: A plots moves for turn 1 -- B plots moves for turn 1 -- A views the replay for turn 1 A plots moves for turn 2 -- B views the replay for turn 1 B plots moves for turn 2 -- A views the replay for turn 2 A plots moves for turn 3 -- B views the replay for turn 2 B plots moves for turn 3 -- etc. 2) And this would make the files bigger!

</font> No PBEM replay in each turn. This is the biggest letdown... it was explained in CMBO forum a year/half ago how this would be easy to implement. It would make the PBEM game much faster. </font> No replay of previous turns or the complete battle. Laser Squad Nemesis has this. </font> No command line options for loading a PBEM turn. I have the automatic file name and password entering already working with a beta PBEM Helper, but still. </font>

No...

I have the following plan: </font> Add support for numbered files in user-defined programs. </font>Add support for external Visual Basic Script for sending the file name and password when starting the program. </font>I think that the above is ready maybe next week, then it is as good as CMBO support.

In Options / Modify Installed Programs, Enable CMBB. Then you should see all CMBB PBEM games in the main window.

Here is basic support for PBEM Helper. Create a file CMBBDEMO.INI in PBEM Helper installation folder, and put the following text into it: </font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">[settings] LongName=Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin Demo EXE=BARBAROSSA TO BERLIN DEMO.EXE EMailSubDir=PBEM PBEMFilePattern=*.TXT FileTypes=1 [File0] Ext=TXT Primary=1 Modified=1 CheckSame=1 Required=1</pre>

Try PBEM Helper!

There could be two issues here: 1) PBEM Helper works differently with new nVidia drivers. The latest version of PBEM Helper requires the latest nVidia drivers... if you have older nVidia drivers, then you need SendExtra=1 option as explained in the Readme. 2) Automatic sending of file name and password is of course not supported in the forthcoming CMBB, unless it has these command line parameters as Urgrue suggested.

No, there is only one SMTP server, and all clients connect to that. This means that there is a single point of failure: if the server is down, then nobody can play the game. But still it would be a great addition to CMBB.

I wonder if CMBB will have support for PBEM server? I just tried Laser Squad Nemesis and it has a brilliant system of automatically sending the PBEM turn by SMTP to the game server, which generates the turn when it is ready and posts the results back. Then you just click the attachment in e-mail, and LSN opens, and you can view the replay, and plot new moves. LSN is very similar to CM in many ways: simultaneous plotting of moves, viewing the replay, etc. Also I wonder if Battlefront will ever release a game with sci-fi units using CM engine... it would be great in full 3D! Another brilliant idea in LSN is that only one of the players have to register and pay for the game. Only registered users can start new games, but they can challenge any other user with a working e-mail address... when the opponent gets the challenge, then he may download the software from LSN web page. This works with LSN because the setup size is only 7 MB...

I still don't understand the need for the right mouse click. Why can't these menu items be on the right side where all other commands are, like Undo Move?

Of course the best solution would be to use the current desktop. Do not change any screen settings, just open a full screen window on the standard desktop. Program SC so that it uses all available space on standard desktop resolution, be it 800x600, 1024x768, 1152x800 or whatever. Just show a bigger map in case of bigger resolution. This should be easier to implement than fixing these various resolution and refresh rate problems.

I first tried NVidia Refresh Fix, but it didn't detect my GeForce DDR. Then I run this RefreshLock, and it worked, unfortunately it has to be loaded always, while this Refresh Fix needs to be run only once. RefreshLock fixed the problem. I noticed that Unreal Tournament run at 75 Hz (not 60 Hz) without RefreshLock and at 85 Hz with it, so some programs work better than Strategic Command. And UT does not change window sizes on desktop.

It is still running at 60 Hz. Setting the compatibility mode to Win 98/ME helped with the desktop windows problem that is new in the gold demo. Both these issues should be fixed in the final version. Why can't SC just check the current desktop refresh rate and use it instead of 60 Hz? SC shouldn't change the desktop size... I have never before seen any other program that behaves like this.

It took me a while to find out how to transport infantry, because the first right mouse click does not open the pop-up menu. It would be much easier and more user-friendly if the menu would be visible on the right side where UNDO MOVE and all other commands are. Now that menu is always empty when you select some unit.

Okay, thanks!

Huh, thanks! I was reading through this thread and was very worried, but now I am relieved! I am going to buy it...

1) Screen refresh rate changes to 60 Hz (why?) 2) Game save dialog does not show the cursor (should use normal Windows file dialog) 3) Game uses all CPU power even when the user does nothing Otherwise this looks very promising...

PBEM Helper page: PBEM Helper Download install package: Installer 2.45 MB Download SC update: SC update 172 kB

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