Barrold

I think that is the best point as people would likely develop what they think is "The One True Way" of placing flags. While not 100% effective probably, it would likely introduce a certain sameness into a number of games that isn't present when a more random approach is taken. Having the player forced to be a bit flexible seems to be the better way to promote a longevity of interest. BDH

You're so far outside the box you should be put in a cage. It seems logical to presume the scope of the TITLES has to be large enough to warrant producing several MODULES. The MODULES would seemingly have to contain enough interesting material to justify a separate product and the purchase price whatever that might be. Maybe there will be a CM: Crap Wars TITLE with a bunch of size and era connected MODULES but I would sure be interested in seeing the business justification for the development time on it. I just wonder if the scope will be large enough to allow a devoted fan to eventually collect enough MODULES for a HYPOTHETICAL WWII GPW TITLE to essentially replace CM:BB. We'll see. Top 5 WWII EF WWII WF ACW Age of Rifles Ancients BDH

Technically, the line from the movie is: Don't be stupid Be a Smarty Come and Join the Nazi Party BDH

La Bumpa I was actually started looking for the intended size of titles and their modules. BDH

Yes, billions will be served. BFS5

Just an unfortunate reprucussion of the Pirate Day shenanigans. I know Matt was going to re-index the members but I don't wish to lose another display name to this foolishness. BDH

Of the top of my head and not knowing the rest of your specs, I would suggest that processor speed and system RAM were the culprits. I have a laptop with a 2.8gHz processor, 1GB RAM, and 128MB VRAM and CMBB speeds along quite nicely. BDH

Spills the Beans is a children's game though so you've put the various parties into quite the quandry. BFS5

Is this some sneaky form of apostasy? Fudge at a fat farm has better odds, so this teasing hope of protection from on high seems particularly cruel, even for you. BFS5

I suddenly feel very cold. BFS5

stoat...how can I say this politely and with consideration afforded to your young age? I guess it would be to simply say that the above comment is so pathetically unfunny that in a world balanced with a sense of comedic justice, a team of drunken hitmen in smelly clown suits and oily make-up would visit your home and give you a Michael Shakel beating with their 9-irons. As the world is not balanced in this way, my groans of protest will have to suffice. BFS5

BAH!! Beat me to it BDH

LOL...I remember that game the first time it came out as "The Perfect General" BDH

I agree with that stoat. OTOH, I can see where a Napoleanic setting might interfere with the excellent looking title from HistWar. BDH

Heh...already suggested on page 3, although it was Powermonger that I was thinking about when I typed it. BDH

I would toss in the example of RTW, (which incidentally is a game whose inability to gain my affection has grown into a genuine contempt) and the advisors it uses. Now they can be turned off, but after a single use they become a real annoyance. How much effort should be put into something that is only briefly used and then creates annoyance. On top of that the advisors were only useful for quite generic advice. The seemingly limitless types of situations involved would tend to work against anything useful coming out of a heck of lot of work. I'd rather have a well-written manual that fully explains functions and effects. Let RTFM be the rallying cry! BDH

I dunno, that kind of sounds like at least a battalion-sized bong to me. BFS5

I am not sure I would describe an 110 degree F engineroom as air-conditioned luxury, but for the most part Mr. Salt's point is well taken. In boot camp we were certainly subjected to the CS gas chamber and had to take our masks off once inside to get the full effects of the irritant. We drilled fairly frequently for NBC attacks, but I think perhaps the fact that we were much more capable in terms of decontamination equipment helped make it less useful to risk personnel to check an all clear. In terms of CMx2 though, I don't really see the benefit to modelling it on this scale. BDH

I don't want to be confused with someone who knows anything (not that there's much danger of that) but I think the way BFC thinks is that modelling some rare events simply provides lots of opportunities for unrealistic behavior. BDH

Ouch..JasonC off the top rope with an elbow to the head.. BFS5

I am not sure you are thinking of these games correctly and would suggest a bit more exploration of some small scenarios to flesh out your experience without getting overwhelmed The first thing to do is get rid of the idea of CM as a puzzle that can be solved. There are no rock, paper, scissors combinations and no scripted missions to overcome. There is lots of information within the game. Hitting enter while a unit is selected brings up its armor, firepower, and other useful stuff. Targeting a unit provides some feedback on the ability to hit etc. Lots of other useful tactical information can be located in the forums and in fact, there is an anthology of useful posts. Lastly, don't create the expectation of winning as the sole reward of the game. CM rewards the application of realistic tactics not memorizing an armor penetration table. Re-playing the same saved turn can certainly provide completely different results. Realistic ballistics, physics, and accurate modeling of armor thicknesses and shells provide results in such a way that other games just don't. People play this game for a bunch of reasons and it enjoys the longevity is has by succeeding at what it does. Each scenario can provide a unique set of challenges based on gaining objectives with insufficient forces or crap units. It is about learning your uber tanks aren't. That quantity is a quality, but misusing your numbers just provides more targets to brew up. Keep looking. Play some more. BDH

When you reach into a pile of goo that used to be the face of your best friend...well you'll know what to do BFS5

Maybe we did things different in the Navy, but I have never heard of such a tactic in my NBC training. Since I was a radcon dude, I figure my training was as comprehensive as those on the recieving end of the stuff would get too. As for CMx2, I have no friggin idea. Did WWI get into the Top 5? They said Cold War wasn't so I dunno. What about nukes? Turn 1 ---> Game Ends It would be worse than that in-game movie showing the 500lb bomb wiping out some guy's entire force that was posted long ago. BDH

From another thread just down below... Welcome to the game and the forum. BDH

Heh...Oh Steve you rogue, nice try, but I was speculating from the second set of numbers you mentioned to Tom. Of course I don't want to bug and I am not whining, so it is good to know that the entire BFC Team (and a swell bunch they are) is reinvigorated by being able to focus on something other than WWII since the release of CMAK. Space Lobsters, MadMatt's Disco Dust-up, Guano Wars, 3D Space Invaders, or whatever...just make it good. BDH