Col Deadmarsh

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Arith: Ive been a wargammer for a while but have been away from the computer latley with work and everything. I have played all the TalonSoft battleground games and a few others. I also spent 6 years in the military so i am a true wargammer at heart and love a good fight. I also am into building models. This game seams to cater to all those interests. I like the idea. It seems very close to palying a miniatures wargame. After reading all the replys ive gotten just in the last few hours im impressed how much you guys like this game. I just placed my order... Ill leave it up to you guys to explain it to my wife when i start staying up all night and forget to work around the house <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Prepare to be sucked into the vortex...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rich12545: I've had to take out the hires grass and the hires buildings. CM1 now works fine until I play a huge map and then the scrolling gets choppy. It really doesn't look like CM2 will work very well on my system. It will work, but not very well. But I'll try the demo and then see.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Time to bite the bullet and upgrade Rich. We all gotta do it sometime.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Maximus: Pvt Ryan is probably correct. Being that your soundcard was a SB Pro knock-off, it doesn't have its own processor. So it probably relies on your computer CPU to receive and playback sounds. Now if you had a SB Live! that has its own processor, then you would have probably heard all the sounds all along. That's kind of why I bought mine in the first place. I bought my SB Live! in anticipation of CM coming out last June. So I never knew what the full game sounded like on my old SoundBlaster 64 PCI.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hmm...I wonder if this will be a problem with large maps since even a 1.3G will have a hard time keeping up with all the objects on screen. I hope it can still produce those new sounds I've been hearing... As for the system, I love it. Although I had to upgrade the case fan to something that can cool up to a 1.5G processor. Lemme tell you, the thing is considerably louder than my last one. I feel like I'm standing on the tarmac at LAX.

<gloating> Finally updated after a year and a half and picked up this the other day: ASUS A7V133 Motherboard 1.33GHZ AMD Processor 60Gig IBM Hard Drive Hercules 3D Prophet II GeForce 2 Vid Card Then I ran out of money so I took my old CD Writer, Reader, floppy, RAM sticks, and sound card and put those in the new tower. </gloating> Now for the strange part...even though I'm using my old sound card which is some Sound Blaster Pro knock off, I can now hear new gun sounds which I never heard before. In fact, it almost sounds like it's in stereo too. Before, the mg's on my tanks would make one sound only no matter which gun was firing. Now, I can hear different sounds for different guns. In addition to this, infantry guns also have seperate sounds to them which really enhances the game. Add to this the fact that I can now spin 360 degrees without slowdowns and this game rocks now! The quest-ionee though is why am I hearing all these different gun sounds now if I'm using the same sound card? P.S.--Thanks to all who made recommendations in the General Forum on what specific components to buy. I think it was money wisely spent.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bog: What Colonel Deadmarsh is REALLY saying is he'd like to SEE the CM2 manual first. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Heh, well I do have to get "paid" in some fashion.

Note to BTS: I'd like to volunteer to be a proofreader for the CM2 manual. I don't have a master's degree in English or anything but I'm very good at catching spelling and grammatical errors. In my spare time I'm a screenwriter so I do have a good grasp of the language. I'm dead serious about this offer so please let me know if this is possible.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Terence: I think they are not a breeze to hook up. I think that in many cases they are far from a breeze. I think instead of breeze, i would sometimes use the words "miserable pain in the ass." With more and more computers coming with videocards pre installed, this is less of an issue than it was a year ago, but its not a problem that has gone away. For now, I think its tough to convince people that opening up the computer, installing the card and getting the drivers to work is easy. You can;t convince me.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I can relate to this as a few days ago I bought a GeForce2 64mb card by Visiontek. Went home all happy to install it and then after some time, found it kept freezing my computer. Grrrr. Tried all the fixes they offered and no luck. So, back to the store I go and this time I get the GeForce2 32mb card from Hercules. Go home, sure it's gonna work this time and guess what...same damn thing. My computer freezes while surfing the net. What the hell is going on here?!!!!! I had to put back my Voodoo just to log on to this forum and type this damn message. I ran msinfo32.exe to find any corrupted files and it found one called setupx.dll. So, I have just fixed that and now we'll see what happens. I doubt though that if I put back my Hercules card that it will freaking matter. I'm ready to go out tomorrow and buy a whole new system. I've been wanting to get a new processor, motherboard, hard drive, and tower anyway and this looks like a good time to do it so I don't have to deal with this crap.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stalin's Organ: Yes, I'm playing him - had a turn yesterday.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Aha! And he had just emailed me to tell me he was on vacation all this time! That coward! I guess that last turn really broke his spirit. His tank never even saw it coming.

Is anyone playing this guy in a PBEM? I haven't been able to get in touch with him for two weeks now. Sock Monkey, if you're reading this, please give me an email explaining your whereabouts.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by WineCape: Ok gentleman, rumour has been confirmed as fact by our Tournament Manager that the first reply received for the Invitational Tourney of "Stars" is ................ FIONN KELLY <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Never heard of the guy... He any good?

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have no idea where to start I guess I'll trust Steve and see if I can't find "Fighting In Hell" first. A little bit of everything sounds like a good way to start off. Oh, and that's good to know that I was wrong about the terrain in Russia. Looking forward to CMBB more and more. [ 06-08-2001: Message edited by: Colonel_Deadmarsh ]

Dalem, What books can you recommend on The Eastern Front or even Western for that matter?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DrAlimantado: I must say that I am kind of surprised about the fact that a lot of people seem reluctant to want to play CMBB just because it is on the east front. (And some people even seem to want less improvements on CMBB just in order to feel better when they continue to play CMBO.) Could someone please enlighten me to why they rather would like to stay with the west front? M [ 06-07-2001: Message edited by: DrAlimantado ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Why don't you just ask the source? For me, the Western Front appeals more because of the geography of the land. I like green, hilly land with a lot of foilage to hide behind. I don't like flat land that lends itself to long-range tank battles. I mean, where's the strategy in that? Now, correct me if I'm wrong (and I hope I am) but this is what we can expect on the Eastern Front. I'm pretty sure there's not a lot of woods and forests over there that can provide cover for one's troops. Didn't the whole battle over there take place in the winter anyway? All I picture is dead shrubbery and snow when I hear Russian Front. I'm sure there's more to this but that's the image that I get whenever the subject comes up. City fighting would take care of the lack of hiding places for infantry, but honestly, does anybody like city fighting in CMBO? Frankly, I think it's a turn off. I played a battle already in a town and it was a bore. For one thing, the streets in CM are screwed. This is an obvious weak point in the game and needs to be addressed. The other thing that bothered me was that the street graphics are quite blinding and unattractive. That mod that darkened the street helped a little but it's still annoying. And that's why I don't like street fighting. The one thing I am looking forward to in CMBB is the match up between the German tanks and the Russian ones. Now the Allies will be able to go head to head with the German heavies. Okay, now maybe you can explain to me why you like playing the Eastern Front.

First of all, I share ICM's sentiments. We are not complaining that we got ripped off or that we (the Western Front fans) are being ignored. We are only doing what comes naturaly, protecting the game we love (CMBO). Hell, I'm not a huge fan of the Eastern Front but I will definetly be buying the game because you guys did such a fantastic job with the first one. It also helped hearing about all the units and the history behind this scenario from the people on the board. It's got me more interested in the Eastern Front than I have ever been. I have to say, I'm glad to hear that relative spotting will not be in CMBB. This would've been a MAJOR upgrade/change that would've put a few grey hairs on CMBO's head. Frankly, I want to see a minimal amount of changes in this upcoming game because it will mean keeping the first game somewhat up to date for a longer period of time. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Steve said: Talonsoft made, what, nine versions of the same game? Each one was sold for full price (IIRC #9 wasn't), yet the changes from one to another were fairly minimal. They did not backwards support the previous products and in fact, like two other wargame series I can think of, the same bugs/flaws showed up with each new release. But they are now defunct, so the lesson here is that you can milk the same cow only so much before you need to give it a rest and bring in a different cow.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> This sounds a lot like the tale of Atomic. They come out with a new idea for tactical combat with CC1, then improved the grachics and gameplay and make a classic with CC2 (Market Garden.) At that point, they needed to fix the AI going into CC3 (The Russian Front) but they didn't. In addition to that, they didn't improve on the game much at all and in fact (and somebody please tell me how this is possible) went backwards in technology and made the tank graphics even worse in future additions. CC3 was a hit with a lot of people because it took place on the Eastern Front but after that, the series went downhill from a monetary standpoint because the company refused to expand on the once great game they had created. I don't want to see this happen to CM so I am all for moving on, but I hope that CMBO continues to be a game people want to play until an updated version of it can be done by BTS in the near future. If it can't happen after CMBB, then I'm praying it will after the new CM II engine is created for the 3rd installment in the series.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chupacabra: When id released Quake II, did any Quake fans ask id to bring Quake up to Q2's standards? CM's a great game, I'll probably keep playing it, but at some point you have to move on.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Like I said in my opening post, updating Commamnd and Conquer or in your case, Quake, is an entirely different thing than updating CM. CM is a WWII game and we all have our favorite theaters due to movies we've seen, books we've read, etc. Quake is a sci-fi game with made up terrain, units, and even the history behind the game. Therefore, upgrading something like that to new terrain and units doesn't alienate the people who played Quake 1. It just comes out as a hopefully improved and slightly altered game. What we're facing here is something completely different. CM2 is not an improvement on CMBO. It's an entirely new game because of the different location. If it were the same location with a new engine and new features, there probably wouldn't be any of us lobbying for an updated version of CMBO in the near future.

I'm worried that our beloved game is going to be left in the dust when CM2 comes out with all it's new bells and whistles. This isn't Commmand And Conquer where a new version means everybody is happy because you are simply making a better game with the same scenario. When you choose to make a game about WWII and decide to cover different theaters, you risk alienating those that are much more interested in one scenario then the others. From what I hear, CM2 is not going to be just an improved game but an entirely different one. This might sell a lot of units but it will have an effect on the sales of CMBO since it will now be compared to the far better CM2. If BTS was only making small changes, there probably wouldn't be a problem, but like we've been hearing, this is going to be an entirely new game. What are BTS's options? Well, what about making an updated CMBO? Broderbund recently put out an updated version of Myst and it seems they are making their money back and then some. Yes, Myst is the all-time best selling game but we have a lot of loyal fans here and I'm sure most would be willing to pay an additional fee to upgrade their version of CMBO. After all, I hear many have not bought a software game since purchasing CMBO so their wallets are surely filled up with money by now. Maybe a survey by BTS is in order... The following was posted by Robert Mayer in another thread but I wanted to respond to some of his remarks in a new thread for this subject: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Robert Mayer: I can understand the concern for CMBO, once CMBB is out, and I kinda share the feeling, but I can't for the life of me figure out how BTS can get around the problem. From what I've been told, and from what we've all seen, the changes in CM2 are going to be pretty significant. Some of them, like the "weapon racks" and the unit designations, require an 800 by 600 minimum interface. Others, like relative spotting, vehicle morale, and vehicle organization, have huge effects on gameplay. I can't see any way of retrofitting these to CMBO in a cost-effective manner. I suspect that to do so BTS would have to suspend work on CMII, and on CM3/4 as well. And all the improvements for the original game would in effect be uncompensated--they'd be revamping the game for no additional revenue, but with a lot of additional work.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I disagree. If CM2 is going to be an "entirely new game" as is what we're hearing, then retrofitting CMBO with the new features and gameplay would also make it "an entirely new game." And if that means pushing back the release date for CM3, then so be it. There are much more Western Front Fans out there than there are for North Afrca/Italy. I say this not to be selfish but to introduce the subject of money as a motive. Ask yourself this...when was the last time a game company made a WWII game that takes place in North Africa or Italy? As far as a major release...never. And if there was one, it wasn't a giant success. What I'm trying to say here is that this choice of doing a game with this scenario isn't to make money. It's obviously a labor of love for our boys at BTS, so keeping their other labor of love, CMBO, up to date does not seem out of the realm of possibility. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> Then there are the issues of performance and hardware requirements. CMBO has a very low hardware threshold. CMBB has a somewhat higher threshold. To retrofit the one to the other would necessitate upgrades for some--perhaps man--CMBO owners. Sure, owners of the first came could choose not to upgrade, but then, they'd only be able to play with other unupgraded people, the flow of user created scenarios would dry up, and soon they'd be outcasts anyhow.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> People are going to have to upgrade to a 32 bit video card anyway to play CM2. When it comes out, those cards will be around 100-125 bucks. This is not a major ugrade. Besides, 32 bit vid cards are now the industry standard. When you buy a new computer, this is what you get with it, not a 16 bit card. I seriously think this upgrade point is a non-issue. So, I conclude this with a plea to BTS to consider all of us who love the Western Front and make CMBO backwards compatible/retrofittable so we can all play this game for years to come. If that means paying for an all new version, I am the first to say that I would gladly do this.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gunnergoz: For my 2 bits worth, it would make more sense to come out with a "CM1.5" with entirely new coding and retail packaging. This version would have all the features of CM2 ported back to the Western Front. It could be sold to owners of CM1 (BTS must have THAT list ) for a goodly discount and avoid all the hassles of figuring out a patch. How about it, BTS?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Kinda like "Real Myst?" when they put out the 360 degree view version...I like it. And to my knowledge, Cyan or whoever is making some decent money off that release. If cost is the only obstacle, this would be the best solution and I'm sure they would make their money back with such a loyal following. In fact, I think if CM1 is just tossed aside without an option to upgrade, there will be a considerable backlash against BTS for abandoning it.

Well, everyone's pretty much nailed it: relative spotting cannot be entirely relative since YOU the player in charge of all your men will always know when one of your teams encounters the enemy. And when that happens, your other units can now be directed to go to that location. I don't know how prevalent radios were to each squad, but if you have a lone zook team sneaking through some trees, they did not have a radio just for them. Therefore, this "relative spotting" is not entirely realistic in itself, is it? With that said, I supposed it's better than what we have now but that raises the question of, "Is BTS hurting the interest in CM1 by introducing radical changes like this?" I just hope CM2 is backwards compatible so CM1 isn't looked down upon in 6 months time as being obsolete. If CM2 took place in the same theatre, it wouldn't matter to anyone but that isn't the case here and some of us like the Western Front more than the Eastern. BTS, please don't leave CM1 in the dust...

Is it just me or has Charles never posted on the board? Steve, how come you do all the talking? Apparently this board has its own version of Penn and Teller...

"There is a quality about quantity." Not sure if I got that right and I'm not even sure I know who said it but it was someone important.

More from the wish list... 1. When re-directing arty fire, I'd like to see the time it will take for the order to be carried out wherever I move the cursor instead of having to issue the order to do so and then seeing it in the orders box. 2. Infantry smoke I am still in disbelief that WWII soldiers didn't use this to some effect. Imagine the possibilities that this would open up if implemented in CM2... 3. Mulitiple pauses and firing orders during a turn If I have an infantry squad that needs to get to one patch of woods to another, and I believe the enemy is going to ambush me from one of two points, I need to be able to smoke both points first before advancing. The same goes for area fire. As for the pauses, it would be nice to be able to move first and then pause and then move instead of only being able to pause at the beginning of a turn. Its no more micromanagement than issuing a pause at the beginning of a turn but it will give the player more flexibility. 4. The option to view the map before playing Options are always the best because it pleases all parties. With this option, you and your opponent would be able to view the map beforehand. Is this realistic on all occasions? That may be debatable. But for defenses, the terrain is definetly known to the defender in an attack-defend scenario. In addition to this, the defender must know how to defend the victory locations so seeing the map beforehand is most important. If people don't want to see the map beforehand, they will have that option too. 5. Adjustable handicapp points by 1% What I mean by this is that we need to be able to fine-tune the adjustments in case CM2 comes out like CM1 did with unequal point ratios for attack-defense scenarios. In fact, let's get rid of the drop down boxes for these options and have fields where we can enter a number. That's all I can think of for now...

This evening I went to download some mods from Battlefront HQ's. I just recently re-installed my Cute FTP 4.2 Program and now I find that instead of WinRar downloading my zip files, Cute FTP has taken over. I even checked the settings option in WinRar and sure enough it says it's supposed to handle the zip downloads. I can't find anything about this in Cute's settings. Can anyone tell me how to get this back to normal so WinRar downloads the zip files? Matt, can you leave this on a bit before sending it to the Siberia of the CM boards we know as the General Forum...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Robert Mayer: hence our recent huge D&D feature... Robert Mayer Managing Editor Computer Games Magazine<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'm glad you brought this up. I really enjoyed reading that article as I played a lot of D & D when I was a kid and I always wondered who those two guys were who created the game and why they started it in the first place. Very interesting to read about all that happened behind the scenes while I was absorbed in the game (circa 1983). I was actually surprised that any popular mag would do a big spread like that since it seems the kids these days wouldn't care about "the game that started it all." A job well done I must say.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Treeburst155: Colonel Deadmarsh, This tournament has nothing to do with the CAL ladder other than the fact that the game results of the tourney (minor, major, etc.) could be posted on that ladder if the players wished since all CAL rules are being followed. The points I assign have nothing to do with the ladder. These would be tournament related only...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Okay, I thought you were going to make these tourney games count towards the ladder with a different point system being used. So, the tourney is completely seperate from the ladder, gotcha.

Treeburst, if you're making up your own point totals for this tournament, then these games cannot count towards the CAL ladder. If you get more points for a tourney win than a regular CAL game, that wouldn't be fair to those who don't participate.