ParaBellum

Anyone else having this problem? I somehow doubt that a video card with "only" 256MB RAM ist the problem here, cards with more than 256MB are certainly not yet the norm for gaming and I'd be very much surprised if CM:SF actually needs more than that to run properly.

Newest version with adjusted casualties threshold/points and some minor tweaks: http://freenet-homepage.de/parabellum/WadialBuggerv092.zip I've played the scenario more than a dozen times as the Syrians, watching the US attack and I've seen virtually anything from a totally helpless AI with horrible pathfinding to fine assaults, almost resembling a competent human opponent. On average the US AI seems to work Ok.

Would be nice, especially since the smoke in CM:SF looks great. Just had a large cloud of smoke (caused by two Strykers firing off their smoke launchers) slowly drifting across the battlefiled. Simply beautiful.

Currently we can only create AI plans with a timed schedule ("after 10 minutes, advance to next position"). I would LOVE to see the ability to tie AI plans to a unit's condition, like casualties or ammo ("if casualties > 50%, move to next position" etc...). With the current system of "waypoints" tied exclusively to a timed schedule we lose a lot of flexibility regarding the AI.

Thewood is correct. Currently all support targets will result in an instant bombardement at the start of a battle. Providing some sort of delay function would greatly improve the flexibility of the AI's use of artillery. A scenario designer could provide the AI with half a dozen support targets, to be targetted over the span of the whole battle. Ideally, besides the delay timer we would also get a probability setting for AI arty strikes. *dreams on*

Thanks for your comments! I have already tweaked the casualties threshold, it should now be more challenging for the US side and make it easier for the Syrians by winning through inflicting lots of damage to the US. The US now have to keep their casualties below 20% (less is IMO very difficult since they face quite well-trained and motivated resistance) in oder to get the 50 points bonus, while they still need to wipe out 70% of the syrian force to get another 50 points. The syrians will now get 200 points if they manage to kill more than 50% of the US forces with an additional 50 points for restricting their own casualties to less than 50% (which is extremely hard to do, so they'll probably never get this bonus). Since the terrain objectives only provide 150 points it is now easier for the syrians to win by inflicting heavy damage, even if they lose the victory locations. The new points distribution now IMO fits better my initial mission description. As for the air support: I didn't want the US units to go into battle without any kind of arty/air support. IMO especially against a human opponent defending a US player will probably need those F-16s. Now even more with the adjusted casualties threshold. Since arty is even more powerful I thought the aircraft were, with their relative small payload (usually one pass) and long command delay, a decent compromise. Fugazzi: I'm currently experimenting with withdrawing the forward syrian elements after some time, making them less a "fight and die" force. Since I can manage this only via time delays (and not factors like casualties or ammo)it's a bit tricky. Good idea! BTW I'll release an updated version later this afternoon. [ August 16, 2007, 02:53 AM: Message edited by: ParaBellum ]

Thanks for the feedback, KNac. The latest version (v0.91) doesn't have the pre-planned strikes anymore. I'm currently fiddling with a workaround though. Good ideas about the casualties threshold. I have thought about this a bit already. I agree with you that a 5%-10% casualty threshold for the US is certainly realistic but with regards to this battle is pretty much impossible to achieve. I will most probably reduce the casualties threshold for the US (and the according setting for the Syrians), meaning the US will have to be more careful about sustaining casualties.

Guess I'm a bit late for the party, as always... 1993-1994 Jägerbataillon 292 (light infantry), german-french brigade, sniper and radio operator. I'm probably one of the few soldiers who's got the word "humorous" in his official army certificate.

You know Sergei, sending a 13 yo into the Peng thread is considered a crime against humanity in most civilized countries. And even the uncivilized ones would consider it somewhere between beastiality and genocide.

Again: CM:SF manual page 120ff "The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Editor"

Did you make plans for the AI? Without AI plans computer-controlled units will not move from their setup zones. Take a look at the CM:SF manual page 120ff.

While I like the support targets feature, I hate the fact that the AI will use them as pre-planned bombardements, commencing at the very beginning of a battle. I would LOVE to see the ability to delay these strikes with a simple timer in the editor. Thus a scenario designer could help the AI to use its fire support much better. Ah, and when I click on the EXIT button in the editor, PLEASE put up one of those (usually annoying) "do you really want to exit without saving?" prompts. It's not fun losing a couple of hours' worth of map making by a simple mis-click. CMx1 had that feature...

There is no dedicated screenshot option in CM:SF. You can press the PrntScrn key on your keyboard, ALT-TAB out of it and paste the screenshot into any paint program though. FRAPS, which I usually use for taking screenshots in games, causes massive problems with CM:SF on my system, most notably reducing FPS and causing severe lag on any keyboard input.

Hehe... same thing happened to me a couple of minutes ago. While my Syrians put up a heroic defense in Wadi al Bugger suddenly the center of my defenses vanished in a gigantic BOOOM... Please also make sure to take a look at the points distribution at the end of the battle. My intent is that the US forces in order to win must take both VLs, while heavily damaging (>70%) the syrian forces and suffering less than 30% casualties. The Syrians OTOH should be able to win by holding onto one objective or at least manage a draw when causing heavy losses (>50%) for the US side.

I've uploaded an updated version with some minor tweaks: http://freenet-homepage.de/parabellum/WadialBuggerv091.zip Most important feature: I've deleted the 'support targets' that I had included yesterday night, forgot that they acted as pre-planned strikes. Didn't like them. Molloy, thanks for your offer! A post here with spoiler warnings would be fine.

Try to use the mouse vor camera control/movement. I had the same problems initially. Now I left-click/move mouse and ctrl-left-click to move around, right-click/move mouse to pan the camera and use the scroll wheel for adjusting height. Works like a charm. As much as I still don't really like the orders menu I really like the new camera controls. BTW I never used the camera control buttons in CMx1. Well, at least not since playing Valley of Trouble for the first 10 minutes...

Try to use the mouse vor camera control/movement. I had the same problems initially. Now I left-click/move mouse and ctrl-left-click to move around, right-click/move mouse to pan the camera and use the scroll wheel for adjusting height. Works like a charm. As much as I still don't really like the orders menu I really like the new camera controls. BTW I never used the camera control buttons in CMx1. Well, at least not since playing Valley of Trouble for the first 10 minutes...

Try to use the mouse vor camera control/movement. I had the same problems initially. Now I left-click/move mouse and ctrl-left-click to move around, right-click/move mouse to pan the camera and use the scroll wheel for adjusting height. Works like a charm. As much as I still don't really like the orders menu I really like the new camera controls. BTW I never used the camera control buttons in CMx1. Well, at least not since playing Valley of Trouble for the first 10 minutes...

Hey, thank you Elvis! Glad you liked it. Noticed anything that needs tweaking? EDIT: updated version available: http://freenet-homepage.de/parabellum/WadialBuggerv091.zip [ August 15, 2007, 07:00 AM: Message edited by: ParaBellum ]

My 1st battle, "Wadi al Bugger" is almost ready and I need 2-3 people willing to play each side at least more than once to provide some feedback and point out possible problems. Map is finished and the AI plans sometimes actually work quite well. I've managed to both win and lose with each side, so it probably isn't totally fubared. My aim was to provide a reasonable challenge for both sides. Forces are about company-size, playtesting the scenario was done in realtime-mode. Some impressions: PLEASE NOTE: the scenario is still NOT 100% finished, there are NO briefings yet, and there are still a couple of rough edges. If you just want to enjoy the battle when it's ready, then PLEASE wait a couple of days and don't waste your time playing a yet unfinished scenario. If you want to help me though, please download the battle and GIVE ME SOME FEEDBACK. I'd very much appreciate it. Provisional briefing: US forces: take the victory locations (the village and the police HQ) without suffering excessive casualties. You are the point of the spear, pursuing syrian army units after a succesful breakthrough the day before. Air force says they have destroyed an enemy armoured column fleeing to the west near the village of Wadi al Bugger, only infantry forces are expected to try to slow down the pursuit. You start with a Stryker recon platoon with another Stryker platoon a couple of minutes behind, and a Bradley platoon in reserve if you stumble onto heavier resistance. A pair of F-16s provide air support. Syrian forces: after the US forces broke through our main line of resistance our forces are in full retreat to avoid encirclement. Our tank forces have suffered heavy losses both from US ground and air forces. Your mission is to defend Wadi al Bugger and slow down the american advance. Although succesfully defending your positions is important, it is even more important to inflict heavy casualties on the US forces and, if possible, limit your own casualties. You need to buy us some time! You have the remains of an infantry company at your disposal, with an armoured infantry platoon in reserve, ready to be deployed on short notice. A pair of mortars will provide fire support. Download link: http://freenet-homepage.de/parabellum/WadialBuggerv09.zip [ August 14, 2007, 06:06 PM: Message edited by: ParaBellum ]

Nope, even at minimum settings the scenery disappears at views 8 and 9.

I'm using the BFC version, patched to ver 1.02. My system is an AMD2600+, 1 Gig RAM, NVidia 7600GS 256MB with the latest (162.18) forceware drivers. Game runs fine BUT whenever I try to access one of the 8 or 9 (7 works fine) overhead views the whole map (both 3d objects and textures) disappears, leaving me staring at the troops' icons in front of the background texture. Increasing the object/texture quality doesn't help, neither does turning off FSAA and/or AF. Any cure for that?

Ok, the thing is finally ready for some beta testing. I have played many battles and all in all it works quite well, sometimes the AI still screws up horribly, sometimes it almost resembles a competent human player. Still, carnage, burning and exploding stuff galore. Now, I need a few people willing to play the scenario 2-3 times on either side and comment on any problems found. PLEASE NOTE: the scenario is still NOT finished, there are NO briefings yet, and there are still a couple of rough edges. If you just want to enjoy the battle when it's ready, then PLEASE wait a couple of days and don't waste your time playing a yet unfinished scenario. If you want to help me though, please download the battle and GIVE ME SOME FEEDBACK. Simple briefing: US forces: take the victory locations (the village and the police HQ) without suffering excessive casualties. You are the point of the spear, pursuing syrian army units after a succesful breakthrough the day before. Air force says they have destroyed an enemy armoured column fleeing to the west near the village of Wadi al Bugger, only infantry forces are expected to try to slow down the pursuit. You start with a Stryker recon platoon with another Stryker platoon a couple of minutes behind, and a Bradley platoon in reserve if you stumble onto heavier resistance. A pair of F-16s provide air support. Syrian forces: after the US forces broke through our main line of resistance our forces are in full retreat to avoid encirclement. Our tank forces have suffered heavy losses both from US ground and air forces. Your mission is to defend Wadi al Bugger and slow down the american advance. Although succesfully defending your positions is important, it is even more important to inflict heavy casualties on the US forces and, if possible, limit your own casualties. You need to buy us some time! You have the remains of an infantry company at your disposal, with an armoured infantry platoon in reserve, ready to be deployed on short notice. A pair of mortars will provide fire support. [ August 15, 2007, 06:58 AM: Message edited by: ParaBellum ]

Use the move command. Doesn't work in scenarios where the scenario designer has locked the units in place, though.