Captain Hook

I started this post because I was reading Barleyman's comment that the CMBB demo ran quite slow. His specs were 1GHZ Athlon, Radon 64MB card. A laptop with a 64MB card sets you back $1800+. Can't blow that much no matter how much I love to play CMBB. So is there no significant difference in turn calculation/drawing big maps in a 64MB card vs. a 16MB card? That seems to be the consensus if I read the posts right.

Was reading a thread where folks with monster machines were experiencing tremendous delays in turn calculation. I need a new laptop but cant afford the mega-expensive Dells with 64MB graphics. Can only afford a 1.2Mhz processor with a no-name 16MB card for about $800 less. But based on the referenced thread, doesn't look like 16 Mb is going to cut it. Anybody playing the demo on a 16 Mb card?

Am still not clear if BTS will rewrite the engine and at the same time code CMIII. Or, does the rewrite happen followed by CMIII? In other words, suppose the rewrite takes 12 months. Do we expect the third game also in 12 months written with the new engine, or do we wait perhaps an additional 12 months for the new game? Maybe this question has been answered or BTS is still making a decision. Just curious.

I have been reading previews of the upcoming Destroyer Command/Silent Hunter games. Both are individual games, but both are being designed to work together at the same time in online games. At least this is my understanding. Hopefully, this will set a precedent. Imagine somehow in the near future CM 3/4 and the IL-2 sturmovik sequel working together in the same game, shared interface. Dreamland stuff I know. But the naval sims cited above make the dream or some variation of seem possible within 2-3 years. While we're dreaming, imagine BTS and Oleg Maddox working together to design a combined ground and air war covering both east and west fronts in one game! If Moore's law holds up over the next 5 years, high end pc's should be running at 8-10 Ghz in 3-5 years(not to mention what NVIDIA cards will be doing). That should handle the sort of game we would hope for. Sigh, time to wake up now.

maybe I've missed this discussion, but I have never seen any post question the 60 seconds of "real" combat. 60 seconds is fine but what about a "slider" so that a player, at the beginning of a game, could choose to set say 75 seconds or 90 seconds etc. in 15 second increments up to maybe 2 minutes of real time combat? The only objection I can think of is that a simple mistake against a skilled opponent would be enough to possibly crush you given that so much more can happen in 2 minutes vs. 60 seconds. But it can be argued that the tention would be much greater knowing that you could be destroyed with little hope of recovery if you don't plan each turn with meticulous detail. Too late for CMBO. I wonder if BTS would or could easily code this player adjustable time feature in CMBB?

Most interesting discussion. A couple of examples of military brilliance and never losing a battle despite commanding smaller armies comes to mind: Alexander the Great and "Stonewall" Jackson. I am a humble truck driver, not a military historian so I may be way off but if memory serves Alexander is considered the greatest military genius of all time. Generally, his armies(at least at the beginning of his career) were far smaller than the "superpowers" of the day. Specifically, Alexander faced an army six times larger than his own. I believe the opposing commanders' name was Darius. I don't recall the battles' name but certainly Alexander crushed an army outrageously larger than his own though manuever and his own personal genius. No possibility of attrition here. Of course, the stomping of Darius' army was only a warmup and Alexander went on to conquer everything he set his sights on. Briefly, about General Jackson. Jackson was a humble, strictly religious man whose military genius was unquestioned even in his brief lifetime. After his famous victories, he became well known throughout the world. As I recall, Jackson never lost a battle and was constantly badly outnumbered by Union armies. He was a master of manuever and surprise, always appearing where the enemy least expected him and in greater numbers than they. The following is pure speculation but if Jackson had not been killed by friendly fire, he and Lee might very well have been able to reinvade the North with unknown consequences to the outcome of the war. I think Jackson is the only military genius who did not publicly display cockiness or smugness with his own ability. Indeed, he humbly thanked his Creator for his victories and, I think, refused to take credit. Perhaps this is one brilliant maneuverist(who never lost a battle) that Jason could like. My two cents.

I recently popped in the Steel Beasts demo and couldn't help but marvel at a few of special effects graphics. For example, there is a huge difference in the way the M1A1's muzzle flash is modeled vs. the tanks in CM. SB's flashes are enormous and fiery, while CM's are much smaller and subdued. Of course I know how ludicrous it is to compare modern tanks vs. tanks of 50 years ago. But having never seen a real Sherman/Panther fire their main guns, I wonder if the blast looked anything like what is modeled in SB? So, I wonder if any of the talented CM mod makers are considering "jazzing up" the muzzle flashes in CM. I don't know how realistic it would be but it would look "sexy". Also, the "brewed up" tank fire looks a bit more realistic along with the thin wisps of smoke. Finally, remember when Madmatt posted the 3D explosion mod some time ago? Shortly after, he posted a "You Wish" POTD that showed a tank's turret being blown into the air. Well, in the SB demo you occasionally see that very thing-extremely cool. I suppose sky high turrets are unlikely for CM1. What about CM2?

Thanks ScoutPL for your extremely helpful and clearly written tutorial. I eagerly look forward to your movement to contact tutorial and any others you would like to write.