c3k

Hmmm, which species of oak? Red or silver? (Obviously not scrub, black or swamp; they'll need their own damage/growth model.) Ken

Paper Tiger, I am serious. In a nice relaxed way. How much better if the future iterations of this engine could replicate shattered tree trunks from bombardments? Or rows of pines cut down by miniguns? Or that 120mm HE shell that killed my men by TWICE hitting the same branch would instead blow the tree (still killing the first bunch), but not be able to hit it AGAIN? Twig; branch; limb; bole; trunk. I would assign health points based on size. Obviously wood strength rises with the square of the average diameter. Other factors would also need to be taken into account. In hard winter, the sap freezes. That would lead to trees being more brittle, hence much more susceptible to damage. Spring time is a time of great resiliency for trees for the same reasons. Have you ever tried to break off a green branch? Obviously, the different wood species have different strengths. Oak is stronger than pine. Yet, the supple bamboo bends in a wind while the mighty oak breaks. That elasticity would come into play when simulating damage from overpressure rather than kinetic impacts. Of course, a generic randomizer would be used to account for pests, diseases, poor soil, drought, or vandalism. A wood-borer infested pine should fall more readily than a strapping, healthy specimen. I once had a 35 foot long, 9 inch diameter limb fall on my thigh. (Don't ever hold the ladder while someone over your head is using the chainsaw.) In game terms, I was immobilized and pinned for several turns. That should be simulated when large limbs and boles are hit (not for twigs or branches). Splinter wounds? Of course. It is not necessary to show the leaves of certain species furling or unfurling with the sunset or sunrise. An added benefit of tweaking the fidelity of the tree damage model would be better simulation of split rail fences in an American Civil War version. This would allow for better wood property simulation including realistic upper tree movement in a wind. Different for breeze, zephyr, gust, storm, hurricane, blizzard, etc. That way LOF to/from snipers in trees would be more realistic. Especially for Japanese snipers tied into the tops of palm trees for the WWII PTO module. Paper Tiger, how could you NOT be satisfied until the above are included? Alright, jesting over; in a really serious vein, I do think the game allows for trees to be damaged. I am wondering if others feel they are too tough right now, just right, or too weak. I feel they are far too tough. If there's a damage model present (which there seems to be based on the comments from those above) can it be easily tweaked? If so, should it? Thanks, Ken

Ahh, I've not noticed that trees can be destroyed. Chalk up another point of detail to BF.C's credit. Now, about the FIDELITY of the tree damage model... (It's kind of nice to be at the point with this game when I can ask about a subject like that!) How difficult would it be to make trees easier to destroy? I do not want to have trees get ignored for any reason. The 1 to 1 modelling aspect is a hallmark of CMSF; discounting trees would go against that. Are branches counted the same as twigs, boles, limbs, and trunks? How is the damage model for trees set up? Thanks, Ken

How apropos! I am, of course, referring to your member name. Only someone calling themself "Chainsaw" would keep an eye out for a thread about trees. I really don't know what a good solution (assuming the trees are seen as a problem) would be. Your thoughts? Regards, Ken

Gents, I'm ecstatic about the discovery of the newest hardwoods! Yes, I'm talking about the ironwood - nay, the TITANIUMwood trees in CMSF. What? You'd like to know more? Well, we know that tanks can't knock over the simplest boles of Titaniumwood. They must pathfind around them. (Okay, sarcasm off/ I'm okay with not knocking them over. I understand the reluctance to get a track thrown by a tree when you're in contact. Sarcasm on/) Even better than their deep-rooted immovability is their ability to shrug off repeated 120mm HE hits. I found out about this the hard way. Imagine this: Tank-----Trees(my men)Trees-----enemy soldier. My Abrams fired a single 120mm HE at the solitary soldier. The round hit a tree directly over my men. 5 red-bases, 4 yellow-bases. Craptastic. But hey, that's life in a combat zone. Then, the Abrams being motivated and well-trained, they noticed their round did not affect the enemy soldier. What did they do? Of course! They fired another round. Which, geometry being what it is, hit the same exact branch of the same exact tree. Let me repeat that: the NEXT 120mm HE round hit the same exact branch of the same exact tree. Fortunately, most of my men were already KIA/WIA, so this second round only caused 2 red-bases and 1 yellow-base. In my dream world, trees would be destructible terrain. Of course, that takes time and effort and the odds of these things occurring is low. The benefit/cost equation is not in favor of changing the code. Does anyone have a rule of thumb about which types of trees prohibit manuever? Or fire? Thanks, Ken

Well then, if you don't think OVERpasses will work, how about coding up some UNDERpasses? (And in reference to the post about Marines fighting the Larry, Moe, and Curly junctions of "Thunder Run" fame, that was the Army.) Thanks, Ken

All, I've just sent PM to Martin. I must apologize. After running the savegames again, the turret would slew to engage targets. It did not, however, change its position to align with a covered arc. Arc at 9 o'clock, turret stayed at 12. I am left wondering why I have such clearcut memories, and decided to save a replay, with the lack of evidence in the savegame command files. Regards, Ken

Martin, Is a posting of it on mediafire so you can download it alright? (Hmm, I'll check the crew status. I don't remember ANY casualties or other dimunition in function other than the immob.) Thanks, Ken

Steve, Thanks for the response. Regards, Ken

Anyone else?

Bump and update: I have since managed to immobilize many more tanks. (I claim I've done so under the guise of research, rather than tactical ineptitude!) During all such immob's NO other tank has had its turret jammed. Again, wouldn't a jammed turret notification/maintenance item be useful to know about? If so, if it's rare, how should it be transmitted to the player? Savegame available. (TF Thunder 1st mission) Regards, Ken

Gents, I had an M1 moving at SLOW. It bumped along a trench and suddenly moved at great speed, far quicker than FAST. It was a very exaggerated slingshot effect. (All v1.08) SPOILER! TF Thunder, 3rd mission. * * * * * * * * Screenshot: Savegames saved to mediafire. Two of them. The tank in question is 4th MBT, US. Note the SLOW commands. At 20 seconds left the bizarre movement occurs. The first is the Command Phase: Tank movement bug command phase file The second is the Replay Phase: Tank movement bug replay phase file Note: I totally absolve myself of blame for the results to the tank! (For those of you that watched.) Regards, Ken

Screenshot showing the IED marker. SPOILER! This is a picture of TF Thunder, 2nd mission. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Here is the IED in question. Note that NO U.S. unit has come near the vehicle in question. How can the U.S. player know this is an IED? Also, I have seen this icon near the control tower in this same mission. That icon disappeared and never reappeared. No unit has gone near it. The one in this screenshot later exploded. Regards, Ken

MarkEzra, SPOILER! TF Thunder screenshot follows... * * * * * * * * * * * * Here is a screenshot of the unit in question. The crater is caused by the IED in the vehicle. Please refer to this savegame file: Savegame with Crater Error It is a Command Phase file. Just hit the red button to run as Action Phase. Afterwards, in the Replay Phase the crater will be visible. (The detonation occurs with 16 seconds remaining in the turn.) If you need more information, please let me know. (I have seen this crater error with all manner of ordnance. I have not bothered tracking it because I did not think that anyone thought it was fixed. As a known issue I did not want to contribute to a worthless deluge of error reports.) Regards, Ken

Gents, Playing v1.08, TF Thunder. (Slight SPOILER!!) * * * * * * * * * * * In the second mission, playing as U.S., the Syrians have several IED's. I have seen their icons (Veteran difficulty), the yellow explosive inside the standard red diamond, when I shouldn't have. No units within hundreds of meters; as soon as I move the camera the icon either disappears, or reverts to the "?" symbol. It is intermittent. I have seen this several times now, but have not taken a screenshot. Has anyone else noticed this? Regards, Ken

Agree. In WeGo, v1.08, terrain deformation carries from end of action phase to beginning of replay phase. Ken

Nicdain, Negative. Once acquired, ammo can only be fired off. Non-ammo (Javelin CLU, GPS, etc) must be retained for the duration of the scenario. Regards, Ken

+1... (Although, maybe the rooftop guy was going to wait for someone to stick their head up over the edge rather than risking a look down himself?) Playing on Veteran I will scan the camera position around. In some locations I can hear the Syrians where I cannot see them. I freely admit to using that intel for targeting points. I do not know if this occurs in Elite. Perhaps a tweak to sound related TacAI would solve both issues? Thanks, Ken

Gents, The recce Humvee, the M707, has that optics package on the roof. In a previous thread I was told it only can be used if the operators are unbuttoned and looking through its eyepiece. (Note: same gripe as before - this type of information should be available in game.) Anyhow, when you select "OPEN UP" the operator moves into position THROUGH the hatch - which remains closed. Other Humvee models show the hatch actually opening. Minor glitch. Thanks, Ken

Hmm, It looks like that loader will be able to aim and use his machinegun...with a shield! Regards, Ken

In v1.08 a rain of Syrian handgrenades will make an Abrams crew bail out. (There may have been other circumstances: the tank may have been immobilized by RPG's; the tank may have been immobilized by the grenades - I don't remember.) Regards, Ken

Hmmm, my eye is drawn to the gunshield for the loader's machinegun and it's cool thermal sights. I wonder if there's a thread topic there? Ken

Hmmm, I ordered a squad forward, using assault. They got hit by a pop-up enemy. The TacAI redirected the squad into better nearby cover where they resumed the assault from a different direction, eliminating the pop-up enemy as well as the original target. Very good TacAI example. It seemed like my squad leader had learned something. Red-base casualties: I leave 'em behind. Later, I sent some split squads back to them from a different platoon. They went into first-aid posture and "evacuated" the red-base casualties. I did not expect that. Nice detail. M240 team got hit. 2 of 4 red-based. The other two found cover. Later, I found that the machinegun had been left behind. I moved the two survivors back to the scene. They did the first-aid thing AND recovered the M240. Cool. There's more in that vein. Doorway use, posturing, attacking targets, etc. Regards, Ken

...the more I like. BF.C, this game has amazing details going on! But then, you knew that. Regards, Ken

Sorry, no help for your immediate problem, but I'm curious about "the game runs out of memory eventually and crashes..." How do you know it is running out of memory? Regards, Ken