yunfat

I have to post laxx's comments from the thread "Where was this game a hundred bucks ago?" Something this funny deserves its own space:

thats pretty tight... you use photoshop or what, if you don't mind my asking? it would be great to know a little bit about the methodology... like where did you find that font?

Hehe, lets not forget about the soundbytes... we would get to hear matt shouting: "We got gooks on the wire!" and other favorites like: "Ooo mau mei, mother****er!" and "You kakatow!"

Cable from a bankrupt cable company (Adelphia). When I play other people on cable the time it takes to send turns is fast. CM is just so much better with broadband.

When you get accused of being gamey

As a person who loves X all I can say is: why the hate? Apple isn't forcing you to change to X, you can use all the current mac hardware and your legacy software forever. If you love running quark, thats great. It's unfair for anyone to say they really don't like X unless they have tried the new OS thoroughly. I couldn't clone my HD before, I couldn't keep 35 apps running at once, and now my mac doesn't crash when I do stupid stuff. If you don't like the GUI, try using the terminal. UNIX is sooo powerful, and when you get used to doing stuff in the terminal, it seems like the world is at your fingertips. The dock works better than tabbed windows, the ability to use tons of UNIX open source stuff is great, the iApps get better and better, and still people complain. I don't get it, Apple isn't holding a Luger at your head with the grin of an officer in an SS polezei division... run OS 9 till the cows come home. Rave is gone because it wasn't an open standard, in this market we have to learn to cooperate, we need BOTH ati and nvidia in the future, and both are playing along nicely with openGL. Basically what I am saying is, it's time to move on.

Here's to the next engine being openGL and OSX compatible.

Tanks don't hide and Charlie don't surf....when tanks hide, they shut down everything, smoke cigs and look at girlie mags in the FC. Did this in CMBO and still do now.</font>

All I can say is that my experience with any kind of covered arc (armor or otherwise) has been decidedly negative. I too have experienced the "O'Reilly effect" where enemy tanks entering my armor cover arc target first and get shots off first. This is despite the fact that my tank has cover (scattered trees), was hidng, and had an armor covered arc that included LOS to any possible sighting by the enemy tank. As a corrolary, when my troops have a cover arc they often unhide themselves despite having no LOS to the enemy... you would think they would wait until they could see the enemy. An example of this is an enemy taking an approach up a steep incline to my dug in position. The cover arc covers the area, my men unhide, but the enemy troops are still out of sight from my men (due to the fact their approach is below the crest of a small ridge). Of course, when my men unhide, they get blown to smithereens by whatever is overwatching the enemy infantry advance, without ever inflicting the casualties one would expect from an ambush "type" of postition. Its disheartening to say this, but I avoid all of the new commands except "move to contact". They just dont work as I expect them too, and cannot be trusted in battle.

Just a fair warning... kazaa is spyware, as are most p2p clients on windows. CNET I wouldn't use it unless you know how to edit your registry or are a programmer who knows a lot. Tom_w--- in Mac OSX there is a .pkg viewer built into the finder, im not sure if it works for .exe files, but it might be worth a try. Control click on the .exe and select "view package contents".

Agreed. The first time I tried to assault a tank I kept waiting for the infantry to do something really clever. Instead they just calmly stayed next to the tank until it slowly traversed it's turret and blew them to kingdom come. I learnt that lesson really fast.</font>

Here is the text from a conversation in the forum, my question involved foxhole spotting. Should they have the same abilities as troops and guns to dissapear and reappear? 04:49 PM yunfat: does any notice that in CMBB you can see foxholes even when you cant see the units in them, am I alone in thinking this is a bug, a big one 04:49 PM yunfat: ? 04:50 PM Rune: but i can do one better 04:50 PM Jarmo_abse: no no no no 04:50 PM Rune slaps Jarmo with the GI COmbat demo 04:50 PM Jarmo_abse: shhheeettt 04:50 PM Jarmo_abse: ah, didnt see it 04:50 PM yunfat: all i seem to do on attacks is target foxholes, even when it shows there are no troops in them I know they are there 04:50 PM Jarmo_abse: was going to download it today 04:51 PM Rune: ask wacky 04:51 PM Jarmo_abse: but then downloaded the need for speed demo instead 04:51 PM Rune: yunfat not necessarily true 04:51 PM Rune: i can set premade foxholes 04:51 PM Jarmo_abse: it sucked 04:51 PM Jarmo_abse: I often place fallback foxholes forward 04:52 PM Rune: as do i 04:52 PM Jarmo_abse: just to play mind games 04:52 PM yunfat: Rune, all I am saying is, the foxhole remains visible even when the troops in the foxhole are not 04:52 PM Rune: give that to matt 04:52 PM yunfat: maybe its a mac thing 04:52 PM Jarmo_abse: it's not so strange 04:52 PM Rune: but so you know, they dont necessarily have troops in them 04:53 PM Jarmo_abse: when you dig a foxhole, you usually have a big pile of dirt around it 04:53 PM yunfat: Rune, yes they do, i know from the AAR that they were there, and that I eliminated them 04:53 PM Jarmo_abse: easily spottable 04:54 PM yunfat: i think its a bug, how can you see a foxhole. which appears empty, but you cannot see the gun in the foxhole? 04:54 PM Jarmo_abse: gun is one thing, ok 04:54 PM yunfat: yet in the AAR the gun is clearly there 04:54 PM Jarmo_abse: but infantry can stay down invisible 04:55 PM yunfat: jarmo, well, they arent invisible to my area fire, because when I see a foxhole all i have to do is target it and the troops in it almost always die 04:56 PM Jarmo_abse: yeah, I dont see that as wrong, as long as you're shooting HE 04:57 PM yunfat: so you think its cool to see a foxhole, yet not be able to see a full squad in the foxhole, thats absurd 04:57 PM Jarmo_abse: I'd suggest posting on the BFC forum, rather than reporting it as bug 04:57 PM Jarmo_abse: yeah, that's about it 04:58 PM Rune: Jarmo has military experience with the tings 04:58 PM Rune: things 04:58 PM Jarmo_abse: if someone digs a hole in the ground it's easily visible 04:58 PM yunfat: jarmo, for example, a gun fire at one of my tanks, I cant see the gun, but I can see the foxhole, and I know the gun is in the foxhole, thats absurd 04:59 PM yunfat: i agree that maybe troops can be hidden 04:59 PM Jarmo_abse: but if you're in the hole, below ground level, you cant be seen 04:59 PM Jarmo_abse: I agree gun should be seen if the hole is seen 05:00 PM yunfat: jarmo, by your reasoning you should see a foxhole before you see enemy troops then, but this isnt the case, the foxhole only becomes visible after the troops in it have revealed themselves 05:01 PM yunfat: so, when the troops in the foxhole dissapear, I still know they are in there 05:01 PM yunfat: and i can blow them to shreds 05:01 PM Jarmo_abse: I think I've seen foxholes before the troops in them 05:02 PM yunfat: well, the troops who built those foxholes arent competent then 05:02 PM Jarmo_abse: but yes, if they go down, they can be "unseen" 05:02 PM Jarmo_abse: yeah, I think it's a "hasty foxhole", not hidden too well 05:02 PM Jarmo_abse: or hidden at all 05:03 PM yunfat: jarmo, but in CM there is only one type of foxhole 05:03 PM yunfat: in CMBB its the hasty "Im over here" kind 05:03 PM Jarmo_abse: I'd like there be more, but right. 05:03 PM Jarmo_abse: but it's not like it's visible a mile away 05:04 PM Jarmo_abse: except after it's first seen 05:04 PM yunfat: once troops reveal themselves, they are dead, at least in CMBB, i just tagret the are around the foxhole and everyone seems to die 05:05 PM Jarmo_abse: if you have that much a superior firepower, then I guess so 05:06 PM yunfat: if my tanks are in the area, i just area fire behind foxhole and everyone dies 05:06 PM yunfat: no way to escape 05:06 PM Jarmo_abse: tanks are nice that way 05:06 PM yunfat: guns and troops disapear, but where they are hiding doesnt, 05:07 PM yunfat: i just think thats weird 05:07 PM Jarmo_abse: escaping is difficult in BB 05:07 PM Rune: no it isn't 05:07 PM Jarmo_abse: I suppose it could go down to "last location marker" 05:07 PM Rune: just have to use support fire to escape 05:07 PM Rune: leaps and bounds 05:07 PM Rune: have a nice scenario that will teach that 05:07 PM Rune: 05:08 PM Jarmo_abse: any suggestions perhaps? 05:09 PM yunfat: jarmo, yeah, make foxholes as hard to spot as the troops in them, and give them the ability to dissapear once the troops in them stop giving up their location, either by muzzleflash or sound 05:09 PM Jarmo_abse: the troops would still leave a location marker.. 05:10 PM yunfat: yes, but many times those location markers are innacurate, which I like 05:10 PM Rune: but once a foxhole was spotted, why would it disappear 05:10 PM Rune: the infantry i can understand, they hide 05:10 PM Rune: just asking 05:11 PM yunfat: Rune, because when a foxhole opens up on you, odds are you arent looking straight at it, or you would be dead 05:11 PM yunfat: the troops that do spot it die 05:11 PM Rune: but once spotted, why would you forget where it was? 05:11 PM yunfat: because the troops that spotted it are now eliminated 05:11 PM Rune: and if they dont die? 05:12 PM Rune: all or nothing, remember 05:12 PM Jarmo_abse: relative spotting = engine rewrite 05:12 PM Rune: not relative spotting yet 05:12 PM Rune: exactly 05:12 PM yunfat: then they are so paniced, they cannot give an accurate location 05:12 PM Jarmo_abse: fat minds think alike 05:13 PM Rune: yunfat, even in the most stressed situation, you dont forget something that could kill you 05:13 PM Rune: that is from experience 05:13 PM yunfat: im saying that many pillboxes in WW2, and many foxholes, you wouldnt even notice if you walked right over them 05:14 PM yunfat: this of course is the exception 05:14 PM *** Mambo_Up_For_a_Game_CMBO has signed off IRC (Connection reset by peer) 05:15 PM yunfat: Rune, even if you did know the location, you wouldnt stick your neck out to point it out to someone else if half your platoon was just eliminated, you would tell someone when you found cover, "its over there somewhere" 05:15 PM yunfat: and "I'm not going back" 05:15 PM Rune: no, as a platoon/squad leader, i say "at this section of the map are dug in units" 05:15 PM Rune: or 05:16 PM Rune: 50 meters to the left of those trees are foxholes 05:16 PM Rune: you do not need to stick your head out to do it 05:16 PM Rune: remember a fixhole is not one foxhole, rather a series of them 05:17 PM yunfat: rune, yes, but wouldnt that mean a generic marker, and not a fixed location? 05:17 PM Rune: or even a foxhole 05:17 PM yunfat: rune, as in when troops dissapear, even when they stay in the same location 05:17 PM Rune: depends on the situation and terrin, you can be rather exact 05:17 PM Rune: or not, depending on the circumstances 05:18 PM yunfat: rune, well, every foxhole i have spotted has stayed fixed, and i dont think that realistic, but opinions are like assholes i guess 05:19 PM Rune: i see your point, but for each one, there would be a time you COULD see the foxhole 05:19 PM *** Guest25398 (java@=DQw66848.upc-d.chello.nl) has joined #Lobby 05:19 PM *** Guest25398 is now known as Screeny 05:19 PM Rune: and until they have randomness included, it could not be done 05:19 PM yunfat: i think that troops in certain foxholes can eliminate or rout the troops that spot them, and then they "lose" the location, thats what i would like 05:19 PM Rune: for example, the t34s armour changed from factory to factory 05:20 PM Rune: but what is a certain foxhole 05:20 PM Rune: see the can of worms? 05:20 PM *** Guest36631 (java@=lr00_465_271_954.eugn.uswest.net) has joined #Lobby 05:20 PM Rune: t34s, talked long and hard with charles about a log log feature that would vary the amount of armour from tank to tank 05:20 PM Rune: but that then means each units has to have a history 05:20 PM Rune: lots of coding 05:21 PM Rune: same thing here 05:21 PM Jarmo_abse: ding 05:21 PM *** Jarmo_absentminded has left #Lobby 05:21 PM yunfat: rune, well, when you see muzzleflash coming from a foxhole, or a gun, then the foxhole can be fixed, but lets say you just have a recon team out and they get eliminated, all of them, how do they communicate the postion of that foxhole, they dont 05:21 PM Rune: but in the engine they do 05:22 PM Rune: cannot be changed until the rewrite 05:22 PM Rune: think of it as a toggle 05:22 PM Rune: either spotted or not 05:22 PM yunfat: rune, im not saying its wrong, im saying that i think its wrong, you guys know more about real war than I do 05:22 PM Rune: remember, you are talking fortifications, and not units 05:22 PM Rune: no, i agree with you in certain circumstances 05:23 PM Rune: but unfortunately, hard to code those in 05:23 PM *** Stix (stix243@211.26.74.gg090=) has joined #Lobby 05:23 PM Rune: heya stix 05:24 PM tlkiileric: night all 05:24 PM *** tlkiilerich has signed off IRC (QUIT: User exited) 05:24 PM Rune: i am hoping for stuff like what you suggest in the rewrite 05:24 PM GravesRegi: just took out a KV with a hungarian hand grenade 05:24 PM yunfat: see, in woods the troops in the foxholes just dsappear, but i know where they are because of the foxhole, either the troops dont build well hidden foxholes, or the foxhole should be hidden to the same degree as the troops in them 05:25 PM Rune: Graves, sure it was a grenade? 05:25 PM yunfat: thats all i am saying 05:26 PM Rune: like i said, in certain circumstances i agree, but not all cases 05:26 PM Rune: and can't code randomness like that now 05:26 PM yunfat: rune, also, how does a gun dissapear, and the foxhole doesnt? 05:27 PM *** Guest97033 (java@=LQfjox-umx781-239.genuity.com) has joined #Lobby 05:27 PM Rune: that you have a point 05:27 PM Rune: i agree with, liek i said, send that to matt

Lars, that was my point, that this be included in the next engine, and I have seen no guarantee that it will, have you?

Im sorry, but I think you are wrong on every point you made. I am tired of faulty battlefied reporting, I have been reading it for 3 years now. I am also not alone when I say the learning curve for CM may be too steep, and that movies could decrease the time it takes a "newbie" to become proficient at the game. As for the resultant playback... those are minor issues on the technical side. Sure it wont record orders, but for that we can rely on the old standard, words, we merely have to post a comment asking the person who issued the orders: what did you order in turn 15?... was it an assault or a fast move, etc. As to your comments about not learning anything from a movie, "well, thats like, your opinion man."

Since CMBB has no movie playback functionality, please help me convince BTS that the next wargame they build should have this incredibly important feature. I want the ability to view a complete battle, start to finish with fog of war for either side (or disabled). Why? Because that way people can learn strategy and tactics faster, and because there is so much miscommunication in these forums as a direct result of people trying to recount their actions in words. Quite frankly, this is the key feature CM is missing. Half of these forums are devoted to figuring out what the hell happened in a battle, its just stupid. Post a movie and the community can say "Aha, theres a flaw!" or "Thats the way it probably should have gone down." Is nobody sickened because they don't get to show off their good work, their excellent strategy, their ignominious defeat (as in my case)? I want moving pictures dammit!

I wrote the guy an email... I was reading your review of Combat Mission Barbarossa to Berlin when it occurred to me that the person writing the review has no idea how to play the game. Its pretty clear from your review that you have almost no experience with the CM engine, and therefore cannot write a credible review. IMHO it takes about a year of constant TCP/IP play to become proficient with the game. Yes, it is a steep learning curve, but it is tremendously rewarding. Although your review makes some valid points about the graphics, you should remember that the 3d engine is perhaps the least impressive feature of CM. Instead, you should focus your review on the depth of gameplay and the active CM community that avidly supports this sophisticated wargame. Its not something you just pick up and play, which is what you did, and dash off a quick review.

Just to let you guys know, History Channel is airing a special on Sherman Tanks, next Tuesday at 10pm. I am very excited. You should be too

id Software released Quake 3 for mac first, Carmack has a hard-on for Macs, or rather NeXT machines.

Not to be a prat, but Tom, could you make your website display on mozilla or nutscrape... because some of us dont use IE. Thanks. TCMHQ Crashes Mozilla every time.

OS 9 is dead press release... The one we all knew was coming.

I don't supposed you would mind enlightening us as to where you acquired Jaguar ahead of the pack? I just acquired the dual-1Gig demo unit from the local CompUSA for a steal and rather than rebuild 10.1 I'd love to use 10.2 as the base.</font>

Ah yes. But the coolest display of a shotgun by a marine in a mvie (IMHO) would have to be Corporal Hicks in Aliens. "I like to keep this for close encounters." Huu-rah! </font>

Macallan is real good, if you like that you should try Cragganmore, it may be more mellow, if thats possible...

First, I said it was my opinion that my HDTV could display CM at high res. My HDTV is very good, some are not as good... needless to say, I play many console games that have better, higher res textures and look better than CM, and there is at least as much going on on screen as in a typical CM game, with realtime lighting. --- The five year life cycle you refer to in the console market is there for a reason... to keep graphics and games up to date, in other words, the big players all beleive that graphics need to be updated and refreshed every so often, much like BTS is doing now with CMBB. It should also be noted that PS2 is backward compatible with PS1,and if PS3 is backward compatible with PS2, you would be effectively lengthening the life of code to much longer than the 5 years you mention. If you read my original post you would see that all Next Gen consoles are internet capable this fall, and will have HD's, some already do. Mods would work the same way as on a pc, except the game would have built in mod editor (which it needs now). Just to clarify, I am certain a port of CM will never make it to a console, at least by BTS... however, many games similar to CM will arrive on a console soon (largely because WW2 games are all the rage) , maybe not published by BTS or having anything to do with BTS, and maybe inferior in every way to CM, however, it will be a cash machine for whoever publishes it. It will be a CM lite for the masses, and it may be fun because of its simplicity.

X-box and Ps2 come with USB for things like keyboards and mice... Gamecube and X-box both feature 480 Progressive Scan, which on any decent size HDTV looks a lot better than CM does on my 21" monitor, imho.