Mike D
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Posts posted by Mike D
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I think this is a great idea.
Mike D
aka Mikester
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Thomm,
But it is not realistically either that *I* can float there and "have a look".
Perhaps not, but the game has to have some means of functioning. I simply look at this as the commander having a map that they can look at. But just like a looking at a map, you shouldn't be able to trace exact lines of LOS from any point A to point B on that map when you are not actually standing at point A attempting to sight point B.
Now, if the woods would not be abstracted, but individual trees, I could find the exact place where my squad would first see the enemy ! Now why should this not be possible with the abstracted woods ?
Errr, your original suggestion said nothing about the woods.
So I'm not sure what to say to this.As long as I cannot give a complex, yet valid order like "Move along this path until you establish line-of-sight to any/the enemy unit, but without being spotted yourself" I think I should have a tool to at least find the waypoint for which this rule would apply.
How can you say such an order is "valid" when your unit(s) have absolutely NO idea of whether, or when, they've been spotted or not????????
6.Restrict camera movement to areas which are controlled by friendluy forces. Otherwise one could focus on an enemy unit and do "manual" L.O.S. checks from there ... unrealistically!
I don't believe restriction of camera movement to friendly sighted areas is necessary. This may not be totally realistic, but again I simply view it as an agrandized map function for the commander to use. As far as being able to use enemy units to trace LOS's from I don't think the game allows you to do this. If it does, it is a "functionality" that should be removed.
Regards,
Mike D
aka Mikester
[This message has been edited by Mike D (edited 11-02-99).]
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How can you set an ambush marker and assign a tank to it? Can you set an ambush marker for an AT gun like an 88? I tried doing this using my company HQ, but the points I was trying to set for the tank / AT gun were way out of range of the HQ units weapons, so it wouldn't allow me to set one. How are you supposed to be able to presight AT guns, etc., if you can't set an ambush marker at long ranges?
Next question, how can you move your tanks into positions down closer to the action, but then order them not to engage infantry targets w/ their main gun, but rather wait for enemy AT / Tanks to show themselves (i.e. kind of an overwatch close in type of situation)?
Thanks,
Mike D
aka Mikester
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"2.Another thing: waypoint cubes can be highlighted. I think it would be very useful to be able to use the L.O.S. function [L] from the waypoint cube, e.g. to see if a forward observer or a MG are able to establish line of sight from the waypoint to the target."
Thomm,
With all respect, I don't think this has any place in the game whatsoever. CM is supposed to be about modeling real combat battle situations realistically. If the unit can't see something in real life then it can't see it in CM. And since there is no way a unit in real life can magically project itself forward to a position along its line of intended movement in order to check out LOS from that position before ever even moving there; doing what you suggest would be highly unrealilstic in my view.
Regards,
Mike D
aka Mikester
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Steve,
"Mikester, the M-18s popping up like that is entirely plausible."
Like I said, I can't say that it was entirely unrealistic, now can I.
"But luck is just that."
I imagine this had a great deal to do with it.
"BTW, the Hellcats *are* penalized."
This is good to know, and Idid figure that you had taken this into account, I would only question whether the penalty should be stiffer. But based on the various results you and others have mentioned here (i.e. Hellcat's getting clobbered instead) I guess one cannot say that things are "unbalanced" in terms of entering reinforcements having some sort of overwhelming advantage.
"They have to aquire targets just like any vehicle."
Man did they ever acquire them quickly for just having moved in from off map. Way too quick in my estimation. I swear at least two of them scored a direct hit and a kill on the first shot! I guess this is my point here, seems pretty unlikely that they could just come waltzing in, stop, rotate turrets, aim, fire off a round at a target that is a pretty good distance away, and BLAMO, score a direct hit immediately. Only way I could see this being realistic is: 1) they simply got really lucky, or 2) they had crack crews! Of course, the fact that my tanks were stationary I'm certain helped lead to their quick demise.
BUt then the M18's were totally stationary after they entered too. But that didn't matter at all since I never even got a chance to get a shot off, so that became immaterial. It did, however, help the next 2-3 turns afterward though when they pretty much continued to remain stationary and start to tear up my infantry from long range. They paid the price though as I had immediately targeted first one, and next turn after that, both of my 81mm mortars on them to get some revenge. Result was one M18 killed by a direct hit (think it was about the 4th or 5th round that landed) and another disabled (track hit?) the following turn.
"The difference is that the Germans are engaged in fighting and are buttoned up. Two penalties that the Hellcats don't have against them."
None of my tanks were buttoned up at the time! They were engaging infantry targets however, so I can understand that they were somewhat preoccupied. However, at least one of the Stugs was pointed toward their entry point and the Tiger turret wasn't rotated very far off of them either. Yet they both are immediately hit and burn up. The Tiger was killed instantly on the first shot no less. Oh well, so go the fortunes of war I guess.
Totally realistic.
I could beg to differ here, but like I said, I can't say that the result was unrealistic in that it "couldn't have ever happened", so I'll just attribute it to luck.
Anyways, the game is great fun and I would say regardless of anything I've seen (save for the charging HQ suicide units) one of the most realistic wargames I've ever played!!!
Regards,
Mike D
Aka Mikester
[This message has been edited by Mike D (edited 11-01-99).]
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Leland,
"The other thing that's driving me nuts is the Hellcats in "Last Defense" - I've played twice as the Germans, and both times I've lost all my AFVs the turn the M18s show up, and haven't killed any M18s. I played once as the US, and the Hellcats only got one StuG and one halftrack before they were all knocked out (on their entry turn). But I'll get 'em. Just you wait."
I had the exact same thing happen. They got every last one of my AFV's when they arrived on turn 10 or so, except for 1 of the half-tracks (actually after the scenario was over I saw one of his mortars got one of the HT's however). Quite frankly, while I believe this might be possible in real life (so I can't say it isn't realistic!), I do find it hard to believe nonetheless. I don't think my guys even got a single shot off (because they were immediately toasted by the 1st or 2nd shots from the Hellcats). What's worse, I will say that I don't think it is realistic from the view point that "in reality" my tanks should have seen them before they entered the map and therefore should have adjusted to this new threat vs. shooting at the infantry in the village like they were. The fact that the 3 M-18's suddenly pop onto the map and "apparently" don't pay any penalty for having just stopped moving in terms of targeting accuracy I think my need to be reconsidered by BTS because quite frankly I think my guys should have had just as easy of a time simply rotating/turning their turrets to take the M-18's under fire when they appeared as the M-18's did! My vote is that units entering the map should pay a fairly high firing accuracy penalty when they very first enter until they have come on and remained stationary for at least 30 seconds!
Regards,
Mike D
aka Mikester
[This message has been edited by Mike D (edited 11-01-99).]
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Yeah, Moon, it's pretty amazing isn't it? I'm just glad to see so much interest in a wargame. This is the kind of thing I think the wargaming industry needs to propel it forward out of the doldrums it appears to be somewhat mired in. And as more and more people talk to their buddies about it CM, the final game comes out and the reviews in all the online mags etc. come out, and so on, I think this thing is going to really take off like you can't believe. Just look at how much interest this one little beta demo has already stirred up!
Mike
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I pretty much love the game. It is everything I'd hoped and then some in certain areas. I do have a few minor issues, but they are just that, minor.
Mike D
aka Mikester
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This is just a general observation. We seem to have reached a critical mass in terms of interest in this game. The number of posts here has skyrocketed. While I suppose that is a good thing in general and that it is mostly attributable to the demo coming out, I can't imagine how Steve / BTS is going to even begin to cope with this amount of traffic. It was just a week or so ago that the messages here on the board went over the 10,000 mark. Now a short time later we are at appx. 11,700!!!!! Oh well, it will be interesting to see what happens here when the real game comes out.
Mike D
aka Mikester
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See old thread from back in late April entitled "Simulataneous turns" for more info on the timer discussion. This is the original discussion on this as far as I know. There have been 1 or 2 others since then where I've brought the idea back up, but I can't find them right now.
Mike D
aka Mikester
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Here is what I found after searching through the old posts. There may be more that I didn't find though.
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Mike D
posted 04-14-99 12:30 PM ET (US)
Just out of curiousity. My friend and I usually play our games via e-mail, or direct dial up. You guys are not offerring the direct dial up connection which is too bad, but are offerring the TCP/IP connection. Questions:
1) When close combat initially only had a TCP/IP type connection there was a way to use it to direct dial via Windows 95 dial up connection. Will CM also allow this type of connection so that those of us that play in a local calling zone dont have to be burning up our internet hours.
2) Will you please reconsider the direct dial up connection, or maybe add it in a patch later?
3) It would be nice to have the flexibility to start a game say in play by e-mail mode and play for a few turns, then switch and play direct via say TCP/IP, then switch back in later turns to e-mail mode again. Might this be possible to incorporate?
Thanks
Mike D.
aka Mikester
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Webmaster
posted 04-14-99 01:11 PM ET (US)
Hi Mikester,
1) We *think* this is up to Win9x, not us. If we support TCP/IP we *think* it should work.
2) We will look at it again when we do the multiplayer coding. But I have to tell you, our experience with MS direct dial APIs has not been a happy one. Therefore I wouldn't hold out too much hope for it.
3) Not sure. In theory we are only sending save games back and forth, so if we support the protocal it should work. I can't make any absolute statements that you will be able to do this, but it is at least possible.
Steve
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Donan,
I asked for this capability months ago. Well, at least to be able to switch back and forth between TCP/IP and PBEM game modes in a current game. Not sure why it didn't come up in a search, but it is kind of obscure. Anyway, from what I recall I believe Steve said that we should be able to do this in the final game.
Mike D
aka Mikester
PS: I just found one of the old posts on this, see item 3 below.
[This message has been edited by Mike D (edited 11-01-99).]
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I've asked for this feature at least 2 times now. Last I remember Steve said they were still considering it. At the time he made no guarantee's as to whether it would be in the final game or not (that was about 6-8 weeks ago).
Mike D
aka Mikester
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I was playing the last defense scen. yesterday as the Germans and had a similar suicide incident occur somewhere around turn 20-25. I'd taken the victory loc. single story building along the dirt road on the left leading into the village quite some time earlier. Then at this later juncture I all of a sudden see what appeared to be 2 squads that had been observed for quite some time up the road suddenly rush out of their covered positions and run toward the house (probably 150m or more away I might add). My squad in the house didn't have much ammo left so I had them hiding. But some other units down in the woods could see these guys clear as day. Anyway as they got about halfway there (probably 75m of the 150 m trip) some of my guys start opening up on them and some of them start to go down, but the charge ahead continues. The survivors made it to the little copse of trees almost right next to the building whereupon they were identified as a US company and platoon HQ's no less!!!! At this juncture the platoon HQ only had 1 man left and the battalion HQ had 2 or 3. Even with these heavy casualties they proceed to storm the house. Where my waiting panzer grenadier squad finished them all off. I think I might have taken 1 casualty. Interestingly, none of the American's surrendered, instead choosing to heroically (but perhaps quite unwisely) die. Later in the game I saw a single US soldier rush forward from some trees, circle behinds one of my squads and a platoon HQ positioned in another little copse of trees, and attack them from behind. He wrecked havoc for about a minute, but they turned around and took care of him. Not sure if he got anybody, or not, but I don't think he did.
Mike D
aka Mikester
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I've been experiencing this problem as well. And while I have an older system that would explain the lag part of the problem, there is a second part to the problem that at least 1 or 2 folks mentioned above that I don't believe is cpu related. When I'm zoomed in somewhat closer and issue the LOS command from a unit and then start panning forward to different units / areas on the map, once I pan far enough that my spotting unit is no longer on the visible map view wierd things start to happen. For example, if my unit if now off toward the bottom edge of the screen then the los rubberband line should appear to trace back to the bottom of the screen somewhere, but that's often NOT what happens. Instead the los line is jumping clear over to the middle of the left/right edge of the screen, etc. This just doesn't "seem" right. Not sure if it is my equipment (maybe video card just can't handle it?), a bug, or what?
Regards,
Mike D
aka Mikester
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Dar,
Is that your boss handing you your butt cause you left early, or the wife handing it to you cause your home screwing off playing this game???
Errr, well, in most cases I guess the wife is the "supreme boss" anyways. So when it comes to the major butt kicking I'm sure that is what you are talking about.
Mike D
aka Mikester
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I'm heading home in about 20 minutes. That will give me all afternoon to play. Ohh, and need to stop off on the way and get beer too!!!
Mike D
aka Mikester
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Saw the button. Used it lot's. Tired of having to go down there and click it over and over again. Would be infinitely simpler if I could just hit the F1 key to do this!
Mike D
Mikester
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I believe you just have the artillery spotter target the area he has los to just like having a tank target another tank. Although in reading through the help file / instructions there do seem to also be some options in the artillery case for wide area fire, vs. regular, etc.
Mike D
aka Mikester
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Moon,
I was "fighting" the same problem last night. What Madmatt and others are getting at is that there appears to be no simple way to totally cancel out of everything when you are in the middle of issuing orders, etc. In other words cancel the current command and then deselect the currently selected unit altogether, etc. I was "fighting" the same problem last night. It would sure be nice to be able to hit the esc key or something and just get completely out of whatever we are in the middle of doing. Thanks
Mike D
aka Mikester
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Magicuser,
CM2/Russian front will not just be some cheapy add on / expansion disk. They plan on doing things right, not just living off of their original game engine. So it will be an entire game unto itself. Reasons were: graphics for terrain, vehicles, etc. are very specific to the game from what I can remember them saying. There were other reasons as well, just can't remember them right now.
Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike D
aka Mikester
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I have AKG headphones (can't remember the model name/number). Excellent sound reproduction and quite comfortable.
Mikester
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Yup, you get used to something and nothing else seems to compare does it?
Mikester
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Fionn/Moon,
Yeah, I know you guys are probably right in that we will all get used to it in time. It was more of a suggestion than anything. I've always been impressed with it though because it is the easiest way to move around in a 3d environment that I've pretty much ever experienced in any 3d CAD, game, or other application.
Mike D
aka Mikester
Wish-list
in Combat Mission Archive #2 (2000)
Posted
I would really like to see items 1-3 proposed by TangoYankee implemented in the game.
Mike D
aka Mikester