Stacheldraht

Actually, some gaming mags are rather good, while some admittedly do stink. The tone and depth of content varies rather widely. I wouldn't lump them altogether, myself. There are some genuinely perceptive, interesting critics out there; you just need to search them out. But there seems to be rather little call for deep, extended criticism, sadly. Until gamers and game magazine buyers demand the sort of criticsm you see in the New York Times or whatever, you won't get it. Instead it will be more of the frequent "Game X puts the smackdown on the competition with its hot graphic goodness and multiplayer love."

CGW is normally sealed because of the inclusion of a demo disc. Make of that what you will And no, I'm not going to scan and post someone's copyrighted pictures. There's only one new pic anyway. The article is a little more informative, though: BTS is, it says, "creating new building architecture" for urban battles (yea!) and "reconstructing part of Stalingrad's sewer system to depict the underground fighting that took place there." It also mentions revised C&C, unit availability/rarity, and a new minimum resolution of 800x600 (and the dropping of support for Voodoo 1 cards). Just a short one-pager, but still interesting, of course, for us CM nuts

On p. 71 of the 7/2001 issue (North American edition) of Computer Gaming World magazine, there's an article on CM 2 with screenshots. (It's not clear if one with a T-34 is a heavily modded CM 1 shot or not, but it looks new. Other pics are of CM1 mods.) Very cool. Apologies if this has been posted before. [ 05-29-2001: Message edited by: Stacheldraht ]

Two wrongs don't make a right, as they say.

I've had pretty good success with cancelling move orders and rotating in place. (Actually, I thought the Panther was novel for being the first tank that could truly rotate like that and not require some room to maneuver...?)

Teach the AI to cover its movements, particularly attacks/assaults, with smoke screens, and not just use smoke to temporarily silence tanks or guns (though it usually resorts to HE arty for the latter, happily).

Well, I think a number of us have become jaded as we've played for months and seen our skills improve against human opponents. Personally, I remember thinking that the AI was pretty tough and convincing when I first started playing, and I'll admit to losing my share of games to it back then. But in time, particularly after lots of PBEM games, I've come to see the AI as a pretty darn poor opponent, and I beat it handily every time. It's still a superb achievement compared to most games, though game AI has been showing marked improvements of late with titles like B&W.

The AI does have quirks, blindspots, and easily exploitable propensities, but it's still amazingly good, considering all that's required of it.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Alt-129 will give you the ü. Alt-132 is the ä. Alt-225 is the scharfes s(ß). I think there is a (less) cumbersome way, but it doesn't always work. It's something like ctrl+shift+", and then type u, or a, or o. But it doesn't seem to work. u. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The easier way in Win98 is to go the Control Panel, open Keyboard and select the language tab. Then add whatever language layout you want. Then you can quickly shift between layouts. öäüß Beware that these foreign layouts will also temporarily rearange some familiar keys, like switching the z and y for the German layout and moving the symbols around. [ 05-06-2001: Message edited by: Stacheldraht ]

Just wanted to bump this for those that might have missed it.

Spook, I've been reading this board for a very long time, even if not actively participating I take your points; I'm merely tired of seeing whole genres unfairly maligned, just as someone might knock CM when they don't understand it. For those who think shooters are brainless, try a big game of Tribes 2 with intelligent players. That's like living a wargame: tanks rumbling by, bombers soaring overhead, sensor nets to be set up and maintained, generators to be protected, a huge variety of weapons and strategies. (Shameless plug for a favorite, sorry!) As for E3, it's basically a big press/PR love-in. Take that for what (little) it's worth If you're really interested in games, the GDC is much more worthwhile, from what I hear from participants. [ 05-03-2001: Message edited by: Stacheldraht ]

I don't know where the voting page went; I just copied the link they listed in the mag. I hope they bring it back so we can show the world what's what

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>participants will be LCD's (lowest common denominators) who'd complain, "Gee, why isn't CM true realtime? Why isn't it FPS?"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That statement doesn't exhibit a very strong grasp of games, gamers, or the game industry. I'd recommend objectively trying some high-quality RTS's and shooters. You may be surprised.

Well, the AMD v. Intel debate is just like the PC v. Apple debate: too hard to resist for us computer geeks In terms of useful power for the price, AMD certainly does have a lot going for it. When you can buy or build a stable, blazing fast system with a Tbird, why bother with overpriced Intel products? (Not that those are bad, just far from reasonable buys.) Btw, Echo, congrats on the new rig! [ 05-03-2001: Message edited by: Stacheldraht ]

In the latest (June '01) issue of Computer Gaming World, Combat Mission is up to #5 on the Top 20 games listing, as voted by gamers here: http://www.computergaming.com Keep voting! [ 05-03-2001: Message edited by: Stacheldraht ]

From German Tanks of World War II in Color, p. 31: "One of the French tanks to see service with the German army was the Hotchkiss H-35 light tank. It was a two-man tank powered by a gasoline engine and armed with a turret-mounted 37-mm antitank gun. The German army acquired over 800 Hotchkiss H-35's and placed them into service as the Panzer 38H 735(f)." The book inlcudes a color photo of one sitting outside at the Bulgaria Army Museum, surrounded by ivy and shrubs. It looks like a general's little lawn ornament

FWIW, Stewart Wilson's Aircraft of WWII states that the P-38 was the first (military) plane "anywhere with turbocharged engines."

Hey, it's our language now x 2

I'm reminded of that high poetic sentiment voiced so nobly by the late Ramones: Slugs and snails are after me DDT keeps me happy Now I guess I'll have to tell 'em That I got no cerebellum Gonna get my Ph.D. I'm a teenage lobotomy

"Arty" may sound silly, but I believe it's been common US military slang for some time.

http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/DL/chron.htm#AWorldWarII19391945

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Seems a reasonable solution to me<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You missed the whole point of the forums, then, Matt

I too find it a bit odd, or at least unfortunate, that BTS doesn't open CM up to substantial modification as so many games do with great success. As UniversalWolf notes so well, that's a major selling point for many games and helps build sales and community support. I know when I buy games, I intentionally gravitate towards those that are relatively open source, viewing my purchase as the adult equivalent of a buying a set of legos or building blocks. It's a game system, not just a game. There's great potential value in something like that, both in terms of replay value and the chance for fans to create wonderful additions and alterations to the game. I'm guessing, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that since BTS doesn't have the resources to readily create a game primarily built around an upgraded engine (along the lines of what id does with the Quake series), they want to keep the game architecture closed so they'll be the only ones who can provide new units and rules, things which would be relatively easier for them to implement and profit from with a new game. [ 04-27-2001: Message edited by: Stacheldraht ] [ 04-27-2001: Message edited by: Stacheldraht ]

As long as the subculture supports T&L and bump mapping, I like it!

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Why hasn't this bloody thread been locked up by now?? I have not even heard of this game, Tropico sounds like a soft drink. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Ignorance of the game is no reason to make fun of it. It's been mentioned in the gaming press for quite some time and has been getting very positive reviews so far. If people want to talk about something OT, so what? Happens all the time here.