Erwin

Also, "Road to Dinas" is a superb red on red campaign.

I don't know your situation, but while sometimes units cannot drive the vehicles of other units, I think they can always access any carried ammo. You sure your inf unit was small enuff to fit into the vehicle?

I forget... is 1600x1200 the max option when you delete the prefs file and then restart a CM1 game? I deleted my Prefs file, but when I restarted CMAK I was NOT asked to choose a resolution. It just started and looked the same as before! Is this a phenomenon of Win7?

I can tell. It seems that it takes a lot longer to design and test a good CMSF scenario (which intimidates me) than for CM1 (which is relatively easy). Figuring out how to take out those pesky bunkers caused me to reload those files several times and replay just that part of the operation before moving on. But other than that, I felt rewarded for good tactics. What I thought made RMM quite brilliant was the mix of Brit units and the lack of tanks etc which seem to unbalance games - tanks and AFV's are like having prima donnas on the battlefield that can be KO'd so easily with ATGM's. imo CMSF shines in urban and the relatively short range wooded operations as in RMM which are not suitable for armor. I enjoyed learning that I really had to dismount the Brit MMG's and Grenade Throwers, and to use the vehicles as taxis and not as lightly armored support vehicles. (But, WHY can one dismount US 50 cal's from Humvees, but not from the Brit vehicles!!!???) After RMM I now find that playing the US is a bit boring as the US always has SO much firepower and ammo and everything. In almost all US scenarios, the tactics are about blowing everything up in front of you. The Brits don't have the luxury of firepower and effectively unlimited ammo, one has to play more skillfully. (Of course it helped that the Brits in RMM were all Elite I think.) I suggest that you do a harder version that doesn't include Zulu company. I proved that it's not really needed, nor is the final aircraft reinforcement. Mayeb make the victiry conditions harder? I should not have gotten a Total Victory, as I did make mistakes and lost 47 KIA. I will check out Joint Venture.

Can one set CM1 resolution prefs similar to CMSF? I know how to delete the Prefs file and then when one restarts the game one can choose from the preset options. But, I play CMSF at 2800x1200 (I forget exact numbers) on a 30" screen, and CM1 looks rather chunky at the max resolution that the in-game options allow.

Congrats on your design. Royal Mud Marines is the best CMSF scenario I have played since I started a couple years ago. It seems like the Brits don't have the US decent type equipment and seem to be short on heavy support. But, I really enjoyed figuring out how to use the myriad of light vehicles, and doing resupply etc. (It was a headache to find out that some units can board vehicles and use the HMG's or even drive the vehicles while others cannot. But that is black eye for the CMSF manual that is cluttered with so much essentially useless detailed info, yet does not deal with these critical issues!) I did have to save and redo Yankee Co's attack on the fort bunkers several times until I figured out how to kill them with only squad weapons. The hidden bunkers were a "lovely" surprise. However, during the rest of the scenario I felt like good tactics worked out well. One feature of other less-well designed scenarios that disappoint is that the enemy makes stupid suicidal attacks at some point and that's when one picks up a lot of points and usually a frustratingly early auto victory leaving one feeling cheated. In your RMM, the enemy attacks were quite nasty. I only survived as I had as SOP always positioned units to defend against the unexpected. Once again, good tactics were rewarded. Fantastic! Once I understood the Brit capabilities and limitations, (requiring a few restarts) things went well, and I felt that I ended up with TOO much men and material. I was able to keep the third Zulu company out of the fight completely other than the snipers and Javelins, and I didn't use the final aircraft reinforcements. Played at Elite level, and Result was a Total Victory: OK: 316 vs 127 KIA: 47 vs 381 WIA: 64 vs 233 MIA: 0 vs 30 Tanks: 0 vs 3 AFVs: 0 vs 18 Other: 4 vs 6 Please let us know if you have done other scenarios. Royal Mud Marines was exceptionally excellent! Thank you...

I'll take another look at a night scenario and check on your point... (You may be correct, but I still thought that visually it looked good, and I never thought it was a problem.)

I kinda have started soing the same thing with a "General Mods" folder for ALL mods, then several Z folders for different configs (Marines, Brits etc.). Just to be safe I keep em all in another root folder called CMSF PATCHES AND FILES completely separate from the actual CMSF game folders. However, what about the sound folders and subfolders? I have several sound mods that have numerous subdirectories of sounds - categorized like "explosions", "shots", "gunfire", "screams" etc. Do I have to copy all the individual .wav files from those subdirectories into the main "SOUND" folder in the z folder? Or, does the system read subfolders within a "root" mod folder that is in the z folder. (Hope wot I said makes sense.) And is there a tutorial or FAQs about all this???

I am in no way a techie and know next to nothing about my nVidia card. But, I do not see any flashing during the day, only in night scenarios - which I thought was quite appropriate and adds to the experience. (I have Win 7 however.)

I think some mod zips have built in directory trees that automatically install mods to the z folder when you install to CMSF root. What about .wav - sounds and music. Are they handled the same way? And what takes precedence when you have mods that do something similar. (I have a lot of mods and threw em all into z. And it locked up the game good. Now I have to take em all out and start trying them again.)

After putting in such a huge number of work hours it wouldn't be surprising if you are so close to the material, that some solutions are not easily apparent. If the map is pretty much done, have you considered releasing it so that other designers could work on it? I know it's tough when it's your baby. But, fresh insight from third parties can often be a hot knife through buttery problems (sort of).

Thank you. I feel like such a twit for forgetting that the z goes in the data folder. Is it my imagination, or does the manual not really mention how to handle mods etc? So, folders also go in the z folder? (ie. You don't extract the files from the folder into the z?) And when a mod folder has subfolders, does that mean that one has to choose which subfolder to use as a mod -eg: mods located in subfolders "A" and "B" will not work until EITHER subfolder A or B is taken out of the "main" mod folder and placed in the z folder. ie: A and B cannot be active at the same time. Have I got that correct now? However, what about the instruction I found in at least one mod readme that said "extract into the CMSF root directory." Is that a certain type of mod, or is the instruction wrong? (I know that BFC wanted to make the use of mods easier, but without clear instructions in the manuals - at least I couldn't find em - it's confusing.)

Is it certain this is a problem? I only see the flashing when there is gunfire. I thought that the flashing was simulating the light from gunfire and explosions. Looked quite good imo.

A really basic question... where does one place mods after downloading them? I thought that after unzipping or un-raring you simply place whatever was inside the file into a "z" folder that one creates in the combat mission strike force root directory. However, I don't think my mods are being seen. Some unzipped/un-rared files result in .bmp files\, others in a .brz file, others in a folder, others in a folder that has subfolders. Sometimes the instructions say "unzip into your CMSF root directory (rather than into the z folder). Is there a tutorial re where to place what sort of unzipped file? Thanks...

Ok, after some trial and error, I think I may have mastered bunker killing when all you can use are (Brits) squad weapons. (Maybe US troops have an easier time?) This was required in the excellent Royal Mud Marines scenario - in which one has to KO bunkers that are only visible at very close range in woods. First, what does NOT work is attempting to use engineers' demo charges and the BLAST command. Bunkers are not buildings apparently. Also, when ordered to target the bunker, squads use small arms and 40mm grenades primarily. I may have seen a missile or two at most - and even then I think it was an AT missile, and NOT a LASM. So, it appears that the bunker is treated more like a vehicle. My technique was to use 4-6 teams firing at the surrounded bunker from all angles, and at close range (0-15m). This seems to suppress the bunker - and this is essential so that there is no effective enemy fire from the bunker (which can be quite lethal). The bunker starts taking casualties and after a couple turns it is KO'd. Not exactly realistic, but hey... If anyone has a better tactic, plz post.

According to BoB the players with ATI cards experience no end of problems - at least with CM1. It became a rule - don't buy ATI. Not sure what changed in CM2. But, this is the first time I've heard of nVidia problems.

Lovely. Let us know when it's ready for d/l. Esp a dirty/dusty version.

Awesome work. Thanks...

Amazing map. Can't imagine the work you've done. But, plz get it out there for playing. One can always do more work as nothing is ever perfect. Also, is there a single place to get all the mods I am reading about in this thread?

BTW: Are we certain that PPHE is for anti-personnel work only, while HEDP is useful vs vehicles. Am thinking of only loading PPHE when enemy vehicles are not a problem. Otherwise, it seems a waste that the AI uses HEDP first until it runs out.

Wonderful news. Good luck Philip!

Ok thanks... BTW: IN the thread I found this: "The GMG has to be dismounted to see the airburst (PPHE) in the ammo tab, and the crew only seems to use it once HEDP is depleted, even against personnel targets. Once they start using PPHE it looks just like small mortar airbursts with the dust kicked up underneath." I also found that HEDP is depleted first when I was shooting at inf or buildings (haven't tried it on vehicles yet). Good to know that the PPHE is at least as effective and probably more so. (I was running out of the HEDP reloads.)

The Brits have HEDP and PPHE. The HEDP gets used up first. What are the different capabilities and why does the PPHE only get used when the HEDP is used up? Thanks...

I understand. I simply wanted to update a comment re "Warriors In The Sands" with what I hoped would be something more detailed and helpful. Shame we can't link to a reviews section in your forums. Might be helpful for designers.

Things that CMSF appears to teach (as opposed to RL which may or may not correspond): The Brit stuff is ****e compared to the US (altho am enjoying playing the Brits due to the increased "challenge"). But, Vectors are only glorified trucks. Scary to think of soldiers being sent into combat in one. CMSF also teaches that the WMIK is only good for transportation. Hard to see its use anywhere close to combat.