Chops

Don't scare us like that Michael. Hey, it's Summertime and the livin' is easy. Of course Steve is on vacation, and an extended one at that. Well deserved. He will return with The Patch, after Labor Day when school is back in session. So everybody just chill, and enjoy some ice cold lemonade for the next few months.

I totally agree. Sounds are a very important aspect of the sim (background, voices, vehicles, and weapons), and I hope BFC will make improvements in this area.

How about the "SS Caen Film Festival"? Certainly sounds more entertaining than the rainy, drab, "Commonwealth". Regarding content, lots of SS and FJ units.

Agreed, this would be a very good starting point. We need to know the definitions of the parameters modeled under the Damage Report, such as: CM:SF - Targeting, IR Optics CM:BN - Wpn Controls, Optics

For what it's worth, I noticed the same issue in CM:SF. Tanks with destroyed optics were still able to target enemy units at will. This issue, is not like the "low wall" problem where we can setup our own tests to try and determine what is going on (i.e. we cannot place tanks on the map with optics already destroyed). It is one of those things where a problem seems to exist but it is very difficult to nail it down with data.

Do you mean "module" rather than "patch"? or has BFC changed their policy on patches?

Does the vehichle have smoke onboard?, did you issue a Face command? This is from the Manual Pg. 86. TARGET SMOKE Besides simple vision-blocking smoke only, CM:BN also features White Phosphorus smoke grenades, which can cause damage and burns to soldiers exposed to it (within very close proximity to an exploding shell). Infantry - not applicable. Uses Pop Smoke instead. Vehicles - The unit will fire smoke shells at the designated target or location. Restrictions - Units need to be capable of firing smoke shells, and ammunition needs to be available. Example - a major threat appears in front of your tank. The tank commander orders smoke to be fired in front of the enemy to blind it, gaining valuable time for a retreat.

This may be due to the fact, that in the game, AT weapons cannot be fired from within buildings.

In the interview Steve posted, Alford mentions that the German Infantry Company was caught in an open field by the American tanks. Seems to me that their only course of action at that point was to try and take out the TC's and get them to button up. Sort an act of desperation and self-preservation. This sounds like an "outlier" situation.

Now, now gents let's not get off topic here. We have important business to address with this tank plinking, and lives to save, although, I have done something similar to your suggestion. I always play as the Germans, and name the U.S. units after republican members of congress. At the end of a scenario, I often find these "republican" units cowering and panicked in foxholes, sucking their thumbs, crying for mama, along with obvious signs that they had wet their pants. Go figure.

I like to add a sense of immersion and realism to the game by going into the Editor for Quick Battles and Single Battles, and renaming a unit (HQ or Squad) with my name. This effectively places me on the battlefield. It is amazing how the orders I give and the actions of "my" squad are very carefully considered before being implemented. I suggest trying this, and also adding the names of family members or friends to other units. Anyway, before starting a mission I brief my squad on certain procedures. One of the things I always tell them, is that under NO circumstances will you follow MikeyD's Manual on enemy tanks. Did you hear that? Under NO circumstances! If one of my boys decides to start plinking away at an enemy tank, without my orders, and a specific plan of attack, he will find himself all alone as the rest of us haul ass to a new location and remain as quiet as a pack of mice.

Hey Mord, I am with you. I really dig CM:A. And how about some of your great sound mods for CM:BN?

Cool, thanks for the update.

When moving multiple vehicles in the same general area, or to the same destination, I issue Pause commands for each successive vehicle. First vehicle - no pause, Second vehicle - 5 sec. pause, Third vehicle - 10 sec. pause, etc... This helps with bunching up and other issues regarding vehicle movement. I use this technique in all the CMx2 games - CMSF, CMA, CMBN.

I think that BFC has done a masterful job at re-creating the challenges and frustrations that commanders had to deal with while mucking around in the bocage. If you are frustrated as a player trying to work your way through this nightmarish but beautiful terrain, imagine what the real commanders must have felt, while their losses of real people mounted.

I have always been a strong supporter of BFC's Combat Mission games. I think CM:BN is outstanding, based on the demo. However, the sounds and voices are totally lacking. BFC, why did you go all half-assed on the sounds and voices? The sounds and voices totally affect the ambiance and immersion of a game, and in the case of CMBN they have a very negative impact, which is also the case in CM:SF NATO. What a bummer.

Haven't you guys read the recent study concerning number of hours worked? Working over 8 hours a day significantly increases ones risk of heart attack. Even 8 hours a day is to much. I implore the BFC team to slow down and relax. Please cut your hours back to 4 or less hours per day. We don't want any mishaps. We will be happy to wait another month or so for the demo. All the best, Chops

It is 5:30 pm EDT. BFC has closed up shop for the day. You little refresh monkeys better go to bed and get your rest, 'cause come Friday you will need to be very well rested. Now go on....scoot!

I also prefer a stream-lined UI. In CMx1 the ability to highlight a unit and then press the Enter key to get all kinds of good info was really helpful, and it kept the data out of the way until the player wanted to check it out. This discussion has kind of tilted toward effective range, however, as mentioned in my original post, ammo loadout is a concern. I have felt a lot of frustration while playing CMSF and CMA when trying to acquire the correct type of ammo for my troops, and am not looking forward to this issue again in CMBN. This may not be as big an issue in CMBN as it is in CMA. Please, just provide a complete manual that tells the player what ammo goes with each weapon including sniper rifles. Are snipers automatically provided with ammo? Can the player acquire ammo for snipers?

Ok, thanks for the update. I understand not wanting to clutter up the UI. How about at least providing the complete information in the manual as referenced in my first post?

Nice Marco. However, why should Marco have to go to all this trouble? Waiting until the next major release for some basic info that affects gameplay seems kind of crazy. Once again, why doesn't BFC just add the effective range and ammo type to the existing weapon name tool-tip?

SEAL Team by Electronic Arts - was about SEALs in Vietnam

Marco, that certainly helps. Now if you could just add in the ammo type for each weapon we would be good to go. Thanks for the great info you provided.

Totally with you Elmar - In CMSF and CMA the type of ammo that goes with a particular weapon is not made easily accessible to the player, and often it is no where to be found. The manuals are incomplete. This is apparently still the case in CMBN. Googling this information is not a 5 second process. The information that is returned is often contradictory and incomplete. So, why isn't this information made available in the manuals and the UI for the player? As I mentioned previously, the data on effective range and ammo type for a particular weapon is critical to the squad leader.

Knowing the effective range and ammo type for a particular weapon is obviously critical information for a squad leader to have, and will have a significant impact on the tactics that he chooses to employ. So, why isn’t this information made quickly and readily available to the player in CM? It looks like we are going to have the third major release of Combat Mission (CMSF, CMA, CMBN), without this information readily accessible to the player. In CMSF and CMA when a player attempts to Acquire ammo for a unit, he is presented with a list of various weapons and ammo available in a pop-up list. Often times, the unit may have weapons that require different types of ammo, and so the player is presented with the problem of trying to choose the correct ammo types for his units weapons. This information has been inconsistent and often omitted in the CMSF and CMA manuals, and looks to be the case once again for some of the weapons in CMBN. Supplying your unit with the wrong ammo type can have serious consequences when it comes time to fire the weapon obviously, and also can increase unit fatigue if they are hauling around a bunch of extra ammo that they can’t use. There is no ability to drop ammo in any of the CMx2 games so far. A solution to this issue would be to make tool-tips available to the player in the UI. By putting the mouse cursor over a weapon in the UI, a tool-tip could be displayed which shows the weapon name, effective range and ammo type. Problem solved, simple. I just reviewed the CMBN manual, and although it does a much better job in providing this information to the player than the CMA and CMSF manuals did; there is still important information missing. Some weapons where the data on effective range and ammo type are incomplete in the CMBN manual are as follows: M1 Carbine M1A Carbine M1903A1 Springfield KAR98K zF/4 MG34 – range is presented in the interface, but effective range is not MG42 – same as above Regarding sniper rifles; in CMSF and CMA it seems that these weapons are automatically given ammo, and the player does not have the ability to Acquire more ammo, or determine exactly how many rounds the sniper has available. This is still unclear to me after playing CMx2 games for the last 4 years, and another gray area that has never been adequately explained in all this time.