Jagdratt

What about continental drift? How long ago were you in school, anyway? US media outlets reporting on current flooding in "Eastern Europe" are including Italy and Germany in that description. Not to say that the media ever knows what it's talking about, but rather it's an indication of common use of the expression. Academics and cartographers undoubtedly have their own definitions. Surely someone has a cesspool or grog dictionary handy? [ August 14, 2002, 01:45 PM: Message edited by: Jagdratt ]

I have 10.2 running here on my machine right now - what is your question?

I have a question for you - at what point do you think then current Mac models will stop working with system 9? I have a G4 733, and I believe it requires system 9 or newer in order to boot up. At some point this minimum system requirement will move to OSX - perhaps with the next generation of processors. The OSX requirement is as likely to be marketing decision as an engineering one. At that point the CMBO and CMBB offerings will look SERIOUSLY dated - i.e. unable to run on current hardware.

...will herald the arrival of CMBB? I mean face it this will be, for many of this board's acolytes, something approaching a religious experience. The more cynical and jaded among you may suggest that an honest Canadian Prime Minister and glaciers flowing from volcanoes will be the only portents you'll accept as signalling an imminent CMBB release date. But let's be serious, and consider this carefully. Now Christ's return to earth has already reserved certain symbology, so BFC will have to look for something that hasn't been reserved already. What do you think will portent the release of CMBB? A massive shut down of the internet due to email orders? The departure of the faithful from their places of work, play, and worship to darkened computer rooms for several undisturbed weeks? A massive upswing in the US economy, credit card companys in particular?

Throwing my two cents into what I expect is a fruitless poll (but then what's two cents worth today?), I too would love to have CMBB and CMBO working on OSX. The real danger, IMHO, is that at some point in the not too distant future Apple's hardware likely won't boot in OS9. I'm not enough of a Mac technophile to give you average life spans, but once Apple releases new system software it generally doesn't take many generations of hardware before the new OS is a requirement - the old OS simply won't boot the machine. Then we'll be truly screwed, needing an older machine to play either of these great games. And, as has been pointed out, the status quo has got to cut into Mac sales. CMBO is a wonderful peice of software, but I am sure that there are potential customers out there who will never find out because they're not willing to go to the trouble of restarting in an older OS just to try it out. The very idea of software that doesn't work in either OSX or Classic suggests it's an older product and therefore less likely to be satisfactory by current standards. Now we all know that's not true - we also know the problem is related to a software change made by Apple, not BTS. But preaching to the choir isn't going to bring any new folks into the light.

I agree with what you're saying - my suggestion is that the sniper cease being a conceptual unit once 'regular' forces were within communication range. By that, I'm suggesting voice contact. At that point the sniper would become a playable unit with capabilities very nearly those of an elite sharp shooter. Some limited transfer of intelligence - what he'd seen prior to regaining contact with the player's forces - would take place. I suggest this as sort of a hybrid that isn't a playable unit - and thus susceptable to historically inaccurate scouting due to spotting limitations - and a mysterious ethereal like apparition whose presence/influence/effectiveness would become something of a spiritual discussion.

I think that's a very clever suggestion. I would suggest that the AI controlled sniper would become visible when it was 'in contact' with the player's forces. This would likely happen as a result of an advance by the player controlled forces into 'no persons' land' or areas previously controlled by the enemy . At that point, the sniper would revert to player control with abilities closely related to those of a sharp shooter. IMHO, this would reflect the concept that the sniper's ability to further infiltrate enemy lines was degraded by the active combat zone. Although I would never claim to have computer programming expertise, I think the fighter bomber AI analogy is quite apt. Since the player could not see what the sniper was or wasn't targetting, we wouldn't be able to complain about the sniper's effectiveness or lack thereof. Ignorance might be bliss. That's my 2 cents worth - sadly worth substantially less in US dollars...

"The Mk.VI Soviet telephone pole completely replaced the Mk.I Tsarist pole in 1938!" "But that isn't a Mk.VI Soviet telephone pole, thats a German Mk.II telephone pole, I tell ya!" "I actually understood that the little side spurs indicated that it was a lend-lease telephone pole, supplied to the Russians from the United States and then captured by the Germans and given to the Romanians for their use on the eastern front." It will make a change, I suppose. [/QB]

Can't wait for the modders to add garage sale signs: "For Sale - PzkwI and II in excellent condition. Driven by little old Fraus on weekends only. Never used on the Ost Front. Minor rust and ATR damage. Extra sets of tracks negotiable. 12-16000 RM OBO depending on condition. Contact Rottenfuhrer Schulz, Werkstattkompanie." > edit to satisfy currency grogs [ June 09, 2002, 03:54 AM: Message edited by: Jagdratt ]

A set of wargame rules for AFVs in the late 1970s. We used it with 1/285 metal minatures from GHQ and CinC. Does anyone else recall this, or am I just far too old?

I haven't seen this site mentioned in discussion here before. If you're at all curious about this weapon, this site will answer many of your questions. web page [ May 23, 2002, 01:21 PM: Message edited by: Jagdratt ]

I certainly hope that forced sterilization is part of your treatment regimen. We can't have these inferior genes infecting the breed - especially in so small a gene pool as that of the exotic cats.

I'd be very interested in hearing more about this, if you've got more information. I've always heard how expensive the Tigers were to manufacture, and saw some figures on production hours. Why was this the case?

That's true if you're writing in American. I think he was using English, though.

I think the reason they're saying that is that the more militant Arab nations are pressuring Egypt to take military action. Egypt has the geographic position and military might that many Arab nations do not. Sadly, I think the average squaddie in the Egyptian Army would relish the conflict - at first anyway. There's a level of commitment or fanaticism to the Arab/Israeli conflict that seldom exists in the Western world*. For many Muslims, this the single most important ideological struggle in their life time - perhaps in generations. I don't think Egypt and its nationals are suggesting the 100 billion figure is payment so much as "compensation" for their losses. The difference - in my mind - being that they're not suggesting this would be a profitable exercise, but rather the cost of responding to the militants within the Arab world. *The nation formerly known as Yugoslavia being an example of this in the western world.

Okay, tell me if it's just me... First explosion pic, second piece of shrapnel from the left, above the trees... Does that look like a male moose with full antlers to anyone else? :eek: It's a "green" explosion. Re-populating the forests with our furry friends...

Ah hah, I knew I had it wrong, I just didn't know how wrong. Clearly there was a movement to eliminate these side hatches on tanks designed after each nation gained experience in armoured warfare. Why? Was it a matter of simplifying the manufacturing process, or were they a hazard? I would suspect the latter - although I'm no metalurgist or even a welder I can't see how the hatch - particularly the dual barn door variety - could match the strength of an unperforated belt of steel. I would expect the side hatches were of considerable benefit to a crew bailing out of a toasting tank. In situations like that, time is important, and having a choice of hatches may mean you can exit on the leeward - rather than firing - side of the tank. They probably should have retained side hatches in the SAR - to be utilized for prairie turn signals

One of the very distinctive features of the Pzkw III and IV are the lovely little side hatches - when they're open they look just like the shutters of a little cabin the schwartz wald. A bit of bright paint on the inside and some gingham curtains - Martha Stewart would be so proud. It seems to me that these hatches would be significant weak point in the turret structure. Is that why they were discontinued in later designs? And if they were a weak point, why weren't later models of the IV changed? Did any of the IV models have the hatches in the side hull area, like the III? The Pzkw V and IV both have escape hatches in their turrets, but they look much smaller and are placed on the rear face. They also look much sturdier than those on the earlier designs. Were there different design philosophies on escape hatches among the combatants? My uncle, who was a Sherman commander with the Alberta Tank Regiment, mentioned a floor hatch he used to escape from his tank on one occasion. Were there floor hatches in the German AFVs?

What sort of power plant are the Israelis using? I believe the M1 is alone in its use of a gas turbine, right? Does the turbine burn diesel fuel? You mentioned Israeli Chieftians - did you mean Centurions?

I notice the wheels aren't all the same - is that authentic?

And the big danger is, of course, that in the not too distant future current Mac models will not boot in system 9.x. (Based on past experience, this will happen far sooner than the engine re-write forecast of 2-3 years) Which will mean no CM for owners of then current Macs.

I'm coming home, I'm coming home, now you can taste it in the wind the war is over, And I listen to the clicking of the train wheels as we roll across the border, And now they ask me of the time that I was caught behind the lines and taken prisoner "They only held me for a day, a lucky break" I say, They turn and listen closer I'll never know, I'll never know why I was taken from the line with all the others, To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia And it's cold and damp in the transit camp and the air is still and sullen And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers "Never" And the evening sighs and the steely Russian skies go on....Forever. Does this last verse mean he was sent to a gulag for being a POW? Many Soviet soldiers who survived the inhumanity of a Nazi POW camp were - after being 'liberated' - exiled to Soviet gulags for the remainder of their lives. What an awful fate - one that this verse seems to describe in a most haunting way.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Schrullenhaft: If it was a matter of just changing some code to work with the file system or interface, it would be a relatively simple matter. But OS X forces a change in CM that involves a huge base of code to be transposed into a new API. That effort alone would have taken BTS another year to release CMBB if they attempted it now. And their efforts would be for naught since their next project requires them to rip up huge chunks of the code (the very foundations of CM are going to be changed to accomodate new features). With only one programmer BTS can't approach the coding work in a haphazard manner such as trying to include OpenGL in CMBB and then rewriting the engine thereafter. Yeah, if you want to run CMBO & CMBB you're going to have to run in Classic Mode or Apple's going to have to improve their RAVE support (which won't likely happen). <hr></blockquote> Yes, I've read the background and understand it's not a simple fix. The point I'm raising is that if this continues (the requirement to use OS9), owners of future Mac boxes may lose the ability to play CM. I don't think we can take as a given that Apple's future hardware creations will run "old" system software. For example, I don't think my G4 will work with the software that was a generation old when the box was made (that would be OS 7.6). I believe it requires a late version of OS 8 or higher. At some point the new Mac boxes will only work with OSX. What do we do then? (wringing hands and staring at clouds for first indications of the sky falling) :eek: BTW Schrullenhaft, I certainly appreciate your contributions to this forum - you're obviously spending a fair bit of time helping players sort out their technical support issues. [ 01-26-2002: Message edited by: Jagdratt ]</p>