Danny Chung

Thank Christ. It came all of a sudden didn't it? I was watching a bloke on Youtube demonstrating the guitar parts for Beast of Burden when I suddenly remembered I hadn't gone to the BFC website yet this morning. And there it was, in all its glory. What we've been waiting for all these years. Still, no satisfaction yet. I'll have to wait for the Mac version. Any system requirements for Macs then? I'll have to see about buying a new Mac for the game. BFC can be assured of regular revenue streams from me! Danny

Looking back on it, I suppose the idea was a bit of compromise. Still I agree with you why there can't be a level /camera lock as an option.

Just sounding out ideas. How about different ranks having different range of levels available? NCOs - get level 1 only. lieutenants - level 1 and 2 maybe 3 and so on up to Commanding officer gets the full range of levels until he gets killed or put out of action. Units such as anti-tank guns, assault guns, etc get only limited range of levels. All this with lock level switch on which also puts the camera-lock-on-unit switch on. So the commanding officer can get a birds eye view but only from where he is located he can't roam around like a bee. Watching an artillery bombardment on enemy positions from up above is more exciting, of course. If players want the lock level switch off in order to fully roam the battlefield to his heart's content, then he can do that. The option is there and default is in off position. If the player wants to test/torment himself, then the option is there to switch it on to last the entire game. Dan

I dunno about losing potential customers. How about a locking feature for LOS and make it an option to click on or leave off at before the game starts? And you get a premium on top of your score for clicking the option on. Dan

I was wondering if there could be a way of forcing the player to use LOS at ground level or at most slightly up by the simple trick that if he continues to use the aerial view, his final score will be subject to a discount. The more use of aerial view, the more the discount so that even he kills or injures everyone on the opposing force, his final score will only be slightly ahead of the opponent's score. By all means have aerial view free of charge at set up stage but as soon as turn 1 starts, that's it, no aerial view unless you are prepared to pay for it. I think to fully appreciate how difficult combat is in the real world, you need LOS restricted. Dan

I don't think this topic has been addressed recently in the various previews. What are the ambient sounds of the French countryside like at set up time in CMBN? I seem to remember there was a old discussion about the sound of birds being wrong in the original CMBO. In addition are the shouted orders given by the NCOs, etc still using the old CMBO sound files? I really liked the "come back, you cowards" one. Looking forward to hearing it this time in CMBN. Dan

Hey, how about a few pictures of the armoured fighting workhorse of the Wehrmacht, the Stug IIIs. You were more likely to meet the Stug III than any other German tank, tank destroyer or assault gun. What is the animation like for when the loader pops out to fire the topside MG34? I take it there aren't that many Stug IIIs at the time with the remote controlled topside MG. Danny

Thanks Michael I did read that post before but for some reason it did not embed itself in my memory. So it looks like the latest MacBook Pro models should hack it. Just wondering if the MacBook Air will be able to cope or not. Dan

Just wondering if BF have any preliminary recommendations for the hardware specs to run the Mac version. I've just been going round the shops looking at the latest Mac laptops on offer and wondering if this is the time for some capital investment so I can play the game when it comes out. My current Mac is a MacBook that I bought in early 2008 mainly for work, and now hardly the fittest Mac to run CMBN, I think. Dan

Is it near completion...? Anyway I thought this might be an opportune time to ask the obvious questions. How is Battlefront progressing on the first module to CMBN, the one with Commonwealth, Fallshirmjager and SS forces in it? What kind of improvements can we expect to see in it, based on the testing that has been done for CMBN? Are their any special vehicles/weapons in it that we should be aware of? Is it likely that the first module will see the light of day within this year, say towards the end of 2011? Many thanks Dan

In CM1, I seem to remember there was a requirement, an understanding for want of a better word, to have forces of each side roughly balanced so as to ensure each side would have a fair fight. In real life, of course, you'll rarely have this luxury of balanced forces for each side. One side will invariably have more infantry, more machine guns, more mortars, more tanks, more everything else. In CMBN, will the requirement for balanced forces for each side be still critical or desirable so as to ensure a fair fight? Is the fact that CMX2 engine permits each side to have different objectives that allows for a scenario designer to put in unbalanced forces. So for example, all the German side has to do is deny a certain area to the US side for the stipulated amount of time and he will win although he has few forces in order to complete the task. With improvements in the game for CMX2, would it still come down to simply better skills, marshalling of available forces and a bit of luck that will ensure an acceptable result? Great game by the way, JonS and Elvis. Looking forward to more if there's more on the way. Dan

Just wondering if this scenario Bois de Baugin is meant only for testing CMBN or is it the intention that the scenario will make into CMBN when it is formally released? And seeing what has happened so far, are there any adjustments to be made for the composition and size of forces available for the final version of Bois de Baugin? Great game so far. I've been following it everyday. Battlefront can be assured of income from me this year! Dan

With all the talk about the new features on CMBN, I thought whether the good folks at Battlefront had thought about resurrecting the two battles on the original CMBO demo for CMBN, that is: A Chance Encounter Valley of Trouble The timeframes might be a bit out with the first one in April 1945 and the second one in September 1944 but I suppose it doesn't really matter as the kit used is available in the timeframe for CMBN. I really enjoyed playing these two battles on the original CMBO demo and it would be great if we can get a similar battle for CMBN. Dan

Better late than never! Thanks, Steve. Now, we've got that extra suspense in the wait for CM Normandy! Danny

Hi Battlefront Now that one project, CMSF Nato, is out of the way, thus completing the family of games for CMSF, can we be assured that Battlefront is doing something about the Mac OS version of CMSF? We've been told several times in the past that a native Mac OS version will eventually come out but so far nothing has happened. Will it be released soon, or only after the entire CM Normandy family comes out, or is it "nope, sorry guys, we've dropped plans for Mac OS, you're gonna have to use Windows" Anything please! Thanks Danny

Well it looks like I'll have to continue waiting then... I'm running Parallels with Microsoft Vista on my Macbook. CMBO is able to run on it but there is severe screen flickering. Not much luck with the others. The CMBB demo crashes on it. The CMSF demo couldn't run either. Thanks Danny

Sorry to bring up an old subject again. I can hear the yawns now... Now that CMSF British Forces is practically out of the way, will the order of work priority now for BFC be Normandy and then the Mac version or vice versa? I also notice Apple is rolling out the upgraded OS, Snow Leopold, in September. Would the Mac version if/when it comes out be back compatible with older versions of the OS? Any congratulations on the latest release. Thanks for your patience Danny

Hi guys Just getting back into CM after a four year absence when my old first generation iMac died. I only just realised today that my old CMBO CD-ROM also has the Windows version of CMBO so I installed it on my MacBook running Parallels Desktop and Vista. It seems to load alright so I start up the game. The opening music seems a bit distorted though. I fire up the first game A Chance Encounter and thankfully it comes on. However the trees and other vegetation and descriptions in the control panel at the bottom of the screen flickers constantly. I can still place orders and move my units about and the game runs each time I press GO but the constant flickering of the trees etc is getting annoying. Does anyone know how to fix this flickering problem please? Easy how-to explanations please if possible. Thanks Danny

Thank Christ for that! Congratulations to BFC all the same. I haven't played CM since my early version iMac packed up in October 2004 and I got the new version which wouldn't support CMBO and CMBB. I couldn't be bothered to piss about with tweaking the computer to allow me to run CMBB. I would definitely buy if BFC release a native OS X version. Buying an Intel Mac just to play a Windows version CMSF would be just a waste of money. Still, with the release of CMSF, you know what this means. That's right lads, full steam ahead for the next planned release, the World War 2 CM!

Seeing as it was the 60th anniversary of Germany's capitulation, I went and bought the Last Battle by Cornelius Ryan (who wrote the Longest Day). It only covers the last few weeks in the battle for Berlin and while is not strictly a military history book it certainly tells a gripping tale. Berlin The Downfall 1945 by Antony Beevor gives a slightly wider perspective of the Eastern Front from January 1945 to May 1945. Danny

Just another 11 months to go (if the latest estimates are anything to go by) before we might get a go or glimpse of CMx2. This might have been brought up before but would players be able to target airstrikes in the manner of artillery barrages using a target reference point? I'm thinking about being able to knock out strongpoints using Stukas with the obligatory siren blaring away. You know, the true Blitzkrieg experience. Or how about having an allied bombing run in Caen in the first minute of action. See your German troops buried in rubble. It'll be limited of course but it will look exciting. Good idea or a non-starter? Danny

Right it's settled. At least a year away so I'll shut up till then. But next Christmas, an update please, BFC! Danny

Hi gang This has been brought up so many times before it's getting tired but since it's Christmas, I'll bring it up. To the good folks at BFC, when are we going to get some news on CMx2 that would run native on the Mac OS X? How close are you to completion? Any update would be the best Christmas present I could have. When my old iMac DV wheezed and keeled over, I had to buy a new G5 iMac and it just isn't the same, not being able to play CM. I'm sick of playing Call of Duty. I have small request too. Can we have a command that says to a tank, say, drive from point A to point B using the fastest available route using just the available roads, point A and point B of course being two points on the road system. I find myself micromanaging so much when I have a battle group on a road. Thanks Danny

Hi guys Just downloaded this operation from B&T. I was going to play it when I noticed the designer said players 'should keep restarting it until you get "fog" or "fog and rain"'in order to get the historical feel. How do I restart the game when I have already started the game? Do I abort and then reenter the game via the menu? Can anyone give me a walkthrough on this restart instruction please? Thanks Danny

Cheers to the team at BFC. I've downloaded the demo, didn't take too long with broadband, but I'll hold off pre-ordering the full version until after all the pre-orders have been cleared. Like the unfortunate gentleman who posted earlier, my pre-ordered CMBB didn't arrive for a month. I've got the willpower. Anyway, it's nice to hear English again after a year of CMBB. Danny