Reichenberg

Or another option could be the following songs: Bing Crosby Teddy Powell & his Orchestra(maybe a bit 'pacificy') These ones and quite some more you can find on this CD with American propaganda songs (Disclaimer: Be aware, some songs contain politically incorrect and rascist material ) Unfortunately the page is in German. But half way down you have a track list with samples of all songs on it. If you are interested in this one and you can not get it in Russia - let me know. Uwe

Try that link I downloaded tons of very interesting stuff from there - and it is in very good quality!! Uwe

Sneaksie had mentioned the following: Right now grass doesn't affect visibility, but in addon it will provide concealment (it's planned). </font>

To my knowledge the available map editor has only the potential to change objects on already existing maps (e.g. field fortifications, trees...). To actually change maps or build new ones is not possible (e.g. change elevation, rivers...). Hopefully it will be implemented at one point. Uwe

I guess Battlefront and Kalypso Media have either different quality standards with Battlefront having a higher standard - therefore they are delaying the patch and want additional work on it.... Then Battlefront are the good guys. OR: Battlefront and Kalypso Media have different resources for their quality control of the patch with Battlefront having less resources - therefore they are delaying the patch because they have not cleared it yet....Then Battlefront are the bad guys. Now make your guess Uwe

The Battlefront version with the latest patch is 1.3.0.56. But then we do not know, if the numbering system is the same for the Russian/English/German version. Uwe

Welcome to the ToW forum. Good to hear that you can enjoy the game and you have fun with it. Many were already complaining about very similar LoS/LoF issues and something seems to be a bit strange in that field. But nevertheless there is one possible explanation for things like the ones you see them. How is your and your enemys scouting skill??? If your enemy has a higher scouting skill they can spot you easier AND they are even harder to spot for your troops - so something like an improved concealment. Maybe this applies here...... But as I said it seems that it can not explain ALL LoS/LoF issues people had so far. I would probably try to give your troops better scouting skills in the editor and try again if it has improved or if it is stil the same. If not - then you have to wait for the patch/add-on for improvement. Uwe

1) Infantry being able to enter and use buildings. 2) Random battle generator 3) Full blown easy to use map editor (elevation, streets, rivers, lakes, buildings, trees, bushes, grounds should be changeable) Normally one of my 3 favourites would have been the recording/play back function - but it was stated already by Madmatt (after confirmation of 1c) that it could only be in a possible ToW2..... bummer Uwe

Can you change the subject please - here are only men discussing important issues of their lives.... and you come up with this one Uwe

When I look at the model of the house and the inside of it with doors between the rooms...... Will room to room or floor to floor fighting be possible? Can I change the positions of infantrymen inside the house e.g. have the machine gunner at a special window and the guy with the rifle at another one? Uwe

Thanks Sneaksie! The assumption that shells can fly through bushes and trees is understandable.... is there a chance that these projectiles will actually detonate in the trees or bushes That sound detection is independent from this "5/10m" spotting is impressive - I thought that would be included in the "5/10m" issue. Hearing that we will get a separate sound detection routine is amazing!! Same goes for the concealment in grass. Awesome that it will make it in to the add-on. Uwe

Thanks alot for your fast and detailed answer. The LoF indicator is understood with one exception: I always thought it could be the opposite: You can have LoS but no LoF (e.g. you have LoS to a tank, but no LoF to the hull of the tank because it is in a hull down position). When you talk of a blind ground attack is it like indirect fire? If so, what weapons can shoot indirect fire - isn't that mainly off-map artillery, mortars(!) and e.g. the Nashorn? Or are you talking of an area fire command (e.g. you have LoF to an area, but you do can not spot any enemy units in that area)? I assume that means I can sneak up infantry (in a best case scenario with good concealment like bushes for the infantry) up to 10m to a gun emplacement and up to 5m to a tank before I will get inevitably spotted? Talking of concealment for the infantry - will infantry get concealment from tall grass in the patch/add-on?? Right now it just seems to be eye candy. This is very good news. I think it will add much to the gameplay and feel of ToW. Especially with the LoS tool at hand for the players it will explain alot of what is going on "behind the scenes". Uwe

Great!! That will hopefully take the fire out of eventually future discussion about LoS/LoF and will help alot to understand ToW better. Sneaksie, you have mentioned that the line is for LoS AND LoF. I think LoS is self explanatory for the line change in colour. I assume in the screenshots we always see the LoS line (It is green right in front of each tank - a blind spot for the weapons of each tank). How is it handled with LoF? Will we just see 2 colours, e.g. green (free LoF) and black (no LoF) or will we see more information to the LoF line you have mentioned? How can I change from the LoS line to the LoF line?? Will I maybe get additional information when I move a LoS line to a target (e.g. "target visible but no clear LoF")?? Uwe

Freeboy, while I think too that it would be a very helpful tool to understand ToW and play it succesfully, I do not know if it is that easy to implement. I assume you talk of something like in the old Steel Panthers series. After choosing one of your units and selecting the visibility tool you could see each hex on the whole map either lit (visible to that unit) or greyed out (invisible for that unit). With SP it was relativly easy. You had a relativly 'static' battlefield. Fixed levels of elevation (I can not remember the amount of heigth levels off by heart), trees and houses. And with the limited number of hexes you had a limited number of calculations. Now looking at ToW the combination of spots to look from and spots to look at is waaaay higher. The way I understood the LoS/LoF tool in ToW is that it is not doing this map based calculation, but instead doing a 'peer to peer' calculation. It is just checked between the units on the battlefield if there are obstacles in the LoS/LoF - and how much these obstacles reduce the LoS (similar to the LoS tool in CM with the 'real' line changing its colour). The info from that calculation you get already in ToW with 'full' or with 'greyed out' unit icons. Therefore I hope a LoS tool similar to the one in CM will be possible in ToW and will be implemented soon. Please correct me if my statements above are wrong because this is how I THINK it works.... Uwe

Gcoat, do you know the "Wehrtechnische Sammlung" (talking of speaking German )in Koblenz? It is not to far out from the Ardennes. You can consider it an offical German Army Museum, therefore it is not only covering WWII - there is tons of earlier and later stuff too. They have e.g. a flamethrower tank PzIII, a Panther, a StuG III... the last time I have been there they had a JgdPzI also. Lots of rifles, machine guns and artillery pieces. Depending on your field of interest...maybe it is worth a trip. Uwe

Thanks Sneaksie for taking the time to answer in that detail. The level of information in your answers makes me confident for the further development of ToW. Uwe

Thanks Sneaksie for all the info about the current work on ToW and for keeping us informed. Too bad that a replay feature can not be implemented, but your explanation seems to be rather understandable. I am sure all the planned improvements (smoke, entering buildings anyone??) will move ToW closer to the position it deserves by the potential in it. Uwe

The graphics of ToW were outstanding and are still getting better. I would love to hear some more news about mission design, scripting of it and how it will (hopefully) be improved soon. Not easier accessible, but more realisitc missions with a higher replay value. SoaN, it got damned quite in here at some weeks in summer - Now with some flow of information (e.g. dev blogs) I hope interest in ToW is growing again.... so keep it coming!! Uwe

It got scarely quite here in July and beginning of August..... But when I see all the info in this thread about the add-on, coming campaigns and the general direction ToW seems to head I get excited that hopefully ToW can live up at one point to its real potential. If we now could have a random battle generator, a video recording tool (rewinding!!) and an easier accessible map and mission editor..... a dream would come true!! Uwe

Good points ShiftZ - just do not forget that ToW is not the only game 1c is responsible of. And I guess they look first at the games they think have the most potential to make good money with. It would be very interesting to see how many people of 1c actually work on ToW right now..... Unfortunately for ToW, it has a long way behind it. And I can not go around thinking that 1c is actually happy they got the game out finally at all - that they got at least a little bit of the money back they have invested over (probably) more than 5 years into ToW. We can just hope that 1c can find as big a "money making potential" in ToW as we all see the "gameplay potential" in it. Only then we will get the support needed to make ToW a classic. Uwe

Very interesting points you all bring up here. Maybe it would sound different on the CM:SF forum and everybody posting here is a bit biased towards ToW to begin with...... I have neither bought CM:SF yet nor have I played the demo - but from what I read I have not missed to much yet. I just hope that both Battlefront and 1c are working as strong in improving their games as Battlefront did with CMx1. Then ToW and CM:SF will be improved much over what we have right now, at least in their hopefully coming sequel. And sure - CM has to make its way back to WW2 Uwe

Absolutely right here! Let me just add that I miss a VCR-like replay function. You saw your troops attacking a tank and blowing it to pieces..... jump back by 1min and watch it again from a different angle/perspective and keep playing from the point where you jumped back. I can live without new units. Get the LOS-tool up and running, add a replay function in a ToW2 and then you can think of new units. Uwe

I assume the DVD just comes in its first revision without the Moscow add-on and without the now released patch. There comes a patch with the DVD, but it is only to bring the DVD version up to the revision of the first download version. Depending on the sales there is always the chance of a newer version of the DVD. I saw that you live in Australia - maybe some ToW player from Australia offers to burn you a CD or DVD with the patch and the add-on and mail it to you. Unfortunately I am from Germany, otherwise I would have volunteered here. Uwe

John, you are right when you stated that the shell and propellant of the Tiger I is significantly shorter (867,2mm) than the one of the Tiger II (1125,4mm for the Panzergranate 39/43). Source is Wolfgang Fleischer, Gepanzerte Feuerkraft, Podzun-Pallas Verlag, 2004. But you have to take into account that the Tiger II had 16 of 84 shells stored in the turret while the Tiger I had none in the turret. This makes up for quite in increase of weight - therefore the same reload times in the quoted source. Here is now the promised data for the other German tank guns: 3,7cm Kwk L/45 (page 62): 15 - 18 shots per minute 5cm Kwk L/42 (page 65): 12-15 shots per minute 5cm Kwk 39 L/60 (page 68): 15 shots per minute Uwe

I'll take a look when I am back home - the reload times of the smaller guns should be in the same book too. Uwe