panzermartin

I think the comparison with the japanese view of gaming is quite interesting. While I'm a fan of the more open approach of CM than the more strict, black and white rules of those games I still think CMx2 should try to borrow some more "gamey" elements than going full simulation, which while it is an awesome experience of open ended and free gaming, it still makes a 2 player competitive game a bit blurry and hard to balance. CMx1 with its more bold, abstracted rules (1 +1patch of woods = NoLOS) was more limited in possible results but in the end it didnt matter because the average human brain pays more attention to substance (simpler calculations) than a myriad of subdivisions that ultimately are more of a cosmetic addition. RealTime makes this even more evident, making it an almost mission impossible task to go down with your tank and judge its LOS through a series of trees, or make sure all the squad men are in cover or proper firing positions. The games seeks an almost first person shooter resolution of 3D battlefield which while awesome in small unit action it becomes cumbersome as scale goes up. In order to counter this a lot of AI and user interface help cues would be needed to make the game a bit more user friendly. The action spot highlight, the flashing causalty icon are all steps in the right direction but I expect to see quite a few more gameplay aids coming as the series expand.

Glad to hear pauses are in consideration. Games with more than a couple of platoons and tanks are impossible to handle online right now. Modern weaponry + RealTime + online + no pause = game is lost while you take a look at your cup of coffee.

I dont actually think its about a worthy foe but about the pace of the game. Blue vs Blue would be a perfectly balanced match but I find no joy in it due to the automation and lethality of modern weapons. Its just isnt fun to isntantly kill a tank from 2k with your 120mm robot gun. An Abrams might be a great sight at first but it gets boring after a while. 25mm auto cannons pin and then can vaporize a whole squad in a matter of seconds. Its too black and white for my tastes and pales in comparison with the unpredictability of WW2 combat where you can watch lenghty and gripping tank duels and try really hard to manuever your squads and flank enemy positions. A well positioned MG42 will provide you with a tough tactical problem while now a HMG is just another ready to die target under a rain of rifle grenades, smaw, javelins, and other laser accurate long range weaponry. Its simply has less depth, like a hollywood block buster compared to a good old film. Its not Battlefront's fault of course. Once we move to Normandy the game will prove its great value and depth.

Lol. Had a few dreams with Combat Mission 1/2/3. Especially after those lenghty TCP/IP sessions. Shock force has failed to rise to these dream standards though

In Real time lots of time goes by without doing much. It's a LOT different than WeGo where action is packed in 1 minute turns. I find this particulary ridiculous in QBs where you cant play with small forces in something larger than a tiny map because of the 20 and 25mins limits.

Oh, I like this. Some scenarios take forever to load, this would be very smart use of our time.

LOL..You mean there is a buzz for over a decade old wargames like top-down 2Dsprite Close combat or the copy of CMx1, panzer command? At least BFC dare to take their ideas further and not happily die slowly surrounded by ASL counters.

Cool, I missed that popping sound. Would be nice if syrians (irregulars) used small mortars as well.

You pop smoke before crossing the street. LOL ShaneO

So a native russian team will do the east front? It would be awesome if 1C for instance gave a helping hand in graphics department. They have some pretty talented artists.

I'm a fan of CMx2 so far but I dont want to see the "less is better" approach completely taking over. When I first got CMSF in my hands I felt that half of the game was missing. Broken QBs, uninteresting stock maps, no water/bridges, TCP/IP was just an idea etc. It lacked substance and felt more like a collection of "cool" modern weapons in a firing range, than a game. It is much better now and I firmly believe that CM Normandy will be even better BUT it wouldnt be bad if some CMx1 love was injected in there instead of pure marketing/sales calculations. I dont want BFC going broke but I don't want to see a Metallica effect on them either, producing uninteresting add ons with just the bare minimum content to excuse a release. However, having said that, the painstakingly and in depth patching of the engine and seeing Steve coming here on a regular basis to lenghty discuss even minor game details encourages me to think that enthusiasm is still alive and well

PTO loses hands down in every single aspect except that of not being done to death. Terrain, weapons, atmopshere, the vast numbers of the european front and the drama of whole nations cannot compare to the remote island fighting of the pacific. Also, the german factor is a major boost of popularity of ETO wargames, having that absolute evil image that one can only find in books or movies and probably the most cool looking army/equipment the planet will (fortunately) ever see.

10/11? I guess you are joking..I'd be suprised if they fail to release it in late 2009. Work on CM:N is underway many months now. It's been their primary project since patching up CMSF.

I thought the British were never late..where are they?

Definetely worth getting. It is the best tactical war game out there. But coming from the frenzy pace of FPS you have to slow down a bit to comprehend what is happening. I'm not aware of tutorials but if you search the forums you can find quite a bit of tactical hints and tips. Use pause a lot, and try to read the terrain from low level cameras before taking decisions. Play some small firefights first to get used to basic infantry handling.... fire&maneuver , overwatch, supressing fire, flanking etc. You'd be suprised on how much is happening and how really deep the game is as you slowly start to grasp the details.

NATO is just a catchy label for the module. It will have germans in guys..What is a wargame without ze germans? Leos, Marders, Pumas, G36s MG3s, Pzfausts..So many cool toys. I don't understand the "euroweenie" type of commentary here. Will give us the chance to make some nice EU vs US scenarios too.

I guess even in the case of HMGs, it would be a nightmare for the attacker to constantly face remmaning of previously abandoned machine guns. Destroying HMGs should be introduced to avoid this. For the ATs I dont want to think about it If there is a significant penalty in efficency/accuracy of remanned crew weapons from non specialist troops it maybe worth trying.

Regarding NATO being silly...I think the module open ups a lot of possibilities for us europeans. I'm thinking of making a series of Greece vs Turkey aegean scenarios. Both sides have Leo2s, BMPs, Kornets and the islands terrain can offer some exciting tacical variety. If you mix Cyprus, we can have the T-90s in there too. Less science fiction than the Bundeswehr going to Syria me thinks

For me, it is suprising that Cooplay lies so low in the to do list. I wont say it ruins the game but thinking that the vast majority of games and maybe the 99% of those associated with war (FPS, Simulators, strategies) have multi-multi some years now, it is a bit of disappointment not to have it in the brilliant CM. I guess people who dont really care about it havent played a good online game, which is day and night compared to the solo, scripted experience. And beyond that, from a marketing perspective, a solid and rich online support with a server, stats clans etc etc can generate a lot of buzz on the internet that now isnt possible with the primitive online function and lonely single player. I could be wrong but maybe a more lively online community would help the game float longer than a module with some extra Stryker variants. CMx2 is shaping to a great game, I just think it needs a little opening up to the rest of the world and not staying "indoors" as the precious secret of the lone wargamer.

Are there any plans for adding new features in the game through the modules? CM:WW2 is going to stay quite a long on the frontline, I expect to see more things added than just new armies in an attempt to keep the game up to date and the interest high. Can we expect modules (pathces?) to improve visuals gradually, adding new effects (visual damage on tanks/buildings) more animations, world objects, terrain making it humanly possible for BFC to be highly competitve in the graphics department through this long term strategy? Or even additions like a Meta-campaign module or a Cooplay module? If the module strategy is broaden maybe after 2-3 yrs of constant additions the game could eventually look and play like a really big budget title.

My complaints are mostly for the quality of smoke visuals, not about the lack of strong winds. Even with a strong wind smoke does not behave like in MikeyDs picture, straight and thin like a tube. And anyway, you dont need a windstorm for properly dispersing smoke from burning wrecks! Better Fire/Smoke FX, should be a priority in the graphic improvements list in CM:N.

Yes, but still smoke columns seem a bit unatural in CMSF, being too straight and not dispersed enough. In reality smoke from burning vehicles isnt that uniformed :

Just wondering about the new QBs. Will we still see a randomness in cherry picking like the variable rarity thing in CMBB/AK, which was a brilliant idea btw, and guaranteed variety in H2H matches? CMSF proved to be so bad in the QB department that still I have some worries about our new toy. BFC just seemed that didnt really grasp the popularity and effectiveness of their own creation Even just copying/paste the CMx1 values/rarity to CM:Normandy will be enough for many of us I guess but some small additions would be welcome. How about a suprise bonus unit for instance. Something small like a sniper or a jeep or recon car or even bigger if battle size permits. This could be expanded to a whole (optional) mid-game random reinforcment system, to add unpredactibility to the core force which normally will be cherry picked. Also dont forget the random experience system, in which you could end up a level+ or - from what you set. It was nice setting your Panther to veteran experience and ending up with a crack ace. Or even better when your opponent squeezed a green tank in the selection and ended up conscript Lastly, a custom map insertion option like we had since CMBB and strangely dropped from CMSF. A map previewer would be nice in this. The whole QB system in CMx1 was almost a sub game for many of us. I remember playing epic TCP/IP QBs with a buddy of mine and after the lenghty discussion about the battle details we always ended up "buying" something for our next encounter which could well be some weeks later. It was half the fun and I'm glad we will se a sort of return of this in CMN.

It's been months since I last played vs the AI. Have some great fun playing with real people. Large battles are a bit of a problem but hope BFC will reconsider adding a sort of auto pause.

Thanks, I'll give it a try. I think I tried that once and got lost in the process.