panzermartin

Stryker is ugly though. Possibly the ugliest APC with the slat armor on. Please dont put them on the cover art

I think its time for a small video bone maybe..M1 on the move??

Superb shots! Landscape looks beautiful with just the right lighting and sand colors. Walls, ditches, and these tightly arranged house blocks are very nice. Map editor will be a game on its own Some minor observations since these are still WIP graphics, -I hope we will see some kind of distance haze feature,(like a slight CMx1 fog perhaps). The lack of this is evident in some "camera 1" screenshots where depth of view and distant objects/landscape dont quite feel and look right. They need to be less sharp with paler/cooler coloring maybe. This will also reduce the table feel of the 3d map, blending its edges with the horizon. -Variation of lighting color depending on time of day/weather. Warmer for sunset, dusk etc. The cycling sun position is already a huge improvement. -If possible, more objects to break up flat long roads, dumps, random debris whatever. Some folk elements as well, decorations, characteristic types of buildings like the mosques you are already including, more character and life for the villages/towns. Overall, its an impressive and obviously hard work so far. Well done!

Definetely scenario designers can tweak this so as not to make the game so loss-phobic. It's kind of a hyperbole in a strategic situation like an all out invasion that a handful of casualties can mean the loss of a battle. Asymmetrical yes but not to the extreme I hope. I trust BFC will find the ideal balance of all these things.

Good news "For one thing, there's a nearly seamless transition between the battlefield and the surrounding horizon, which was a feature sorely missing in Combat Mission" I wonder if we will see that featured in CMSF?

Lol..you got a point there Mikey. But I guess a contrasting music theme will feel mostly like sarcasm or irony. Starting CMSF with "beautiful world" for instance will sound like anti war propaganda inside a tactical wargame. Now, thats jarring contrast . But, yes, something from the industrial/hard rock genre will sound a bit cliche too. Given the deliberate lack of atmosphere of CM games, I would expect smth like a neutral sounding electro/industrial theme with some oriental elements as well. Heh, I think it's time for a CMvision song contest

I was more than happy when BFC announced the modern setting for CMx2. Their choice was on spot. I mean you have a war going on out there, widely covered by the media, symbol of the East-West clash, with hardware, environments and situations never covered before in a wargame and the very same moment you go 60 years back to recreate the same old stuff? I really cant wait for CMSF...I wasnt aware of CMBO when it first came out and the waiting for CMBB/CMAK wasnt that tense because of the same engine. Now, I can't remember waiting for a game so anxiously. Currently recovering from a knee surgery, I sit many hours in front of my pc turning myself into a refreshing monkey, desperate for any new word or screenie about CMSF. I can stand my knee's pains..it's the waiting I cant stand

It will be kind of frustrating though to have the game stopping every once in a while with a flashing "Your opponent has requested a pause to tie his shoelaces" message

No Hinds for the Reds though

I've fired a couple of times with the G3A3 while serving in the greek armed forces, quite recently. I found it very easy to handle but a bit heavy too, almost 5kg(M16 must be around 3,5 or smth). Very few in the shooting range had any problems with jammed rifles despite most of them being manufactured in mid 80s'. Strong recoil though, although I havent fired any other type of weapon to compare.

Runway side bomb? This is almost funny.

Ok a little early you'd say but lets give it a try. Any preferences? Hassan i Sahba by Hawkwind will be perfect to set the mood for the red side, as for the Blues...surfin usa maybe?

I can buy one for Steve if he wishes to, or I can call them and talk them in to including some link to CMSF in their next issue, or even a preview ...I'm sure they wont notice the unskinned WIP 3d models

LOL! From what I can tell, this article talks about the RPG attack on the US embassy in Athens. This is the last place I would have expected to see screenshots of CMSF. Not bad though for a grog wargame..the word is spreading battlefront

I think they said buildings will be fully customizable in shape, size, number of floors etc. The downside of this will be the simpler building textures so as not to look weird when repeated over an 8 story apartment block.

Yeah, I'd love to see some old yellow school buses, abandoned bullet ridden VW vans etc..Their polys can be simpler than that of a CMx1 kubelwagen..Nobody will really notice and they'll add at least the feeling that the deserted towns were once alive. And some color as well to break up the sand/gray urban picture.

City lights will be really nice, but it can also be assumed that there is a general black out due to weeks of bombardments so there goes our midnight atmospheric illumination

Some early shots here: http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=52;t=001151#000000 and here: http://www.battlefront-newsletter.com/Blogfront/tabid/55/EntryID/63/Default.aspx

Me too I hope that in the future CM will also have secondary lighting sources from street lights, explosions, muzzle flashes, tracers, flares etc. I think full day/night circle will be in, not just the CMx1 midday/dusk/dawn/night right? Btw, I really like the idea of the shrapnel effect in CMSF explosions, as seen in the screenshots. Hope they keep the earth shakin effect too. [ February 19, 2007, 08:19 AM: Message edited by: panzermartin ]

I guess with the map editor you will be able to place some unarmed and immobile sedans here and there to simulate parked cars... There must be something to break up these perfectly clean and flat streets, visually and tactically(cars for cover/roadblocks etc)

If the "decal" thing works it will multiply the textures of buildings available by a huge degree. Decals can be as small as some commercials or graffiti, or random damage (bullet holes etc) and as large as a garage station or a grocery's front. It wont be uncommon to see painted propaganda images on the sides of a whole building block. Problems may rise with the visual damage modelling though. Since cars are included as uncons vehicles perhaps it wont be difficult to simulate parked cars along the streets. Some more urban objects like traffic lights/signs, dumps, fences, bus stations, kiosks, statues/fountains would be cool too.

Aegean module would be great...great terrain variety and evenly matched opposing hardware.

Is there a way to include some kind of added "decal texture" feature so as to overcome odd multiplying skins on buildings? In a way similar to the emblems and numbers that appear on 1C's IL-2 aircraft skins perhaps?

Awesome I cant remember any other game that offers a scenario scripting toolbox like this.

Couldn't agree more. I recently saw some documentary about syria and the first thing that strikes you are these chaotic colorful narrow alleys with heavily decorated shops, beautiful (but filthy) old buildings, posters with portraits of Assad, and lots of history present in every corner and street. LOTS of cars as well and zillions of worn out satelite dishes on building roofs. I can understand that this is a lot of work beyond CM goals, but some "doodad" additions here and there would be possible to liven up the scenery. Hoping that these would be easy to add with the help of the modding community.