Dr. Rosenrosen

How would you keep the mortars from firing at the other guys' target at the same hole? In order for it to be the "same hole", the other jeeps will certainly be in LOS. Perhaps a very specific cover arc. I'll look into it. I had some other variations with the First Kill scoring method, such as having HQ spotters for out-of-LOS holes, subbing arty spotters for some holes, and other ideas that would not be compatible with a Lowest Ammo scoring method. Perhaps that would work as a variation on one or more of the holes. Dr. Rosenrosen

I thought this should probably get its own thread and quit disrupting the very humorous thread "Worst idea yet for a Scenario" which started it. Here's the gist of Mortar Golf from my most recent post there: So my problem (apart from the obvious psychological and social problems inherent in players of Mortar Golf) is this: I tried to set this up as an Advance operation so that the golfers can replenish ammo every couple holes. However, it's not clear to me how to A) arrange the holes for all but the first battle (I didn't find nice reinforcement flags like with Battle scenarios) and how to keep the AI from surrendering after the first battle even though he has reinforcements on the way (the jeeps that will serve as later holes). In terms of B, I tried placing all of the jeeps On Map, but then they all get shifted to the map for the First Battle. Any tips? Thanks, Dr. Rosenrosen -------- In the credit where credit is due department: The original idea of Mortar Golf was suggested by Martyr and was further developed by Michael Dorosh and Rex_Bellator . I don't want to steal your idea without sharing the blame.

Speaking of Mortar Golf, I've figured it out! Set up a foursome of elite mortars, each with their own kubelwagen (natuerlich!). Name them after your favorite golfers. Each "hole" is a Soviet jeep whose movement is more or less confined by water (thx Rex_Bellator), barbed wire, etc. Stick a flag there for looks. For each hole, arrange the players on the tee (probably a pavement tile) so they can all see the target and begin firing at the same time. Whoever gets credit for the kill wins the hole. Double credit for causing an explosion instead of just getting the crew to "abandon" the jeep. Then each of the foursome gets in his kubelwagen and they drive down the next hole. (The scenery is half of the experience.) The engine supports up to 4 km of map. I'll post a scenario if I actually free up that much time. Dr. Rosenrosen

I actually tried Michael Dorosh's suggestion for mortar golf (yes I'm bored) and ran into some unexpected results. My elite German 81mm mortar will only fire one or two shots per turn at the allied wooden bunker facing the wrong way. And the shots that hit don't seem to do any damage. I guess bunkers are too much for mortars to take out. So I thought perhaps an open-topped vehicle as a target would be fun. I gave the Allies a jeep and the option to dig in. The jeep didn't move until he started to get shot at, but I couldn't figure out how to force the AI to dig in so that I would always have a stationary target. Any ideas? The jeep game was actually fairly enjoyable. I propose a scoring system which rewards the player more for a pretty explosion instead of just an "abandoned" target. Dr. Rosenrosen [ January 14, 2003, 07:52 AM: Message edited by: Dr. Rosenrosen ]

When you are purchasing troops, it takes a couple email exchanges to get the game going. EmailA1: You buy troops EmailB1: Your opponent buys troops EmailA2: You place your units on the map EmailB2: Your opponent places his units EmailA3: Your first move EmailB3: His first move EmailA4: You watch the first movie EmailB4: He watches the movie and makes his second move..... And so on..... Perhaps you can play a quick PBEM game with yourself to figure out the mechanics if this is still confusing.... Dr. Rosenrosen

It's my understanding that the move can only be done within 50m. US Manual, page 77.

I would like to see Battlefront join forces with id software (which also did its first games as a small independent developer). They could release a mix of CMBB and Return to Castle Wolfenstein that would suck my life away.... What's left of it...... Dr. Rosenrosen

I think this bug/phenomenon is caused by the fact that the map is not truly 3-D, i.e. the engine can't model items both on and below a bridge. Just today I discovered a similar situation that results from this problem. I started a scenario with a frozen river and tall bridges. I wanted my ski troops to follow the river, but wasn't sure how they would react to crossing under the bridges. I sent some in Run mode and some in Move. All of the units immediately jumped up on the top of the bridge when they crossed it, even though it was 4 height units up. The ski troops that were running immediately became exhausted as soon as they touched the bridge. (I guess it's tough jumping up 10m or more and cross country skiing on pavement. ) The troops that were moving fared much better. None of them lost their skis, and they all return to river level once they were across the bridge. It seems that the engine doesn't have a logical way to handle units passing through a bridge tile from any direction except the "correct" one for crossing the bridge. Given the nature of this bug, I expect we'll have to wait for a rewrite instead of just a patch. Dr. Rosenrosen

I started a thread along these lines when I first got the game, looking for the Russian advantage. Got some helpful responses, too: Canister for tanks, the wonderful M17 infantry-chopper, less bogging of Russian tanks.... Check it out here

Get some web space. You may have it through your ISP. Most broadband connections come with some space. Otherwise, blackmail the IT dept at your office. But I don't think that you can use web space at battlefront.com. You need to find your own. Once you acquire space, download a free FTP program for your operating system and Jack's a donut..... Finally, just use HTML tags in your post to point to the location of your pics. Dr. Rosenrosen [ December 05, 2002, 03:36 AM: Message edited by: Dr. Rosenrosen ]

Unfortunately I didn't save the game. I didn't think that a file saved after the movie would be of any use, so I just took the screenshots. I'll play again and see if I can recreate it. Dr. Rosenrosen

First off, I admit I was screwing around a little, just checking out the plane vs. tank thing. Had 5 Stukas (the big ones) and a couple platoons of russian tanks for them to pick on. So I see a couple of bombs dropped, nice explosions, lose a tank or two. Then suddenly, EVERY building on the whole map goes nuclear all at the same time just as a hear a plane (or two) flying by. No visible craters or other impact sites, just every building going FOOM. Any explanations? (The really funny thing is that none of the tanks got hurt.) Thanks, Dr. Rosenrosen

Problem: On those rare occasions when I get to use my flamethrower guys, I find that they are usually only good for one torching because they waste their ammo. Here's what I'm doing: Bad guys are in a light building. Mirculously, I have a (live) flamethrower within 32m. I "area target" the building, knowing that flames will drive the enemy into my surrounding MG nest/canister-laden tank ambush. On the next turn, the flamethrower torches the place repeatedly, the building catches fire after 2-3 bursts, the bad guy runs out and gets dead in a very dramatic and visually exciting manner. So why does the flamethrower expend the rest of his ammo torching an already flaming building with no enemy in it? I know that he's taking his "area fire" command literally, but I recall that in CMBO, the tanks and flamers would stop area firing a building if the building was blown up/aflame, respectively. This seems like more appropriate behavior for a unit with very limited ammo. Any suggestions on how to avoid this? Can I introduce a delay in the Area Fire command so that he doesn't start roasting until the last 20 sec of a turn? I would target the unit directly instead of using "Area Fire" but the unit invariably becomes less visible once he starts to crawl away or panic. This same problem exists for flamethrower tanks, although A) they have more ammo, and they move more quickly and can be moved into/out of range more adeptly. Please help! Dr. Rosenrosen

"Follow" is a command that can be issues to infantry and other footsoldiers by ordering them to "Move" onto an enemy vehicle. The soldiers will then attempt to close on the tank and destroy it as best they can. But that doesn't seem related to possessed vehicles self-initiating "Fast" move orders. Dr. Rosenrosen

Hi all, Most people put lots of effort in designing realistic terrain to augment the realism of the game. I've gone the other direction (sacrilige!) and created a laterally symmetrical map so that each side has the same terrain advantages and disadvantages in a meeting engagement. The northern half of the board gives good cover for close infantry contact. The southern half is rolling steppe for tank domination. Overseeing it all are four huge buildings on top of four hills. The players each have two hilltops as (limited) setup zones at the beginning, in addition to larger setup zones in the rear. Plus, changing the weather or visibility conditions, or altering troop selection, will give the map a completely different character. I intend this map as a QB map so that players will have full freedom to alter troops and weather for repeat playability. Any interest in such a map? If so, is there a site that collects scenarios that I might submit to? Anyone else done any symmetrical or otherwise artifical map layouts? Thanks, Dr. Rosenrosen

I'm still baffled. I bought the troops for the Germans and they had no arty or morters. Besides it happened to both M17s on the same turn on different sides of the map. Perhaps it will remain a mystery.....

It wasn't shooting at anything right then. During the whole turn it didn't have a target. Also, does fanaticism happen in Quick Battles, or just when it's enabled in a scenario? Dr. Rosenrosen

I had an interesting experience in my last QB when I (as the soviets) had two M17 halftracks (with their yummy MGs) attempt to kill themselves. One of them even pulled it off. VehicleA was sitting out of LOS of two King Tigers (I love a challenge) and just keeping the German infantry at bay. I hadn't moved him for several turns. For the turn when he killed himself, he wasn't targetting or targetted at all. At the 30sec mark, he just sped forward about 50m where the King Tigers made short work of him. He wasn't escaping from any threat and I certainly didn't give him that order. What gives? VehicleB gave itself some inexplicable commands the same turn, also without any visible threat. Thankfully it wasn't neighbors with the German tank platoon at the time, and I directed it back to safety the next turn. Anyone had similar experiences? Suggestions on how to prevent it? (I just upgraded to 1.01 if that makes a difference.) Thanks, Dr. Rosenrosen [ November 22, 2002, 12:17 AM: Message edited by: Dr. Rosenrosen ]

Which tanks have canister? How do you get a tank with canister to fire? I've had platoons of T-34s, some with no canister and some with only 10 shots or so (lots more HE and AP). And even the ones with canister never seemed to use it. Thanks, Dr. Rosenrosen

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that it is a fairly cloudy situation to write code for and that the impact on gameplay is minimal. Just curious! Dr. Rosenrosen

Do you have a URL? I couldn't find it at CM World from your sig. Dr. Rosenrosen

Hi there, I'm wondering if it's realistic that a tank cannot "area fire" beyond it's LOS. To take the most extreme example, let's say I have an assault gun trying to knock down a building. If the enemy drops smoke right in front of the building, the tank cannot be ordered to fire on the building. Surely tank commanders in real life were willing to shoot through a smoke screen if they had a pretty good idea what was behind it. This same principle applies to other limited LOS situations such as fog, night, etc. Any thoughts? Dr. Rosenrosen

Other ideas?

So just out of curiosity.... what happened to the parts of the full pack that the soldiers didn't carry into battle with them? Did they go back and pick it up after the fighting? Did a support element bring it forward? Quote from redwolf: "Another fine point is wire artillery spotters which cannot abandon their stupid wire after firing allt heir ammo and going back to friendly lines." At the risk of seeming heartless, why do you care about arty spotters with no ammo? They've done their work and aren't of much strategic value any more. Dr. Rosenrosen

wow, it only takes a few hours before i need to BUMP again