[Am I playing correctly? Struggling with tactics]

This happens because the only kind of arty spotting we can do is with front-line FO units on the battlefield. The game can't model the more effective kind of spotting, which played a huge tactical role in the bocage, because these spotters operated from higher ground and church steeples that would be off-map in CMBN. (See my other posts where I mentioned how we can better simulate this, with defined battlefields inside larger maps, and special setup areas for remote spotters.)

I have found that the AI for offsie artillary is spotty. This seems especially true on the German side that seems to be a lot slower at responding and getting to FFE. Accuracy is also a bigger issue on the German side from my experience.

Also, don't forget that tanks can be spotters and call in strikes.

[Panzer V against any US tank]

Historically it is a known fact that the German made 75 and 88 High Velocity guns were far superior. Americans early on relied mostly on shear numbers.

There was a version of the Sherman that has a HV 76 that could compete with german armor available in Jul. 1944. Brits had a 17 pounder version that also did well. The 75mm that we see in game is not capable of penetrating Panther or Tiger front armor.

Something else to keep in mind is that a Sherman cannot pivot in place and thus is very weak in Urban environments.

Other wise it was not until the M26 Pershing hit the battle field in 1945 with a 90mm that the US had a comparable tank to the Panther or Tiger.

[Courage and Fortitude - BUGGED BRIDGE]

Here are some images to illustrate the issue.

While I can agree thta the busted tank is likely the issue, that is not a bad thing since it would provide some cover for troops. This implies that the collision model being used needs seme tweaking.

[Courage and Fortitude - BUGGED BRIDGE]

I have a tank that is disabled right in front of the bridge and when the troops try to cross they run into and get stuck in the corner of the bridge and it has totally screwed up my ability to win the scenario.

I would screen shot it and when I try to paste a print screen it is all black.

[Courage and Fortitude - BUGGED BRIDGE]

I now have 8 squads stuck on the south west corner of the bridge and they will not move off it and will not rejoin their units. This is totally ruining this scenario.

Please fix the buggy bridge.

[VOTE: TCP/IP for WEGO]

Yes Yes Yes Yes

[Combat Mission feature missing]

We should at least be able to click on the map and get a terrain type description.

[Fundamental flaw in onboard mortar targeting]

Maybe its the guys from Stripes firing the mortars. LOL.

I too have noticed this and figured it was the reasons as stated in this thread. For most part on map mortars are fairly accurate.

[is there a mount command and]

I think this was a bad design decision.

While I agree a crew that is broken, shaken, etc would not get in another tank, a crew that is not in a bad state would when ordered.

Tanks were taken over by different crews for many reasons.

[First Impressions]

Oh yeah, some other comments.

Will the full realease have the option of not allowing the other side to surrender, or play until all enemy units are destroyed or surrender on the map? Would be a nice option.

Also, is there a technical reason why LAN play is RT only? Or did I read that wrong. Would be nice to have turn play by LAN also.

[First Impressions]

I played CM1 and tried B2B. This is by far a much better and improved version. Loving it. Comments as follows:

1. Maybe I am doing something wrong or not understanding the CC for the german side. When playing the "Closing the Pocket" scenario, it took 5+ turns before the off map artillary started FFE. Was using a squad level leader unit at the time.

2. Computer AI for tanks seems much more responsive than player AI and more accurate. IE, they hit targets more often and faster ROF. Maybe just biased since it is against me and that is my observation anyway.

3. Tank movement can seem dumb at times. IE, is it not possible for the AI to know to reverse for a better position to move rather than making a long circle into an enemies LOS? Not a game breaker and one of the details you learn OTJ.

4. Artillary strikes in general seem very inaccurate when playing against computer and require very large safe distance to avoid friendly fire in most cases.

5. Cannot use mouse trails else cannot see mouse in game. Not a big deal and MSMC has same problem when full screen.

My PCs:

Desktop:

Win7 64-bit

i7-860

8 Gigs RAM

Nvidia 240 GS - 1 Gig

Resolution 2560 x 1600 (30 In LCD)

Notebook:

Win7 64-bit

i5-520

8 Gigs RAM

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650

Resolution 1920 x 1080

Both machines work great.

[Nvidia GForceGO 4 -440]

Of all the applications I have on my Dell, the only one that will not run properly is CMBB and you suggest that their is a problem with my setup. Get over it, CMBB does not set the standard for PC operation. That you suggest it does tells me you don't run much else.

Like I said, Nvidia hardware is Nvidia hardware. It does not matter weather you run a Toshiba, Dell, or Nvidia driver, it is all still Nvidia.

Also, like I said, CMBO runs great.

Thanks for the non-help.

Originally posted by Harv:

LMAO. And they say us Canucks are morally superior...did you live up here once?

I can assure you that I have played CMBB (perfectly) on an 8000, 8100 and 8200, all with GF4 Go video, all with Win XP, and with different (and varying) driver versions up to and including the 42.xx series. None of us who own/use these computers were teenagers, and I think we just might have had more than "basic" apps loaded also. By the way, your 8200 will soon not be listed for sale any more now that the 8500 is available.

So, I would suggest the the problem is Not so much with CM, as it is with your computer setup. I would also suggest that you become reactive, and fix those problems with your computer before blaming something else.

To sum up (and repeat myself)...using Toshiba Drivers in a Dell laptop is a very bad idea.

Harv

[30.82's and Geforce4 GO's don't work..]

Holly bat crap, I can't believe all the stuff people are going through just to get this game to run on a notebook computer.

Sounds more like a group trying to get JD Edwards / Oracle to work on a Macintosh user base.

No game is worth this much heart ache. Just continue to play CMBO and be done with it, or only play CMBB on your desktop.

Sigh!

[Nvidia GForceGO 4 -440]

I have found the Dell driver to be a problem with normal use and their support group admitted that the engineering group is looking at the problem. Toshiba has been much more proactive and has released a driver just this January. If you take the time to investigate the Nvidia / Notebook business, you will discover that all the hardware is basically the same, NVIDIA. Just so happends that Dell is lazy about fixing problems. Not unlike some one else.

By the way, are you running XP Pro or another legacy OS? By the way, Dell does not even list the 8000 for sale any more?

I assure you that CMBB will not run on my Dell. I have gotten it to load successfully once, and all the other times I jus get a black screen after starting a scenario. Again, CMBO runs with out issue.

Originally posted by Harv:

I suggest, considering you are running Toshiba drivers on a Dell notebook that the problem is Not with CM, but with your computer/driver setup.

Does CM work with the Dell 28.35 drivers for the 4Go in the 8200? Note that these are the only drivers currently supported by Dell (and I suppose Dell is following in Hitler's and Stalin's idealistic footsteps also). CM plays just fine on my i8000 with a 4Go and these drivers, and I see no reason why yours won't also.

Harv

[Nvidia GForceGO 4 -440]

You guys kill me. You are like two handed economist. One the one hand, we support Nvidia, on the other hand to state that we support Nvidia is fool hardy.

I am happy that Dell's nearly one year old driver is supported and that a Dell 8000 works. However for people that are not teenages that just run games and basic apps, keeping up to date with Hardware and Video drivers is key. Try running the latest design and engineering software with out dated drivers. Besides, more and more users are on mobile computers and this is a platform that must be tested independently an cannot be extrapolated from desktop testing.

I would suggest that Battlefront needs to get off the dime and become proactive about testing the latest drivers for the leading producers. The excuse of being a "small" developer only goes so far and then it will become a reputation.

Oddly enough CMBO runs great on my Dell 8200 and I can live with that for now. Maybe we will start to see some patches that address more than game play.

[New Video Card, New Video Problem]

I am using the GForce 4 Go 440 and I have the same problem. I have tried turning off the Antialiasing and to no avail.

Does CMBB run on these cards or not? Is Battlefront doing any in house testing with Dell / Toshiba notebooks using this hardware?

Please advise because my Dell Inspirion 8200 is loaded an way exceeds the game requirements.

[30.82's and Geforce4 GO's don't work..]

I also own a Dell Inspirion 8200 with the GForce Go 4 -440 and CMBB is a pain in the but.

Even with Aliasig turned off, I cannot get night missions to load correctly.

Does CMBB work with these drivers or not?

[Nvidia GForceGO 4 -440]

I own two computers, one is a desktop and the other is a Dell Insprion 8200. Both computers have Nvidia Video cards. The Desktop has a Nvida GForce 3 and I run driver ver. 41.09. The notebook has the GForce 4 Go 440 and I am running Toshiba's ver. 32.40 that was released just this Jan. The primary function for both PCs is business, however CM is my favorite game.

I take exception to the idea that Battlefront has communicated an unwillingness to deviate from "technical purity" for the benefit of it's customers. The realality of the world is that Nvidia dominates the video card market and to suggest that customers should suffer due to some puritan ideology is obscene and a very poor business direction. Sounds like the ideals of other historic figures like Stalin and Hitler.

There is absolutely no reason why the fifty applications / games that I use everyday can run on my Dell Notebook without issue, yet CMBB is nothing short of a technical nightmare. It runs great on my deskop and on my notebook it does not.

I suggest, considering your current ideology, that you modify your system requirements to state Nvidia drivers are not fully supported. Battlefront should also realize that their customer base is not teenagers that only use their computers for games and screwing around.