eichenbaum

I don't what happened here but nothing should be deleted. If there was a crash your 'Scenarios' and 'Saved Games' folder are to be found in your Combat Mission folder as 'OsfBck_Scenarios' and 'OsfBcp_Saved Games'. Rename their file names by removing the 'OsfBck_' from it's name. ------- You may be angry or not but you use OSF at your own risk. We'll certainly will not let us be commanded by you. When the time comes you're in your right to demmand support in the way you're trying to do; we will ask $40,- for OSF. You're adviced you uninstall OSF if you're not happy with our product. Nils

Hi SavageGoose, You saw DOS screens popping up? Normally those remain invisible. The unit-bases in CM I cannot mod. If those can't bee seen properly then it has to do with the position of that unit. If it's placed in a pit or something then the base gets cut off by the ground surface; nothing to do with OSF. If the OSF 3d menus aren't shown then the vrml client is not properly installed. When you install the plug in for internet explorer with Opera then it won't work. You can install it manually; download the cortona installer and install it on your system. http://www.parallelgraphics.com/bin/cortvrml.exe (file name: cortvrml.exe, file size: 1.58MB) If the application asks for the file extensions; leave all checkboxes marked. The 3d menus do not have a real function with the 1st turn. You can look around and try things out. When turn 2 arrives it will turn into 3d menus where you can manage supplies and reserves. These menus gives you also the possibility to get a view of the whole campaign. You'd like to know where you're going and how the landscape will look like. Nils

True. The AI's behaviour can be very frustrating, especially for the scenario designer who's making operations. It takes a lot of time to place it well so that crazy behaviour is brought to a minimum. On large maps there's always one particular issue that bothers me the most; it doesn't have any cohesion in the command structure of infantry. After a few turns most infantry squads move away from their HQ and support weapons. When the confrontation with the player begins there's often no structure left at all. After designing operations for OSF (CMBB) I have come to the conclusion that battles are far more manageable. With a pre-designed story board and carefully set reinforcement markers & objective flags; you get a good grip on the AI. Even in huge spaces. Large maps are interesting when there are large impassable obstacles present like mountains or rivers. Also is a scenario with late war tanks more fun when you have the space to shoot at targets that are sited at longer ranges then 500 meters. But of course; those last to paragraphs are only personal favour. CM has so many different angles that the perception of a player is hard to canalize. Squad or Battalion; that will ways be an issue

do u have a screenshot?

Oh... I didn't read the topic title properly, sorry

If you have waited with downloading OSF because of the low DL speed you can now get it at <U>FileFront.com</U> The Combat Mission 2 (CMBB) patches 1.02, 1.02 and 1.03 are also available at this site. PS. Don't forget to check the system requirements first: http://www.eichenbaum.org/OSF/Index.htm [ July 02, 2004, 11:30 AM: Message edited by: eichenbaum ]

If you have waited with downloading OSF because of the low DL speed you can now get it at <U>FileFront.com</U> The Combat Mission 2 (CMBB) patches 1.02, 1.02 and 1.03 are also available at this site.

Every soundcard has its limits. You were talking about bigger scenarios; probably with lots of simultaneous sounds. CM can produce more sounds at once then any modern PCI soundcard could possible process. I'm using the Audigy2 on a PIV 3,2GHz - 1GB DDR RAM and with huge scenarios there are lots of sounds not heard. Try to rotate the camera in the direction of the sound-source and move it closer if you can't hear it. The Environment sound (SHIFT+S) is one extra channel in use; you could turn it off to free one extra. Nils [ July 02, 2004, 04:27 AM: Message edited by: eichenbaum ]

Most armoured cars like the German PSW had been made swift enough for reconnaissance tasks. They were used to find holes in de lines and penetrate deep into enemy territory. If you would try this with companies in a CM size environment then there's no 'low profile' left to be unspotted. Späh- and Aufklärung had often independed HQ for recon patrols; Mostly Lieutenants. I think that BigTime left the companies out because it would be not realistic enough to place them on a regular CM map. Nils [ July 02, 2004, 03:57 AM: Message edited by: eichenbaum ]

Consider it done. The rest of the textures will remain OSF only for a while. There's a new batch upcomming (after Kuib'ishevo(3) ).

Ohhhh what a nice replies ... You have made us blush :cool: Thanks! Nils --------- PS. Some OSF graphics have been uploaded to CMMODS.com. Handy if you want to use them outside OSF (Grass, rock, brush etc....) [ July 01, 2004, 10:43 AM: Message edited by: eichenbaum ]

Have mercy for our test players. They're working so hard to play out Krasn'ii Mak (2). As you read from the map the Germans had to overcome a huge obstacle; the bridge over the River Belbek. Here the complete 132nd Infantry Division had to cross it to form a decent bridgehead in order to beat off the Russian defence waiting for them on the Cherkes Kerman Mountains. We have reconstructed the spearhead that took part in this immense assault. The main problem you will encounter is the narrow passage for your men to pass through. After every attack you'll need to replace the frontline with fresh infantry. Wave after wave you'll need to force your way towards the only objective flag on the map (top). This baby can't be played out in just a few days. I know now that you'll curse me for this one. But it's realistic; I really can't help it... We're close to the finish. After K'Mak (battle 2) you can start Kuib'ishevo (battle 3) right away because it's already finished (including a multi-player version). In battle 4 the 1st crossing point will appear. Where will you go first; to the left or to the right... Nils [ June 30, 2004, 06:32 PM: Message edited by: eichenbaum ]

I believe the ideal size of the scenario has something to do with the amount of time the player wants to put in it. Multi-player scenarios should be small especially when played by PBEM. But if you're into a battle with AI a huge one can bring a lot of joy. Just looking at the amount of points does not tell you something about the size of the battle. 1000 points of infantry will be very different then 1000 pts of Tigers. Nils

Thanks for the tip Martin. It has something to do with the settings for the vrml client in the IExplore screen that starts up from OSF's interface. We'll update the peice of code a.s.a.p. Nils

After Tankovoe (Turn 1) you'll end up in Krasn'ii Mak (Turn 2). That's a 120 minute battle. Long enough for ya ? Every scenario will be diferent in time. We test our scenarios and tune it untill they're perfect (in our eyes).

Ach, it's not that complex; I think it's only complex the way I write it down (English is not my native language)

Eichenbaum's Operation Störfang is out... Get OSF 1.0 now...

If nothing works after a crash, not even run OSF battle again, then you can download this zip file: http://cp56535-a.venlo1.lb.home.nl/OSF/Original_bmp.zip (30 MB!) These are the original Combat Mission bitmaps that are missing in your CM folder. Extract the zip into CM's bmp folder (for exmpl.: \Combat Mission 2\bmp) Keep the zip file if you continue to play OSF. If it happens once more you don't have to download this 30 MB file again. We do not know what caused the crash on your system. It could be an anti-virus application or something else that has to do with your system. Nils

Hi Kip Thanks for the flowers, that's really appreciated <font size="+1">Y</font>ou're partly right about the length of the battles in the 1st operation. We have misused the operation type scenarios in CM to build a campaign with access codes as keys to other maps. You'll encounter 2 different ways of getting the code, with a custom modded objective flag or as a landmark. 1) The Landmark Codes are hidden in the small strip of map that has been cut off by the battle window. In order to reveal this code you need to move to the predefined direction. Every time a new battle begins the code might appear; then only when you have pushed the AI far enough. Battle windows only appear in operations and not battles. 2) Objective flags can be used in battles. You'll encounter battles in OSF that have 1 or 2 objective flags placed in enemy territory. These flags have custom bitmaps that change with every OSF scenario you download. An access code has been written on it and can be revealed once you have control over the area around it. <font size="+1">T</font>urn 1 - Tankovoe (The scenario you mentioned); is an operation because of the landmark access code and not because the Germans attacked the town that way. It's in fact a ± 1,5 hours battle divided in 3 phases. The first 2 are crucial because it's the only time (± 60 turns) to push the AI far enough in order to reach you’re main objective; the code. What ever you do in the 3rd battle it won’t help to reveal it if it didn’t already. The best scenario type for Tankovoe is the operation with landmark access codes. The AI will tempt to spread out over the map in order to keep its ground. An objective flag will force the AI to concentrate on just one small area; something you don’t want to see on this map. Your units are deployed in waves*. At Tankovoe’s the first wave is reconnaissance. An half an hour is enough for recon movements. If you extend the time then you’ll get bored and try to launch an attack. (You should try it; your assault will turn into a complete disaster because you’re outnumbered). The attack should start in the 2nd battle. Then Major Schmidt will arrive on the set with an infantry battalion(2nd wave). If you want to play it realistic then you shouldn't move the units between the battles. Only deploy the new arrived men and machines. <p align="right"><font size="-1"><U>(* : More info about Infantry Attacks click here.)</U></font></P> <font size="+1">T</font>ankovoe has been tested & tuned through and through. It took 6 men who played this battle 2 times or more and wrote more reports then you can analyze in one evening. The first tests were conducted with 3 x 60 minutes play time and reduced to 3 x 25+ after we found out what the average time is to achieve victory (the code). OSF is a campaign where you can win or lose. If you screw up you probably do not get the code. If the battles are lasting longer then it’s far too easy to win this turn. To compensate we would have to enlarge the map. Such changes will result in testing it from scratch again. Not to speak the After Action Reports, the tuning, discussions… etc… (I think they will lynch me if I tried to change Tankovoe once more ☺) <font size="+1">T</font>he 1st turn is an introduction to OSF Part 1. Krasn’ii Mak (turn 2) is a 120 minutes battle with an objective flag. This baby is huge. I would very like to read your comments again after you have played that one. <font size="+1">Y</font>ou cannot edit OSF battles because of the access codes. And it's no fun to be able to cheat in a campaign. It's also a saved game because you cannot fix the environmental conditions in operations. It had to be a rainy and foggy morning at Tankovoe to make it historical accurate. Now I’m going to lie down for a while. I have a splitting headache from the large amounts of alcohol last night. Holland has won one more match in the EUFA cup. Kind regards, Nils [ June 27, 2004, 08:42 AM: Message edited by: eichenbaum ]

That's true. It is possible to work that way but the bmp folder is quite large and you should remove it before you copy it back. Try this first: If the exeption pops up you should start OSF again and go to 'Battle' and then click 'Start Game'. The application will check wether there are bitmaps missing and restore them. A message will tell you that it has been recovered from a crash. Then close OSF and start up CMBB.

If you think Tankovoe is cool, then Krasn'ii Mak will make your heart go beat faster. <a href="http://www.eichenbaum.org/cgi-bin/cutecast/cutecast.pl?session=njIQVru0xJJuvGnrD2EFmrjYma&forum=13&thread=288" target="_blanc"> Click the pic to read more</a>

A new graphic card is not that crucial to play OSF with satisfying speed. 90% percent of all graphics we have implemented in OSF have limited colour palettes; This results in much lighter bitmaps then the standard you get with CM. All terrain bitmaps have been reduced to 30% in filesize and you can't see any difference with non-limited coloured bitmaps because we have picked every palette carefully. The memory modules have now more room for other data. Since the OSF maps are 4km2 big you'll need the extra space anyway. A fast processor; that's something you will notice in OSF. That's why we recommend a P4 (or similar). You can play it with less; but then you have enough spare time to do some anti-RSI exercises while you're waiting for the movies... Graphics can change with every new scenario that comes out. There are new textures, updates and custom textures that are created for that particular scenario (like objective flags). You can also witness a constant changing background real soon... With this knowledge you can imagine that it is difficult to support custom made scenarios as well. Like now the softground tiles show a rock surface and maybe after a few scenarios the softground could be used for mud. The same for other textures; already a lot in development. Nils

It's not easy to track down the problem that causes this exception c0000005. We have tested it on various operating systems with various hardware setups but didn't managed to get OSF crashed without going into extreme. But there are a few issues that can make OSF crash: - Initiated OSF while file browswers have the OSF folder opened and/or files selected; It's better to have all applications closed that could claim acces to CM files before you start up OSF. Like Mod Managers for example. - If you close CM with the keys ALT+F4 or with the taskmanager OSF might not be able to restore the orginal textures; It's better to close CM with the 'Exit' button. - The ALT-TAB function has been tested and did not show any problems; but it still remains risky to do so. - OSF will certainly crash when CM has been started up twice or more; You can check this by hitting the 'Start' button on your keyboard an look at the taskbar. You should also check wether the CD-ROM didn't started up automaticly when you have placed in in the drive while you started up the OSF interface already. (Especially CDV CD-ROMS can startup after minutes; the setup or autorun process seems to be very slow) - There's nothing wrong with curiosity and trying to understand how OSF works beneith the interface. I did the same thing with Combat Mission. But if something goes wrong because of that then it's your own problem. People for who this is applied to know what I mean. [ June 24, 2004, 07:47 AM: Message edited by: eichenbaum ]

B.t.w. Isn't it about time for a fresh new topic?

http://www.eichenbaum.org I know it's a bit late; but better late then never