GreenAsJade

How? My CD just has one thing showing on it: the installation exe...

Why is this a bug? Don't you think your gun spotters just saw some "infantry?" guys leaping around going "Sh***T" while metal and smoke flew in the air, then ducking for cover, and concluded (before you did) that they knocked something out and that there's an unidentified (but probably crew) unit close by?

While I'm at it, with respect to passengers: how come the crew of guns don't show up riding the vehicle towing the gun? I have a SD KFZ 7 towing an Inf Gun. The unit info says "Passengers: 150mm Inf Gun (5 Crew)" .... but all the seats are empty!

A small small thing that would make a wonderful difference would be to have an indication of who is riding on a vehicle in the Unit Info Panel. I'm playing Berezina River right now, camera angle 4 or 5 coming to grips with what forces I have, and how tedious to have to hit "enter" each time I select a vehicle, to try to see who is on it! A teeny squad symbol, or HMG symbol etc etc either below the vehicle picture or in the ammo rack would be just great. Anyone agree? How about it for CMBB 1.04? If not, please please for CMAK? Thanks!

My understanding is that the sad fact is that they chose the most familiar and comfortable setting first, but they won't be going back there.

Can we all swap drivers, then? My Germans are running at the sight of Russian tanks: all my drivers seem willing to shoot is smoke to hide behind! Meanwhile, the Russians have been able to hit & kill a hull down panzerIV that was reversing out of sight, at 600m...

I just put In_Command_Indicator at CMMODS It gives you a basic red/green little radio symbol instead of just red/green colour. No credit to me for this: I just took the CMBO one I've had forever and made it fit into the CMBB display panel.

Good point - I feel happier now

Why is it that almost all scenarios allow the attacker to place units anywhere across the width of the map? The inevitable consequence seems to be that attackers progress up the sides of the map. They may be thinking to themselves "I'm not gamey, I'm flanking here", but really all it is doing is taking advantage of the fact that there is a guarantee of no defenders off the map. Would this be solved by letting the defender place wide, but forcing the attacker to be confined in placement near the middle?

I had the problem with the F keys one time. It seemed to be associated with not having the password correctly in the clipboard: something gets out of wack?

The pictures were useless in my version too. First impressions count for a lot, and my first impression was bad.

In case y'all missed it, Fuerte has added a "play movie" feature to PBEM Helper (he posted in the general discussion forum). At the moment I have only gotten it to work for "Fast mode" CMBB games, but that's all I'm playing, so I'm happy And given its fully 24 hours since we asked for it and we have it, that's not a bad effort from Fuerte!

PS - as I mentioned in email to Fuerte, the one thing that would be much nicer is continuity of camera angle from one movie file to the next. Does anyone know what determines the camera position and angle when you open a given movie file?

It works fine for me under the following conditions: - I played the games from the start in Fast Mode. - The games were "scenario"s not QBs - I made sure the password was on the clipboard (as per instructions) - I pointed the "select game" dialog to the first 2+ file in the 2+ directory. Then it played the movie, and I hit F7 and it played the next one. Worked for the two CMBB games I have going. It did _not_ work for the CMBO QB I tried it on. In that case we switched to Fast Mode halfway through, so glory knows what chance there is of PBEMH figuring it out It's excellent - thanks Fuerte.

Who made it? Can we get the source?

I once tried it for CMBO but it didn't work :-( If there is one for CMBB it'd be _great_. I wonder if the author of PBEMH could do it: he seems to have "playing turns using a program" all figured out.... ... I'll dig out his email address and ask. BTW, PBEM Helper is _great_. Martin.

So - is the actual location of the 1.03 "public beta" a closely guarded secret, or club membership or something? Still, despite all my searching, I can't find where the "public" finds it! I read somewhere that its for US only - is the download location kept secret from everyone else? Chad - can you mail me a copy, but also tell us where _you_ got it from? Thanks! [ May 23, 2003, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: GreenAsJade ]

I agree with the person who asked for shockwaves back. The first thing I thought when I saw those in CMBO is COOOL! I guess that there's all the realists out there who will tell me that "it never looked like that", but I don't care: I'd love to see them again!

Hmmm - I'm more intersted in why the first 10 minutes are so different. I was wondering if you should try it without the initial Axis flag, with a small initial Axis flag, or with nastier tanks. The latter is not a very satisfying suggestion, because the real question is "why do the tanks in CMBB all pour out of town and get killed?" Is anyone from Battlefront likely to offer some insight? [ May 20, 2003, 11:34 PM: Message edited by: GreenAsJade ]

Makes you wonder about the CMBB tank drivers, doesn't it. My pure speculation is that in CMBB the AI has been given an increased sense of urgency to go and win flags (to make it a better attacker). Since there is Axis flag sitting there out of town, I wonder if they all feel compelled to head towards it if possible, overriding their scardiness about the Tiger out there? Also, my impression is that Valentines just aren't as good as Croms, although this may be unfair since the Croms (sitting in town) end up shooting at Wittman from very close range, wheras the Vals (all running out of town) remain at longer range... This impression is not from looking at the numbers, just seeing how many Vals die vs how often Croms puncture Wittman!

In re-reading my message, I realise I didn't emphasise enough the great job that has been done in converting the "look and feel" of the scenario. I was astonished how similar the initial appearance is - fantastic job. I'm not sure what needs to be done to fix the gameplay - whether a different initial placement or beefed up OOB would make the difference....

I never tried CMBO "Tiger!" till now. What a fun scenario - great idea. And when you fire up the CMBB version, it feels so "right" - a great appearing conversion. However, it doesn't play the same _at all_. It's fascinating how different it is. *** SPOILERS *** The CMBO version AXIS vs AI is _hard_. It's a real challenge to reproduce the briefing. As soon as the Tiger appears, Sherms and Croms crush back into town and wait. By contrast, in the CMBB version, as long as the Tiger stays to the "right", the Allied tanks pour out of town, getting popped off in the process and hardly scratching the Tiger. You can head for the flag, then whip round to the left round the block and pick off tanks at leisure till the reinforcements show up. If you do the same in CBMO you find a horde of Croms and Sherms who rush you and quickly kill you. I have to say that, at least against the AI, somehow the CMBO challenge has not been reproduced.

I far prefer the straightforward briefings. I understand the inclination to simulate the confusion of war by making the briefing confusing, but it doesn't do anything for me at all (except irritate). I would note that "vague" can be fine, where it is simply "non-specific". 5thSS PzGr Wikin (CMBB) is a great example of "vague". "Tank sounds have been heard from the north and west". OK - I know what information this does and does not give me and I can make a call about how much I take it into account. ToD2 Chambois Axis briefing was (for me) an example of the opposite: trying to create the confusion of war by having a briefing full of words that added nothing. In fact, the real problem lies in not differentiating information that is for atmosphere and information that is telling the player what they actually need to do. "You must rendezvous with Sergent Schulz in the village". What the heck does that tell you? Do I have to get a particular unit to within a particular range of another one? Who is "you" in that sentence anyhow? I'm a player behind a computer, how do I rendezvous with anyone? Of course, for any question of opinion, like this one, there will be as many opinions as respondents. I completely acknowledge that some people will like the "pseudo realistic" briefings. But for me, the game starts when I press "Continue". I just want the briefing to tell me what I need to know to play...

As I said in the review I put on Dragonlair: this for me was "third time lucky"... the third CMBB scenario I have tried, and the first I've liked. I really liked it... it showcased many of the great new things about CMBB (which I had read about, hoped to enjoy, and was just starting to doubt until I played this one). BUT Help! How do you set up to win this one? Most of the reviewers said they did, but I got whipped. I felt like I had the right idea, but just not enough forces to cope with the hordes. How do you manage to keep everyone alive long enough? Ta!