konstantine

This project looks great. It leads me to wonder, though: does the ion ablate differently angled armor at the same rate?

How do you fire out of buildings? I went into a building and although I still had my target reticle, I couldn't fire or see myself or any squad members. edit: I read the original post, honest! And then I forgot. [ August 19, 2006, 07:18 PM: Message edited by: konstantine ]

What theater will the WWII mod represent?

For the record Dark I enjoyed the scenarios you made as well as being on your team on-line. I think all involved have some legitimate concerns and clearly some strong opinions, but unfortunately frustrations have led to some strong (and unnecessary) words. Maybe once the game takes off there will be teams and leagues and more like minded people. Such as "gamey" servers and "tactics" servers. Until then, as you pointed out in another thread, Dark, it is good to have these things debated early on, but I hope it wouldn't keep you from the game. If I were on a team with you, I would be happy to work to counter the tactics you so despise. Were I not, I would probably unwittingly employ them.

0/12. It's always 0/12 lately. I am GMT -8 and I get home from work around 7:30 and eat and hang out with the wife. So 8:30-9:30 I check the servers. Before there were often 2-6 people or more on line, now there is never anyone online. What gives?

After a week's hiatus I will be online tonight taking orders if someone's there to give them.

Just a general observation: am I the only one who feels it's much too early to criticize player tactics (not game mechanics--I don't think AAD is an issue given proper coordination)...given the relatively few active on-line players? I think Dark_au that you may have a point, but you're talking about relatively very few people exploiting the game's mechanics. Wait a couple of months and see if the game takes off and multiple players exploit the AAD--if that's even possible. Not to mention, coordinated tactics within teams would address most if not all of the issues you have. At present few are interacting as a team, which seems to be the premise of the on-line game. edit: also, I think my first observation in this thread has been overlooked. Why is there no heavy foliage in this game? Is this common in RTS/FPS games? It's a bit unrealistic in my opinion. [ August 13, 2006, 02:19 AM: Message edited by: konstantine ]

Hull down is great in theory, but it doesn't work that well in-game. There is too much clear ground, in general, even if height varies, and no heavy trees or foliage. Frankly, there is too little variation in foliage. I've noticed this in dropping turrets--I drop "turret farms" in hollows and little valleys adjacent to the flag (far away enough to hopefully withstand artillery); along with sensor jammers, but in every case a bot or human player (or conversely if I am attacking; I myself) can find the means to destroy them "manually" without reprisal--turrets are obviously susceptible to hulldown positions. So, as a defensive player, there are very few ideal hidden spots to exploit defensively unless you drop as infantry (who are truly tougher to spot). If you look at CMBB/CMAK, keyholing is easy and a prerequisite for SPGs and ATGs, and also it is possible in every environment including desert, because of the variation in foliage and terrain (and to be fair, also due to the limits of the units available at that time--but lets focus on say the terrain in eastern Europe as opposed to north Africa ). Any hulldown position in Drop Team is rendered relatively ineffective by dropships and the lack of "tall" foliage. Dropships I can accept, they are obviously necessary and a great part of the game...but the lack of heavy foliage to obscure ambushes and counter-attacks is a little hard to swallow without some explanation as to the lack of tall trees and obstruction of LOS. Also, I read Dark_au's thoughts about constant movement. However, defensively, movement is necessary only after exploiting a good hiding spot--you kill enemies until it's dangerous, and retire to a different spot; better yet no one spots you. The only vehicles that subscribe to this mentality are the ATGM carriers, which can lock, target, kill and withdraw. Anything else is easily spotted and possibly killed. The Apollo would be ideal for hulldown ambushes if the spots existed--but even if you can find a good kill spot the enemy can drop nearby and waste you--which they couldn't necessarily always do, right away, with proper cover (I.E. heavier foliage obscuring LOS). In Drop Team, you have to move constantly, pretty much no matter what. Now, I understand that the game is sci-fi and necessarily subject to non-real life and RTS parameters...but, more foliage--even basically rendered--would improve general realism in my opinion. I guess I find it hard to believe that all of these worlds lack heavy trees, thick bush and grass and tall grass or crops. That said, the game is without question a lot of fun just as it is. Not to mention...why are there no ATGs in this game? That would be cool!

Well the real issue is what type of game we are playing. This isn't a modern battlefield, it's sci fi. If we were playing Gulf War (or CMSF ), M1s versus T-72s, tank vs. tank, then yes, 120mm sabot/AP would kill first shot more often than not; you might see flying/exploding turrets, and M1s could see through smoke, etc. But we're not. We're dealing with hypothetical vehicles and crews in contained environments. Not saying it's a pointless discussion, just that at some point you have to suspend disbelief and do your best within the parameters of the game. I.E., maybe in the hypothetical future AP isn't always the guaranteed kill it was in Earth's 21st century.

How did I miss this? This is awesome. I already think the game is worth every penny. Thanks!

For what it's worth, I think it's a little unrealistic that the AAD shoots 10mm and 20mm projectiles, but then again I have seen numerous Galaxies die from 20mm and ion and a few occasions where two players took the time to combine tactics to bring down the base ion tower, after which the Hurricane was able to plaster it with ease. I agree that 120mm should still be targettable. On the other hand, some maps simply seem to have too many ion towers. In the context of the game, it seems unlikely that all of these isolated ion towers in the middle of nowhere should work so perfectly all of the time.

That's good advice. I never bothered to check if there were updated controls with the infantry release, and now I see that there are.

Did I miss something? Can you switch between the infantry in your squad or give them individual orders...?

I'm really enjoying using infantry, but I have the most fun when my squad is killed off and I am left with the 20mm HMG, or the sole survivor with the rifle--in a target rich environment you can hunker down and pick off targets with ease. A single infantryman is way harder to spot, especially if you end up with the 20mm HMG lying down in a depression. Tonight I picked off 5 Paladins, bots and humans, in quick succession after losing my whole squad, undetected. In a game last week I killed two enemy squads worth with a lone rifleman my standing behind a hillcrest. Kind of makes me think that squads aren't the best option. How about a "sniper"--a one or two man team with no ATGs and just the 20mm? Just thinking out loud.

Great. I sent the email and then scrolled down to the scenario depot link, where I got the scenarios. Thanks! (p.s. my former member name was Preserved Killick).

Turning on shaders worked, thanks! Do you still want a crash log?

I have played numerous FPS and RTS games over the last few years, they cost between $10-$30 and they were all a waste of time. This game cost the equivalent of $57 CDN and it was the best money I've spent since CMAK. I am not a "video gamer", I am a traditional war gamer--but this game converted me. I love it. With every update comes a new feature and more scenarios. I definitely feel like I got my money's worth. Tech support is phenomenal in my experience (had a couple small issues, although I'm not running a Mac) and there are almost always people online except for late at night my time (-8 GMT). However it isn't as active as it could be. In other words, we need more people on-line! So buy it!

No problem Holien, the request was only up for a week or so. You are doing a favor by posting them so no need to apologize. But it would be much appreciated!

Oh. Well, maybe the AA turrets should be allotted relative to map size. On a map that size, a fair amount might be six for example.

Hi Clay, I sent two or three error reports, did you get those? Or should I try to crash the game again by loading the scenario, and email you that log? I'm on Windows XP home, SP2, Pentium IV 2.86mhz, Nvidia 5200 Geforce 128mb, 1 gig RAM.

I tried downloading the scenario again and recopied the files into the data folder, and it crashed again. This is the only scenario that does this. Too bad.

Heh. I've always thought that there are too many AA turrets available in any given game. The number could be halved and they would still be pretty lethal. I started setting up a defence like that in an online game, and someone said something like "nice, turret spamming". So I don't do it anymore. I just set up ground turret farms and sensor jammers.

Looks cool, as in arctic Canada in the summertime cool--however, I tried to start the scenario twice and both times the game crashed. I sent 2 error reports...but is it possible I did something stupid? I followed the stickied instructions for uploading scenarios in this forum. I have now updated to the latest version of Drop Team.

I should elaborate why I liked it. Having nothing but Paladins, no heavy weapons, no Hermes, no ATGMs and no towers makes for a very fast game and lots of kills. With only small calibre weapons one can really take the time and aim for kill shots. Dropping ion Paladins is actually fun--you can park them hull down and actually rack up some kills with those neglected platforms. I had many a Paladin with 4 dead tires, no engine, and yellow everything else still racking up bot kills. I hope this scenario makes it on a server, it would be great on line. The map is fun, too. Lots of trees to hide in, and it's easy to drop near the flag as nothing can easily take out a drop ship. This type of force mix would also be perfect on that desert map with the plinths and all the little dips and rises to duck behind. It reminds me of CMBB early war scenarios.

Oh yeah. House to House (comes with the game) is cool, but the rest of the map is completely open with some hills. Artillery would be fun in a city fight too.