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mazex

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Posts posted by mazex

    Is it just me, or is it too quiet...

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Well, the reason that this forum is getting cold may have something to do with the fact that the majority of the intended audience for CMX2 thought that the idea of bashing Syria with the worlds most powerful army was kind of boring? We had waited so long for some news so we stayed and whined for a month or two. Now we just pop by once or twice a month to see if anything interesting is happening apart from the Peng threads and discussions about Stryker versions (damn what a boring military vehicle!).

    I guess we all think that the engine sounds promising and will join the ranks when the second installment in the series gets back where it belongs ;)

    That said I will naturally buy the game, but if it has to be US vs some poor middle east land with crappy equipment it would actually be a lot more interesting if it would be US vs Iran which is obviously the new enemy to the "free" world?

    You are all old friends here, forums need someone to be pissed at. Did I light the fire? ;)

    /Mazex

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    Civilians - Hostile Crowds - Hostages

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Well as somewhere around 30.000 civilians where killed during OIF I think that they should be represented, and you should loose the scenario if killing more than x civilian(s). One may say that people beeing that stupid to stay in a warzone deserve to die but just look at the people living in New Orleans when Katrina devastated the city. Did all of them leave? I guess they where all waiting to throw stones on the National Guard...

    /Mazex

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    (CM:SF = optional RTS ) Had your Coffee yet?? check this out major news of the day..

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

    CM:SF in RealTime will be more along the lines of serious vehcile sims and Close Combat in terms of the importance of reflexes. Therefore, no, I do not see CM:SF as being a twitch game. It certainly isn't the same as a turn based game, where reflexes only impact how long it takes a person to complete a turn, yet it isn't at all like Space Invaiders. It isn't even like a vehicle sim, where one wrong reflex and that's all she wrote. In CM:SF, WeGo or RealTime, allows for mistakes and miss opportunities without dooming you to ultimate failure.

    Steve

    But still, the frustrating parts of Close Combat are the ones where you are acting squad leader at 4 dispersed places in the same time, and trying to be company commander at the same time! If the TacAI in CMx2 isn't VERY good and able to take decisions like "Yes - this is the time to rush to the other side of the street" it will never be realistic as you (the battalion commander) is also the one that has to make those decisions at squad level while deciding what to do with the tactical reserve...

    We all know what happens when high level commanders mess with an operational level that is much lower... Hitler giving orders to battalions outside Stalingrad anyone? If we want to be both battalion commander and squad leader it will never be more realistic in real time unless we get the large multiplayer Co-Op game mode.

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    (CM:SF = optional RTS ) Had your Coffee yet?? check this out major news of the day..

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    I went out and did the dishes (best time to think) and realized another thing regarding the Multiplayer Co-Op game... Can anyone imagine the sales potential to military schools around the world? To sweeten the deal: Add a Battlefield 2 FPS-module for the privates to use on the lowest level and the whole battalion may have a "field practice" in the computer hall...

    /Mazex

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    (CM:SF = optional RTS ) Had your Coffee yet?? check this out major news of the day..

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Well, regarding real time I find the only way of making it realistic would be the Co-Op multiplayer game that Steve mentioned. Damn thee! I've been thinking of it more and more and it would be awsome. You can't just mention a thing like that and then say that it MAY come in one of the later CMx2 games!

    Just think of it... A 26 player server (Yes, Moores law and distibuted processing rules!) with two sides consisting of the following (3x3x3 organization for simplicity):

    One battalion commander that can only issue orders to the company commanders. He can also order/assign "off map artillery" and CAS support and let spotters from one of the subordinate units direct it. He may also distribute battallion level mortars, recon etc to subordinate company commanders. He should only see the location of the companies and to some extent the platoons when necessary.

    Three company commanders that can assign orders to the platoon leaders. They can also use or distribute company level assets like mortars and medical evac, and may also distribute company level snipers etc to subordinate platoons.

    Nine platoon commanders do the "real work" - and may only see their own squads and the general location of higher level units. If another unit reports the location of enemy units to the company commander he may pass this information to the other platoon leaders, otherwise they only see enemys known by their own squads. They may receive additional assets from the company to control if available.

    The squads or indivdual vehicles are not player controlled but are controlled my the platoon leaders (and the TacAI!).

    Ahh, so sweet and the RTS problem is gone! As the lower level units on different parts of the maps fight "their own war" and the higher level commander only see the big picture!

    Steve - come on, how hard can it be? (yes, I'm a programmer myself and that was a joke ;) )

    /Mazex

    [ November 08, 2005, 12:06 PM: Message edited by: mazex ]

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    (CM:SF = optional RTS ) Had your Coffee yet?? check this out major news of the day..

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Originally posted by Other Means:

    Hurrrm...In the non-RT option, we still get to rewind the movie, yes?

    An important question! After reading Steves posts earlier in this thread I'm not sure either - and omitting them would be a show stopper for me at least! After receiving that hot PBEM file with action on multiple places it is impossible to see all that happens at the same time. As we play both squad leader and battalion commander it's impossible to live without it - and that's also why the "orders while paused" option in RT is unrealistic to NOT have according to me...

    Regarding WeGo or RT... 95% of all games on the market are built to make you sweat. I guess the reason why most of us still play CMx1 is that we prefer to think instead...

    OK, I hope the RT option will be paced more like Close Combat and that was actually quite cool so I'll hold my horses until the demo before my final verdict ;)

    /Mazex

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    Soldier models

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Originally posted by KwazyDog:

    ...

    I suspect you are referring to the fact that the pants should be more 'baggy' though, which is correct and was something that was changed a few weeks ago now. Anything you guys are seeing in screen shots at the moment is several weeks old at the least and should not be considered final at this point smile.gif .

    Dan

    That's exactly what I meant, and I realize that the graphics at this state should be thought of as work in progress as you say. Being a graphic bitch I just couldn't keep myself from commenting on it... Complaints of this dignity the month before realease would have the same survival rate as an icecream in hell...

    At least I will be remembered as the father of the first CM:SF mod - "Fat Thighs / Baggy Pants 0.1" :D

    Some screens of what you have now maybe to show us what you mean? (worth trying ;) )

    /Mazex

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    Soldier models

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Originally posted by melb_will:

    Mazex

    Someone more informed will no doubt be along soon.

    But if we can get past your fixation with staring at a computer generated images groin you will probably find that the groin protector part of the body armour is not connected to the pants as your photoshop edit depicts

    cheers

    Will

    Sorry - if it looks that way to you then I made it unclear in the edit that I am well aware of the separate state of the groin protector as can be seen below if you know how Photoshop works:

    groin_layers.jpg

    I maybe should have added some shadow beneath the groin protector to show the "spacing". The thing I have a problem with is that the thighs look way to thin for a "normal" solider (especially the left one)... This is the place where I really have to add that I am happily married (with a woman), I have a son and another one on the way ;)

    /Mazex

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    UAVs?

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Originally posted by juan_gigante:

    M1A1, those pictures you posted take me back to the days of my youth when my dad and I would construct these large styrofoam gliders which would (if the advertisment is to be believed), fly hundreds of feet. They invariably took an immediate nose dive into the ground, and broke in some way. While I am sure that those in your pictures are of higher quality, when I first saw them I was a little afraid for the future of the U.S. Army.

    He he, brings me back there too... The days when boys where boys and nice scale models could suddenly be a pile of balsa wood smile.gif I did a bit of pioneering for those UAV's too at the age of 14, and I've been searching for half an hour now for a picture taken from my RC-plane down at myself as a spot in the corner of a small airfield - taken in 1983. It's kind of fun - you see the wing in the upper part of the picture like in a regular Cessna amature photo but something looks really wrong as it is so crude smile.gif

    Anyone tried the WSPMBT Stryker scenario someone hinted about here a week ago? In the beginning of that scenario a UAV gives you the positions of some of the insurgents...

    /Mazex

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    CMx2's new movement system explained

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Sweeet! The more the merrier!

    Some questions about the commands displayed in the screenshot (wich are all MOVE commands):

    Why is there no "normal" (yet)? In may situations you want you soldiers to simply march without getting exausted, but without dragging their feet behind...

    Is it maybe possible to do a move with none of the options selected (a "normal" move)? In that case, can you depress two of them for a combination? Mmm that would be really nice! "Move in cover but do it as fast as possible" is fairly different from: "move to point B, but don't get detected - time is irrerevant so take your time and crawl silently!". The possibilites are endless - and the time to implement them too I guess smile.gif

    When you move a squad - will the "cover" command be in the form of moving in bounds if under fire?

    I would really like the additional option "Run as hell!" (or a more polically correct name:)) as a higher alternative to "speed" for making sure that the squad really runs as fast as possible over a street when another squad gets the "Suppressive fire - maximum ammunition expenditure!". For me, "Speed" could be something you give as an order to the squad in the rear that are going to march fast with no risk of enemy fire to point C, or the sprint speed across the street above...

    Anyway, it seems A LOT better than CMx1 but you know how it is - give the hounds a load of bones and they want more or they'll try to bite your arm off ;)

    /Mazex

    [ November 05, 2005, 01:53 PM: Message edited by: mazex ]

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    Soldier models

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Well, I am going to be accused for beeing a bitch bothering about nonsense but anyway ;)

    Is it only me that think that the new character models look great but somethings wrong? I just realized it's the groin (yes this will be quoted)...

    If one would remove the groin protection part of the soldier in the CM:SF logo I really don't know what we should expect, a guy with a heck of a lot bigger balls than the majority of the world I guess? I did a very small photoshop edit and I think that it suddenly looks a lot more realistic. Peoples legs tend to be thicker in the part above the knee I think...

    cmsf_banner_modified.jpg

    Yes - this is really minor but what the heck ;)

    /Mazex

    [ August 09, 2006, 03:00 PM: Message edited by: mazex ]

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    (CM:SF = optional RTS ) Had your Coffee yet?? check this out major news of the day..

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    In the upcoming(?) Combat Leader there have been concepts proposed where the game is turn based but not in the way that all units move and then all units from the other side. Depending on the command level, communications etc you get to command different squads/platoons/companies at different turns...

    Wouldn't that be something to think about. For example, a platoon with a rookie commander, bad comlink and under a lot of suppression is just available for orders every 2 minutes while platoons with good commanders, good links to the next level in the chain of command will be available for orders ever 30 seconds or even less?

    /Mazex

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    (CM:SF = optional RTS ) Had your Coffee yet?? check this out major news of the day..

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    I FULLY agree with you Michael, if the game is played in WeGo mode it is important that you cannot constanlty go around changing orders for you units. OK, it would eliminate some of the frustration with the TacAI - but let's face it, that's maybe what makes CMx1 so good? You issue your orders and then anxiously watch your units trying to perform them... "What's the problem with that Tiger commander? Is he out of his ******* mind?" Yes those phrases have probably been screamed by commanding officers with binoculars many times too, but they could not instantly stop the tank from turning the turret in the wrong direction or whatever "stupid" thing they where doing without the whole picture from above!

    /Mazex

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    (CM:SF = optional RTS ) Had your Coffee yet?? check this out major news of the day..

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

    Mostly though... that CoPlay option in RT... it is something I've been longing for since I first realized tht the computer could do a convincing 3D environment.

    Well, I didn't really think of co-op as the eliminator of the caos that ruins most RTS games but the more I think of it, the more I like the idea. RTS games that don't allow you to build new units are actually quite OK, like "Panzers". A friend of mine is CEO for Massive Entertainment that makes the Ground Control series. The first GC was one of the first fully 3D RTS and you could not buy units. That one was actually quite cool (even though it's futuristic and such). I did a massive campaign trying to convince him of implementing WeGo as an option in Ground Control 2 but the devs didn't have time. The next game they are doing I won't take no for an answer! I just don't get it why more RTS game developers don't do the opposite of what you are doing, ie implement turn based as an option... Look at "Panzers" - with more realism and WeGo as an option it would really be quite good! The graphics engine is simply one of the best looking WWII engines out there. And the effort wouldn't be that big! I guess Steve is not that interested in the others companies doing that so lets finish here ;)

    /Mazex

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    Women?

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Originally posted by Michael Emrys:

    </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by mazex:

    I once met a bunch of israeli girls that had just finished their 3-year military service in Greece...

    Wait a sec. Why Israeli girls doing their service in Greece? Is there something I haven't been told about Greco-Israeli relations? Has Greece followied Turkey's example of military cooperation with Israel? Is Israel trying to position itself to join the EU?

    Michael </font>

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    Women?

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Originally posted by Colin:

    Okay so what's this? We have 3 maybe 4 examples of women performing well in combat. How many women are over there?

    Well Colin, something like 25% of the captains and majors of the whole israeli army are women - and in Israel women can have almost all roles, including infantry. I once met a bunch of israeli girls that had just finished their 3-year military service in Greece and for sure - they could at least drink and party better than most men I've met!

    As you say that there are only 3 or 4 records of women performing well in combat I guess you know about this rather interesting one from the war between Erithrea and Ethiopia (1998-2000) - and concerns the first ever aerial kill by a SU-27, and the first by a woman:

    ...Only 24 hours later, a new - but highly interesting - engagement developed over the Badme area. This time, a lonesome Su-27S, reportedly flown by female pilot Capt. Aster Tolossa, was escorting several MiG-21s on a strike mission, when a single aircraft was detected, closing from the direction of Asmara. Capt. Tolossa turned to intercept and identified the target as an - apparently unarmed - Eritrean MiG-29UB. After some manoeuvring, during which there was some kind of communications exchange between the crew of the MiG and the Sukhoi, the Ethiopian was high at enemy's 6 o'clock, when she realized that the pilot of the aircraft in front of her was her former instructor. Capt. Tolossa immediately warned him that she was about to shot him down, and requested the Eritrean to land at Debre Zeit. He disobeyed, and Tolossa pulled the trigger. Exactly which weapon was used this time remains unknown, but it is highly likely that the Ethiopian used at least two air-to-air missiles, both of which were evaded, and then finished the target with 30mm gunfire. The Eritrean pilot was certainly experienced enough to evade two missiles, and he also knew who and where was the enemy. While it remains unknown if anybody ejected from that MiG-29UB, it is certain that Capt. Tolossa was given a hero's wellcome back at her base; with right, then she was the first female fighter-pilot to show down an enemy fighter-jet in the history of air warfare.
    I guess the Ethiopian men flying the old Mig-21:s escorted by a lone woman in the "hot-shot" SU-27 are broader minded than some here smile.gif White men from the west usually think that in Ethiopia women just raise starving children and carry water, but as often before, reality differs from prejudice...

    [ November 03, 2005, 04:07 PM: Message edited by: mazex ]

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    Concealment?

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 1

    Posted

    Originally posted by SSgt Viljuri:

    Will pixilated camouflages (CADPAT, MARPAT, ARPAT and FINNISH M/05) give an edge to the rest of the world's ordinary camouflages?

    Like to Sweden's ordinary M/90?

    Just asking... ;)

    En interesting anecdote regarding camouflage and the swedish M90 Uniform uniform (which is a regular camo uniform)...

    I don't know if this is true but my major told me this story when I was in the army: When the M90 camo uniform was beeing developed the swedish army had the M59 uniform which was monotone green, and before that the M39 wich was monotone grey. Tests where performed with all three uniforms to compare the visibility in varying conditions, different light, movement etc. The winner was the old M59 uniform. It was only in dusk/dawn that the M90 was best. Obviously the natural camuflage by folds in the fabric and shadows are better than camouflaged fabric - at least according to the tests. The main reason for adopting the new uniform was from what I've heard that it was considered morale boosting. The soldiers feel better camouflaged and it looks better and more modern...

    /Mazex

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