sburke

For what it is worth, I got the joke both times, but to be honest it wasn't really funny. Sorry Blstk, but the first double entendre reference was a little funny, predictable, but a little funny. Repeating it not so much - kind of like when you are out at a bar and a guy who is well into his cups makes an off color joke that is a little embarrassing in the circumstances because the lass you are trying to hit up on was clearly offended... and a few moments go by, the moment passes, things are back on track with the aforementioned romantic interest and then the drunk says it louder again. Just not cool. The sniping afterwards is where the wheels come off and the conversation goes totally flat. Notice the use of lass George, did I get the atmosphere right on that?

The Schnapps stowage compartment is actually even more heavily armored. Though occasionally a crew member has been found to wedge themselves in there.

I fixed that for you. Damn I so much want to see that game updated.

hey finish mine first! You are getting friggin slow on turns. Too busy slaughtering posts on the damn phone.

Wherever it is, it will not be televised.

I believe he did and he has a perspective on it. I may disagree with it, but I think his answer to the follow up helps me understand his answer a bit better. Nothing seems to grab his attention for long. He may feel something akin to what I was trying to express, but it doesn't last. No offense meant to Thewood1, but I pity him. I wouldn't trade that wonderful exciting chill for anything. Life is short, it should be full of stuff like that. Like my wife, I am amazed she married me and I hope I never lose that and take her for granted. My father passed away from Alzheimer related issues this year. As his memory went he began forgetting things, he lost his sense of taste, he began to lose track of individuals and he eventually forgot how to eat. One thing that experience reinforced for me is appreciating everything you have while you can. CM with all it's issues and all the features missing I would love to see it have, is still an incredible game. There is simply nothing comparable in it's genre. And it's genre is my favorite. Sure the first time I tried Skyrim and I stood on a mountain looking out over a river valley with an amazing huge moon overhead, I was impressed. And then I basically walked over the side of the mountain and slithered all the way down into the valley and when I got to the bottom a mammoth popped up several hundred feet into the air... a mammoth I could not even see 5 feet further away. Okay cool game, cool graphics, no immersion. For me anyway. Another player could come along, mod the hell out of it and it is everything they ever dreamed of. FP shooters just make me think, great visuals for a game of paintball. Some of the ARMA 3 hardcore teams look pretty neat, but again it just doesn't translate for me to what I want to play. CMx2 fills a spot for me and does so better than anything I'd ever hoped. I pray I never lose my appreciation for that. It would be a sad statement on me.

I believe the answer is at least partially yes

blah blah blah blah. Really, you think the V2 2 months sooner was gonna stop D Day? Okay they missed the invasion, but certainly 2 months later they could target the primary port on the continent supplying allied troops, Cherbourg... hmm no, didn't demolish it you say? Well then it certainly must have made a huge dent in Market Garden hitting the allied airfields which were once again loaded with aircraft,,, umm oh wait. Okay not that? Oh I know, Antwerp was absolutely essential to the allied offensive. Certainly they pummeled that town rendering it useless. Hmm no? Damn. Regarding D Day, the earliest the Germans would have launched the V2s is AFTER they knew about the landing. Considering they thought for the longest time Normandy was a diversion that would have extended that window out even further. Nah The Germans first of all would have to assume it was the invasion. No matter how you cut it, they at BEST were several hours late. In reality they were weeks late. Disrupt the timing...hmm there was a massive storm that totally screwed the landing logistics far more than a couple bombs, Normandy must therefore have failed right? right? Wrong? Anything else you need to write a dissertation on or provide a link to we pretty much all already have?

Now you are just being ridiculous. I will not wear a mushroom cap.

What do you mean, actual range? Almost any map in CMBS currently is not large enough to be a range issue. I don't think anyone has come up with a 1x8km map . . .yet. There are a few caveats about weapons systems etc, but the Bradley has good range capability.

Yes you need to say "Bartender another round and give one to that guy down the bar making tank engine and explosion sounds.".

I think you just described Phil. If you think his strength was MAC stuff... nope. Not to say he doesn't but you'd be off the mark.

Hell we have a game(s) that includes the Nazi army, how more sensitive can one get?

One dead enemy pltn leader, one scout team sans ANY AT weapons. Fortunately that did not end up being an issue.

That is so friggin stupid. So what BF shouldn't sell. wW 2 titles because they have German troops. Or cmbs because there are sanctions on Russian? Sigh

This thread was not started with the proposition that CM can not be improved. I may be old, I may even be senile, but I am not THAT senile. . . .yet. However when it comes to the AI personally I think that isn't necessarily a straight out CM issue. Phil is an AI guy and if he says that is still out of our reach, I am not about to gain say him. He is a helluva lot smarter than me. Looking around at some of the top tier game companies and their products, AI issues are everywhere. But again this thread isn't about whether it can be improved upon, I think we all agree on that. Regarding that specific example with the laser warning, what the TAC AI is responding to is information you have but it doesn't. That T90 doesn't know what lased it. It might have been the Bradley, it might also have been an M1 it has not spotted. Figuring out an AI response there is an interesting and difficult problem. What should it have done? As to pathing yeah that can be very immersion breaking, the jostling at a way point, vehicle collisions etc

Talk about freakin overkill No these guys are not planning a devastating blow into the flank of a prowling T 90. Instead they spotted a lone enemy platoon leader. Okay granted he had just shot the gunner on a .50 HMMWV, but still TWO AT-4s??? sheesh

That is one position I hope they change. AFAIK the question of a second vehicle pack depended on how the first went and having enough content....I wouldn't count one out, but I have no idea how well it sold.

Satisfaction for a JAV team. The vehicle they hit had a couple teams pinned. This team was way across the map and just happened to get eyes on him. Good day for my guys, bad day for the enemy. Yeah that is the secondary cook off, double your fun!

yummmm would make people think twice about using the expression "eat me".

geez just think of the issues. We'd HAVE to institute global population controls...yeah that is gonna go over well. We can't even negotiate carbon emissions to stop destroying our habitat. Then you have the usual variation in access to medicine between rich and poor, first and third world. You would have this older ageless population in some versus a population with a shorter life span elsewhere..... and then where do you find the young 19 year olds fresh out of high school to fight your wars? Humanity has to fundamentally change before we are ready for this.

That's what I love about it, neither of us knows how the hell we are doing and we are both stressing. No I am not, see above I'd include video, but it wouldn't do it justice. For anyone looking for a good HTH pbem, this one so far is brutal and at the same time exhilirating.

As Hawking said or something to this effect Fear of death is for people who are afraid of the dark. I can't even imagine living 200 years. I'd never get to friggin retirement. Technology moves so damn fast I am already struggling to figure out where my particular career is going and I am only 8 years (I hope) away from retirement. I don't want to live longer, just better.

Ha funny kind of same subject in another thread. This was one response http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=338&Itemid=583 ENGINE CHANGES SINCE SHOCK FORCE If you are a strictly Modern Warfare setting player and have not played any Combat Mission titles since Shock Force, the list is far, far more extensive! The below list is just a highlight of what has changed since Combat Mission: Shock Force: MULTIPLAYER * WeGo TCP/IP with the ability to save but not the ability to replay combat action. * Pausable RealTime TCP/IP option. A player can request a Pause and, if the other player agrees, the game is Paused until both players are ready to continue play. QUICK BATTLES * Redesigned Quick Battle Generator that includes the ability for players to purchase formations, units and support, for their own force and for the computer AI. By deleting subformations/units, setting experience, motivation, fitness, and leadership levels, and attaching Specialist Teams and individual vehicles, the player can custom-tailor their force for the mission. * Automatically purchased force options are still available for the player and opponent, as well as a "Suggestion" button in the unit purchase screen that will quickly buy a force that the player can then modify. * Players can now choose their own maps, and preview maps before playing. USER INTERFACE * Two new camera control modes have been introduced in addition to the traditional Combat Mission controls: First Person Shooter (FPS), and Real Time Strategy (RTS). These new camera controls allow a player the choice to control the in-game camera in a way that is more familiar to other game genres. * Hotkey Unit Groups. Select units and assign them to number keys for quick navigation during gameplay. * New Load New Game dialog screen. The list of scenarios can now be sorted by size, length, or alphabetically. * Improved Saved Game dialog screen. The list of scenarios can now be sorted by newest file, oldest file, or alphabetically, or filter between single player and PBEM saves. Save games can be deleted in the game. * Visual Hotkey binding. A new dialog in the Options menu allows you to specify and view key assignments. * KIAs are shown in the Soldier/Crew Panels to track soldiers lost during the game. * The Ammo Panel has been redesigned: Ammunition is now listed by name and in discrete quantities instead of with icons and depleting bars. * Option to disable music separate from other game sounds. UNITS * FoW floating icons. FoW floating icons. Instead of getting a general area "?" icon and then immediately progressing to an accurate 3D representation, now there is an inbetween stage where you get a icon that represents the general category of enemy unit and no 3D representation. This tells the player "you know roughly what the unit is, but nothing more specific than that." * Command lines are back! Command and Control (C3) links can now be shown on the battlefield, allowing you to quickly determine whether subordinate units are in contact with their headquarters. Use Alt-Z. * Expanded floating icon categories. New unique floating icons have been added for Ammo Bearer, Recon, Engineer, MANPADS, LMG, Light Truck (Antitank), SPAA. * Dismounted vehicles function as Ammo Dumps, allowing formations to have reserve ammo stored separately on map (automatically distributed for certain Skill Levels). * Player-placeable static defenses and fortifications such as trenches, barbed wire, and mines. * Active Protection Systems (APS) are now available for some vehicles. * Some vehicles can salvo fire two ATGMs simultaneously at the same target. * Vehicles with laser warning receivers will display hit text warning the player that they have been lased. The vehicle will then rotate towards the threat, deploy smoke launchers and back up to cover, unless it is immediately preoccupied with another task such as engaging an enemy vehicle or moving. COMBAT AND SIMULATION * Ground units are now able to fire at attacking aircraft using self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles, emplaced anti-aircraft guns, or shoulder-launched MANPADS units. Aircraft that are fired upon may have their combat effectiveness diminished, be forced to abort the mission, or even be shot down. * Soldiers with assault rifles are more likely to use aimed semi-automatic fire at distant targets instead of burst fire. Soldiers fire weapons faster at short ranges. MGs fire longer, more accurate bursts. More realistic and varied RoF of automatic weapons. Ammo bearers and heavy weapon assistant soldiers generally use their weapons only at shorter ranges. * Soldiers can surrender to nearby enemy units and possibly be "rescued" by nearby friendly units. This replaces the "routing" behavior from CMSF. * Wide range of weather types and environmental effects, including rain, fog, heavy winds (with ballistic effects), different types of ground conditions, animated water effects, and more... * Vehicles and soldiers equipped with night vision and thermal vision have a significantly improved boost to spotting abilities in low visibility conditions such as night. * Buttoned-up armored vehicles spot enemies to their flanks less effectively. * Improved UI display for timing of preplanned artillery missions also indicates what delay would be after the battle begins. * Small arms fire causes more suppression than before. MAPS AND ENVIRONMENT * Game performance for large maps has been increased while load times for large maps have been improved. * Maps can now be up to 8 kilometers long or wide (up from 4 kilometers). However, total map size is still restricted to 16 square kilometers. This means that you can make a 2 kilometer wide map that is 8 kilometers long! * Conduct combat operations in lush rural landscapes, dense urban settings, or anywhere in between. * Heavy Rocks, Heavy Forest, Marsh, and Deep Marsh block all vehicle movement, while Deep Marsh additionally blocks infantry movement. * Water terrain types added: Water, Reeds, Deep Ford, and Shallow Ford. Infantry can cross Deep Ford and Shallow Ford, while non-amphibious vehicles can only cross Shallow Ford. * Bridges are now available as a terrain type. Bridges come in multiple varieties, including wooden foot bridges, small rural stone bridges, large concrete traffic bridges, and even railroad bridges. Bridge lengths vary from 16 meters to 600 meters long. * New and improved tree and bush models added, representing a variety of European species ranging in size from small shrubs to towering evergreens. Forest ground tiles can accompany them for proper forest terrain. * Generic buildings can now be up to 14 stories high, and have sloped roofs available in addition to flat roofs. SOLDIERS * Dynamic, context sensitive equipment loadouts for individual soldiers depending on what weapon and equipment are carried. * Expanded Soldier details. A completely new way of assigning models and textures allows greater flexibility and variety of how Soldiers look in the game. It also allows for more flexible Modding possibilities. * When available, pre-made soldier appearance options can be toggled in the editor or QB Purchase screen by using the Appearance button. For example, this allows the player to choose between Ukrainian troops equipped with either new digital camouflage uniforms or older TTSKO uniforms. * Night vision equipment, such as goggles and weapon sights, will be automatically and visually equipped in scenarios with low-light conditions. * Many new soldier animations, stances and positions, including kneeling and sitting positions for crew served weapons, pistol firing animations, hand grenade throwing, crew functions, first aid, and much more... * Automatic ammo sharing between nearby soldier Units. FIRE SUPPORT * On-map mortars, both dismounted and vehicle-mounted, are now available. On-map assets such as mortars are able to fire in both direct and indirect modes, using their own spotters or separate forward observers. * Spotters are now restricted to directing only one Artillery or Air Support Mission at a time. Assets can now be group fired by shift-left-clicking them, allowing more than one Asset to be assigned to the same Mission. EXCEPTION: Spotters directing one UAV Observation Mission can also simultaneously direct one Artillery or Air Support Mission. * Player-placeable Target Reference Points (TRPs) allow simulating prepared support strikes and ambushes. Support missions aimed at TRPs do not require LOS from the spotter, or any spotting phase. * Precision artillery missions are available for Point targets. These missions are only available for certain artillery assets and 120mm mortars. * UAV Support Missions are now available. These missions use UAV support assets which can share spotting information with the player and ground units. * Helicopter and UAV Support Assets no longer require Line of Sight (LOS) for the spotter to call in a mission. In other words, the mission can be called anywhere on the map. COMMANDS * Scout Team Command splits off 2 men to act as scouts. * Target Armor Arc Command. Instructs units to engage only armored units within the specified arc. As with nearly every Command, outcome varies greatly depending on unit quality and battlefield conditions. * Target Briefly Command. Tells a unit to fire all its guns on a designated spot for 15 seconds, then cease fire. Issuing the command repeatedly increases the duration in increments of 15 seconds. * Mark Mines Command for Engineer teams and squads. * Waypoint dragging. A waypoint can be clicked on and moved by dragging it to a new location. * Grouped Spacebar Command system. Instead of getting all of the commands in a big list when the Spacebar is used, instead you get four groups of commands: Movement, Combat, Special, and Administrative. Selecting one of these presents the Commands specific to that Commands Group. * For vehicles with more than two weapons systems, such as an IFV armed with ATGMs, cannon, and MGs, the Target Light Command will fire only MGs on the target, while the Target Command will allow all weapon systems to be fired. GRAPHICS AND PERFORMANCE * Shaders. * Faster graphics, including FPS improvements, especially for infantry-heavy maps and faster video cards. * Possible speed improvements depending on video card hardware and drivers. * Movie Mode. * Bright Night Mode. * Hit impacts to vehicles and bunkers now shown graphically ("hit decals"). * Improved rendering. Normal and Bump mapping allows for more texture detail while using less system resources and improving the pressure on framerates. EDITOR * Independent Vehicles and Specialist Teams can be purchased and attached to any formation, allowing players to tailor their formations. * Exit objectives. * Improved Scenario briefing format, including a new Designer Notes subsection. * "Reduced headcount" option to simulate previously depleted formations. * "Ditch Contours" feature. Map editor elevation changes can be "sharp" by holding the control key when clicking tile elevations. This allows the creation of realistic ditch contours. * Ability to create AI Triggers that execute actions based on other units or interaction with Objectives. * Improved responsiveness of 2D editing, especially for large maps. * Improved load time for 3D Preview, especially large maps. * Customized "Mod Tags" for most graphics. This allows for multiple mods for the same item without the need to move items in/out of Data folder. * Ability to specify specific mods be used for a specific Scenario. If CM fails to find the specified mod it will use the default graphics. * Auto-Assemble linear terrain tool. Roads, walls, fences, and hedges can now be automatically drawn across the map instead of placing them one tile at a time. The old manual selection interface still exists to allow tweaking specific Action Spots. * BMP map overlay. Instead of having to create game maps by freehand you can now trace over a real world map within the Editor. Four different levels of transparency make the process easier by adjusting for different needs as work progresses. * More AI Groups. The number of AI Groups available has been increased from 8 to 16. This allows for greater fidelity of AI Plans and their assigned units. * Copy and paste AI Plans. Create a solid AI Plan, copy it, and paste it into an unused AI Plan slot. Once done the copied Plan can be modified to make a unique variant without having to build the Plan up from scratch. BONUS * Combat Victories (Kill Stats) for individual units showing how many and what types of units the soldier or vehicle has eliminated in the mission (totals tracked for campaigns)

Cows around the world love him.