silverstars

In-Game screenshots for NATO: July 2nd For CM:BN: Dec 21st -------------------Difference: 3 weeks--------------2 weeks(ongoing to 3 weeks) ----------------AAR for NATO: July 23rd For CM:BN: Jan 3rd --------------------Difference:3 Months-----------(guess)3 Months -------Release date for NATO: Oct. 21st For CM:BN: April 1st Now obviously there are some differences, considering one was an add-on and another is a full-on new game, so it might be a month or two later then that. They still have bugs to work out IIRC, and after that is done they still have two campaigns/and scenarios to start hashing out. But that would be the date I would start looking for it. And hey, if its early, i'll be too busy blowing things up to care that I'm wrong.

Tracer Fire is only seen when the unit that is firing is seen. That has been in CMSF since 1.2something, as I recall. So I don't think you have to worry about it in CM:BN.

On that last pic with the GI in the foreground looking up he hill. His icon is now a dark orange compared to the O.D. Green we have seen else where. does that signify you have clicked on him to see what units he sees, or does it signify something else? Again, thanks to you and Elvis for a great AAR!

Where? I will be happy to believe you if you tell me WHERE!!!! I am not trying to suggest that things haven't changed at all in 60 years. But from a scenario building perspective if you use modern day maps of the battle area I would say that you would at least be 60%-80% on the mark. If you had actual period aerial photos, those would obviously trump anything Google Earth has. But lacking those, GE is not a bad place to start. For example here is a photo of the La Fiere Causeway, looking from east to west. As I recall it was taken during the war, although not when the Merderet River was flooded. And here is the same location; mapped in Google Earth: So as you can see, even though there are hedges missing, hedges have been managed down to a more respectable height,and some road crews have been busy in the interlying years, the layout is roughly the same. I am not trying to say that you are wrong, Things have changed. I am just saying that GE can still be a very helpful tool. Unlike the aerial photo from 1944, I can switch to a completely top-down view in GE, and if I couldn't find any period photos of the area, GE at least could give me something in the ballpark.

Well I know that it tells you the rough elevation wherever you move your cursor, I was hoping for more in the way of contour lines, which make it a lot easier to set up the basic elevations on a CM map. As for your link Normal Dude, thank you. I like the fact that it has several overlays to work with, including maps from IGN that show Contour lines, although I have no idea what elevation they are. Do you have any idea if the random points with a number by them show elevation in meters? I can't for the life of me figure out what they are for. Just go to the , site, select "Maps/Cartes", "Maps/Cartes IGN", and zoom in to about 1:8000 scale. you should see little periods with numbers here and there. And I know that the layout of things tend to change over the years, but I think 60 years is a bit short for major geological change. Besides, in Normandy aside from some of the major cities things really don't look that different. Even the fields and hedges are in the same layout as 60 years ago.

I seriously doubt this question violates your NDA, so here goes.... Whenever you make your historical maps(if you haven't started already), what sources do you use for Contours/elevation and so forth? I imagine Google Earth gets used quite frequently for road/landmark placement but what do you use for hard elevation numbers, especially for Normandy? I am getting interested in the idea of making maps/scenarios for the upcoming game, but while Google Earth is wonderful, pulling elevation information from it is a pain, unless I am missing some vital info on the program. Any thoughts/suggestions?

It's a sort of reference to "Borg Spotting", which was the phenomenon of CMX1 games where if one unit was able to see an enemy, then automatically everyone else who had a LOF would see it and attack immediately. It was very disconcerting and hive-mind like, much like the Borg.

There was. As I recall The units morale took a hit, and I think in the case of MMG/HMGs they also lost ammo. Not to mention that with MMGs/HMGs they still used the same slower movement rate, even if you are telling them to run for their lives from that oncoming tank. It was nice in theory, but some of its quirks where quite annoying and to be honest I haven't really noticed it being gone all that much.

Should September really be used in this comparison? I was under the impression that the first two modules where from June-August, with the third module adding September-issued vehicles. Also, counting the Rhino mods as different tanks might be a little sketchy considering CMBO had the work around that if you where in the month of July forwards, the game treated the tanks as having Rhinos. Although there is something to be said about the fact we can actually SEE the Rhinos on the tanks now...... Irregardless, Thanks for the effort! The pics really bring home the difference in visual quality!

No, I just posted this using my new Nook as a browser. Must have accidentally hit the icon with my sausage fingers. And no, I wasn't on the toilet. Sickos.

Just a few thoughts on the new bocage terrain: We have all heard about the Rhino equipped tanks being able to punch through,leaving a gap for follow up attacks. But how will vehicles/AFVs without rhinos interact with the Bocage? Will it be considured impenetrable, just slow the tanks like in CMBO, or will it show tanks going OVER the hedge, showing the vulnerable underbelly to HEAT Rounds?

Dammit! I've been seeing Steve asMr. Battlefront.com for so long now I'm mixing their christian names up.

Let's not forget with relative spotting in CMX2 games, How would you do misidentification anyway? The first unit sees the tank, thinks its a tiger. it starts reporting up the C2 chain; and its fellow units start seeing the Tiger. But then the orginal unit gets a closer look, and realizes, "hey, its just a stinking PzIVJ." And then it sees the PzIV. But the other units still see a Tiger. so depending on which unit you have clicked on, you have two completely different tanks. I am not a computer programmer, but tat sounds like more then a little work for what amounts to a really small feature. Not to mention all the soft factors involved (like exactly how long DOES it take for a squad to figure out what type of tank it is, and how long afterward till they let thier buddies know, etc.) that ultimately boils down to just guessing arbitrarily and hoping for the best.

Considering Charles collects uniforms and camouflage patterns as a hobby, you can be assured the uniforms will be up to snuff and realistic. And again, with having 60 or so of the little Fokkers running around on screen at a time you have to keep the randomness down to some level.

Darn. And here I was wanting to see people coming out of the woodwork with xeroxed test findings from 1946 showing such and such percentage when firing with this scope, and such and such percentage gained when using THAT scope, etc. Just like the old days, where you couldn't whine about how great the previous game was because you were too busy bitching about how they didn't get this tank right or how that tank was over-modeled, etc. And unlike modern warfare, with WWII you could find a book that proves how you are absolutely right, and everyone else was a liar! The air was thick with groggery in those days I tell you, THICK!

Don't forget that Private Reiben(Edward Burns) also lived.

It's hard for me to recall, but I do know that in general Germans enjoyed superior optics to everyone throughout the war. Panther tanks had binocular sights, and some had 2 different Magnification settings, and all sorts of options that other countries didn't have. TO be honest I am having a hard time looking up specific info through google. But I do remember that CMBB had like, 4 or 5 different types of optics modeled for the Germans, and like 2 for the soviets:Normal and even more inferior then normal.

In CM:BN, what will be done to ensure the proper modelling of superior German optics vs. inferior allied optics? This is what I'm really waiting for when the game releases. People can hem and haw about what features are in or out of the game all they want for right now. I'm waiting for the "this tank/gun is over/undermodelled, especially when vs. this tank's armor." For me that was half the game of the original CM. And for those who don't know, go to the CM Archives 2000 and do a search for "German Optics" and have fun flitting through the 600+ replies on those posts......

I was also thinking about making this a scenario-campaign as well. I knew from earlier posts the French oddities wouldn't make it in until the last module, although I was hoping for a German light tank to at least supplant it until after the 3-4 years it will take for the 4th module to come out. But now I remember we can do RED vs. RED and BLUE vs. BLUE setups so at worst you could temporarily put in a M5A1 Stuart in their place, or maybe one of the cannon-armed German ACs. Not ideal, I know, but at least a placeholder till the real deal arrives. Or you can just worry about the Manoir assault earlier in the day and the full-on assault across the causeway 1-2 days later, and hold off on the German counterattack.

Just a bit confused on one point. I see what your saying about how shell craters will not excavate underneath structures, I get that. I guess what I am asking now is if foxholes and trenches are considered structures as far as the game engine is concerned. For example, say if an action point containing foxholes gets directly hit with a 14" naval shell. will the foxholes just disappear and leave nothing but a giant crater, or will there be a giant crater with 3-4 foxholes anthilling out of the center of it? Thank you for the info on the Parachute Battalion. I remember that the glider battalions are almost exactly equipped as other leg infantry units(at least on the company or below level) but I was a little fuzzy concerning P.I.R. loadouts. Now that I think back on it, The P.I.R. squads had a mix of carbines, Garands, and Thompsons, just no B.A.R.s on the official TO&E until Arnhem, I think.

So many questions regarding the Screenshots and TO&E....and let me also point out that the B.A.R. is missing from the American small arms list, and that the MG34 is listed twice in the German small arms list. I don't know if it was supposed to be something else or just typed in twice, but there you go. Now, the questions.... 1. I noticed on the screencap of the Airborne Parachute battalion that all the infantry sport the M1A1 Carbine. Will there be Garands and possibly B.A.R.s thrown into the mix, especially if their equipment status is Good or Excellent? 2. Also, I see that the M1917A1 Water cooled .30 cal machine gun is listed. Will it have a longer sustained ROF as compared to other air-cooled LMGs-MMGs, and is there a noticeable difference between how long machine gun crews hold down the trigger as compared to their CM:SF counterparts? 3. As has been mentioned all, fieldworks(Trenches, foxholes, etc.) are modeled above the ground in 3D. But with terrain still being deformed by large explosions, what happens when one such field work is hit with a large artillery piece? Does it disappear at that action point where the crater appears, or does it shift to the new terrain below it? And if it disappears, does that mean the small buildings or bunkers, if hit with a large enough shell, disappear? Or do we get the same effect as CM:SF, where you have a giant hole except where the building was, which leaves a giant pillar of earth in the center? Thanks again for all the hard work, everything looks wonderful!!

Just to get my name in here before the thread closes.... Keep the "Balls" in the title. You could get money from the surprise "Thug-Grognard" demographic. Or maybe just call it "CMBO- Combat Mission:Balls Out." Yeah. That's classy.

So this means that when both of these families are done, the are completely separate? As in if I want to play with a Pershing I must load the bulge game, and while there I can't use any of the weird french tanks in any scenarios? Just like CMSF and CM:Afghanistan?

I think I would be happy if the Snipers ROF became 3X as slow, but at least 2x as accurate. In fact, I wouldn't mind if it took 5-15 MINUTES for a sniper to get off a shot; so long as he HIT THE DAMN TARGET. (watching my Crack sniper armed with a .50 BMG Barrett plink off 5-6 shots a minute at a targtet 200m away and not hitting anything is a tad frustrating.)

I had a feeling that non-disclosure thingy would probably figure into it. Ah well. If I had to guess, I imagine SOMEONE will make a scenario based on it, considering that there is an ASL, a Lock n Load, AND a CMBO "Le Manoir" scenario.....