afreu

It seems that they decreased the texture and 3d model quality for taking the pics. Which is weird, since those screenshots are supposed to promote the game.

Some posts on the website date back to Nov 09! Why only show them now? BTW, will we be able to order CM:AF directly via the BF store?

Hi, just wanted to know if someone can give me feedback on my recently uploaded scenario "The Maroon Machine". I'm aware that there are a few 'issues' with the scenario. Firstly its size makes it impossible to play for weaker PCs. The size of the map itself shouldn't be a problem with 1.2km x 1.2km. And even the number of forces involved isn't that extreme with ~400 BLUE and ~700 RED. What causes the lag are the firefights between a large number of soldiers. I tried to adjust the AI plans in way that minimises the number of simultaneous firefights. But still, with opposing company-sized forces engaged in a firefight the FPS can drop significantly. Secondly, as with all my scenarios, I create them mostly for my own pleasure (which doesn't mean that I don't care at all if other people enjoy them as well). Accordingly the scenarios are featuring what I like to encounter in a CM:SF scenario. And that is a challenging mission, a tough enemy and intense situations. What is the point of playing, if you know from the start that you will be able to blow your enemy to hell with all the mighty support assets available to Western militaries. That's why the possibility for the player to be annihilated by the enemy AI is always included in my scenarios. That probably makes them less realistic, but at least in my opinion more enjoyable. The Maroon Machine is such a scenario. If the player makes the wrong decisions, his troops will be punished. It is possible for the player's battalion to be overrun by enemy forces. I think including that threat, makes a player's victory that much more valuable. Though I realize that my scenarios are not everybody's cup of tea, perhaps there are some who enjoyed this scenario anyway. Looking forward to your comments!

If you are talking about my "The Green Zone" scenario, the objective is to clear the ambush zone of enemy fighters.

Is there any chance that the support target-function might be changed in another patch? Isn't it possible to just add a timer to the support targets?

Although inspired by some Google Earth imagery, the map design was mostly my own creation.

It was during a playtest of one of my own scenarios.

Just had a similiar experience with a British Javelin section wasting their whole supply of four missiles on a single BMP ~500m away without even hitting it. They were highest quality troops, with excellent equipment, though a bit tired and it was dark.

Thanks a bunch for your very detailed AAR, soldierz! For me it's really interesting to read how other players experience my missions. It's a good idea to consolidate your forces east of the highway under the hill. Like you said, they have a clear advantage towards any enemy trying to attack over the hill. Plus, as soon as the reinforcements break through you already have the northern side of the river secured. The way I played it, I had a bit of trouble trying to cross the river without taking too many casualties. Jep, it's a very tough mission. And I shifted the balance between fun and realism clearly towards the former. Glad you like the mission soldierz.

Looking forward to your post soldierz! Btw, did you manage to finish the mission?

Hi JP76er, I had a look at the file in the scenario editor and it seems that the briefing is wrong. There are only two Light Gun sections arriving at T+10. Originally I planned to let the second section arrive at T+1:00, but since I needed the reinforcement slot for something else, I let both arrive at T+10. Simply forgot to correct the briefing afterwards. So you should already have two sections of 105mm available. I hope you will be able to survive without another section. I know it's a tough mission. But hey, where is all the fun if it just was a walk in the park =D afreu

Yep, triggers it should be.

But I think it can only be fired, when deployed. Btw, what is that in the background of the first picture, looks like HESCO bariers?

Thx for your feedback bodkin and soldierz. Concerning the 'mislead' claim. Trying to get the player to make certain moves via the briefing is one of the things I do to be able to somehow adjust the AI's actions to the player's potential moves. Ideally the terrain and the AI plans would channel the player into interesting situations. But the larger and the more open the map, the more difficult it is to achieve this. With no triggers or any other means to create a dynamically responsive AI available, scenario designers have to rely on 'cheap' tricks to create an interesting experience. Such as placing mines to keep the player from making certain moves or giving orders in the briefing with the intent of fixing the player in predictable locations Of course one cannot calculate all possible player actions. Moving to the area east of the highway is just one recommendation and the way I played the mission mostly during testing. It's not required to do it that way, actually I encourage you to find other ways of survival. (And tell me about it ) Btw, this mission is quite CPU-heavy due to the dense vegetation and the high number of units involved. It can get quite bad aroundT+60, but should get better the more enemies get dropped. Looking forward to more feedback.

It's the file that just got uploaded to the repository. It's a new scenario. /// I'll delete some of the poles then

Description: A convoy of LAVs and Humvees gets ambushed in densely vegetated farmland. A relief force is on the way but won’t arrive within the next 40 minutes. Until then the remnants of the convoy will have to setup a defensive perimeter and hold out against enemy attacks. Looking forward to your feedback. Have fun!

I don't think any infantry unit is able to fire on the move in CM:SF.

Good to know and quite nice of you to allow the use of the second activation for personal use. One more reason to love BATTLEFRONT!

Hi, is it possible to install CM:SF on two PCs with one licence? I'd like to try out the multiplayer mode with a friend over LAN, who doesn't own CM:SF. Regards, afreu

The one and only thing we need in CMSF to make AI behavior more responsive to the player's actions is trigger conditions and zones. 'Back in the days' I used to play a little OFP and it's amazing how much variety one could bring to the gameplay by adding a few triggers. A clever mission designer could create the atmosphere of a highly responsive AI. Triggers would add a whole new dimension to CMSF gameplay. Just imagine all the posibilities. One could time the arrival of enemy or friendly reinforcements to the ammo/casualties condition of one or both sides. One could setup proper ambushes and counter attacks. In general one could adjust the enemy's actions according to the player's position, moves and condition. Triggers are a must have for the CM-series and my number one wish for 2010!

Javelins need to be deployed?

Yep, would be great to get the campaign missions as stand alone scenarios. I only ever played five or six missions from the Marines campaign, then I lost my savegames and now I'm too lazy to start over again.

Hm, still waiting.

Is this out yet?

Looking forward to testing this.