DeLaVega

You guys are the incredible ones! I came home from work, thought about to continue the Allied campaign a little, checked the forum while I was eating and ...stopped here. That is really nice of you all, but how can I continue playing now? From your comments I get too much motivation to start part 3. Actually I planned this for my next days off in a few days. The planes: They are from the good old classic "IL-2 Sturmovik". Everyone who likes WW2 flightsims and hasn`t taken a look at that piece of history should give it a try. (Now available as a set with all parts which ever were released) Since it was made with almost the same game engine as ToW I think both fit together very well. The contest: A few of you mentioned it and I really appreciate that, but I mixed up two games and this, I think, is against the rules. But there`s another point which Slapaho talked about already. The music. Some of you may know the piece I used, but all of you can imagine that it wasn`t me who "created" this. So, if the men in black suit or uniform ring my doorbell I will take over full responsibility for that, but in no way I want to put this on BFC. On the other hand, I really think these pieces fit to the scenes, therefore I don`t want to change them for the contest. If in August there will be no other videos on the channel Slapaho will go, since he is the first and single poster until now. Always the first one on youtube, how do you do that? puncturedsphere: Thank you very much for your detailed comment. I noticed that you only posted 2 times. That makes it a great honor to get one from you. Yes, I`m aware of the fact that the black and white scenes take you out of the flow for a moment and sometimes it is hard to recognize everything at first sight, but it really reminds me more of watching a documentary feature than just Pixel soldiers running like ants on the screen. Maybe you have noticed that in some documentaries the footage is so bad that you really start to think what this reel went through while or after it was recorded. But, although it`s not quite relaxing to watch and do take you out of it, I think it gives you a little sense of time and how it affected the footage. This impression I just try to put to the videos, therefore the different tones and contrast of black and white. And of course I want to force you all to watch it again. Tofke: Wow. My mouth was open for ten minutes when I saw the King Tiger in La Gleize. Have you been to there? Really huge piece of steel. ...and a huge piece of stupidity to use that thing during the Ardennes Offensive. Slapaho: Thanks for your support. Seems you are always the first on youtube! By the way, I watched your Normandy pictures and was really touched somehow. Can`t imagine that THE invasion really happened there. Webwing: Of course you will continue making a video, soldier! Different persons bring up different ideas. Maybe together we can make the ultimate "Theatre of War" feature film. pwncake: You watched this video during work? Did you leave the screen switched on? Maybe BFC can welcome a few more customers tomorrow. MikoyanPT: Since you can`t stop playing I assume you missed most parts of the video. So I suggest you better watch it again.

Ha, after 4,5 days (in which I lost 3 of my 9 remaining hairs) of endless struggle with various editing and encoding softwares I put the next part of the little series I wanted to make on youtube. Although I recorded 60 GB of material, which would have been enough for another 2 videos, 70% had to go to the trash bin. 10 minutes are just not enough and the editing software cried for more memory after I threw all 225 files in it. I almost wanted to give up, but I hope at least a few of you like it. It`s a different style than the first one. It`s really a pity that I had to drop so many scenes. Two tanks knocked each other out at the same time, but put in the small window of youtube you can`t see much. In this video are a few handgrenade "attacks" but you hardly can recognize them. But I managed to avoid the cutting of the frame, although it has black bars on every side of the screen now. :-( The Pz III got hit at least 10 times, I stopped counting. For real it looked like a swiss or dutch cheese, what`s left on youtube.... hm :-(. Anyway, this game is worth to make videos of it. I like CoH, too, but back then I never had the urge to make a video. So, thanks to Battlefront and 1C that the game finally was released. One example of the various possible game outcomes is kept in the video when a PzII got hit. 2 crew members get out, but the tank keeps rotating and you actually think it`s just the tanks last breath after losing one track. But there is still the driver inside and he only leaves the tank after the next hit. There are so many stories in it which want to be told. On this video I spent the last 4 days of my vacation which started one day after the release of the game. What a coincidence. Now, it`s back to work and I don`t know when I actually can PLAY this game. Thanks again for your nice comments you gave me after watching the first part. Hope this one doesn`t give you the feeling of having wasted 10 minutes. MikoyanPT: Really hope you can find something in it which makes you want to start playing again. Greetings to Portugal Oudy: Hope you are not too disappointed now that this is already my second try. Ah, almost forgot the link:

Not only music, for 47 seconds of battlefield ambience they really want to have almost 5$? And still you can use that only a few times if at all, because attentive minds might hear directly that it is the same sound file over and over again.

I tried it a few times and it wasn`t worth the loading time. One time we managed to get 4 players together and then I waited for 50 minutes, but nothing happened. Actually I didn`t want to be the first one who quits and leaves, but afterwards I figured out I was the last one. But no reponse in the game that the others dropped already. In a 2 player game it can load around 5 minutes, but you only have a handful of units and no reinforcements. And the maps are poorly designed and look like the surface of the moon. At least it was like this way for the first week after it was released. I don`know, if there has been changes yet. Until there are changes I cannot recommend it. Best way to find a player is via a messenger like ICQ or the IP address lobby. But I forgot the link. You can find it a few thread pages backwards. People talked about it often around the release date.

Seems I was 10 min. too late with my answer. :-(

Normal Dude you can use a capturing software like FRAPS to record what is shown on the screen. But: I thought the suffering-through-try-out-capture-edit-and-encode-journey would be at an end after I made the Poland video. But for me it`s not like this way. :-( Fraps encountered problems with my soundhardware. So I tried another two programs, only to see that they were even worse. It took me a while to solve the sound recording issue only to recognize that this nice little FRAPS causes problems in different editing softwares. It puts a sweet code on the files which can cause problems when you want to export the film from the editing software. This means you have to find another converter to transform the AVI files from FRAPS into "normal" AVI files the editing software can handle. For the second part of my little video series I recorded almost 60 GB of scenes only to figure out that the various editing softwares cannot handle the amount of files. But I think in order to get some decent scenes you have to record enough source material. So I have to put a few scenes together to a bigger piece, than two bigger pieces into an even bigger one and so forth. Hope that after all this encoding the result will still be something and not just one blank screen. This does not mean that you necessarily have to encounter the problems I did, but I think the more complex the video is the more problems you will face. For 2 minutes of game scenes it will do to record it with FRAPS and edit it with Windows Movie Maker afterwards.

Em, Moscow is now rated the most expensive city in Europe. Can`t the 1C guys just come to the winner?

FinnN, thanks for your comment. I made the video before the videocontest started. Therefore I put it in a thread I opened. I think it wouldn`t fit the requirements of the contest. Not only from the map graphics and the IL-2 scenes, but it is also very edited... And if I understand the rules right this is also not "allowed". Therefore I think the contest also could be named: Show us your most incredible game experience. I think editing is only meant to shorten the video in the contest, not for a dramatic purpose. Unfortunately ...

Thank you guys for your comments! Since I`m really unhappy about the "out of picture" events in the video on youtube I focus now on keeping the action in the middle of the screen. Hopefully the results in the next video will be better.

I captured a few battle scenes from the Poland missions and put them into a video. Actually it should be part one of a whole series. Since youtube has cut the screen frame, sometimes the action takes place out of the picture. :-( But it was my first try to get a few usable moments out of the battles, which, you all know it very well, is not easy without a replay function. Nevertheless I will try to remember the screen limitations in the upcoming parts. Maybe a few of you can get some entertainment out of it. ...while the others get interested in the game. The next part (France) is already in progress, though the Char B seems to be a little shy and successfully evades the camera lense. What a diva... For everyone who is interested:

Jaguar, I also think using Quicksave has a bad taste... . But actually I think it depends on the game. In CM I never saved during a battle, in CC you couldn`t save (if I recall it right). It`s much more thrilling without saving. But for these missions in this game I would have thrown it away after a few tries. But, I have to admit, the tank shoot-outs are still fun in a weird kind of way. Sometimes I even reload after the tanks knocked each other out too fast making me missing the action. Um, Villers-Bocage... almost the same story. On the german side it`s quite entertaining. Wait until you play the same mission on the allied side. I only won with luck. And literally quick saved after every knocked out Tiger. Yet I lost almost all own tanks. I read a few posts and some were really lucky, didn`t lose any tank at all. ...and I was close to losing my mind.

Jaguar I have to admit that your posts make me smile everytime and I really will miss something after you finished the game. Your series of posts regarding the missions (starting at Dunkirk) had always something ...refreshing. Ja, about this mission I already posted, too. But I got luckier than you, I only lost the tanks six times. And at the seventh try my Tiger alone knocked out 80% of the enemy tanks (on hard level). Luck? I wouldn`t say so. It`s the incredible in game calculations which made the realtime AI think: "If we let this guy lose his tanks one more time, he will turn away from me." The same AI let my reinforcements survive after they had been shot to pieces 5 times before. Due to this "unbalancy" of mission design I can only suggest what I suggested always: Quicksave. And not every 10 minutes, soldier. After every knocked out enemy tank! Dismissed.

:cool: When my tanks knock out an enemy tank with one shot at 2 kms. If I just sit in the grass and see my tanks rolling by. When my tanks got knocked out through 2 kms of bushes. :mad: When my reinforcements don`t survive 3 seconds (who has designed that missions?) But somehow it`s a for me (in the hope that there are some well designed missions coming).

Blade Runner: To 1): Yes that stopping makes me crazy, too, sometimes. Especially when the tanks are under fire. But I guess, since the tank commanders get their orders by mail pigeons they have to stop and take them aboard. To 3): You are right, I also faced this phenomenon. First in the Citadel mission ...and then in the rest of the german campaign, too. I posted it already in another post. The way how the T-34 AND M4 afterwards just swallow the 8,8 cm shell looks more to be a balancing and gameplay reason than a realistic fact. Even with the T-34 sloped armor it shouldn`t look like they got no harm at all. Because the way it is now you also can use the Pz IV`s. There is no difference in the different calibers (75, 76 or 88mm) in the game. At least not in the german campaign.

Again, what I most dislike about these small maps is that your bad placed reinforcement directly getting shot at when they enter the map. :-(

In my review of the german campaign I put in some pics about a real location and then the game screen. It was about the Houffalize mission, which turned out to be Bastogne. Bastogne they called it in the mission editor and fil mentioned it, too. But the mission text speaks about Houffalize. Anyway, neither Houffalize nor Bastogne looks even close to what it looks like in the game. It`s really pity, because in IL-2 there are huge cities even with famous landmarks. ...And now the buildings don`t look much prettier than before.

This was the first battle, where I got to dislike the LOS. The enemy PAK can hit you directly after the mission starts, although there are so many trees in between. Hm, now I got used to it, but at that time I really got the feeling that the trees are just for cosmetical purposes. I only could defeat the T-60`with the PAK I either captured or brought to the front. Funny is this ridiculous assault of the snowmobiles. Why did they put them in, but left the 88 (for example) out? And in this map I encountered one ?bug? directly in the start-up phase. One PAK I "bought" was not moveable and was positioned close to the enemy trenches outside the area in which you can put the units. Of course it got knocked out at once. This bug or whatever it was I encountered in two or three missions in the german campaign.

This is really a nice one W583!

Saint Lo on german side was pretty easy I think. The PAK destroyed the enemy tanks at quite far distances. Saint Lo on the U.S. side, well that`s another story. I think either you have to prone with the infantry over to the german PAK`s and destroy them, or use your artillery/ ground attack assets. The fighters just shoot with MG, therefore you can spend them on the PAK. At least I have never seen them destroying a tank. So, the two Flak vehicles on the right side I attacked first. Mortar and fighters. Afterwards I took care for the PAK. Without them removed your tanks won`t have a chance. So, put barrages on their positions. And if your own artillery shoots like Mulligan in "Kelly`s Heroes" you have to ...Quickload. So, don`t be shy in using this method to destroy the PAK. What will come next is not less challenging.

I think "The Hauptmann vs. the Tommy" would fit subjectwise. I put the storyboard in flintlocks screenshot gallery. It`s on page 3. If this also counts, Normal Dude.

I like ToW. Somehow. Some titles need more time to get into than others. "Take Command - 2nd Manassas" for example. Even the old "Sid Meier`s Gettysburg" was easier to handle and the user interface in Take Command is not exactly what you could call intuitive. Same is ToW. You have to remember every time to press the "Hold Position" button, after you moved your troops. But after a few games even this works. I still use the Pause function often. Not only to get a better overview, but also to enjoy the graphics. So, after a little practice it works. But still there are a few things I miss. Most important for me are random missions and random maps. So, of course I compare it to CM. Not because of the gameplay, but because of such features like the Quick Mission Builder. And then I ask myself, what the guys at 1C have done in the last 4 years? Such a game shouts literally for open maps and mission generators. But instead they give us 40 maps which look pretty much the same, except the color. After you played each mission you know exactly where all the AT guns are positioned and where the reinforcements enter the map. And this takes much thrill out of the game for me. In addition to that no tactics are needed, no encircling, no flanking some essential things are missing which I hoped for being part of the game. Yes, ToW is not CM. And as I said, somehow I like it. But it could have been more than frontal assaults in which the infantry prones to the front as a scout and the tanks clear up the rest. People play(ed) CM because of the inner beauty. But this is missing here. Therefore I can understand that they (I) compare these two games. After the first patches/ mods have arrived we are able to see, if there can be more behind the nice graphics, or if it was just enough to fill a screenshot gallery.

SIO: Thanks for your response. Regarding changing of seats: The Commander should have the highest Leadership level, the gunner the "gunner" level, the driver the driving level, etc. right? So, I put the person with the highest points in each class to its particular station. And when the gunner has 100 in "gunning" and the driver only 10, then I expect that, in the heat of the battle, the gunner stays at his position. Of course only, when he is still alive. But I found the driver on the gunner`s place and vice versa. The commander handled the machine gun and the loader was commanding the tank. None of them kept their specific tasks and this was what annoyed me, since I paid attention to their level in their main task and of course put them to the right place before the mission started. Damage model: I`m quite aware of the fact that there are different ways of damage or penetration, it`s just strange that this happens especially often with tanks which have the "firepower" to destroy other tanks at long range with a single shot. If the A.I. would have the same problems destroying the players tanks I wouldn`t mind it, but the way it is now it looks a little unbalanced for me. If the shell breaks it should be graphically displayed, because in reality you were able to see that, too. Shooting AP is probably what they should do, but I have watched the opposite. Otherwise I wouldn`t have list it here. They have loaded HE, shot at another tank and the repeatedly big explosion kept my attention and I thought: "What`s he doing?" then I switched to AP manually and finally he could destroy the other tank. Should it be Bastogne? The mission text is talking about Houffalize. I understand that big cities are not realizable because of the performance, ...although, what is this games` name which doesn`t reload although there`s a city in it? Could it be GTA San Andreas? But that`s not the point. If there would be an infantry unit in this town or an AT gun you could get the atmosphere to get into a city and take them out. But in this particular mission everything happens around. There could be one lake or a pond, the result would be the same. Substract 4 buldings, widen the street a little, put a platoon inside this settlement and it will get a complete different atmosphere.

But the crew animations of Wespe/ Hummel/ M 10 are also quite different. And Wespe and Hummel were quite rare, too. And whatabout the polish and french units? I mean, no offence, but why did they implement these? For 10 missions maximum? Yes, using them is a quite fresh scenario, but compared to the whole European theatre this covered a time of about 10 weeks. 2,5 month of a campaign which lasted over five years. Then they should have skipped french and polish units and take in other interesting units, like the Churchill flamethrower or 380mm mortar. Or since there are mines in the game, is there any way to clear them? ...this brings me to: Engineers. Where are they? In "West Front" of Talon Soft you could use the french units, too and it was rewarding somehow, because the missions were extended over a longer time, but as quick as the Polish and French campaigns are solved in ToW, this really makes me ask, why they put these units in the game and didn`t move the programming resources over to units, which make the other forces more complete.

88: In Company of Heroes they also animated the two different guns. And just for the 88 and the PAK 38/ M57. Nothing more. And if you have seen 4 men interact with the 88 in CoH you don`t want to see anything less animated anymore. ...except for us realistic game lovers. Seems we only get the crumbs... :-( ...and even more weird. We are willing to take them.

If I recall it right this campaign has only one mission without trenches (Villers Bocage) and especially in the beginning it got boring for me, because you always take them out in the same way. No tactics are needed/ supported. And when you have to defend trenches the enemy shells you at almost 80% hit accuracy. My favourite missions were "Citadel" and "Saint Lo". The tank encounter at "Citadel" and the nice hilly area of "Saint Lo", where you have to stop the american troops at long range were exactly what I had hoped for in ToW. Would be nice if they would have added some (at least bitmap) smoke clouds after the americans shell the german positions. The smoking hill would create a special kind of mood and atmosphere, which I missed a little due to extensive use of always the same sunny sky. Sometimes the crew member switches from a Wehrmacht rank to an SS rank. That wouldn`t be so uncommon, but if only the commander of a tank turns then it`s not realistic, if the crew still belongs to the other "group". Sometimes the crew changes positions within a battle. My gunners had points of 100 and at the end of the mission I found the driver on their seats or a few times the commander. At the beginning of the campaign you are in need of AA support, because of the strafing IL-2`s and you have none. At the end of the campaign you can choose the Flak, but then there are no airstrikes anymore. Bad mission design. I thought it might be the close range encounters of "Citadel", which let the T-34 just "swallow" the 8,8 cm shell, but it seems to be slightly unbalanced for the whole rest of the campaign. All other tanks mostly need more hits do get knocked out, while they can destroy you with one hit. Since even the high velocity gun of the Panther can destroy an IS-2 or an ISU-152 at moderate ranges, it`s really not amusing, if a Panther needs 3 hits to kill a Stuart. Sometimes the tanks fire with HE shells on other tanks, although they have AP shells in store. And it`s not only the first round to clear the gun. They reload HE munition to knock out a tank. In the "Last Frontier" mission I encountered the problem that they used up all AP munition and shot with HE round at the russian tanks ...for at least five minutes. Then the russian came into view of the last (but imobilized) german tank which had AP rounds left and got knocked out. Otherwise I would have to restart the map. :-( For me it turned out that the "unit buy" screen before a battle is not implemented well, like in the CC series. So many units are offered which you never use. If three Tigers are available, why should I use a Pz III, let alone infantry. Even the Tigers don`t have much of a chance in the upcoming mission. I awarded and promoted a few tankers, just to realize that the rest of all other "AI" crews have almost the same quality. Why don`t you have to award anyone from just one XP point pool? That everyone can be promoted makes it boring and then you just press the automatic button. I also see that the campaign is too short for such a "reward system". Some guys would never raise in level, but this way it`s just not necessary. So, what I liked in the german campaign were the tank units. From the screenshots I posted you can see that I really like the Tiger, although just a slow piece of steel. But the graphics of it are so nicely to watch. And the zooming possibilty gives you really a good impression of how big these tanks were. Also the IS-2 and King Tiger. What I didn`t like so much were the relatively boring trench attack missions and, as I posted already, the triggered reinforcements, which mostly are directly involved in battle meaning being shot to pieces. Why there are so little meeting engagements? And the weather in the german campaign is way too friendly (or should I say, way too ...same). And finally, why can`t there be battles which lead through towns? I mean, even without entering buildings it could be nice to move through the streets. In the mission editor I saw the mission "Bastogne" so I thought, hm, this will be a battle in and around the city. When you get to that point in the campaign you have to realize that it`s not Bastogne, but Houffalize (both are in Belgium, but Bastogne had a much greater meaning). Okay, I thought, even in Houffalize you could have a town engagement. Accidentially I have been there in 2005 and this is what it looked like: Do you see the tiny detail in the back of the pic? And this is what you get: So, no town engagements here. :-(