Fizou

You know, Steve, it's actually pretty cool when you can come on these forums, and not only talk a little bit about the development stages of a game (when time permits), but simply to shoot the breeze with us from time to time
Guys...Your not going to get that from Big Game Developers.

Base game portraits are finally finished. A lot changed. They are up at CMMODS.
As it stands right now there are 2500+ portraits for the module version of this mod (which isn't done yet), and just over 1200 for the base game.
 

 
Have fun.
 
Mord.

Ok lightened up the Jihadi flag background a bit. Added a couple styles of Combatant and a Spy. Again all preliminary right now, but pretty damned good looking I think, for first shot attempts. There's a particular detail I added, see if any of you guys pick up on it.

I am really digging the spy.
Mord.

Needed a little side track from the RT portraits so I started some preliminary tests for SF2. Figured I'd begin with something cool looking that I could design the rest of the mod around. Not bad for a first run. I only had to redo the guy twice. Made him too small the first time.

I pulled the pouches up higher (second row pics) so they'd show more in the pic. I am not positive, but one of these may be a keeper with a tad more refining. Maybe lighten the head up just a bit more. It's hard to tell after staring at a screen for a couple hours.
 
This oughta get you jazzed for the release (like you guys need any help)! I know of at least one dude that is gonna be happy I started this.
 
Mord.
 

Ok, seeing that the main focus is RT at the moment, it's time to migrate this from the General Mods Forum.
Anyone interested can catch up here:
Refresher:
Old vs new portraits.

 
The new portraits together.

 
Their context within (JuJu's awesome) game UI.

 
@Badger73 "These are stunning, @Mord.  I might quibble with your choices for Heer Panzer and Heer Panzergrenadieren.  I thought German army tankers wore a black coverall of sorts and a tanker's beret.  I think the German army armored infantry should have steel helmets.  I look forward very much to your finished work.  Good luck with this."
Ok. Well, it didn't take long for one of them. I am fairly confident this one is a keeper. I am pretty happy with the way it looks and the way it fits into the rest of the design.
This German panzer commander strikes a gallant pose, a fitting nemesis for the awesome Soviet tanker (which happens to be one favorite portraits).

 
 
Mord.

I just did this,  dropped some benches and crates and placed a church on top. Pews and alter. Same for factories and warehouses you can drop sacks and barrels etc. I never used or saved what I did but here's a screen shot.

I dont think its a waisted effort at all, adds visual interest to interiors much like doodads, keep up the cool work

Im a big fan of your portraits mods, the insignia of individual units really adds to the immersion for me.  These new ones really blows everything else away! A must have mod.  

Now that SF2 is near to be released (so I hope), I'm waiting for more bones/screenshoots about R2V. Steve, do you have some sweets for us? (Please)

For nigh on ten years now my biggest projects have always been my portrait mods. I have invested weeks and months on end, that have added up to hundreds and hundreds of hours of time and frustration creating them. I have made easily over ten thousand portraits, through trial and error, redesign, and updates. It's been a true struggle at times, and I am never happy with the outcome, though I'll say I am, once a project is complete. But I am always fighting the design decisions I started with way back in SF1 and it's hamstrung me artistically. After the FB portraits I decided I wanted to redo all the portraits for all the titles (the BN mod is long over do for an update) . So, after a long hiatus, I set about trying to get to someplace that would finally make me happy. I decided to start with RT to get ahead of the module release, and after a week or so of fiddling, resizing, making test bmps, and checking in game, this is what I came up with.

For about two seconds I thought they looked good. But once again I was confronted by the poor design decisions I adopted all those years ago. You see, I have been in a constant fight with what I term the "bobble head effect", which causes the portrait heads to appear bulbous and fat-headed. It occurs because I opted to show each portrait with a split face on the bmp. It has been my bane since my BN mod and it frustrates me to no end. And considering how I built each face from screenshots, pieces of faces from all sorts of pictures, and the fact I only worked on the left side of the face, well it doesn't leave me room for presenting them in any other way. And On top of all that, I have always felt there was inconsistency in the quality of the faces, and that they appeared too cartoony.  So with that said, I am putting these portrait mods to rest. I have taken them as far as they will go and they have reached a dead end. They had a good run but there really isn't anything more I can do to improve them.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Now, check out what I have been doing for the last two weeks and tell me I didn't make the right decision...



Now for some comparisons of the old style and the new.


 
Now the portraits in the context of their own mod. It'll give you an idea of the overall design.


 
And within the context of the game UI.


 
Some of the portraits are tentative/place holders until I find something that really blows me away. Or will be replaced later. The Heer Armor and Armor Infantry come to mind as far as that goes. Luckily I haven't made anything yet with them, just tests.
Now, unfortunately I will probably have to share a lot of the portraits (mostly Germans) across games, however backgrounds and the like will be changed for each setting.  And I will of course do all the battalions and regiments etc. Whether or not I will be able to keep the quality across titles remains to be seen but I will do my best. It is going to be a colossal amount of work, already has been. For the Germans alone I have created and discarded over a thousand portraits. LOL. Every time I think I have one down and start producing keepers, I stumble across a better pic, or I adjust some color to better fit the portrait into the overall look and I have to redo a ton of work. I just replaced the Heer Infantry yesterday, now I have to redo 374 that I had already made, as well as the SS Arm Infantry. I have done this a couple times already. But getting it right is what's most important. Perfection is what I am aiming for.
I don't know how long it will take. Getting the right pics is painstaking and laborious as hell. For every good one I make I throw out five. But this style will be the definitive version of my portrait mods from here on out. As I complete them I will remove the old versions from the planet. I'll start threads in the corresponding game forums as I progress.
Welp, that's about it. I was gonna keep all this to myself and wait to surprise everyone, but I have been working in a vacuum for a month and it feels good to talk a little bit about it. Especially as I have been going full bore, night and day for two weeks straight. I Hope you guys like what you see. I think it's the best work I have ever done.

Mord.
 

I don't know if anyone knew but the CMX1 mod site shut down for a while this month. I contacted GAJ because I was looking for an old mod for reference. His second reply came in today and he asked me to share the info with the boards, so I have cut and pasted the pertinent parts.
 
"As I thought, usage exceeded the monthly allowance on the cheap plan I have at heroku (where it's hosted).

I'm currently paying $7 per month to keep it live on heroku, (I'd forgotten that actually!), plus another few dollars per month for the data storage at Amazon.

I have one contributor who contributes $5 per month, so I'm not too much out of pocket.

I'd need $20 per month to ensure it doesn't run out of usage on a monthly basis.

Contributions welcome (I think the site will have a paypal button when it comes back on 1 Aug).

Cheers,

GreenAsJade"
 
He actually signed it with his name as well but I don't know if he wants that public or not.
 
 
Mord.

Two roughly equal, but easily distinguishable Uncon factions would be a very handy thing to have.....When they're not fighting Red or Blue, they're fighting each other. 
Flexibility is king IMHO, the more we can do, the more we will.....CM players seem to be built that way.

Oh, and BTW, I'm in the middle of whipping up last minute texture changes to German Leopard 2s. I think after the game's released I'll upload a Turkish Leopard 2A4 texture as a 3rd party mod. So  people can play Turkey vs ISIS, Turkey vs Kurds, Turkey vs US...

MikeyD, thank you for responding.  Unfortunately what you describe is what I feared -- CMSF 2 not taking advantage of the "appearance" options already available in the other CM2 titles.
The appearance drop down menu allows scenarios where the same type of unit (Syrian regulars, say) to be present on both the "blue" and "red" side and have the appearance of belonging to different armies or factions. This enormously expands the options for red v. red scenarios. (Think Ethiopia v. Eritrea or any other clash involving eastern block equipment on both sides).
For example, the availability of two different options in the "appearance" drop down menu for the Ukrainians in CMBS ("standard" and "digital camo") in effect allows the creation of an entirely different faction. I use a mod the turns "digital camo" into the appearance of an unconventional force, which can either represent Ukrainian militia, or the Russian-backed separatists.  So, a scenario might include both Ukrainian troops, and the very same unit types but with a different appearance (and usually different soft factors) fighting against them as separatists in the same battle.
Similarly, in CMSF2, if there were multiple options in the appearance drop down menu for Syrians, it would greatly expand the possibilities for red v. red scenarios because Syrians on side "A" could look different from the "Syrians" on side "B."
That is all good to hear, but what I'm talking about is a different appearance between units, not a different appearance within units.  Variation within a unit does not create a different appearance for the same unit type selected to fight on different sides.
Thank you for the thought, but unfortunately I don't think so. Adding a unit tag would affect both sides.  So if one uses a mod tag to change the appearance of, say, Syrian regulars, it would change the appearance of those Syrian regulars that appear on both sides of the battle; thus it would not allow the Syrian regulars on side "A" look different from the Syrian regulars on side "B."  That is something the "appearance" drop down menu permits -- if Battlefront provides for more than one option.

Any way we can get some screens of the new Uncons? It's been 50 days since the screen shots in the CMSF2 thread where Steve said they needed to be fixed. MikeyD has since stated they were fixed. It doesn't look like Bil is gonna have any in his AAR thread, so. I am only asking because I know @Sgt.Squarehead is dying to see them. I don't think he should have to suffer any longer than necessary.
 
 
Mord.

The quality of the edition is that of a typewritten fanzine. I found too that the content has been mostly superseded by more recent work, at coarser timescales. The maps are imprecise sometimes - necessarily I think - but overall a useful resource if you want to visualize the campaign for the city itself on a daily basis.
I got the two first volumes, didn't get the other two because of the somewhat lukewarm sensation I got after going through them.

With the new site finally up we must take a minute to remember our old friend, the Repository, now relegated to the cold dark vacuum of cyberspace. Maybe not the prettiest of spots on the internet, that old ugly wench did her job in earnest, hosting some of the first and oldest of the new engine mods, maps and scenarios. She was the home to my first real endeavors into the modding arena (as ugly as some of them were) and she was the go-to spot before there was a go-to spot. Even though she was cast aside many a year ago for a prettier, younger Mistress, it was nice knowing she was still around if we needed her. And even though she was old, haggard, and hard to handle, she was there with her many forgotten (un-ported) treasures buried in a confusion of broken links and cyber-subterfuge waiting for a visit and a chat. Alas, she has finally and truly given up her ghost, along with many a mod (and perhaps) scenario that never made it to a shinier shore. So, as a new door opens, an old one closes and I say, fare thee well, sweet, ugly, PIA-to-navigate Repository, I salute thee for a job well done! You are gone but not forgotten...well, maybe a little.
And now a blatant and exploitative manipulation of your emotions...bow your heads and shut your mouths (especially you, Emrys, your Flea Deity commands it!)
 
 
Mord.

Some really good videos on US small formations (squads, platoons)
 
 
Hopefully this guy will make some more...😎

I can take wee look at it if you like - if its a smallish set-up would have the time to check out?

Steve no doubt I am sure it is hard maintaining ongoing communication here and getting all the work you guys have ahead of you done.
Your participation here is very much appreciated but I think most everyone understands you have work to do, heck considering the age group of CM fans I am sure we all have other things we need to be doing   But hanging out here of course is more fun.
Like I said before and not to repeat myself but I really do personally appreciate your honesty and the information you have provided here tonight.  I am super duper times infinity excited about the patch and most of all SF2!  I might even find some sand to dump in my underwear just to get the full immersion when that baby comes out!
Have a good week!
 

In honor of the imminent release of CMSF2, I figured I would get a heads start on the time honored tradition of complaining about every new release by making it into a fun game!
I give you, CMSF2 BINGO!

All in good fun of course.

?? 'cause if the bug is in the implementation of the OpenGL standard then games using direct X have zero chance of hitting it.
 
?? In 2018 it might not be good choice but in 2004 it was. 
Not necessarily but it increases the odds.
Well that's two.
True but this has played out many times: help CM crashes after a driver update, one or two iterations later a new driver fixes it. Rinse and repeat. 
Back a few years ago I experienced some wonky way point placement that no one else had. After a long time trouble shooting the final result turned out to be that AMD had fixed a long standing bug that they had refused / neglected to fix for years. CM had a work around in place to make the game work. BFC released a change to optionally turn off the work around so those of us with new drivers could work.
Even that example was clearly the card manufacturers' fault.
It is the workaround that you have
Yeah, the bottom line is that BFC has to think about what is best for them. Which typically is to get the card manufacturers to fix what they broke.
That's possible but the least likely cause.
Ah yes but OpenGL calls are involved in determining what was hit by the mouse. And yes that likely includes tracking movement too.
Also true. I'll ping the right bell so that people know. But just to set expectations the opening bid will likely be to wait and see what Nvidia does.

Interesting article for early war Ost Front fans.
http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/soviet-counterattck-at-verba/

Really nice read.
Almost as detailed as a George MC scenario/campaign.

Hey fellas, ScoutPL here.  Bil asked me to chime in.  This fight is from awhile ago (over a year I guess), so my memory for the detail is rusty but I think I can give you an idea what I was thinking.
Key to my plan was the open ground that existed between what I assumed was Bils front line (based on scenario intel and confirmed in the first few turns) and the actual objective.  Essentially, his line of communication from his forward trace back to his main position could be interdicted with fires.  So I set up a pretty strong Support By Fire position with my machine guns, Forward Observers, and one STUG.  I dont remember precisely, but I think there was an infantry platoon there for security, as well.
The main attack would consist of an end-run to my left, what Bil has labeled as AOA2.  I felt it offered the most cover and concealment and would force Bil to fight in two directions at once.  I had one ace in hand that made such an aggressive move possible: a few heavy trucks.  After the STUGs and a dismounted platoon proofed the route, I was able to move most of my company by truck to the Attack Position in two quick trips.  Then it became a slug fest as I pushed up the hill hedgerow by hedgerow.