bodkin

Or the cheaper option of having someone smack you about the head with a baseball bat to simulate the concussive effects of an artillery barrage.

Good to hear Steve, and thank you very much for contributing to this thread. I guess my concerns are that I want to enjoy this game at least as long as I did CMBO, I've been through several new PC's plus upgrades of hardware since I first discovered CMBO in 2003. I just think the current system of 1 activation a year once you've used up your initial 4 is a bit tight. I'm thinking long term here, I don't want to be playing CMBN in a few years time feeling the sword of Damocles is dangling above my head if want to buy a new video card. Fair enough?

So your saying it's not really about protection from piracy but weeding out 'bad' customers who have the misfortune to require tech support? I think most people who have raised concerns on this thread have conducted themselves in a civil manner and only requested clarification of how the new systems works to allay their fears whether real or imagined. Some of the responses however have just been unhelpful and divisive and have just attempted to marginalise the persons point of view as being one of a troublemaker and serial complainer. Personally I don't have a problem with BFC having a DRM, if it helps protect their product and financial security then that's great. I think the method in which this is being done is the issue. An extra activation top up every six months rather than a year would make this alot more palatable and suck up less of the company profits through people bothering the support staff as suggested. Two cents spent.

It's not 4 a year it's 4 period. 1 per year can be acquired.

doesn't answer the questions but does it?

Just did the most relevant posts point to this thread, so once again please point me to the thread that explains this new DRM.. Cheers...

Please provide that link..

Just a bit disapointed with BFC that's all, supported them for years, but they need to tell everyone how this new system works.

So more like a subscription....

exactly...

Remember that the four activations is for the lifetime you own the game, if this system was in place for CMBO I'm sure I'd have to buy the game again. I'd like to play CMBN for a long time without any licence problems.

Yeah sure, if you want to pay for the game twice.

I'm not sure this is the case, I need some official clarification on this.

I was quite happy with the e-licence system, but I understand if BFC do not want to continue using it, it's up to them. However I'm a bit concerned over their choice of the new DRM, from what I can tell so far this is how it works: * you get four activations per licence, these cannot be retreived by unlicensing, you just get four. * every 365 days you can get another one activation. Maybe I'm getting worried about nothing but I think some clear explanation of how it works would be nice, and can someone answer these questions? Can I accrue activations? e.g. if I have two left after the first year does it go back up to three after 365 days? If I use all four in the first year for whatever reason does that mean I can only activate the game once per year after that if I need to format my local drive, upgrade or buy a new pc? What kind of upgrade will require a new activation? Obivously a new local drive, but what about MB, Video Card, RAM?

The current e-licence already provides this for CMSF and CMA.

I might be reading this wrong but four total activations per year seems like it will cause a bit of stress for users who have to upgrade, format drives, replace pc's etc for what ever reason. What happens if I use up all four in the first year, does that mean I can only install it once a year after that? Will there still be an offline activation process?

As the effects graphics don't seem to have been updated the first thing I'll do is import CMSF mods that change explosions, flames, smoke etc. Maybe even Mords vocal mayhem mod for more realistic US voices minus the refrences to 'Hadjis'.

I'm only going on what I've noticed in CMSF but I'm pretty sure a unit can spot outside the arc, although their main focus will be on what's happening in the arc. If an enemy pops up outside the arc they wont shoot at it (which is why arcs are used for ambushing). If a vehicle is using an arc and a real threat pops up outside it I believe it will take evasive action.

Good to see some of the German troops are now wearing ankle boots which I believe Steve said they would try to do in the future, but looks like it's made it into the first release.

Oh this thread has legend stauts potential. "remember the great helmet notch thread of 2011, ..."

Came across CMBO boxed version in a gaming store in small country town, probably around 2003-4, thought it looked interesting and the addiction started there.

Red Badge of Courage my friend.

A nice grahical realism touch that could be done is to have a building base tile. In CMSF anyway it looks really odd to have a building overlayed on a landscape, the building base has a razor sharp image contrast against the underlying terrain tile. Maybe it's the scenario designers fault but a few basic tiles to represent some human activity around a building like foot pads, small stone paths, etc just something to blend the building into the terrain.

Unless you have to 'unlicense' the game which cannot be done remotely.

I don't think the OP is talking about making the environment more detailed, in fact I believe he is arguing for the opposite but with improved lighting/shadow effects to make the game look less cold and clinical.