cabal23

I will have to agree the pricing is confusing. I think there was a much better way to do it. Slightly convoluted.

I think you did good. What I do is I come up with a total and try and make it so each side has a opportunity to score the same number of points, but w/ different objectives. I always make it even, though I have seen it done many ways. It seems I have seen it so the Syrians have a very lopsided score and always lose. I don't think it should be like that. Also I have seen people use scoring in the tens, hundreds and thousands, so it is really up to the designer, but I like hundreds personally.

How do you create red vs. red scenarios?

Thanks for taking the time to stay in the ring on this one Steve, but I think you are really trying to minimize complaints about the game. I keep seeing BF respond to this supposed fringe group of vocal people, but when I look back , it seems like your core customers(members who have been around for awhile) are the ones hedging their complaints. You guys run the company, so you ultimately just say your right and we are wrong, but water aside, CMSF has had it's share of bumps. I mean you lost a huge chunk of your initial fan base because of the poor state the game was in on release. Look back at your reviews. I think I would have been really sad if those had been my initial reviews. Obviously since then the game has become much better and I for one took my dusty copy off the shelf after the last patch. I just feel if you want to keep growing this franchise and have people keep buying your product, you should really take a good look at what your audience wants. Either there is this huge silent majority no one hears from (that's what most responses from BF sound like after people take issue with this or that) or the people that post here are your core audience. The funny thing is you have a slice of the market no really caters to, it is very elitist and you will have sales regardless, but will you continue to grow your franchise? We all want a healthy community so when people say a game sucked on release and they never play it again, we lose a future member of the community. When people think they didn't get what they purchased and or angry about lack of features, we lose community members as well. I would take comments from the fringe loonies(which in my belief is a lot more of your core customers than you think) a bit more serious. These are hard economic times and people are becoming more informed before they make purchases. What happens when you start losing all your vocal supporters who just want to have a say in the direction of the game? I hope and pray that doesn't happen, as I love this game and it's community. Personally I could care less about water and more about a game engine that is consistent and not replaced in a few years, and give the opportunity for expansion to multiple modern theaters of war. I think that is all anyone here wants. I doubt there is anyone who wouldn't agree that it would be a win/win scenario.

I can't imagine why you "need" it. Almost everyone is using SP2 and what I have learned from MS is upgrade after someone else has done it. There are always issues to address after a patch with many software titles.

Yeah the possibilities could have been endless. I mean they could have released 3-4 expansion packs alone just for CMSF with new flavor items, terrain tiles, ect. We could have been fighting modern conflicts all over the world. Right here in the US if someone wanted to do a scenario for it. I would have payed $15 per for new stuff and new armies. Once CMSF2 comes out people will just play that because it will be the "full package" as far as having bugs worked out and being what this game could have been. It would have been nice to continue making desert themed scenarios if we chose. I just hope someone somewhere makes a great game that just leaves the conflicts up to the designers and publish all the armies of the world with and editor. If I want to recreate the Battle of Fulda Ga, Falkland Islands, or a raid on Colombian drug cartel, then I can. I mean some much of what's out there weapons wise was being used 30 years ago as well, Hell Syria is using most of it as are other smaller nations. The possibilities are endless. I would pay $100 for that game. And the engine is right here. So easy to just open it up and let people create their own storyline ect. This is an international theme and people would be able to put their own spin on it depending on what part of the world they come from. It could have been huge. We can only hope.

Please tell me Predators and recon drones will make into the iteration of this game. Anyone who has been following what's going on in Pakistan will know a very successful strike was just completed with Predators. Also I remember hearing stories from Iraq about drones buzzing over their heads all night as they slept in the wadi's.

Sorry I misread what you said, diasable not add time. Ooops my bad.

Just open up their scenerio in the editor and change the amount of time. Is that what you mean?

I fired six Javelins at a fortification today and nothing happened. Still there, with crew inside. How could that possibly be? At least you would expect the structure to weaken? Right? Is that not modelled into the game? I mean SIX javeins is pretty bad ace. No way any humans would surive that, or maybe I am military weapons idiot. Seems like if it can punch through armor it could punch through stone. What say you?

"Er... not well thought out? Sure, it was. Very well thought out in fact. We identified water/bridges as a major time sink for a feature that had minimal need to be in the first release." Not being pciky and I know it's been talked to death but how can you the element that cover most of the earth not be a feature that is considered? I agree the marsh tiles with the water mod work fine. But I can't imagine sitting at a table discussing my future game that is built on designing landscapes for war and saying, "Water isn't important, that is such a secondary item." Maybe I am crazy about all those water posts I have read. It sounds like to me it is the number one gripe with this game is water and the second is bridges. I agree Rome wasn't built in a day and BF must understand that the majority of people are going to support their game regardless of their maybe sometime odd choices.. But I am still stuck on how water and bridges would have pushed this game out years. I understand how coding and programming works, and that staement just stumps me. I am sure you guys did your best. Just a wonky choice of statements to make though. I mean really YEARS? BUT...............the final is answer is still no. I get it. I still love the game and maybe that's why we are in this predicament we all love the game despite it's obvious flaws we will keep playing.

Hypothetically in this imaginary conflict what were to happen if Iran threw its gloves into the ring. Then Iraq would be under siege from two fronts. Then perhaps this conflict wouldn't sound like such a pushover and the Americans would be playing more of a defensive role. What say you?

I am just curious how many people use CMMODS? I just wonder why so few people leave feedback? I think it is crazy that 200+ people could download your stuff and four of them leave feedback. I don't think people think much about how long it takes someone to make a scenario, let alone a CAMPAIGN. I have been making an effort to go back and start rating everything I have downloaded, because quite frankly there is good and bad stuff on there and I don't want to download everything. Also I want the designer to know I appreciated his work and to keep on churning out great stuff. New scenarios are why I have been playing this game for as long as I have. I recommend everyone to do this because it makes the game grow. Not many designers want to keep making scenarios if they think people don't like them. So make sure when you download something of somebodies, at least rate it. You don't have write a book, but some feedback helps designers know what people like and what to keep investing their time into. This gaming community rocks so I want it to keep growing.

OMG this is so crazy. I was just thinking a few days ago how to make a zombie themed scenario. I was playing the Copper Mine Riot scenario and the designer has you start out behind all these civies and they are you shield. I immediately though what an awesome idea for a scenario. Somehow create a scenario where you have to take a ace load of spies and have them head at a group of soldiers. Score would be contingent on how many spies you kill. Unfortunately there is no hand to hand in this(to my knowledge), so with no weapons, it would be a very boring scenario, but the mall map would be perfect...at the least for a screen shot.

I have a funny story about SEALS too, I was stationed at 32nd St Naval Base San Diego and I was standing at the end of a pier talking to the guy on watch at the gate and it was dusk. I sat down on a pylon and I heard splashing behind me. Not long after SEALS begin climbing up onto the pier. Scared the holy ****e out of me. They had been practicing putting demo charges on the ships in harbor. After that I too wanted to be a SEAL too. I had a bunch of friends ring out and they were way tougher than me, so I gave up on that dream. We also had a good time with those guys during RIMPAC. They were aboard our frigate and they were going to infil the beach and take out several "red" barracks on the Hawaiian island the exercises were going on and come back to the ship. Somehow they managed to bring back beer. I have no idea how they did it, but they did. Hilarious.

Thanks for the response BF! I am glad to know it was an option at one time. I am certainly glad you guys made the game you did. I am sure every person here has their interpretation of what the game could have been. I hope to be here by 2025 so I hope it's not completely out of the question..right? As for those naysayers who said it would be hollow, I doubt that with all the excellent scenario designers out there. Many of the scenarios I have played have had excellent briefings that really throw you into the mix and make it feel more real. I think you can still do a ton of things with this game. For instance I created a scenario(to be released soon on CMMODS) about a Marine Recon unit seizing drug fields in South America. Totally feasible with this engine. People will push the limits of this engine as much as possible. I always look at a scenario and ask myself what hasn't been done yet and how can I accomplish it. I am also working on a campaign of the seizure of a port city with docks. I am using the water mod and it looks fantastic so far. So the possibilities are there, it just would have been nice to have a more open palette of colors and flavor objects.

VISTA=JUNK...Microsoft has admitted it's failure with this product and has moved on. Vista is the equivalent of Windows Millenium. All hype, no follow thru. I uninstalled it after a few days and multiple glitches in games that ran fine before. Stick with XP. Don't reinvent the wheel if it's not necessary.

Worst case scenario, BF will email it to you. I lost mine twice, and got it in hours.

surely don't give BF enough credit...the foundation is already there. I will of course take what I can, but I think it would have been a wonderful idea. All you are doing is making skins for soldiers and implement the main equipment each nation uses. Most nations use either US or Russian equipment, although there are somethings out there that would be unique. I don't think it would be as massive as you think.

If I ran Battlefront I would have created a game that didn't have a storyline, and just create a game that has all of the countries and their modern day equipment and let the scenario designers go to it. Include a large pallet of colors and objects Make a simple graphic organizer that allows you alter skin color and uniforms.Think about it, Africa, N/S Korea, Russia, Middle East, ect. The engagements would be unlimited. Not to mention the equipment part would be easy, being that most countries buy their vehix from other nations, there wouldn't be too many more things to model. If you come up with a solid engine that would hold it's own for a few years, and you release country expansion packs every few months, it would be awesome. BUT..I don't run Battlefront and can only hope one day to see a game like this. Maybe it call Combat Mission: Future Engagements? For now we will twist and turn and mod everything and anything we can to create a stellar game that fits our personalities.

With much respect to the developer, I agree some things seem dated or over complicated. But in the same respect, some things like the editor are ridiculously easy to use. Things that seem over complicated are roads(highways), water(or lack of), changing the interior of building so clearing building can be tailored to force troops to not just walk through walls, but actually use door placed inside buildings(currently it is a huge task of detailing the inside of buildings with much grace. You always end up changing something you don't want to change..it is very frustrating), troops exiting vehicles and standing around to get shot as they form up(I am worried what happens when 25 marines disembark), and everything else the OP mentioned. I am fully behind BF and will gladly give them my money. I just hope they are hearing our pleas when the next version of this game is created. I still can't find any game nearly as accurate as this as far as a modern setting so anything they improve upon is a plus.

I thought the concept was neat, but the actual ability to implement just wasn't there. Maybe in the next iteration of this game they will include a means to build bridges. If a tiny program like Bridge Builder can do it, they can. I did feel that you either won hard or lost hard. No in between. None of my bombs hit so it was a cluster*uc$ altogether. Loved the Fox correspondents. You should have had some CNN guys across the street!

I thought the concept was neat, but the actual ability to implement just wasn't there. Maybe in the next iteration of this game they will include a means to build bridges. If a tiny program like Bridge Builder can do it, they can. I did feel that you either won hard or lost hard. No in between. None of my bombs hit so it was a cluster*uc$ altogether. Loved the Fox correspondents. You should have had some CNN guys across the street!

I second that notion, because I want to play now!

totally off topic, but the music seems to be inspired by the music of Black Hawk Down. The music in that movie was middle eastern vocals, with crunching guitars. Not really what I would consider weird, but I think it fits this game perfectly. I will take this over some patriotic country garbage any day. Sorry to have hijacked the thread, I just thought it was a funny comment.