Kieme(ITA)

Problem is, how far will they go with this series (2x), I mean, how many theaters will they cover, how many more games will they make? There's still a lot of potential titles, will they stop somewhere or will try to cover them all? 1939-1943 western front 1941-1943 eastern front 1940-1943 north africa korea vietnam arab-israeli wars shock force 2 (?) Will they cut somewhere? How many more titles can we foresee with the actual engine (given the improvements it gets at every release)? Even if you take only the first three obvious ones (to fill up the WW2 theaters), there's room for 3 main games and at least two modules each. Let's see, there's the main game Bulge coming. Then we room for at least two modules for RT and BS, one or two for Bulge, one for FI... That's one main game coming (Bulge) plus room for 6 modules (at least)... That would be something like 4 main titles and 12 modules with the actual game engine (upgraded at each main release)... that's stuff for 4-6 years at least...

We must also be careful not to load the interface with too many information. In the end, part of Mastering CM games consists also in personal research, manual reading, experience etc.

Best friend of FO are target reference points. You can have your FO sheltered in a building and still call artillery on the other side of the map without even seeing the location. The arty reaction times are even quicker. Other than this, the FO teams must be used in concealed position, make sure they don't fire to the enemy (use cover arcs), use, if possible, higher positions (buildings/Hills), and try to look for spots that let you see as much terrain as possible. The in game tutorial is a good source of information on how to handle FO teams, at least as a basic concept. In order to engage multiple targets in one turn you need multiple spotters and multiple arty assets. In case of a pre-emptive strike (at the beginning of the battle) a single spotter can give commands to all assets, afterwards you'll need to give 1 spotter 1 arty mission per time.

Try to install winrar in your computer: http://www.win-rar.com/download.html Then, you'll be able to open all winrar files. Once it has been opened, take the files inside and put them in the Z folder as they are.

Wondering that too. There's some space empty on that corner, not sure how it would be used, could also be left empty. What about a modern NATO tactical symbol representing the unit type?

Did you try to contact BFC support via mail?

Still working on the silhouettes for the interface, what is your opinion on this possible solution, national flags on top-right corner of the vehicle spot:

Maybe you can add gas masks and suites, but you have to consider all the limitations, the main one concerns animations. Even if you manage to change a 3d model, then it must be tweaked in its animations. Imagine making a gas mask on the face of a soldier, and then see it changing position whenever the soldier performs a given animation. Or imagine changing the volume of the soldier by giving him a NBC suit, and then see that his gun passes halh through said suit. In conclusion, 3d modelling can be used for modding, but there are many other elements to consider and the border with game developing is so close that to make a mod work well you might need to take a few months to make it, not to mention the final inability to change/correct animations, objects positioning etc. Even the flavor objects I added, thinking it was an easy peasy job, showed me how complex the real thing can be. Not only it would be needed to program the game to recognize these new flavor objects as LOS/movement blockers for their dymensions, you would also need to correct shadows and shaders bugs within them...

Make sure IFV are never loaded with infantry when in danger.

The mods change the appearance of all vehicles, terrain etc. in game, in missions, campaigns etc.. Only the mods labelled "add-on" simply add something new, and in that case it will be available to be seen in the editor (such as the case of additional buildings appearances or new flavor objects) or if someone makes a new map with those. Some "add-ons" instead add something to an existing mod, such as the names mod for the M1 Abrams: you download the M1 Abrams mod, then, if you like, you can download the names add on that will simply add names to the gun tubes of the Abrams. Mods must be placed (unpacked from rar compression) inside Z folder, from the manual: go inside your My Documents/../User Data/Mods folder and create a new folder called "Z".

Now maybe harsh, but I belive there's something wrong with the T-64, both versions, in terms of spotting there might be bugs. On the BMP-3 and 100mm be careful though, BMP-3 have the bad habit of using their ATGM as area of effect weapon before passing to the ABHE (order shoot area).

Oh yes, must have been eaten by the terrain deformation of the crater.

Shock force is missing several features. Mostly small things but you'll notice them if you are used to, say, CMBS; editor options, commands, few animations, fewer ground types, lack of AI triggers, no shaders etc. That said CMSF with its modules has a huge amount of units, variety and gameplay. (just consider this, in CMBS you get one M1 Abrams variant, in CMSF and marines module you get, what 6, 7 variants?) Apart the evident lack of shaders you won't get a much different graphic experience, the models are just a bit worse than CMBS, but you won't notice it. Playing the base game plus the modules you'll feel the improvement of map and missions layouts, which will get better and better; the NATO module sports the best maps/missions/campaigns of the series, according to many. (in my opinion the british campaign was also a masterpiece). Besides, there's a number of available mods (check BFC repository), one big mod even lets you play in a temperate environment simulating what CMBS does today; not to mention additional campaigns, missions etc. Anyway, talks at 0 when there's the demo to be checked, and it's the biggest demo in combat mission franchise: http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=42&Itemid=78

The number in a green box? That's Fraps framerate

Reminds me of the Bradley's upgrade.

MTLBs are great for what they are intended for: moving troops across mixed terrain. Other than that I just say that they are very bad at spotting anything, even close by units. Just a heads up if you happen to use them.

Yes yes true, but for the BMP-2 you got a similar problem as for the BMP-3, you'd better have an additional man inside if your crew has 2 people only. When using Russians, the BMP-2M is the most expensive IFV, but it's also the only one having a CITV Thermal, I have yet to play with these. Despite being a big fan of the concepts of T-64BV and T-64 Bulat, I had only disappointment with them, mainly due to their spotting inability.

1) People inside tanks are not visible, but they are there (if you order the bailout command you'll see them appear as they exit), and then they can get back inside. 2) not that I am aware of.

Thanks Steve for the heads up. May I suggest a concrete bone to be thrown somewhere?

Another idea regarding BMP-3 especially. Make sure to use them not with only the two crew members onboard. I usually put a team of two that I detatch from any infantry squad (usually I tag out of the squad a "scout team") one of those two soldiers will occupy the commander's position in the BMP-3 and will surely improve your spotting ability. It's a costly trick but can be useful if you need to use your BMP-3 as a bronegruppa. Side note: remember that MTLBs are the most "mole" vehicles of the entire universe.

Kieme CMBS dots for interface (color-blind friendly) This mod changes the dots representing crew/passengers inside vehicles on the interface. The mod is designed to allow colour blind people better distinguish an empty seat from a filled seat. Special thanks to silent one for pointing out the problem. Note: there are a few options inside, if you prefer to change the appearance of empty seats you'll find some variations there named "dot 0 option1" "dot0 option2" etc, remove the word "option1" "option2" etc, and delete the original "dot 0" in order to use that option. Download: https://app.box.com/s/dcxxe986s7pi14fkuafxq6o18cdvv5l8 Preview: Vanilla for comparison: Note: the above sceenshots show some modifications that are not yet released (unit portrait and background interface grey box).

Alright, I'll set up a micro mod for download. The mod is up: http://community.battlefront.com/topic/117795-kiemes-modding-corner/?p=1614675

I made a mod some time ago, porting stuff from CMSF with few adjustments, which adds civilian vehicles (and other kind of) flavour objects: http://community.battlefront.com/topic/117795-kiemes-modding-corner/?p=1598976

I agree with sburke, sales are not some sort of favour the companies do to the players, in fact, if you closely watch the sales you'll see that the normally best selling titles get only an eye candy sale discount (if any), while the heavier discounts hit those games which usually don't sell that much, or didn't sell much in the first place. Keep in mind the reasoning behind sales and you'll see a bit more truth about developers/distributors market behaviours.

Indeed, sometimes it takes several minutes to get a spot.