Kieme(ITA)

I'll see what I can figure out. What do you think of these c&c icons? Do you recognize them?

Kieme CMBS special equipment icons Adds new colorful icons for special equipment of all armies. Download: https://app.box.com/s/vgupsiqii8udwgbf1r1wp5prlfxeqcbo Previews:

Nice Mord, ok, but for the ranges, it would be too much. Something needs to be aknowledged out of game. Edit: there's a problem: the weapon textures are of a very low size: 68x20 pixels, not really easy to fit a readable text, what did you do Mord?

That article say there's an APS in place, but of all pictures of Thay T-84 I have not spotted an APS system on the tank.

If you guys want to try This is a good start: http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods/5371/details

Ammo type and optimal range would be nice, those are two numbers to fit in and I am not sure of how to do it, I'll try some experiments.

I will try to focus on the opfor weapons then.

They look fantastic, did you release them?

There are still a few vehicles to finish them all off. Meanwhile, I have started working on the interface, following master Juju's concepts, here you can see new "realistic" icons for the special equipment, all based on photographs of the real deal: The idea is to improve a bit the lifeless interface without causing too much commotion. Weapons silhouettes should come next. Changing the interface is a huge task, Juju's mad.

I belive you, but on these matters I am with those who consider only a large field application as a "real" thing. When I'll see such a system on the body of a T-84 or T-64, and in an operational state (i.e. on a muddy field) I'll consider it real, for now I can't give much credit, especially to a 3d render video, it's interesting, there's an idea, but I can't see it being real.

If I am not mistaken in another thread was reported an interception of the T-HEAT round coming from an Oplot. But the M1 rounds being intercepted sounds new to me.

It is evident that the ukrainian video shows a "concept" not an actual system. Therefore just take it for what it is, no reason to jump onto conclusions based on a 3d rendered video... The CZ video shows an experimental variant. You simply can't compare the two videos, tell one is better than the other or whatever, we are sure of one thing: both of them are not a series-production system mounted on a large number of vehicles.

That's a common problem when you install from a folder containing other Combat Mission files (from other games); names get mixed up during installation. Re-install CMBS and make sure you don't have files from other CM games in the same directory of origin. More here http://community.battlefront.com/topic/118211-after-the-patchmixed-up-game/

Thanks for the video, note how the APS is represented in the 3d model, I hope CMBS Oplot model with APS will receive something like that in order to visualize the APS as it should be.

Welcome back, good to see it takes more than a truck to seriously knock you out.

Steve, by "proven" you mean used in actual combat? Because that's a possibility that might (and let's hope that) not be possible, at least as a full scale combat experience such as a full scale war. Italian Ariete tanks have been used in Afghanistan and Iraq but we can't say they have seen the kind of combat a tank is designed for.

When I design a QB map for a meeting engagement there's no room for "better deploy areas", because they must be as much respectful of both players as possible. Perfect balance is no achievable, because a symmetric terrain map would be unrealistic and boring, but at the same time it's not possible to ignore completely the issue of giving both players as equal chances as possible, in the end, it's a videogame. So, deploy areas can't be very large for the size/map fitting problems cited before, they can't be much different than an obvious shape because a meeting engagement is a meeting engagement (otherwise you design a scenario, which can depict even extreme situations), as a consequence an immediate strike artillery with a lot of arty is going to ruin the game for both players if both make such decision (and if no rule is applied they will both be forced to do it because it's a nash equilibrium). I have no problem playing with many people using this very simple rule, neither did them. So until now I enjoy multiplayer. I am sorry, but I would not play with you.

From a map maker point of view: the problem with large deploy areas is that you have to take into consideration that units can be placed on the very border of the area, in order to get as close as possible to objectives and/or points of interest (especially in meeting engagements). Maps in CM games can be large but not that large to ignore few hundred meters of distance. Not only larger zones bring the travel time problematic, they also require the units to be not spottable in the very first turn by the enemy, so you need to take some special care for the deploy areas, otherwise there will be an unpleasant situation at the very start of the match (again, especially for meeting engagements). So, even a single rule such as no arty in the first minute in the deploy area is good practice.

It is possible that the updates for the existing titles will come toghether with the new modules for such games (FI/BS/RT). Once all the modules for a given title have been released new updates might come in form of specific engine/game upgrades such as the 3.0 for CMBN, but it won't be in a close future. There's really no reason to hold on any purchase, because right now the titles that are going to be expanded are Fortress Italy, Red Thunder and Black Sea, with the Boulge main title release among them. Any sort of specific upgrade won't come before such modules have been released, the modules themselves will contain all the necessary upgrades and they will receive their own Patches afterwards.

I belive that the repository is a very important part of the modding support for the games. Considering that BFC sells its own CM games directly from the website, a good advertisement of the amount of mods available for the different titles could only be a positive element for the games sells. For example: given a brand new and shiny repository, I would link the pages containing mods for a given CM title directly to the main selling page of that title. This way a potential customer will not only have a look at the official screenshots but also glaze at the number of available mods for that title. The actual repository, while being a good will when it came out, it's now outdated, very hard to use for both the downloader and the uploader's points of view. I am not an expert on the matter, but I hope a better repository will be created sooner than later, because, as for now, the mod distribution is really hard and on the hands of individual modders, and this is a risk for the community, because if a single modder has a problem with his uploads the entire community is screwed with regards to that modder's mods.

Interesting. As Always the two choices of radically new concept and traditional design will have to fight each other. One thing is sure: the main gun won't be a 25mm again, given the ideas for the Stryker upgrades.

I got only bad experiences with the T-64 and Bulat, their spotting ability has Always been terrible.

I belive CM games are safe from extreme and nonesense modding, because, even if someone makes a stupid model with 4 guns on a BTR, it won't work in game, because it will lack the entire programming side. If the programming will be somehow tinkered with, good luck with all the bugs that will raise. Practically, you'd need to make a videogame, not just a mod. Therefore I don't see much harm in the future. Now, what 3d modelling modding could add to CM would be: -bug correction -increase in polygon count increasing the quality of the models (and the computer requirements) -additional details to vehicles and vehicle variations (no skirts, more crew objects etc.) -improvement of textures quality/effects -new flavor objects -total conversions (bearing in mind the lack of programming conversion) Personally, I'd like to see a new kind of tree type, such as a pine tree with the branches starting from the ground, then, a few more "modern" flavour objects. Considering how long it would be for BFC to add an "official" 3d modding tools set I'd prefer them to work on effective games, the modding support we have now is good in my opinon, it might improve when the next game engine comes out. If someone is finally capable of making some 3d modding it's welcome.

Kieme CMBS MTLBu Special thanks to BTR for providing the ideal green base textures. Download: https://app.box.com/s/qj049od0gizo9a0gnir99319x72a1n2x Preview:

thanks