theFightingSeabee

Agreed! That's a great scenario.

Nice! That's a fun scenario too! I've played that one at least five times.

That was a much better review. I still have to make the point that reviewers should note that cmsf is still the best game of it's type.

I hope you do, but if not, we'll have to give ol' cmmods the 21 gun salute. I've posted quite a few things on there and downloaded just about every mod for cmsf. Cmmods will be missed. And I sincerely hope him and his wife are OK. I know she's been fighting sickness for some time and I can only send them the best of wishes.

Yes, you're right. But at least a fix was made available. Fortunately, there were enough scenarios to keep me busy until the fix came out. As far as Steve's comments on the importance of reviews: You have a point, but at least some sales are made because of reviewers' opinions. While they may be relatively few, it still means money that never made it to your pocket. Even if reviews are less important, "official" reviewers still hold some sway with people and should still be responsible with those reviews. I have purchased or not purchased many games because reviewers brought to light a major feature or problem. Aside from that, BFC caters to a narrow group of people. And any reviewer would know that. I believe that since this is the best game of it's type in existence, the reviewer should factor that into his review. It's not like he's reviewing an RPG about a group of people (and creatures) who go around with swords, bows, and magic spells gaining experience points. If this were the case, he has dozens of other games to compare it to. For example, Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn recieved a 95 back in 2000 (6th highest rated pcgamer-reviewed game of all time). If that game were released today, it would get a much lower score because there have been so many other great RPG's released since then to compare it to. Instead of criticizing what it isn't, they should tell the reader what it is and make darn sure to at least make a note (especially in the bullet points at the beginning or end of a review) that for people looking for a tactical warfare simulation-type game in a modern setting, it is a must have, without equal. On a side note: Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin is the 95th best rated pcgamer-reviewed game of all time. Combat Mission: Shock Force lies at a (now-undeservedly) low 1399th place , but is still the BEST in it's class.

What makes up the game: 1. Vehicles. 2. Fighting men. 3. Weapons. 4. Maps. 5. Scenarios. 6. Campaigns. What was added with CMSF Marines: 1. New vehicles. 2. Marines. 3. New weapons. 4. New maps. 5. New scenarios. 6. A new campaign. With the addition of some bug fixes and enhancements such as new sound effects, looks like there is at least 100% more "toys". The reviewer probably had to write the review on a deadline and did it in between playing WoW and playing with all the free little pc-related desk toys on his desk. Not a good review, whether you love or hate the game.

Handihoc, I feared this would be the case. I knew that having to use Access was not the best idea, but it's all I have at the moment to program with. It's not confusing at all, once you understand what it does. What it does: 1) It moves mods in and out of the z folder. 2) It makes records of those mods that you can add your own details to, so you know the difference between one army uniform and another. You can rate each mod and set images for each one. 3) You can mark any mod as "essential" so it will always be loaded. 4) You can make mod groups. Say you have a scenario for the 1991 gulf war. You would want to use the old desert uniforms and desert vehicle skins. This way, you don't have to go through all of the mods and pick and choose every time you want to play that scenario. How to use it: 1) In the first (area 1), you just tell the program where your folders are. 2) You "populate" the list (area 2). This is just a list of what's in you mods folder. 3) Add mods from that list to you records. 4) Once a mod is in your records (area 3), you can activate or deactivate it. All activating does is copy it to your z folder. Deactivating deletes it from z. If the mods aren't moving to your z folder, check that all of the paths to your z folder and mods folder are correct. If you need more detailed instructions, let me know and I'll write up a detailed 'how-to' for all of it. But I really think once you use it, you'll realize that it's quite simple and much easier than manually dealing with your mods. Hope that helps.

I have a question for anyone in the know... Will the British and WW2 modules be modded the same? I mean, will they use the z folder and .brz files the same as it is now??? I ask this because I was wondering about the life of my mod manager.

Well, it's been a couple weeks now and either it's working perfectly for everyone or it's not working at all. I hope no news is good news. Have a great day!

You guys are all right. You're alright too, but that's a different story. I'm kinda upset now at PC Gamer, who I subscribed to for years. The review sucks and is incomplete.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the review. I may sound like a cheerleader, but it's a 9.7 until some other game comes out that is more realistic. With every module, it gets even better. Not an essential entry in the series? Ofcourse it's essential. The only people who could go without it are Army guys using it as a training tool.

Really cool. I would like to make a few myself now.

COOL! You should post it in the screenshot thread.

I'd be happy with being able to draw over a background image like, say, a contour map or a satellite image (both actually). That would work just fine I think.

akd, Very nice!!! I already use most of your sounds, but this is an improvement and I'll be using more of your sounds now! This mod REALLY improves immersion. I recommend it to everyone.

Better in-game interface. That's the main thing for me. It could use a lot of improvement. Things like keeping track of unit kills would be extremely welcome, movable waypoints, more animations, better graphics, in-game mod management, ... BUT, just as important as that question is: What do we want to KEEP? What are the core elements of the CM series that need to stay? Wego (and RT), realism, squad based tactics, moddable!!!, scenario editor, the current great sound system that accounts for the speed of sound, etc....

Cool! Checking them out now!

I know who Cassio is! Is there a prize?

This would be the place. 1. I agree. The point of being able to choose how many of what fires where has been talked about a lot here. 2. ? I have seen buildings go down just to have guys still fighting from the rubble. It's possible, but unlikely imo. 3. Another thing I have to agree with. The hellfires seem to take a very shallow approach, leading to a lot of blown up trees. All of us have seen countless videos of hellfires and they tend to take more of a top down flight path than coming in level. BFC should consider making the flight path of hellfires a little more like that of the javelins in top down attack mode. BUT... for a casual battlefield commander you're playing the most realistic game of this type available.

I wouldn't mind having one. But the game is set in 2011 (I think), so who knows what the standard will be. Either way, I don't mind having them in the game. They are extremely effective. Still, the 203 option would be great for any number of reasons, including period specific user-made scenarios.

I agree, Ken. And I also agree with your implied interface comments as well.

Shameless plug: You can use my mod manager. It really makes dealing with mods easier when you want to start trying out different uniform sets and vehicle textures. I don't think the icons are able to become different shapes. I may be wrong, but I don't recall any mods like that. So you're in Okinawa? I spent some time there at Camp Shields. Also spent some time in the jungles of JWTC and Camp Hansen. I used to party at Kadena and Okinawa City.

Uploaded to www.cmmods.com and the Repository! Happy modding to you all!

z-Bee 1.2 CMSF Mod Manager Uploaded to the Repository! It's been a while since I said I would release it, but I had very little spare time to work on it and also needed some beta testers to help me out. But here it is. The testers report that it works for them, so I've decided to let it loose. It's much improved over version 1.1. Here are the improvements: 1. There are now more details in the bottom box, that show your mod records. 2. You can sort by those details. Someone asked for color coding, but after looking into it, it's not possible. But you can sort by whether it's activated or not, among other things. Very useful! 3. There is now a panel of buttons that you can use to open: a. Your mod folder. b. Your z folder. c. Your scenarios folder. d. Your campaigns folder. e. Your saved games folder. f. Your mod tools folder (rezpack, rezexplode). 4. I created a utility that will import all of your records from version 1.0 or 1.1! 5. Slightly increased the size of the list boxes for easier viewing. The #2 box is still fairly small but you don't really need it to be that big. All you really have to do is click add all. It won't overwrite any of you records, but it will add what's not there. 6. Added link to the repository. 7. The mod types are now more detailed for easier searching and categorizing.

Like Dan said, use smoke. But you only have a limited amount of smoke to use so use it wisely. Pay attention to the wind direction (we need a wind indicator!). Once you pop smoke, watch which way it blows. If you're in the right spot, you can follow the cloud without being spotted! Or you can pop on one side of a danger area and let the smoke roll across it. Then cross or allow other units to cross. You can smoke with artillery too. Just think of how they would use a tank in Iraq. Infantry would become engaged with an enemy and CALL IN the tank like you would artillery or air support. Then have the tank or other support vehicle move to a position to fire on the enemy location. Keep in mind, the tank doesn't have to see the enemy, it can open fire right into a building and usually take out whoever is inside. At any rate, welcome to the friendliest forums around (as you can see by all the folks willing to help you out) and the greatest modern tactical wargame ever made!