LeadMeister
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Posts posted by LeadMeister
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... I still want my cactus.
Mike
Impressive homepage Mike; Professional pilot, WW2 collector, WW2 restoration, WW2 reenactments, and CM1 data Guru. Very cool :cool:
Question ... Where the hell do you get the time? :eek:
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Here is a link to photos of Normandy, then and now ...... Go to Patrick Elie's (the photographer) own site instead, there are more photos there:
KUDOS!
A big thanks from me. I looked at these pics for over an hour, so damn interesting. One of the best photo link postings I've seen on this CMBN forum (I must have missed the prior postings that Sergei referred to). I actually downloaded all of them for my "pic keepers" folder.
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... and not even close to the entertainment value of CMBBB and CMAK.
Best regards,
Fredrik
Yes, I agree with Fredrik. I've spent hundreds of hours playing CMBO/CMBB and always enjoyed them.
After the initial "first play" euphoria of CMBN wore off (couple days) I began to get a bad feeling that there were to many game design and/or coding problems (bugs) for me to ignore. At first I blamed myself for not being up to the mental athleticism that CMBN seemed to require. I even took the advice of BF-Steve and quit playing CMBN based on his suggestion that some people just can't play it (lacked the needed skills, I suppose?). However, I kept at it anyway and continued to read the forum daily in hopes of gaining the needed skill sets to be a better CMBN sim dude. Well, the outcome of my daily forum visits hasn't made me a better player, but it did help me get over feeling that I wasn't able to cut the CMBN mustard.
I need to have a sense that a tactical sim, like CMBN, is a cut above the COH game crowd in terms of coding reliability and accuracy of tactical AI. I felt that BFC offered this kind of "quality" because they always baked their cakes slowly and monitored the oven often. I think that from all that I've read here that it's quite obvious that CMBN wasn't polished enough before its initial release. I don't call for out of the box perfection, but I do expect obvious AI design issues, such as the OP has identified here, to be caught and corrected during routine alpha/beta test phases. Please BF, quit dancing around these problems with a bunch of esoteric gobbledygook. Produce a beta patch quickly so more of us can get on with playing the game and having some much needed (and missed) CM fun again.
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Charles just recently looked at the issue(s). Changes have been made.... But it will not come to a change in code just because we have various forumites posting observed results, anecdotal or otherwise, from a few tests, or observed from a few games played, or from a relative smallish sample. Even my sample of 350 tests are rather small, but I only have so much time.
I'm not trying to stir the pot, but I'm just a little confused. If changes "have" been made then was it based on a new series official BF tests, or is it the result of "various forumites posting observed results, anecdotal or otherwise"? Also, if those "changes" were justified by new BF testing then did those test results support the assertions of the so-called "forumites"?
Just curious ...
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Correct, CM is not for everybody. My advice for someone who's gone through the manual and the Tutorial, but still can't figure out how to do much with the game, probably needs to move onto something else. I could stare at differential equations all day long, with some sort of Math for Dummies book in hand, and I'd still not get it. And why would I want to when there's so many other things to do with my time that I would enjoy for sure . . . Steve
Well, I just sent my brother an email and told him that I'm throwing in the towel on trying to learn BNF. I made this decision based upon your (Steve) statement "My advice for someone who's gone through the manual and the Tutorial, but still can't figure out how to do much with the game, probably needs to move onto something else." Hell, I've read the manual twice (minus the scenario building) and have trudged through the tutorial at least 5 times, and I'm still getting my ass in a crack at every turn. It's too bad because my Bro and I have had tons of fun with CMBO and CMBB over the years and I was really hoping that this would be a continuation of that great experience. He has a lot more time on the ground with CM and isn't having nearly as much trouble learning BNF as me. His extensive WWII weapons knowledge is his strongest point and allows him to maximize on his CM tactics. But, in light of this latest BFC advice, which I tend to believe, I'm shelving BNF. It's time for me to hang my head and shuffle back to Steam and do some run&gun COD and Brothers In Arms. Later guys ...
Good old days for my Bro & I ...
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Not in the CMx2 releases.
Question: why is this important? Just backspace delete the last way point and plop down another one.
If I had a list of enhancements this would be about #96.
Huh? What? You're just mess'n with us, right?
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We'll all know soon enough because we're going to do a "black" version with v1.01 patch
Steve
That's very good news from Steve. In the meantime you can use my color/contrast fix since the release date for the v1.01 patch has yet to be announced.
P.S. A big thanks to Steve, and BF, for the "black" version inclusion in the forthcoming patch. It will be much appreciated by those, like me, that no longer have pristine eyesight.
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Note to Kindle users. The method suggested by Leadmeister does NOT work. When I try to open the PDF created by his method I get an error message from my Kindle: "The PDF cannot be opened due to features not yet supported by Kindle." Looks like we still need BF to do an official Black and White version. Any update Steve?
thanks,
Kevin
Sorry it doesn't work on your Kindle. I don't own a Kindle, so obviously my method was targeted for the larger PC user community that uses standard PDF viewers, such as Adobe Reader.
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. . . We already know you are smarter than us because you are the one collecting the money. Try not to rub our faces in it.
Thank you for your time.
PS Awesome game.
I'm in awe. You're the master of rants. I agree with all you said but lacked the kahoonas to say it myself. Your closing remarks were brilliant - ROTFLMAO!
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Thanks leadmeister, nice work. But this don't help the printed manual, which I paid extra for not having to print my own. I know, it's the printers fault.
I'm currently working on a method to use my high contrast PDF file to print out a new double-sided CMBN manual. My goal is to do it on the cheap (very cheap). I will let you all know when it's finished and and how I did it.
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If anyone thinks this suggested low contrast fix for the CMBN manual has been helpful then please leave a comment on this thread so it will be bumped up again. Thanks ...
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LeadMeister, The method that you explained is a very good tool , it solves the problem for players that are having trouble making a high contrast manual and needs its own thread, possibly a sticky.
Thanks for the feedback. I did make it a new thread last night, but no one has commented on it, so it never got bumped up again. Too bad, I think it would help a lot of folks who need an easier manual to read.
UPDATE: Folks are leaving comments now and it's getting bumped back up.
Here's the new thread link: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=98112
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Firstly the game is fantastic.
I believe that the manual could be better. (BW easier to read on throne) I think an example of a good manual is Ubisofts - cliffs of dover (special ed). Hardcover 145 x 210 spiral bound BW. You can open this at a page and leave it open, spiral is less chance of it falling apart. Also contains a couple of blank 'note' pages.(handy)
I would be happy to pay good money for a full colour or BW spiral bound manual for this game.
Refer to this thread for a solution: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=98112
From this ...
To this ...
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Refer to this thread for a solution: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=98112
From this ...
To this ...
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Overview: There are two versions of the PDF manual that comes with CMBN. There's the artsy version (CMBN Game Manual.pdf) with the fancy background, and the easier to read printer version (CMBN Game Manual print.pdf) with a white background. Unfortunately both of these still use the low contrast tan (sepia) font and graphics. Based on what I've been reading on this forum there are a large number of folks that would like to have their digital CMBN Game Manual converted to a high contrast black on white format for direct reading and/or printing. Well, here's a cheap solution to this problem. How cheap you ask? How does FREE sound?
From this ...
To this ...
Solution: As many already know Adobe Reader, the most widely used PDF viewer in the PC universe, has an Accessibility settings page ( under Preferences) that can change the text from any low contrast color to high contrast black on white for better reading. Unfortunately this free viewer will not change the color of the graphics, nor will it allow you to save the high contrast text into a new PDF document or print a hardcopy manual with the these text enhancements. Follow the steps below and you will soon have a dandy CMBN PDF manual that's easy to read directly or can used to print an equally readable hardcopy.
Note: For this conversion use your "CMBN Game Manual print.pdf" as the source document.
Step-1. Download and install these two freeware programs:
- PDF-XChange Viewer (replaces Adobe Reader) http://www.snapfiles.com/get/pdfxchangeviewer.html
- CutePDF Writer (new printer driver that creates PDF files) http://www.snapfiles.com/get/cutepdf.html
Step-2. Convert text and line-art to high contrast black on white
- Start PDF-XChange Viewer
- Open "CMBN Game Manual print.pdf"
- Edit/Preferences/Accessibility
- Refer to image below for Accessibility settings
Note: Be sure to click "Apply"
Step-3. Convert original tan graphics to grayscale by creating a new PDF document with the CutePDF printer driver.
- (PDF-XChange Viewer) File/Print
- Refer to image below for print options
Note: Be patient, have a cup, go to the bathroom, whatever, because this final print process takes around 5 minutes to complete (depending upon your system speed). Once the CutePDF conversion process is finished a small window will open up asking you for the desired PDF file name. So, go ahead, give it a cool sounding name and save it.
Step-4. Your done, start using and/or printing your new easier to read manual.
ENJOY!
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. . . I also notice that someone in his family was a veteran, as was my father. Salute.
You're right StellarRat, that's my Dad's flag on the top of the left bookshelf. I come from a family of Vets. My Dad was in the Army (30's), my older brother was in the Navy (50's), I was in the Marines (60's), and my younger brother retired from the Air Force just a few years ago.
Thanks for the "Salute", sending one back at ya.
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OP, very nice collection! I've been gaming for just as long (1984ish....I started with a C=64). My box collection isn't quite as extensive because I have culled it down to about one bookshelf worth. I could still kick myself for selling my first three Ultimas on eBay, even though I made around $500 on 'em. Yep, I still have my original Doom box, ordered directly from Id....complete with sales receipt.
As far as the Steelbook and manual go.....I'm personally going to let any shortcomings slide.....because CMBN is such a great game. The steelbook can take it's place on my shelf right next to my Fallout lunchbox.
Thanks. Yes, I've really enjoyed computer gaming and collecting for many years. Actually my first computer game was tic-tac-toe played on a "Brainiac" computer (mechanical) around 1957. It was a kit that you built, and rebuilt, to perform basic math computations and/or play simple games.
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. . . And this bodes ill for the future? What future exactly? A future choke full of stupendously good gaming and poor standard quality boxes? M.
Their future is based upon sales, and very often sales can be thwarted by poor quality incidentals, i.e., a sales pitched poorly designed "steel box" and an equally bad hard copy manual.
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OK, I admit it, this is a rant and I will probably get nothing from it other than the "feel good" of venting. I also realize that this will most likely raise the ire of many Battlefront fanboys.
First, who am I? I'm a retired computer systems analyst and multi-platform programmer. I’ve been playing PC based games, from FPS to adventure and sims, since '84, starting with MS Flight Simulator 1.0.. I currently own over 500 “boxed” games, many of which can be seen on my personal homepage at: http://leadmeister.250x.com/index.htm (click on “My Rigs”).
Combat Mission, time on the ground: My brother introduced me to CMBO several years ago. He’d been playing it for many years prior and convinced me to give it a try. I loved it! Since then we’ve played CMBB and CMSF, all via PBEM. We both like CMBB the best and continue to play it even now. I made a little movie of one of our CMBB games and posted it on You Tube (
).The rant: I just received my CMBB “Steelbook” and, just like my Brother, was shocked at what I really got. This so called steel book was a very poorly designed inner plastic box with front and rear ultra-thin steel (?) laminates press fitted on. It was shipped to me in a thinly padded envelope and, like my Brother’s, was damaged upon receipt. His was bent and mine, even though not bent, had one of the inner (upper right) lid tab holder slots broken out which now prevents the lid from fully locking down. Further, I immediately noticed that the design of the inner plastic recess that holds the book in place was devoid of any open access indentations that would allow the manual to be lifted out with your finger or thumb. Instead, you are relegated to turning the box on its side and “dumping“ the manual out.
The manual itself was even more of a disaster. What was the BF design team thinking when they chose to use ultra small light brown (tan) text and graphics on a light tan background. It’s an eyestrain experience to say the least, and pretty much makes the manual useless on the long term. Also, the right margin is too narrow and forces you to bend the book open way too far which damages the spine (pages on the floor very soon).
Well, that’s it, I’m done. Final conclusion … I’m stunned that BF did this to a largely loyal repeat user base. It does not bode well for their future.
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Obviously it's not a game breaker - but my personal opinion is that spelling mistakes reflect badly on a product . It could suggest a lack of care and possibly undermine a player's confidence in a scenario designer.
Just out of curiosity - did someone at BF check all the briefings before full release?
Comments welcome... am I alone in my thinking?
I agree, it does reflect badly on QA. It smacks of a "rush" job and makes me wonder what else was swept under the rug.
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Google search: "Combat Mission Battle for Normandy review" ( http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=Combat+Mission+Battle+for+Normandy+review&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=880bd2161016ed04 )
Results: Armchair General (2nd from top of search list)
http://www.armchairgeneral.com/combat-mission-battle-for-normandy-intel.htm
Note: This is not an "official review", but it's what people are seeing (read the responses) when they do a search for CMBN reviews.
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I recently had the opportunity to visit the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City. It was without a doubt the best U.S. war museum I've ever been to. We spent about 4 hours there, but it would take at least 2 days to see every single display in detail. I highly recommend it if your traveling through that area. Oklahoma City itself was also a great experience. Lots of good food (BBQ YUM!) and good prices on hotels and such.
Some photos, museum link, & map: http://leadmeister.250x.com/oklahoma/index.htm
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I don't know of any actual mod packs. My install is a collection of mods dating back to when CMBB shipped in 2002. With the lost of the great and classic CMMODS from a few years ago, I think some mods were lost.
But this site saved most of them. http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/
I recommend just modding as you go from battle to battle. Since it's so daunting at first. This is what I did a long time ago when I reformatted but my modded BMP backup got corrupted.
Thanks for the info. I talked it over with my brother and we are going to switch to CMAK because it will run on my much faster Quad/Vista-64 system. My XP rig is a little dated and slow. Anyway, my brother will install the CMAK graphics mods (he's the CM install expert). Once again, thanks for the idea about modding to improve the graphics.
Oh yeah, here's a link to my 'Day of Defeat' homepage (my other gaming passion) ...
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Great job on the video, love the production values. Funny little knife fight at the start.
And wow, it's mod free. I had forgotten how much better my CMBB looks compared to the stock graphics.
I would like to mod CMBB to improve the graphics. Can you suggest what mod packs I should install? Thanks ...
An Olive Branch from LeadMeister ...
in Combat Mission Battle for Normandy
Posted
Seriously, I now see, with the closure of the last two "Single Player Inop. Seriouly, Fix It! (etc)" related threads, what inflammatory postings can lead to.
I admit to being a past prime offender and will hence forth follow the high road in all my future postings.
Or, as the "Fonz" would try to say - "I was wr-wr-wrr-wrrr (wrong) ...."
Fonz "YouTube" -