stoex

Oh, and don't forget: Blast - Taste the dirt a few feet from the wall, then use Jedi Force Crush on the wall, then overexert yourself running through the hole in the wall I couldn't use blast in WeGo except for entering buildings. Usually I don't want the blasting team to rush through the gap, so I have to babysit them, deleting the 'fast' order after the blast.

Lays and Gemmen, Something that was not really obvious to me for a long time since I started playing CMSF has recently become one of the prime causes of death among my pixeltruppen and probably the most common origin for my 'ya gotta be kiddin' me!' moments. I think it has to do with my playing more MOUT battles of late, as well as the overall very pleasing state of the game at v1.21, that this issue has only really become noticeable to me now. It's one of the very few issues left... It's this: Quite often, infantry ordered to enter buildings take somewhat adventurous routes over the last few feet of open ground before entering said building. While the AI is very good about staying in cover between buildings and using terrain for concealment, frequently I see my men bounding away from the house they are supposed to be entering anywhere between 3 and 15 feet from the door, single-filing into the middle of the adjoining action spot (unfortunately often a paved road, for good measure), before making a sharp turn and running into the building. Or at least trying to, as this behaviour often exposes them to nearby enemy units which invariably unleash large quantities of 'speed metal' on them . The point is that these enemies (I usually know they are there or at least thereabouts) would not have been able to see my men if they had just stayed close to the wall of the building they were entering. I don't quite understand, from a realism as well as a programming point of view, why it is necessary for every man in a squad to take a 15ft. running start to clear a doorway. It appears to be more or less regardless of which type of move command my men are given, though it does seem to happen more on 'quick' than on 'move'. The same also applies similarly to men exiting buildings, though not as frequently, it would seem. Any thoughts on this? Any possibility of this issue being addressed by BFC? Workarounds of some kind? Commiseration ? Any input is appreciated. I will try to produce a screenshot to illustrate this, unfortunately I'm an expert at forgetting to start FRAPS before starting CMSF, and play in RT. Cheers!

Thanks for the info, guys. Yeah I blooped and called them missiles, but they are rockets of course. Cheers!

Just out of curiosity: There must be a technical or tactical reason for the 73mm main gun on those BMP-1s firing missiles as opposed to projectiles. Can anyone explain?

Well if it does it only makes things even more intriguing....seeing as how if both the main gun and the ATGM have been fired, the ATGM gets reloaded first, then the 73. Takes almost a minute in all. Whereas if I switch to 'area fire light', the main gun is reloaded in a matter of a few seconds. Seems like a clear case of bad prioritization on gunner-boy's part. Personally I'd press the button for the autoloader FIRST and reload the missile AFTERWARD....ya know, in the old combat-readiness-spirit and all that. *sigh* Boy am I glad that the Bushmaster cannon on Bradleys counts as a 'light' weapon for area fire. The frustration would be unbearable if it were otherwise, just think about it

Webwing, I agree...such a campaign would offer awesome possibilites and potential for great missions as well as a very deep storyline. Whether there is anything like this in the NATO release or whether we will have to wait for someone to do it later on....I am really looking forward to playing something like this. Would be the pinnacle of CM:SF gaming if done well, I think.

Yeah, Ryujin, I know it's been discussed in other threads, and I know why it happens (no MEDIUM target command or equivalent), and I accept that that is the way the game works. Due to the ammo allotment and weapon calibre in Blue vehicles (e.g. light area fire from bradleys uses bushmaster, which is fine for suppressing and even flattening buildings), this is much less often an issue than when playing red. Also notice I described my paragraph as a gripe, not a bug report or anything...sometimes ya just gotta ventilate ... Frankster65, if you read my post carefully, you will find that I said I alternate 'target' and 'target light' orders for my BMP's to prevent them from using ATGMs on buildings while still using the 73mm main. I am merely surprised by the implied proficiency of the gunner to reload the 73mm main gun while firing the coax at the same time .

A further question is wether what Alan8325 postulates is even possible regarding how the game handles data...I don't know, but my assumption would be that if any part of a campaign requires a certain module, the campaign as a whole probably requires that module to even be playable at all. I f that is the case, and a change would have to be made to the game engine or the way campaigns are coded, then it's certainly not going to happen. I think we may just have to wait for user-made campaigns to get this kind of multi-nation linked action. What WOULD be possible in the initial release, of course, would be a campaign where two or all three of the forces in the NATO module link up. This would be fun for sure, and a challenge all of its own, but I understand the interest in having individual campaigns for each of the three NATO forces (to satisfy the local markets and players), and I personally would hate to have to wait for the module just because an additional campaign with mixed forces gets put in at the end. Eventually, user-made content will become available anyway to cover all possible bases, and I'd rather be able to play with the module already while I wait for that . Cheers!

bardosy, I distinctly remember Steve saying that Bridges and water would definitely be in CM:Normandy. I sure hope that's still true...

Well, it seems I speak for some other people here if I say, 'dunno'...my opinion is this should work just fine. You sure the BMP has ammo remaining for the main gun, and that you didn't issue a 'target light' order? That's all I can think of... But here's another gripe concerning the BMP-1P (4C) from me: similar in a way, yet almost the opposite: When I tell my BMP to area fire a building, it fires the main gun once, then switches weapons and wastes one of its 4 precious ATGMs on the building. THEN the gunner proceeds to reload the missile launcher, effectively interrupting the area fire for about 30-40 seconds before repeating the entire process. I would much prefer him to only use the 73 mm main gun, which reloads much faster, and saving his ATGMs for tanks. I can work around the problem with micromanagement in RT, shifting the area fire to light immediately after the 73mm fires, in which case gunner-boy manages to pelt the building with 7.62 with one hand while popping a new 73mm round into the barrel with the other, after which I switch back to regular area fire and, rinse and repeat. Good to know he's dextrous - I'd prefer him to be smart, though, so I wouldn't have to babysit him... Same thing SOMETIMES happens with tanks equipped with ATGMs, by the way.

Hehe, yeah looks like you were up a little too late yesterday, Thomm! But no worries, we can wait... Cheers!

Thank you, thank you!!! As for the pic, I might as well do it myself since I get a better choice that way... So here's to me, classic cinematography, and cowbell:

The T-84U also has one of the flattest, squattest turrets I've ever seen. Not easy to even see that thing when it's hull down, never mind hit it. Effective hit area looks to be about a foot and a half in height!

Elmar, that would have to be "Murder, My Sweet"... And I don't want to see any more Cowbells from you anytime soon. A promise is a promise!

Arrad, it is also possible to hit places you can't see with your arty even if you can't target them directly. If, for example, you call in a linear fire mission, your spotter must be able to see both end points to do so, but nothing in between. So if you want your arty to hit behind a row of buildings or a rise in terrain, you can call a fire mission between two spots to the left and right of the obstruction and rounds will fall where you want them to. Also remember that spotter's LOS is calculated to the exact location of your mouse pointer, but the arty target is defined by the action spot you are pointing to. Meaning if you think your spotter ought to be able to see where you want to set the target, move the mouse around a bit in the vicinity and see whether you get a visual in a slightly different place (could be even in the action spot you want, or maybe one or two away = good enough, usually). Often little obstructions like trees or a near invisible bump in terrain will cause LOS to be limited, but still available if you have a little patience and find just the right spot.

Well, I have barely any experience with the editor, so can't help you directly, CN. What I do know is I and probably everyone else have been hit countless times by AI-detonated IEDs while playing CMSF :mad:, so there must be a way. Hope you figure it out!

I want a voice .wav for flamethrower guys, something about turning the Fritzens into Freedom Fries...I'll let you know when I've settled on an exact text.

Great stuff, BFC! Looking forward to CM:N so bad it hurts...FOW trenches make me drool in the meantime - or is that the brew? :confused: Merry Christmas to all and to all a good *hic* night!

Just to round off an excrutiatingly useful set of answers, the likes of which I have seldom seen ... About not being able to acquire ammo from destroyed vehicles: a) If the vehicle is of the blazing flames destroyed persuasion, that's your answer there. Grunts don't like fire. If the vehicle is not on fire, you have to consider the problem in a more abstracted way. Picture it as a twisted heap of broken metal, or picture the doors being bent out of whack so your guys can't get in, or the ammo boxes popped open and the rounds scattered across the countryside, under the seats, etc. CMSF doesn't have a visual damage model aside from the flames mentioned above, so one has to use one's imagination. c) If the crew bailed because something important broke down and they got too scared, and the vehicle is just standing around empty, you can send people in to get stuff. You just can't drive it around without the crew. Cheers!

Trenches. Don't forget the trenches. I f***in HATE invisible trenches! +1 from me

Just ran a quick test and you are right, TheVulture. Target orders can be given to vehicles directly as long as their guns are manned by anyone including passengers. I obviously had this confused with something else, though I can't for the life of me figure out what .

...and therefore you have to issue the fire command to the Spartan's passenger.

People tend to forget, I think, that the kind of situational awareness regarding orientation in 3-dimensional space, terrain, cover, concealment etc., which comes pretty naturally to members of Homo Sapiens (like the vast majority of CM players are ), is a REALLY difficult thing to teach an AI. Such a mechanism has no concept whatsoever of what a ridge or forest or depression in terrain is really good for. It doesn't even really know what 'up' is! Even what it CAN do at this point, and that's a lot IMHO, is a kind of workaround that is NOT based on intrinsic, instinctive understanding of basic geometry and physical laws like gravity etc. This means that every human in his right mind and with basic experience in 'virtual warfare' can compute tactically useful spots within a CMSF map (like where to put my unit so it doesn't get shot up instantly) faster and more accurately than probably even the NSA mainframe can - without even noticing he is doing so... I for my part agree wholeheartedly with Steve on this issue - give me NATO or CM:N before gun elevation limits anyday. That content would be worth a million times more to me than any possible 'bugfix' or AI tweak they could come up with for CMSF at this point!

And how will a Tiger NOT help against Turks or a SEK? Sounds like good clean fun to me...

Well, if you folks can manage to get a video or at least some pics of THAT posted on the forum, it may be the closest thing we're going to get before Xmas to the CM:Normandy bone we're all pining for!