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herr_oberst got a reaction from Myles Keogh in Firing a small "panzerfaust on tank
Your pixeltruppen are soldiers, not robots, so yeah, sometimes they think "That order? That's nuts," and do what the Tac AI thinks is the best choice.
Same reason they'll break and run, or go to ground when receiving incoming.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from A Canadian Cat - was IanL in Firing a small "panzerfaust on tank
Your pixeltruppen are soldiers, not robots, so yeah, sometimes they think "That order? That's nuts," and do what the Tac AI thinks is the best choice.
Same reason they'll break and run, or go to ground when receiving incoming.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Warts 'n' all in Firing a small "panzerfaust on tank
Your pixeltruppen are soldiers, not robots, so yeah, sometimes they think "That order? That's nuts," and do what the Tac AI thinks is the best choice.
Same reason they'll break and run, or go to ground when receiving incoming.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Redwolf in Apple Mac Mini m2 entry level... anyone using it with CMBN?
Initial review:
Time Machine backup the old iMac, boot the new Studio, use Time Machine to move everything to the new machine, short fiddling with the MX Master 2S mouse, then launch Red Thunder.
Swapped the resolution to Desktop (2560x1440), up the models to best, textures to best, exit, restart, and like the comment on the Mini above, just a few minutes toying around, but very nice. No reactivation, nothing.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Ales Dvorak in Combat photography: Photos from the front..
Feh, that's an Uber-Tiger that carries its own camoflage.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Phantom Captain in Combat photography: Photos from the front..
Feh, that's an Uber-Tiger that carries its own camoflage.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Vacillator in Combat photography: Photos from the front..
Feh, that's an Uber-Tiger that carries its own camoflage.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Artkin in The year to come - 2024 (Part 2)
The beginnings of a scenario/campaign around Gerassimova, from period mps and "Decision in the Ukraine". Loooong time coming.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from benpark in DF the wasp's nest - terrible
Sometimes 'success' just means you suck less than historical results. Maybe you don't have to 'win', just do better.
Or perhaps a win is a combination of exceptional skill AND good luck, and rare as hen's teeth.
Journey before destination.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Ultradave in Just in case you have a bad HD
For any macos users, Time Machine is an excellent tool.
Has saved me numerous times from bad/broken installs of many things.
"Oh, there's a new update of X."
Run Time Machine to backup.
Install update X.
"WTF? Things are totally broken."
Time Machine restore back to just before the install of the rogue update, and all is well.
I've used it to back out a CM install also -- I forget which patch misbehaved on my machine for CMRT, but having a 'Undo' button is awesome.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from PEB14 in Beginner tutorials
Get used to getting beat-up...
It's all an educational adventure. Crap, I've read tons o' books (mil hist generally, unit hist some), but that doesn't necessarily translate 1-1 to what you'll find in the game. Close, but not 100%. But then what is?
Got my arse handed to me in a play-by-email vs an unmentioned person in the New Zealand military. What they practice I tried to play. Professional vs amateur. If you find one, they are the BEST opponents ever... You want real combined-arms instruction.. play a real military person in Play-By-EMail.
It pays to:
- Play "realistic/smart" for the period (WWII vs modern are VERY different), gamey tactics from other games might leave you wondering WTF?)
- Educate yourself about what the period platforms are capable of (AFVs, arty, infantry squads) -- in WWII, a game year can mean a total change of tactics, especially against the Russkies in CMRT )
- "You aren't as good as you think you are" - some scenario creators are EVIL, and have already thought out all those advance route routes you think are ingenious... prepare to be decimated in the real Roman sense.
All that being said, there is little I have spent as much money on, and have enjoyed less than the entire Battlefront series of games...
CMBO, CMAK, CMBB, etc, etc. Started on the Windows platform way back, then got 'smart' and switched to MacOs. And bought everything I had again, 'cause it's that good. Through (almost) all the current titles (I'm a WWII guy), the most valuable dollars I have ever spent.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Brille in Beginner tutorials
Get used to getting beat-up...
It's all an educational adventure. Crap, I've read tons o' books (mil hist generally, unit hist some), but that doesn't necessarily translate 1-1 to what you'll find in the game. Close, but not 100%. But then what is?
Got my arse handed to me in a play-by-email vs an unmentioned person in the New Zealand military. What they practice I tried to play. Professional vs amateur. If you find one, they are the BEST opponents ever... You want real combined-arms instruction.. play a real military person in Play-By-EMail.
It pays to:
- Play "realistic/smart" for the period (WWII vs modern are VERY different), gamey tactics from other games might leave you wondering WTF?)
- Educate yourself about what the period platforms are capable of (AFVs, arty, infantry squads) -- in WWII, a game year can mean a total change of tactics, especially against the Russkies in CMRT )
- "You aren't as good as you think you are" - some scenario creators are EVIL, and have already thought out all those advance route routes you think are ingenious... prepare to be decimated in the real Roman sense.
All that being said, there is little I have spent as much money on, and have enjoyed less than the entire Battlefront series of games...
CMBO, CMAK, CMBB, etc, etc. Started on the Windows platform way back, then got 'smart' and switched to MacOs. And bought everything I had again, 'cause it's that good. Through (almost) all the current titles (I'm a WWII guy), the most valuable dollars I have ever spent.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Probus in Annual look at the year to come - 2023
Dang... I was hoping the BOARs would be the chink in the armor that finally got us Space Lobsters...
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herr_oberst got a reaction from A Canadian Cat - was IanL in Annual look at the year to come - 2023
Dang... I was hoping the BOARs would be the chink in the armor that finally got us Space Lobsters...
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Ted in Battlefront Forum meme glossary
Aah... for the glossary, you simply cannot leave out "the Cesspool"...
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Simcoe in I don't think I can go back to playing against the AI
Plenty of room for both types. Some of the designers do bang-up jobs of scripting and are very challenging, but then again, against a devious human mind can be frustrating/enjoyable.
Aeons ago, during CMAK, there was a player (apologies, but who it was escapes me) who used the gamiest, sheer genius maneuver I can recall to mask his attack. Moving across the desert caused dust trails. Rather than telegraph his avenues of advance, he took a couple of his lightest, fastest pieces of armor and ran them back and forth across the map in front of the rest of the attacking force. A dust cloud effectively masked all his early movement. L'audace, toujours l'audace...
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Phantom Captain in Modern or WWII?
Let's see... CMBO, CMBB, CMAK - aah, the good ol' days of 3 blocky pixeltruppen marching along, the Cesspool and its rather unique wit. And getting massacred in VoT that first time...
Then CMBN + all the adds, CMFI + all the adds, CMRT + all the adds, CMFB -- I play these as time permits.
Also own CMBS, CMCW - not that I'm into modern where tech seems to rule the battlefield, but 'cause I want to support the brain trust.
Would still love to see an updated CMAK, or early WWII title.
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herr_oberst reacted to WimO in "Balanced" Scenarios - H2H
As both a map and scenario creator I was struggling with the question, "Should I jump into this discussion or not?" My ego said, 'Go ahead'.
I would like to begin with stating my observation that players all have different 'tastes' for the type of game they want or are willing to play. That is okay. We are all different. By 'type' here I mean whether a game is balanced or imbalanced which is the question under discussion here. Some prefer well-balanced games, I assume it suits their sense of competitive 'fairness'? Others are happy to play historical scenarios (which are often imbalanced), and still others are happy to be surprised. I am speaking as one who has been gaming in the realm of miniatures, board wargames and computer wargames, starting at age nine (that make for 62 years of gaming so far) and in the process have written rules, created games, and run convention events.
As a CM scenario creator of over 30 scenarios, and presently working on my series '82nd Airborne in Normandy', I prefer to attempt, to the extent that it is possible with the information available and the program's mechanics, historical scenarios. Although frequently imbalanced, I view the 'experience' as a discovery and reliving of the events, perhaps a role-playing experience. Through the scenario I try to 'tell a story'. Whether the gamer allows themself to be immersed into the story by reading the included notes varies from gamer to gamer. I suspect many skip the notes and jump into the game.
So what about balance in my particular scenarios? Two things mitigate against it, the first being the historical situation and the second is the speed with which I am outputting the scenarios (racing against my mortality clock) combined with lack of play-testers does not provide much opportunity for vetting. Well what about it? Do you want to play an historical event or do you want it distorted so much for the sake of balance that the historical challenge vanishes?. That's almost like asking to you want a game or an historical event, or a blend? That said, there are nevertheless things I do to try to move an imbalanced situation towards balance with the minimum of OOB disturbance. This might be accomplished through manipulation of the time variable as well as off-map artillery support.
Well that's the creator's side but there is something I hope for from players as a substitute to grumbling. Please, if you have issues with any scenario of anyone's creation, load the thing into the EDITOR and make any changes you wish. Be adventurous, be creative. So easy! Not enough tanks? Add some. Too much time? Cut it down. Disagree with the unit morale? Change it. The CM series is so very accessible to fiddling. I myself have opened up some of the existing scenarios and made changes.
By the way, map creation can take months of full-time work. And I mean 16 hour days, seven day weeks. Good thing I like it and have an obsessive personality. Scenarios also take many hours and play-testing, if testers are available, can take weeks more.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Phantom Captain in 2022, the Year In Preview!
Still holding out for the "Space Lobsters of Doom" module...
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herr_oberst got a reaction from JM Stuff in [Music] Setting the mood
Sorceror soundtrack from Tangerine Dream...
Fits the whole general sense of dread. Ok, I plotted a turn. Let's click 'Go' and see what blows up!
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Vergeltungswaffe in The Schizophrenia of the Tac AI
But while you as a player could tailor a certain squad's, or a set of squads, 'react' behavior according to your instincts or plan, choosing to be cautious or charging forward losses irrelevant, how is the tac AI going to make the same decision on setting the 'react' posture for its planned moves?
Some type of algorithm, which I assume is already in place when the tac AI chooses between the slow--fast movement spectrum for its pixeltruppen.
One of the things I've always liked about the CM titles is the lack of precise control once you get far enough down the command chain. That 'randomness' keeps the same scenario from playing the same every time.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Commanderski in F&R Inspiration
(re)Working on the 'Regiment Eicke' map as time permits (work sux, but that's a different story).
It's a 3x6 km map at the moment. Working on revising the 'contour line' mapping method (fast and pretty easy to draw) into a more visually appealing 'spline' map -- taking the high points/ridges, and lower valleys and mapping them with points to get rid of the stair-step that appeared so frequently. Some steepness definition is lost, but in favor of a visually appealing map.
Just started mapping the "streams" that appear on the map, but they have significant elevation changes, so using water isn't going to work -- it isn't flat. Marsh is teh current choice, but that will need some adornment to indicate 'not really vehicle crossable' at points... still thinking through this part.
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herr_oberst reacted to George MC in Do 'ditchlock' trenches provide more/better cover?
I did a Mius scenario for CMX1 years back and recall from accounts the issue the panzers had with Soviet foxholes and snipers. I might have got that too right in the scenario as in my playtests no German tank had a TC left alive!
Tall crops will also help mitigate long range LOS/LOF on trenches. Keeping em hidden to the last gasp would be key I suspect.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from George MC in Do 'ditchlock' trenches provide more/better cover?
Interesting (on both replies - thank you).
Sounds like the ditchlock doesn't get what I'm after. From my reading, the concealment was a big issue for the Axis attackers, and the positions were pretty resilient to arty. Vanilla trenches and foxholes sounds like the better option.
The keyholing with terrain sounds like a good option as well, and not too hard to do.
So many options, so little time to implement and test.
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herr_oberst got a reaction from Aragorn2002 in F&R Inspiration
Yup, earlier stuff. Fewer big cats. IIRC, Nipe mentions something akin to “Of the 8 Tigers, 4 were serviceable.” The rest were MkIV or III-ish.
”Assault on Hill 213.9 - The Death Ride of SS Panzer Regiment 3.” - Might not be popular to enter a scenario where “less death” is the win (some touch objectives in the early stuff, winning happens later), but I’m thinking historical/educational, not “appease the “I have to win every scenario” gamers”.