A Canadian Cat

No, not with one install. To PBEM the two users have to be running the same version of the software. However if your mate is not going to upgrade you can either twist his arm, buy him a copy or make a copy of your existing install and install the 3.0 upgrade on top of that copy so that you have two running versions of the game. One that you use to play your cheap skate mate and one for everything else.

Now that certainly could be a factor. The last time I used hide like that it was Regular Herr infantry. That sounds like a good way to set things up. I'll keep my eye open for that :0

I find the Soviet SMG squads to be brutal. I have an urban environment battle going right now and even though I am gaining the upper hand (due to now having HE trowing superiority) earlier in the game they chewed up half my force. I also wisely avoided getting into a part of town where there are a lot of close quarters and small streets but instead kept to the other end of town that had several open squares and park areas. So, yeah I find the Soviet SMG squads tough to fight against unless you can engage them further away or throw explody stuff at them while remaining buttoned.

Have you tried this lately? My experience is that the enemy would break cover and enter my cover arcs and keep on moving towards my men without being spotted. Once they got really close they would see my men and shoot them. My men would simply die without any idea what hit them. Now that is how to setup an ambush. If the enemy is approaching it is suicidal. The only thing I use hide for these days is when the artillery starts falling. Any one caught under it hides.

On top of which those Wall Street guys still have their jobs too. Overall excellent post - what he said.

Ah now there is a real issue. This discussion about a lobby deserves its own thread. Don't mix Steam into it. Yeah, I get it Steam has a lobby built in but that is not the only way to solve this problem and clearly moving to Steam is not going to happen. I do however recall that someone set up a group on Steam to try to help - did I image that?

Right, got it. This thread is about Steam. Mixing in UI is not really appropriate or helpful. You are dead wrong about people here being some sort of sticks in the mud trying at every turn to thwart you. Have some ideas about the UI: present them in their own thread and don't forget that there are only a small number of us that have design experience and only a few of those have any experience with games. You probably know what that means - right lots of opinions with nothing behind them. You will have seen that before I expect. So, my recommendation is keep things focused and present a good case for how it can be done better (not I mean actual ideas for new way of designing the UI not platitudes) and expect to be told you are wrong. Accept it (which you need to work on BTW). Enjoy it. Keep a cool head (yeah work on this too :-). If you present something that is worth while Steve and the BFC staff will see it and it might even inspire them to make future enhancements. Many people have done that over the last few years. Those threads have been interesting. I look forward to more of them.

Whoa there, what thread / forum are you guys reading? I have never had the impression that anyone here wants to keep new payers out. That is just silly. Crap, this is just weird. This whole discussion has been about the business model around distribution via Steam or not. The main point that you guys are arguing against is not that we want to keep the community small but that Steve has decided that the business model offered by Steam does not work for BFC. Heck those of us arguing with you are not even saying that we think you are wrong per-say we are saying we don't know enough about the inner workings but we know that Steve does. @sburke found the post of Steve's that I was looking for earlier where he lays it out: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showpost.php?p=1536440&postcount=165 There is nothing to argue about here. I don't have an opinion pro or against Steam. If you think that Steve has his analysis wrong tell him not me. All I am saying is that Steve is in a much better place to know than any of you are. Yes, he is also in a better place than me to but I don't seem to have any trouble realizing that Time to move along and play this game - or what ever game you feel like playing. This horse is dead.

Well you cannot really go wrong. Pick the game that interests you the most. I currently have all three WWII games and am currently playing one PBEM from CMFI, one from CMBN and five from CMRT. So, at the moment I guess I am most interested in CMRT but that is just because it just came out.

Really. BFC have been around for a few years now - I think around the same length of time as Valve. I see no evidence that BFC will be going away any time soon. LOL let me guess you have an MBA - right? Steam's model is proven for at least some types of markets and some types of games true. What BFC have is experience with their type of market and their type of game. You should just trust them and let them do their thing. All we have to do is buy and enjoy their games. You should join us. Stop worrying about what Valve or BFC are doing:)

@Erwin don't be afraid to turn down the texture and model rendering settings before playing a large scenario such as this. Before I upgraded my machine I was having trouble with smooth camera motion and play back in Monty's Butchers. It was painful and frustrating to play my turns. Eventually I turned down the rendering settings and it helped immensely. Sure, things don't look as good but up close they still do and it meant the difference between the game being playable and not.

I am certain that this is a waste of time but here goes... I find it hard to believe that @SgtHatred will be able to show that they are wrong. Considering that Steve has been in contact with Valve and seen the business agreement for Steam. He said a while back that the terms of that agreement were not good for them and further that those parts he did not like were not publicly available. So, I suppose there is a small chance that @SgtHatred has seen the same agreements and an even smaller chance that he understands how that applies to BFC. But I'm not betting on it because those look like really long odds to me.

Steve posts about the road map from time to time and many of us who read regularly have it in our heads. A few volunteer testers occasionally know more specifics but cannot comment - obviously. I'll stick to comments from the boss himself (specifically points two and four). Also read the whole thread there is lots of good stuff and mostly fun discussion: http://www.battlefront.com/community/archive/index.php/t-112852.html Here is the most relevant post to your quetion: I cannot seem to find the announcement of the modern game (not sure what is wrong with my Google fu this morning - must be electronic warfare) which takes place in Ukraine and is being referred to as Black Sea. So from above you can see that they have the following in the works (not necessarily in this order): New modern game set in Ukraine - Black Sea Next western front game taking place around the Bulge A pack for Fortress Italy A pack for battle for Normandy The first module for Red Thunder

But it would need an awful lot of ammunition:

Oh *CRAP* yes thanks for the fix - Note I was able to edit my original post and fix it there so thank goodness the wrong advice is not preserved for ever.

I guess it would be good to answer your actual questions eh? I usually give them 1000 more rounds in a situation like this. 1000 is the maximum I ever give and then only to full squads or good sized MG teams. Probably not. I don't find my HQ units running out of ammo much. I like to give them a bit extra 50 if I can but 100 if I'm forced to. They shoot at a more measured pace but on a long battle if they don't get a bit more at the start they some times get close to running out. For a SMG equipped squad I try to give them some more SMG amo to (100 rounds per SMG). If they are burning through their SMG ammo things are hot and that is a bad time to run out.

Yeah, I always operated under the assumption that it did matter. Let us know the results of your testing.

Upgrading game is not fully guaranteed and if it does not work you have to go back to the older version to play. Having said that it is very doable. So far every patch and upgrade that has come out I have updated a PBEM that was on going and it has never failed. There have been a few times that the first minute of play back after the update included a god awful air plane engine sound - bleck. Thank fully that only happens once in a while and it only lasts for that first minute. There are two important things to remember if you update a PBEM game: 1) coordinate with your opponent - no body likes surprises like "hey I copy the turn but it does not show up in the saved game list" 2) the procedure for update is: watch the replay, press the BRB, save the game, install the update, open the saved game, issue orders, press the BRB and pass the turn file on to your opponent. 3) coordinate with your opponent - no body likes surprises...

Well then, I am so glad you and your men are not trying to root out insurgents from my neighbourhood then

Well sometimes you can upset the crew. See this: Note the Stug starts backing up even before bullets start ricocheting into the open hatch. Also Note I have no idea what happened to the aspect ratio of that video - when I uploaded it years ago it looked fine

Sounds like the correct place. For CMBN it should be placed in <install_root>/Battlefront/CMBN220/Game Files/Quick Battle Maps For the map to appear in game you have to select a matching QB type. In this case the map sounds like it is for an attack so you have to select an attack type of battle in the QB UI then the map should appear. Note: I have not actually tested out this map. What I am describing is how it should work.

The hit was the Meta Critic list of war games where several Combat Mission game rank fairly high. I know not perfect since the ratings on Meta Critic are kinda screwy but they are there. Third link is the armchair general tutorials which is an awesome introduction to the game.

It was quite a bit of fun and I lost badly as the Germans. But I did play against a very good opponent. He made some really good moves against me and really came out on top.

Ick that should have been "Well, no one wants that". Heck I am adopted and know nothing of my actual blood lines: we could even be half brothers:D

Well no ones that. My son had a hockey coach use used to say "I'll get right on that, but don't hold your breath 'cause you might die" when ever people wanted him to do something I was not highly motivated to do. I have tried to slip it into conversation with my kids at least once a year ever since. Mostly I get a lot eye rolling .