BletchleyGeek
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Posts posted by BletchleyGeek
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44 minutes ago, Thewood1 said:
Can you explain how the impact on uploading/downloading files sizes and storage space are impacted vs regular PBEM?
Not much. As I wrote on my original message, Slitherine system automates the logistics of exchanging game files, making it almost transparent to the players (you don't get to handle the files themselves).
And as I wrote on the previous message, the difference versus regular PBEM is failure handling. If your Internet connection goes pop while uploading your file to Dropbox, there's no drama, as you're in full control of the process. When the game (the PBEM++ client) is the one in charge, there may be issues like for instance, the files not being easily accessible (game data being written to a temporary file) etc. or lost (if the game writes the data in "streaming" into a socket). Some Slitherine published games handle these eventualities more robustly than others.
In the worst case, you may need to redo your turn, if the game crashes as a result of not being able to execute the file exchange protocol, and temporary files may be deleted when the game closes. This has happened to me like twice or three times since 2009, when I started using the service playing Field of Glory online (once with the first WitE, and a couple times with the newer Field of Glory 2).
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16 minutes ago, Vet 0369 said:
This is how I was playing Battle Academy and and a couple of other Slitherine based games with a friend. The problem with them is that if the developer changes platforms or you have issues, it is up to the developer to fix them. I don't think we'll have that problem with BFC though.
My biggest problem with the system - as usually implemented by developers published by Slitherine - is that if there is trouble getting across a handshake with the server, the game (client) gets stuck in a inconsistent state, or you find yourself dismissing a pop-up with a obtuse error message over and over again. Some developers have the resources to work out the possible failure modes in a graceful fashion, others do not.
If I have to be negative/pessimistic about this, the major potential issue I see with adopting Slitherine PBEM++ system, in the hypothetic case that this is indeed the MP feature Steve was talking about, is the sheer size of the PBEM game files. Their size is obviously related to the size of the map and number of units: for the largest scenarios out there (e.g. CMFI "Lancing the Abscess", CMRT "Studienka", CMBN "Counterattack at Son") you can produce files north of 100MBytes in size.
Before I managed to get a decent fiber to the home connection, uploading those files to Drobpox, could take like 20 to 25 minutes on a "decent" DSL connection, in the evening. This kind of transmission time is way above what you usually get with most games on Slitherine's platform (Wite2 saved games amongst the biggest, like 5 to 10 MB). With compression, CM saved files get reduced between a 5% (ZIP) to a 10% (7Z/LZW).
Besides transmission time, the other issue is server side... as if say, at any point in time there are like a few thousand (optimistic figure that one) active PBEM games, and you want to keep at least one file as a back up, the footprint of the gaming is significant in terms of hard disk space. But this is probably not much of a concern these days.
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7 hours ago, Artkin said:
Ah yes this seems just slightly automated. You still need dropbox... IMO - unacceptable.
The facts of Slitherine PBEM++ system is that you don't need Dropbox. The files are exchanged over the cloud, through Slitherine's servers. There is a matchmaking service too, where you post "challenges" which can be open to the public, or protected with a password (so your buddies can get into it but no randos). Whenever a new turn file is available, you get an e-mail letting you know about it.
This system, in coordination with a third-party app like Discord (or even Steam internal chat system) I think is a pretty positive and a significant step forward.
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35 minutes ago, chuckdyke said:
The only thing in common with Switzerland and Geneva were the conventions originated and Nepal. The mountains in Nepal are higher.
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2 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:
So why is Cold War going to take a few more months to come out for Slitherine? Because they asked us to put in some multiplayer support that no Combat Mission has (so far). And it needs to be extensively tested. Which is why an otherwise nearly complete Combat Mission game with traditional features isn't being released by Slitherine sooner.
Does this mean you guys are going to have to wait until June to get your hands on a version of Cold War with the new multiplayer features and Steam version? Yes. Does this mean you will have to wait until June to play Cold War that meets normal Battlefront release standards? No.
Play by cloud over the Slitherine PBEM infrastructure?
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16 minutes ago, Vacilllator said:
That could just reflect that SF2 owners are more likely to know what Discord is?
That may be a factor, but clearly CMBS which is also on Steam, is comparatively speaking as "popular" as RT.
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47 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:
Eastern Front fans never have, and never will, understand where they fit into the overall popularity spectrum.
They just need to join the CM Discord and check the title ownership poll there... The ratio of CMSF2 owners over RT owners is 3:1, the ratio of CMBN owners over RT owners is about 2:1, with near parity with every other title (but Afghanistan, the hipster title). I was surprised that CMFB wasn't as popular as CMBN.
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48 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:
Why were we so optimistic in c.2018 about how quickly we could crank stuff out? Because, for the first time, we had artwork mostly sitting in hand. Up until then we thought that artwork was our bottleneck and everything else paced itself to that. What we learned was the playable content (campaigns, scenarios, etc.) took the longest to do. Throwing more people onto playable content only seemed to produce more and better content, not faster. Trust me, it was a surprise to us and the lessons from were learned. Why do you think you haven't seen me talking about Modules being right around the corner for Final Blitzkrieg and Black Sea?
Very interesting Steve. Is that time accounting for playtesting, map making, research etc? Also for developing simulation models for new vehicles and equipment?
Thanks again for sharing these insights into the development process. And all the best with the upcoming releases!
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12 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:
Every developer has its own way of doing things, but in our experience the next stage (Final Candidate) and the last stage (Release Candidate) takes between 2-4 weeks in total. Based on this morning's examination of the remaining ToDo List items... I think we're at the point of Final Candidate.
Thanks Steve for moving the progress bar. @BFCElvis explanation of the process was clear and informative too.
FWIW I think Battlefront.com is a "proper" company, even if it doesn't follow the standard publisher model of Slitherine. It has to be incorporated according to the laws of the state of Maine (?) at the very least
Having deadlines like that are good for managing expectations. But quality at release may be less than expected, as a host of small items which are unimportant individually, and were thus deemed low priority for fixing, in the aggregate can make quite a dent in the perception of a game. And I am talking about a very big WW2 wargame that came out recently which I was the lead tester for two years until late last year.
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On 4/4/2021 at 11:11 AM, benpark said:
The idea for these was to somewhat recreate the feeling of the old CMx1 Operations. One force, during a single battle, linked terrain. There isn't persistent damage, but creative map positioning gives a sense of advancing over the ground fought over.
Looking forward to play this one Ben, many thanks for trying out an old concept that I also remember fondly.
And thanks also to @BFCElvis for his inputs on our waiting, CMSF2 R2V and FR I guess stressed processes a but due to their sheer size.
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2 hours ago, Almac said:
Tell us about it Elvis, we all can't wait and really dig you are your teams work.
Advice; you have concentrated your infantry to suppress opponent, mortars starting coming down. Do you scatter your men or stay in the prone position? Assume it is pre sighted mortar or TRP. What is the best thing to do?
Run unless you're already in contact with the enemy. If you're being engaged, then your pixeltruppen will have bite their helmet chinstraps for a while.
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13 hours ago, domfluff said:
If you use BMP-3s incautiously, you'll see a lot of mutual kills
I don't have footage of it, but my favourite was a glancing hit on the front of my Panther, that bounced off in a high, near-vertical, really slow arc, before arcing back down directly onto one of my squads.That's a pretty good one @domfluff
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... like this one
The AI was driving those two tanks very close to each other, and I have seen proximity kills of soft-skinned vehicles (or as my buddy @Lethafacepointed out, something to watch out for when around vehicles like the BMP-3), but in 10 years of CMx2 I haven't even seen a proximity kill of a reasonably armoured AFV... by another AFV blowing up.
Any other rare events like the one above people would like to share? Spotting stuff like this highlights how much happens under the hood with CMx2... and also how much more could this game tell us about what it does.
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1 hour ago, Bil Hardenberger said:
You cut me to the quick...
When you read the peanut gallery thread, you'll have a couple laughs
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Those were two fun turns, Bil. Any chance of a video covering the last 5 minutes of the battle? It would be a great advertisement for the game.
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On 3/23/2021 at 12:12 PM, BletchleyGeek said:
Since he hasn't really mentioned that he is relying on further arty fires in the last update, I assume Bil doesn't consider those to be an important part of his plan any more.
Wrong assumption! Bil still has some cluster munitions available.
The revolving door game on Warren's right flank is going to get very interesting soon. Also, that infantry screen has done more damage than I thought possible with those Dragon missiles. -
14 minutes ago, BFCElvis said:
Coincidently, the name of one of the FR battles. @Ithikial_AU
Breakout battle? I am also expecting at least one scenario with the phrase "Last Stand" in the title
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21 minutes ago, Ryujin said:
IIRC the artillery will eventually cancel on it's own if it can't contact the spotter. But I think it'll take the artillery a little while to realize no one is answering and then he'll have to call it again (I'd guess he probably has other teams that can spot). But probably too late with how quickly things are developing.
All US Scout sections can act as forward observers for artillery, Bill highlighted this in the AAR as an important factor when selecting forces.
Since he hasn't really mentioned that he is relying on further arty fires in the last update, I assume Bil doesn't consider those to be an important part of his plan any more.
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Maybe he had a bad day... But seriously, the Allies had a lot of trouble at their mid-level of command (battalion, regiment) for several reasons. Prokhorovka is what happens when mid level officers reinforce failure and higher level officers do not rectify as feedback on decisions comes up the command chain.
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10 minutes ago, Vacilllator said:
So Kursk as an offensive may have been a failure for Germany but it looks like Prokhorovka as a battle wasn't?
Yep, Prokhorovka was a defensive battle where the German Army did very well. And a complete dog breakfast for the Red Army. It's remarkable because of the exchange ratio and the cover up effort.
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Beautiful report @Bil Hardenberger, greatly appreciate the vignettes that illustrate the in game events... it's great to see some combined arms action (even if some of that was blue on blue!).
Pre-orders for Combat Mission Cold War are now open.
in Combat Mission Cold War
Posted
Great to hear that - obviously you guys had "war gamed" some contingencies... others will turn up when the service goes live