Quintus Sertorius

This is a topic I'm interested in. I've been playing on Warlord, but I'm perfectly willing to move to a different setting if it plays better or more realistically. It sounds like you chaps recommend Iron? WeGo of course...that goes without saying.

While I appreciate the historicity of CMBN (if I didn't I'd probably be playing some game with wizards and orcs or something), I'm in favor of expanding troop selection to include even anachronistic and ahistorical units and formations -- as long as they are prominently labeled. I might not even use them 95% of the time, but the option should be there. Historical battles are one thing, but made-up and head-to-head battles should let the player enjoy the game aspects of CMBN however he sees fit.

I would like to be able to select an area of them map (a rectangle would do for starters), then cut and paste it in a different location. I say this because I recently encountered a situation where I would like to move an entire section of a town a few grids to the right, and I don't think there's any easy way to do this. Thanks. QS P.S. While I'm at it, a spraygun for trees would be snazzy too.

This is the number one addition I've wanted since the first Combat Mission demo game I played years and years ago.

I'd just like to say thanks for this thread. The ATI shaders in the CMFI hotfix work great on my CMBN v2.0. I've got a MacPro with OSX 10.6.8 and a Radeon HD 5770, BTW.

I'm a mac guy and I agree. I've never had a problem with this.

Or starting it up. But I'm thinking more along the lines of what Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far did back in the 90s. The "throw everything at one weak point" strategy doesn't work for the Allies because they have to win every battle along the line or the operation fails. It sort-of works for the Germans, but since the Allies have air superiority they can drop some supplies to Arnhem and Nijmegen, even if they're cut off. Also, the armored push up the line gets harder for the Germans to stop the further south you go, so if they plow all their resources into that fight they won't be able to reduce the northern pockets. Market-Garden is a situation that fits operational control uniquely well, IMO.

Operational control over Market-Garden.

No, but I have no problem packing my Z folder with 30 different German helmets. Since I have the mac version I don't have the rez- utility programs, unfortunately. Mainly I was wondering if there was a simple answer, but I'll go ahead and test it with helmets and see if I can find a limit.

I found this odd at first too. What helped me was to start using the keyboard for 90% of camera control. Occasionally the mouse can help, but in general I stick with the keyboard. I suppose this is dependent on your setup, however. The camera is not bad, but it takes some time to become proficient with it. I don't even think about it anymore, which is how things should be.

As someone who was faced with this question a couple of months ago, I can't really see a good reason to wait. I don't think you're going to be saving much money if you do. BF doesn't seem to follow the same "jack up the prices early to exploit the sales rush then lower them drastically a few months later" model that many games companies use. I assume that's because they're a niche developer.

Just to use helmet textures as an example...how many different texture files can you have at one time? If you number the .bmp files helmet 1, helmet 2, helmet 3, the game will randomly select one of the three for each soldier. I'm looking for the upper limit. Can you have 250 different helmet files, or just 50, or just 25?

You're doing fine. I've spent years doing graphics professionally, and I still learn new things all the time. Every task is different. Keep at it until you're satisfied with the result, then ask yourself how you could do the same thing more quickly and efficiently. Once you develop a formula you think works, you can tinker with it and apply it to any number of vehicles. Next time you're in a bookstore or at a newsstand take a glance at some of the graphic design magazines. They're usually filled with handy tips that will inspire you.

I do plan to release my first scenario...soon. I made it to teach myself the editor, but I've been obsessively playing and tinkering with it for a long time now - so much so that I've barely played any of the stock scenarios or campaigns. I'm curious what kinds of maps people would like most.

Thanks! That's highly unlikely! I don't think I'll ever get good at playing. I spend way too much time designing my own maps. Another thing I could see being improved is the way vehicles interact with each other and with wrecks. I had a Puma destroy two halftracks with one shot yesterday because they were crawling through a pile of wrecks on a bridge. It was fun, but I think I'd rather have one of those Shermans with a bulldozer blade on the front.

Howdy. My first post. I can't say I have any complaints about CMBN. Great game/simulation. It took some time to get used to the camera (keyboard works a lot better for me in most cases), but other than that... I've read that the mod tools will be released for the OSX version at some point. Is it highly inappropriate to ask whether I can obtain the Windows versions in the mean time? I triple boot OSX, Windows, and Linux, so I can certainly use them. A few general suggestions, without any regard to technical or any other kind of difficulty of implementation: 1) An operational level. I've seen a few people wishing for this. To me it would put CMBN on par with what to date is my favorite war game of all time, Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far. 2) Full replay. Wow, this would be fun. Rewatch an entire battle from start to finish with no turn interruptions? Superb. It would be like every game was a little action movie in the making. 3) When plotting movement, the engine should give you an ETA to the destination, assuming no interruptions. This would make it easier to plot in the unavoidable one-turn increments. 4) More realistic entrenchments. Trenches and foxholes that actually go down into the ground. More control over sandbag walls. I'm sure I've thought of others, but I can't remember them ATM, so I'll leave that for another time. In conclusion, good job Battlefront! -Q.Sertorius