db_zero
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Posts posted by db_zero
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On 10/16/2018 at 7:27 PM, MikeyD said:
I recall Steve was salivating, a few years back, over the prospect of somehow adding China to CMBS. Concocting a plausible scenario where China shows up in Ukraine is of course an impossible task. And Steve would've probably hanged himself in despair trying to put the TO&E together. But for awhile Steve was having fun imagining it
Recently Russia and China held join military maneuvers. This was more East though far away from the Ukraine. Korea is definitely a plausible scenario. Taiwan may be one too.
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I’ve been asking for this but given up hope. What could be done is someone could mod the game to represent China/Korea/Taiwan/Japan.
A similar thing was done for Shock Force. An African mod as well as one for Europe/Russia was done.
A kickstarter project might entice someone or group to take it on as it would be quite a bit of work.
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21 minutes ago, General Liederkranz said:
Apparently it's Soviet/Russian doctrine that the squad leader is an integral part of the BMP crew (or at least, that the platoon XO stays in the commander's seat in one BMP and directs the other vehicles after the platoon dismounts). I learned a lot about BMP spotting and extra crew members from this post and those following (including a helpful test):
Also useful information:
Thanks for the info. I guess the solution is to add an extra man or contact the Russian MOD and get them to change their doctrine. Someone once posted a picture of Putin playing Black Sea. You’d think after a few games and seeing the performance of his BMPs he’d get on the phone and have the MOD to rewrite doctrine...
I’m not crazy about using extra pixel troops to gain better spotting. It does sound crazy and a bit gamey but it is what it is...
Well now I’ll know what to do with my bailed out crewmen or shot up squads
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35 minutes ago, MOS:96B2P said:
Yes. This what some players do in CMBS. Also they will sometimes purchase an Igla unit (which is just one troop) and have him take the commanders seat in the BMP and/or BTR after the dismounts leave. However some players discovered that having a squad leader in the commanders seat gave even better results than having a random troop. With the squad leader inside, the BMP was faster at sequentially engaging and destroying targets. So some will split the dismounted squad and send the squad leader half back into the vehicle. There are a few threads discussing this tactic.
Interesting. Looking at Wikapedia its says BMP have a crew of 3 men and 7 or 8 passengers, so I'm wondering if the 2 men when the squad exits is intentional, bug or oversight. If Wikepedia is correct then shouldn't it get fixed as it seems like it does affect game play.
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Even the newer BMPs in Black Sea seem to suffer the same as the old ones on SF. I've run numerous QBs as well as h2h. The newer ones don't have a cannon fired ATGM. But in general I agree that the ATGM is more of a secondary weapon. Even on Bradley's they don't seem to be used often. I have another simulation Steel Beasts Pro 4.0 where you can fire the ATGMs on both and as I recall there is a set procedure you must follow to employ the ATGM and the cannons on both are much easier and faster to use.
Regarding the 3 men to spot properly on BMPs that is interesting. It kinda begs the question of if you have a spare man running around like a bailed out crewman from another vehicle or a sniper and mount them on a BMP that has disgorged its squad will it spot better?
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In all of my numerous h2h and single player games in Black Sea I cant recall seeing a BMP of any flavor fire an ATGM. I don’t recall one being fired in the original Shock Force either. I think some have mentioned seeing them used.
Ive also noticed that Bradley’s get the first shots off at BMPs the vast majority of the time.
I was told by another player that you need at least 3 or more men inside a BMP for it to spot property. I didn’t really ask what was meant by that.
They are cool looking and when they do fire are useful against infantry and will destroy MBTs like Abrams if they get flanking shots.
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1 hour ago, Erwin said:
I use 1920 1200 0 in the "display size.txt" file on my 30" 2560x1600 monitor to make the text more easily readable. Not sure if running at higher res makes the models/in-game graphics noticeably any better.
I need to try if my larger (57") 4K UHD TV would display better graphics and more easily readable text. But, then one would have to sit around 12-20 inches from it to see any benefit. Am told that one's eyes cannot distinguish the small size of 4K pixels at normal viewing distances so unless one sits very close to the screen 4K (UHD TV's at least) could be a bit of a gimmicky waste of money.
I have a 4K tv and really in most shows I’ve watched even ones produced and broadcast in 4K it’s mostly meh...only in certain shots like close up face shots do I really notice a difference.
However some shows like Planet Earth 2 yes there is a very noticeable difference.
In any event 8k is right around the corner.
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CM games are very stable in my experience but I do occasionally get kicked out of Black Sea from time to time.
Im playing then next thing I know I’m back in the Windows desktop. Happens very infrequently.
i just make sure to save my game at intervals
So far the demo has been stable.
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21 hours ago, BlackAlpha said:
I've compared the training level to the same training level in BS and the performance is exactly the same. If you don't put the model detail on the lowest or near lowest setting, then your FPS will tank. I find it disappointing how in Black Sea I played with a GTX 680 and the performance was crap if you didn't put the model detail to the lowest. And now I'm playing BS and SF2 with a GTX 1080 and the performance is exactly the same. From what I remember, SF1 had similar issues. There just seems to be something in the engine that destroys the performance, no matter what hardware you run on it.
I'm still hoping that one day they'll do real engine updates (not just these minor patches).
What are the rest of the specs on your computer? GTX1080 is a great graphics card.
I have an older GTX 970 and I run the game maxed out on all CM games including Black Sea. I’m also running at 2560x1440 on a widescreen monitor. Only on the very largest of maps with tons of units do I get a very very slight pause when scrolling the map. It’s barley noticeable.
My settings also allows for the trees to sway in the wind which is a nice effect.
My system is intel I7, 16GB ram, GTX 970 and 2 SSD drives.
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Marines getting some payback for the destruction of Company commanders Amtac and occupants. Pictures can't convey the awesome firepower put out by the beach invaders. Can't wait for full release...take my $ please.
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Beach Assaults are a blast. The Amtracs and seeing them move forward onto the beach and disgorge the Marines is very nice to watch. About the only thing missing from Day on the Beach is Cobra Strikes and Harrier strikes available on the second or third turn when the Amtracs appear. As already mentioned the Naval Gunfire Icons need to be fixed. I would also imagine that there might be a pre-planned smoke screen on the beach would be used to screen the incoming Amtracs? As I shown in the screenshot thread one of my Amtracts with vital command and FO units got taken out by a sagger. I did pop smoke but the Amtracs just moved right past it. I was moving them at Fast speed, so maybe I needed to slow them down.
Be nice to have LCACS to play with too.
I would like to see something like this implemented in Black Sea for both the USMC and Russia.
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I never played this in Shock Force, but I assume you didn't have Amtracs moving through the water to land Marines...maybe its just as well...a Sagger missile took out the Company Commander, FO, Fire team, MG Team and 2 heavy weapon teams. No survivors. No more magic teleporting to the beach anymore...
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What's the best way to enter a building? In the training scenario I used the HUNT command to enter a building. 2 soldiers entered and immediately began engaging enemy infantry outside across the street. The rest of the soldiers stayed outside and never entered the building to engage the enemy. I waited a turn and still they did nothing. I finally have to use a MOVE command and the 2 soldiers who were engaging the enemy moved away from the windows stopped firing and turned around exposing their back while the other soldiers moved into the building.
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As I recall from a while back getting Norton to stop messing with Shock Force was not simple and even when you told it to exclude Shock Force .exe it wouldn't work and people were complaining to Norton about it. I just uninstalled it-it's free from my ISP and just used Defender that comes with Windows. Then I was able to play Shock Force.
I've been playing the demo and I''m not sure, but it seems like the peek from behind corners has been implemented? I hid a infantry element behind a building and 1 of the grunts looked around a corner and shot some enemy soldiers.
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I own all and play lots of h2h. I'm by no means an expert, but from my observations any of the Modern era games Black Sea and Shock Force comes down to a simple fact. Anything that is seen can be killed and usually does get killed unless you move it fast. Period. The entire map is a killing zone.
The WW2 stuff is lots of fun too. I find you can expose your units at long range and get away with it. This can vary depending on what you or your enemy is using.
Things like vehicles and soldiers die very quickly in the modern titles. I also find that when things go downhill in the modern titles they go downhill very, very quickly-at least in h2h games.
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Dug up my old Shock Force files from back up drive and freeking Norton scans it and flags old Combat Mission files as Trojans! Doubly happy that the new SF2 doesn't have that issue. The old mods are working fine so that good.
and yes the old scenarios are not working. I tried loading the old USMC Training range files and 3-10 to Yuma but they don't appear.
The weapons carried by US Army soldiers looked a bit dark zoomed out. Zoomed in it looked good. May just be a setting on my PC though.
Can't wait for the full release and the ability to load the already huge selection of stuff created is a big plus.
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Aside from mentioned glitches others have mentioned- So far so good for me. Runs great. Highly recommended SSD drive if you don’t already have one.
Ill have to look into backup drives for mods to try in the Z drive.
Is it possible to load old SF scenario into the demo until full game is released?
Im on an Intel I7 CPU and 16 gigs of ram. I’m assuming if you get 32 or 64 gigs of RAM and running a 64 bit OS like Windows X this will use all available memory? This would make some of the humongous maps and battles run better I’m guessing.
Some of the massive maps created for SF just wouldn’t work back then. But tbh I was on a less powerful machine and we still used non SSD hard drives and the graphics cards weren’t as powerful as today.
No graphical issues on my widescreen so far. Does this support 4K?
Man this is a far cry from the original Shock Force roll out. You did the right thing by taking your time AND NOT releasing too early even if there was pressure to meet the pre announced late September date.
One other big notice...Norton AV doesn’t flag SF2 as a virus/malware. That was a huge PITA. This just installed and ran.
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I downloaded the SF2 Demo and playing the training mission. A hidden sniper in one of the building hits one of my soldiers. 2 squads pour fire on the snipers position. Then one of the soldiers fires a Javelin and blows the entire side of the facing second floor where the sniper fire was coming from. 4 or 5 Jihadis come rushing out the first floor scurrying to another building.
Pretty cool to watch.
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1 hour ago, Vet 0369 said:
You wouldn't believe how deep the animosity is not only among services, but also among programs within those services. For example, it's unbelievable how many times the Airforce "Fighter Mafia" tried to have the A-10 scrapped so they could get that funding for their own programs. Before I went to work with the government, outside of my military time, I worked for an aircraft engine manufacturer. A friend, who was a government plant representative, invited me to attend a meeting he had set up to try to develop a "Joint Services Engine Specification." Even though the Navy and the Airforce or the Navy and the Army might used the same engines in their fighters and helicopters, each service has it's own engine specification. The initiative failed though because the Army and Airforce representatives spent the entire time arguing about the Key West Accords of 1948, and this meeting took place in 1988!
Oh I can believe it.
Anyway we’ve gone way OT
Back to AC-130
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The Goldwater Defense Act of the 80's made some mandated changes to the DoD and the way the military operated. IMO it may be time for another revise. At a time when the US Navy is being challenged in the Pacific and Atlantic by China and Russia, it boggles my mind why we are operating US Navy carrier based assets and other highly expensive assets in Afghanistan which costs a fortune to operate dropping munitions on primitive insurgents when these assets could be operating in the Pacific and Atlantic and assisting an already overstretched navy operating at a high tempo.
Mandate changes, allow and fund the US Army to operate armed fixed aircraft like the Textron Scorpion or a propeller attack aircraft like an updated OV-10 or Wolverine. Hold joint training exercises in the Nevada desert to work up the new units to deploy.
I know it will never happen. Bureaucratic inertia is stronger than the sword.
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AC-130's carry quite a bit of ammo and can loiter, providing there isn't an AA threat. As mentioned I think it would greatly unbalance any battle they appear in. At this point you may as well add B1b or B-52s..
Speaking of air support. I always hear how the US Marine Corps has one of the largest air forces in the world and how they train specifically to support their troops on the ground. Is that in any way modeled in SF? I would think that the very tight integration and doctrinal emphasis on supporting fellow Marines on the battlefield has to bring some advantage.
The US Army has rotary wing assets but from my understanding the US defense act that created the US Air Force has a clause that prohibits the Army from arming its fixed wing assets. Over the years many proposals have come about to take away the Marines air assets, but that has been strongly resisted. They seem to feel very strongly about this and believe its vital and brings with it distinct advantages.
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If SF2 misses the release date so what. I bought a game on Steam Victory at Sea Pacific. Game with tons of potential, but released too early. I'm not angry. I'll pay the $$$ and wait for them to fix it as it has tons of potential. I haven't play it much. Less than an hour. I'll wait for it to get fixed before diving in. I view it as crowdsource funding of a product I desire.
These things take time. In the meantime there are plenty of other things to keep me occupied.
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Crazy stuff...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGAk5gRD-t0
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When I gave the specs-range and altitude I was putting that into the context of potential military use on the battlefield. As mentioned in the US there are restrictions placed. Other countries can vary, but you still have to be careful and know what the laws are as well as how they generally view them.
Also the TSA can and does prohibit some drones on airplanes.
BMP 1p (4c) Main Gun
in Combat Mission Shock Force 2
Posted
Thanks for the links and info. After years of playing CM and over 100 h2h games there is always something new to learn about.
Combat Mission and Total War with mods are the 2 games I would pick if I had to choose just 2.
Wouldnt want to be forced to chose just 1.