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jamxo

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Posts posted by jamxo

    DAR - Snow For The Hungry AXIS PBEM

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Monty's Mighty Moustache said:

    for tanks, I subscribe to the "weld the hatches open" theory and always have my TCs unbuttoned as it improves spotting immeasurably.

    I’m always quite interested in this topic. I try to do the same but find in game my commanders get hit painfully often.

    I’ve seen people mention that at the part of the engagement we join on the typical CM battlefield most commanders in real life would have buttoned up - any truth to that? And was there standard operation procedure which differed between the various nations in WW2? As far as I recall British tank commanders were encouraged to stay turned out as much as possible (and this led to lots of sniper casualties in Normandy) 

    Back on topic excited for the next few turns. Your armour on the hill must be itching to load some AP rounds :)

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    RT Unofficial Screenshot Thread

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

    Do you play any of the modern titles? 

    I'd love to see some of your images of 'H&E'.

    WW2 is my main area of interest, but yes I own all the modern titles and had alot of fun in the Highland Games campaign earlier this year :

    H&E is definitely on my 'to play' list, but gaming time a little limited at the moment! Hope to get round to it next year - it looks epic. 

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    DAR - Snow For The Hungry AXIS PBEM

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    28 minutes ago, Monty's Mighty Moustache said:

    I'm trying to convey the mystery with lots of over the shoulder views at eye-level so you feel like you're in amongst it. Glad to know that it's somewhat successful.

    One of the things I'm enjoying most about it! Also making me appreciate how when you view the maps at ground level the game engine actually does a great job portraying realistic landscapes (considering it's age now!) - hats off to the map designer too. 

    1

    CM:BN Screenshot Thread #2

    in Combat Mission Battle for Normandy

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Lucky_Strike said:

    Thanks for the plug Jamxo. ReShade is amazing tech considering it's completely free. But to get the best out of it takes skill and artistry. Also takes a good eye for a composition which you seem to have in spades.

    Interested to know which version of ReShade are you using? I'm always keen to see how others have configured it and what shaders they're using.

    Hehe, spent many an hour doing exactly this when making my mods!

    Well I work as a photographer in real life so glad to hear some of that eye for composition carries across haha!

    I'm using Reshade 4.8.2. (no explicit reason why that exact version, think it was just the last one I installed at a point where I ended up happy with the settings.)

    These are are the shaders/filters I have set up

    jP44jZN.png?1

    The key ones are:

    - UI mask applies this just to the game image, not the UI strip at the bottom

    - Cinetools LUT has awesome presets and control over the colours, can really tweak your ideal realistic or war movie look

    - Sharpen really gives the textures a pop and makes things look more detailed. 

    - Border and DOF is set to hotkeys so can easily toggle on/off as I'm playing if I want to take a screen shot. 

    Have attached my preset settings file below although not entirely sure if that helps!

    Jam-CM-Day.ini

    1

    CM:BN Screenshot Thread #2

    in Combat Mission Battle for Normandy

    Posted

    3 hours ago, IICptMillerII said:

    Holy hell, those shots are amazing. The texture on the AA halftrack and the dead German lying next to the machine gun is stunning. Is this all done just through a reshade? Looks fantastic!

    I would say it is 95% thanks to the incredible work of the modders, like you can see on Aris's AA halftrack (just absurd detail really) or Lucky Strikes' borderline photorealistic foliage - my ReShade settings just give it that extra pop. 

    Mainly some sharpening bring out the detail in the textures, bit of extra AA to smooth out the picture, tweaking the tones and most importantly in my opinion the colours, and then finishing things off with some grain/depth of field when taking screenshots. 

    The only problem is it gets so addictive flying around looking for little vignettes or cool details its slower than ever to play! 

    1

    Shock Force 2 Unofficial Screenshot And Video Thread

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 2

    Posted

    On 4/11/2021 at 4:13 PM, borg said:

    Would u mind telling me Exactky how u did this - is the reshade a downloadable file (software ?) that needs to be implemented with movie mode ? These screenshots are hugely impressively - artwork 

    Reshade is basically a lightweight graphics program you can install to run over a game (almost like Steam Overlay or Fraps) which can change/improve the visuals by adding various graphics filters/post processing effects. 
     

    It’s relatively simple to install and combined with some of the amazing mods out there can really help to improve Combat Missions visuals quite a bit. My own preset improves the anti aliasing, sharpness, contrast and tones and most importantly for my enjoyment tweaks the colours to make things look a bit more gritty.

    There’s a good instruction PDF here if you scroll down the thread 

    or on YouTube some instructions: 

     

    1

    Campaign Suggestions?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted

    In the last year I really enjoyed slowly slogging through the Scottish Corridor campaign in CMBN set during Operation Epsom. I say slog because it’s wet, muddy and the SS you face are tenacious and dug in. But I had an absolute blast even if it can be tough going. I think the campaign maker @Paper Tiger is one of the best, the maps are beautiful and realistic looking and the enemy positions and AI plans keep you on your toes. There’s a nice mix of forces, attack and defence and manageable battle sizes. 
     

    Adding to my enjoyment of playing the campaign, was watching after each mission to see how Double Vision did in his epic video AAR series on YouTube  > 

     

    1

    Help Getting Trees to Sway

    in CM2 General Tech Support

    Posted · Edited by jamxo

    2 hours ago, Bulletpoint said:

    I never noticed any difference with this, but it's possible the sway distance used to be shorter in CMBN (the first game) and that they later increased it in other titles. Just speculation on my part.

    Interesting thought. My other theory was maybe because CM:BN has probably has the most vegetation and I have quite a few mods installed, maybe my performance ‘bubble’ is decreased compared to the other games. I’ll try a fresh unmodded install and see if it expands the tree sway so I have an idea of what is causing it.
     

    Thanks for your replies and input regardless! It’s ultimately a minor issue and doesn’t impact my enjoyment of the game. 

    0

    Help Getting Trees to Sway

    in CM2 General Tech Support

    Posted

    On 3/24/2021 at 2:15 PM, Bulletpoint said:

    You got the right settings, as far as I can tell. The game automatically stops trees swaying when far from the camera to improve performance. The distance this happens at probably depends on your overall performance level - which again depends heavily on battle size. Did you try it with both large maps with many troops and small maps with fewer?

    It’s strange because they sway fine in other titles like SF2 and Fortress Italy, but in CMBN there is barely any movement (and my computer is plenty powerful enough). Maybe I’ll try reinstalling CMBN. 

    0

    First Campaign Recommendation

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 2

    Posted

    Thanks all, I'll grab those campaigns too, and cheers for reminding me @mjkerner about the campaign extractor, I have that already so a nice option to play around with some individual scenarios. I'll start with some NATO campaigns first and then I guess move to some of the Red V Red ones roleplaying as the situation once the NATO forces start to withdraw.

    I have to say as someone who has always been really interested in WWII military history (and therefore loved and only focussed on CM WWII titles since the original CM Beyond Overlord demo was released) I finding SF2 a real thrill, everything is so fluid and fast paced and the tactical possibilities seem endless (maybe even more so after the last few months mainly fighting in Normandy bocage!) So many interesting vehicles too.

    On a side note: Getting into a whole new CM title and seeing how many campaigns and scenarios there are to explore, then realising I haven't even touched Black Sea, and what with Cold War and Fire and Rubble on the way, sheeesh I feel like I'm going to be enjoying this series for decades to come haha

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    First Campaign Recommendation

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 2

    Posted

    19 hours ago, Ultradave said:

     What you can do is make sure you save right at the beginning of the "choice" scenario, give it an easy to remember name, and then when you've completed one, you can reload that save and take the other path as well.  Gives you a LOT of scenarios to play that way. 

    Dave

    Thanks both, I guess I’ll give Highland Games a go then, and thanks for the tip with regards saving before it splits.

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    First Campaign Recommendation

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 2

    Posted

    Hi all,

    Would appreciate if anyone has recommendations on what order to tackle the campaigns in CMSF2 (I guess in terms of difficulty, but also interested if there is a good narrative order as the fictional invasion unfolds).

    Just to note I'm a long time user of the WW2 titles so I'm familiar and sufficiently advanced with CM gameplay and general planning/combat tactics, but basically new to the modern era titles. After rewatching Restrepo this weekend thought I'd delve in, and have successfully completed the training campaign and a bunch of single scenarios to start to familiarise myself with all this high tech gear..

    Thanks!

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