Homo_Ferricus

Anyway to ID these as Russian for certain? I saw videos yesterday of UA Hind pairs making runs against RU ground forces, presumably somewhere near Kyiv.

Here's one that's hopefully not high-demand from a programmatic POV and also doesn't break BFC's commitment to not violating realism--Editing vehicle load outs. Recently played @Sgt.Squarehead's Mosul battle that put Syrian SF into Humvees and Nyalas to simulate Iraqi CTS. Would be tremendously useful to swap the tens of thousands of rounds of useless 5.56 in those vehicles into usable 5.45... Would be a handy feature all-around and like I said, don't see anything that would be objectionable from BFC POV.

Been looking for a Mosul scenario for a while, never realized this was (is??) in the works. the dropbox link for ashsh al dababir is down--anywhere I can get it nowadays? And will it work alright in CMSF2? The chatter I saw about a full campaign in earlier pages was very, very intriguing...

Get it on steam, auto-patching makes life easier. Although you will be tied to the steam platform. That may or may not bother you.

Based on UsuallyHapless' recent video (All Glory to Pertuvia) it looks like in CMPE one will be able to carry over maps with vehicle wrecks, craters and damaged buildings from a played-through scenario over into new scenarios, i.e. the old CMx1 operations system. Is this true or am I inferring incorrectly?

Unless RAF are ported in... on the NATO side of course I think very many CMSF2 owners would pay for a Russian module. From a technical perspective most of the RAF is already there from CMBS, just need to be reskinned for the desert and have their tech knocked down to 2008 levels. Or not, I wouldn't mind them in with all their 2017 tech. It's a fictional conflict already, why not!

Curious--did anything change about PBEM or real-time multiplayer with the steam version?

This worked. Thanks Frenchy for the rapid and effective assistance

Long time CM player messing with mods for the first time. Enjoying HQS 3.1 by @waclaw quite a bit, and currently playing the "Valley of Death" campaign by @puje. I can't figure out how to select a particular 'background sounds' file. I've tried putting a "z" in front of the file name, and putting the file in it's own 'z' folder to no avail. I want the "wind" background rather than the daytime combat one that keeps playing--it hurts the immersion to be conducting tense BDAs and patrols while the sound of gunfights, jets and artillery swirls about. I have put the 'HQS 3.1' folder in my Documents\Battlefront\Combat Mission\Shock Force 2\User Data\Mods directory. All other sounds appear to be functioning as intended. Sounds are great, campaign is great so far, too. Please help!

It would seem reasonable to differentiate building entry behaviours between QUICK and FAST—if a player is using QUICK into a building, the entire squad will use the nearest point of entry only, queue and all. If FAST is used, squads will hurry inside the space asap without being delayed by the other fireteam(s) queued up at the nearest entry point. This way there is an actual difference in how the commands are used in this context; stack up and breach the building vs. get the hell out of the street right now.

Years ago while playing the CMSF campaign, I managed to get most of a platoon slaughtered trying to clear a complex in the last minutes of a mission. Shortly afterward I recounted the event to a non-CM friend of mine in distressed fashion. He was surprised by how much this affected me, and described a vision he had of me sitting at a dim-lit desk, drunk and in my underwear, wretchedly writing letters to the wives of the many virtual men I’d gotten maimed and killed. It was a foretelling vision.

Ahh the elusive Siamese Abrams. Didn’t realize these ever made it into production, let alone combat testing

As someone traveling without a gaming computer, I demand you people upload more screens and videos!

It’s worth pointing out that Battlefront is a small enough company that a major emergency for any one of the employees would be enough to wreck any posted delivery windows. Sometimes those emergencies are the kind that really consume you, and it may not be possible or appropriate to publicly talk about it because, a) it would reflect poorly on the business, and b) it’s just too personal to share with customers, at least while it’s happening in the moment. I know some would say the customer is owed a notification about this sort of event, that it’s the burden of running a business. However considering Battlefront’s size this is a good reason why they might prefer to keep dates less-than-defined. If one person becomes suddenly unavailable or OBE, it’s not like there are other teams that can have their priorities switched to ensure a certain deadline is maintained. I say: why freak out? If you are a preorder customer and you feel like you’ve been swindled, just cancel your order.If you have difficulty with that, have your credit card company reverse the charge on grounds of unrendered service or w/e. If it doesn’t bother you so much then continue to hang out and live your life while the gamesmiths finish forging their newest title. Nuff said.

After spending a couple of days in the countryside just a few miles from the border with Azerbaijan, I’m saddened to report I still haven’t been shot at. Sporadic clashes my ass!

Saving that for my visit to the Turkish border

I’ve been in Armenia since last Thursday. Just woke up and had some breakfast after attending a birthday party at a winery 30min outside the capital. The plan is... there is no plan. My Airbnb is rented until this Friday, at which point I’ll have to find somewhere else in Yerevan to stay, or go out into the countryside, or go to another country (most likely Georgia). I’m going to give it a few days before I think too hard about it.

Yes I will be travelling about without a desktop or laptop and unable to play CM. I'm not starting with a King's budget so I'd rather not make the investment now, and wait to enjoy it in the not-so-near future. I'll have to survive on forum lurking, AARs and Josey Wales videos on YT until I get back in front of a decent rig.

Speaking of upgrades--I'm leaving the country for some time later this month, possibly for as long as a year or more. Are there plans for the CMSF1 upgrade offer to be a limited-time thing? Or can I expect to be able to get the upgrade deal when I'm back in front of a desktop computer in a year or two?

I’m not interested in going to Syria because I can’t find friendly people and interesting places elsewhere, I’m interested because of how much time I’ve put into following the conflict for the last 5 or so years. If I find an opportunity for a reasonably safe visit, I don’t know if I could stop myself from taking it. I’d love a chance to see East Ghouta, Darayya, perhaps even Dara’a and maybe cross to Jordan from there. I imagine it would become a quasi-journalistic visit rather than a naive romp through Syria just so I can say I did.

Hmmm, does it help that I was born in Russia? I’ll be outright honest—your warnings are only making it more enticing. I could probably pass as a Russian to most Syrians, and even if my Americanhood was discovered I’m decently capable in social situations and understand if I need to pay some modest bribes to conscripts that don’t get paid jack. I’ve been keeping up with the conflict rather vigorously for a number of years and the opportunity to hop and skip from Armenia into Syria is definitely tempting.

LLF thanks for the encouragement! I’ve not really shared these plans with anyone as I’ve grown out of many old and stale friendships and have never been close with family, so hearing your input is more valuable than you might guess. It’s a turbulent time for me as I figure out the most graceful way to quit the job, start to make firm plans and preparations for what I need to bring/arrange (good footwear, travel insurance, a bunch of other things I’ve hardly thought of), and try to get my health in best order before I leave. The immensity of what I have ahead of me is just now dawning on my emotions. I’ll be starting in Armenia at the end of September, most likely. I have zero debt and saved about $15k, which I hope that I can go for a year on, living frugally and supplementing with whichever wage situations I may find abroad. Will likely make my way to SE Asia from there but I’m not committed to anything, and feel a dangerous curiosity about visiting Syria... I hear the govt. areas are pretty safe and stable now and they’re working to get the tourism dollars flowing again. CMSF2 demo! Give! Give! Me want!

There’s something I need to learn from you guys—I’m 29 and feel... well, old. Not in a pompous above-it-all kind of way either. Just a ****-my-body’s-deteriorating-and-I’m-running-out-of-time kind of way. It’s spurred me to decide to quit my job in the next month and take off traveling the world in rather aimless fashion. But we’ll see where exactly that plan goes... In an effort to not completely derail this thread—yes, yes! CMSF2 demo! That good! Me want!

Quick follow-up; is there any abstraction calculated with building damage? i.e. even though the building doesn't visually degrade, does the amount of cover and protection it simulates change as a wall nears collapsing? edit: if so this would be problematic, as I'd be prone to moving troops into a building that appears solid but is actually perforated and won't offer me the level of protection I believe I'm going to get.

MikeyD, This sort of preemptive defensiveness is annoying and I've seen it often in these forums. I have always been on Battlefront's side (since 2001) and do not 'demand' anything. That said your point is taken--we can't get everything we want, Battlefront has it's limitations and it's only acceptable. FWIW I would pay double if we could get some additional improvements... Granted the amount of hours of enjoyment I've gotten out of CMSF1, my investment would be well worth it. I think this theater/era is particularly attractive to a number of crowds--modern warfare enthusiasts, SCW followers, veterans of ME conflicts, even average gamers whose interest is piqued by the political goings-on in that country/region. I don't mean to be an armchair game dev but I wonder if doubling down on the CMSF refresh might've paid for itself. It's impossible to know but damn it get your boots off my dreams!