Kevin2k

Have to disagree with my own number 56 there, it is actually half that. unless you count the orientation of which faction is on which side of the map. 2 factions = 1 possible combination ; 3 factions = 3 ; 4 factions= 6 ; 5 factions =10 ; 6 factions = 15 ; 7 factions = 21 ; 8 factions = 28.

I suppose it is the usual distant floor distortion effect, for which GPU drivers invented mipmapping and an-isotropic filtering. Example with image: http://petersikachev.blogspot.com/2018/10/minlod-cheap-method-to-increase-texture.html But somehow, with the Combat mission crop fields especially, it remains less then satisfactory. What I do is, I downscale and/or blur these particular terrain tiles, as a simple mod. Since I rather look at blurry then at such distortion.

I like how quick battles allow any of the 8 factions on either side, in the game with all modules. So if you don't mind the historical unlikeliness, you can play Canadians versus British and such. 8 times 7, making 56 different possible combinations (excluding same side versus same side). The advantage of having all these factions in one game.

Yeah that particular text there is rather small. Actually it is the same small font as the information below it and adjacent on the right, but the background of the silhouette is not contrasting, making it worse. Would it help to recolor (lighten) the background of the bottom part of the silhouette backdrop? I did that for my Cold War Panel Mod already, for the same reason.

Glad you like it. I know what you mean with Marco's silhouettes, I saw a screenshot of those recently. But vehicle caliber is mostly written in small black letters by the game already, below the silhouettes. Range is sometimes there too, for flamethrowers, MGs. I don't know much about that though, like will an MP40 sub-machine gun never fire over 100m, or does it depend on the circumstances? Like a howitzer can fire at tanks in the distance, but some just lose practical accuracy.

Oh that is a cool surprise. It seemed Soviet infantry formations were cut out deliberately in CW, but I would also love to see at least one such formation for Quick Battles. So they can also be a part of 'Mix' force there, which what I tend to use mostly.

This one CMBN Upgrade 3+4 $15 will get you going the shortest and most affordable way. The purchase should come with a download link. (I am just a customer myself, but my 'upgrade 4' purchases all came with a download link for an all-in-one game install package) https://www.battlefront.com/cmbn-upgrades/cmbn-upgrade-3-4-bundle/ You are then playing the latest and greatest CMBN game, but still without access to the 2 CMBN addon modules, which have also been released since. Edit: also still without access to CMBN addons 'Vehicle pack' and 'Battle pack'. So if missing out on that is an issue, consider one of the bundles in the 'store' instead. https://www.battlefront.com/battle-for-normandy/

If you are content with playing the v1.11 version at most, which is from *checking..* 2012. There have been Engine 2, 3 and 4 upgrades for Battle for Normandy since. Mind you: Paid upgrades, with individual activation keys.

Combat Mission World War 2 series Panel Mod 'Red Thunder Style' v1.0 For the Sim/Game "Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy + Final Blitzkrieg + Fortress Italy". A graphical modification of the user interface panel. This panel is always visible at the bottom of the screen, when playing this game. - Based on the panel appearance that came with Combat Mission: Red Thunder (v2.10), but adjusted to the slightly different text location and colors hardcoded in each WW2 game. - Special equipment icons (like binoculars) have been slightly adjusted, and are included in this package. - Silhouettes and green/yellow weapon icons not included in this package. All credits to the Battlefront company for supplying the original images, from which the modded ones were derived. Only for use in the Combat Mission games, other then that, this mod is free and non-profit. This mod cannot be held responsible for harm done to pixeltruppen. Copy one of the extracted .brz files into your mod folder, or into your install folder in the data\z\ subfolder. z_CMBN-Panel-Mod-RT-v10.brz is for Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy z_CMFB-Panel-Mod-RT-v10.brz is for Combat Mission: Final Blitzkrieg z_CMFI-Panel-Mod-RT-v10.brz is for Combat Mission: Fortress Italy You can also copy over the image and readme there, it does no harm. But you should only copy over the single matching .brz file for each game. ---------------- Download from this place: http://www.gb-homepage.nl/index.htm (Select "Combat Mission" in left navigation window) A preview image is in the zip file. So you can check if it is worthy

Combat Mission World War 2 series Panel Mod 'Red Thunder Style' v1.0 For the Sim/Game "Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy + Final Blitzkrieg + Fortress Italy". A graphical modification of the user interface panel. This panel is always visible at the bottom of the screen, when playing this game. - Based on the panel appearance that came with Combat Mission: Red Thunder (v2.10), but adjusted to the slightly different text location and colors hardcoded in each WW2 game. - Special equipment icons (like binoculars) have been slightly adjusted, and are included in this package. - Silhouettes and green/yellow weapon icons not included in this package. All credits to the Battlefront company for supplying the original images, from which the modded ones were derived. Only for use in the Combat Mission games, other then that, this mod is free and non-profit. This mod cannot be held responsible for harm done to pixeltruppen. Copy one of the extracted .brz files into your mod folder, or into your install folder in the data\z\ subfolder. z_CMBN-Panel-Mod-RT-v10.brz is for Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy z_CMFB-Panel-Mod-RT-v10.brz is for Combat Mission: Final Blitzkrieg z_CMFI-Panel-Mod-RT-v10.brz is for Combat Mission: Fortress Italy You can also copy over the image and readme there, it does no harm. But you should only copy over the single matching .brz file for each game. ---------------- Download from this place: http://www.gb-homepage.nl/index.htm (Select "Combat Mission" in left navigation window) A preview image is in the zip file. So you can check if it is worthy

Combat Mission World War 2 series Panel Mod 'Red Thunder Style' v1.0 For the Sim/Game "Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy + Final Blitzkrieg + Fortress Italy". A graphical modification of the user interface panel. This panel is always visible at the bottom of the screen, when playing this game. - Based on the panel appearance that came with Combat Mission: Red Thunder (v2.10), but adjusted to the slightly different text location and colors hardcoded in each WW2 game. - Special equipment icons (like binoculars) have been slightly adjusted, and are included in this package. - Silhouettes and green/yellow weapon icons not included in this package. All credits to the Battlefront company for supplying the original images, from which the modded ones were derived. Only for use in the Combat Mission games, other then that, this mod is free and non-profit. This mod cannot be held responsible for harm done to pixeltruppen. Copy one of the extracted .brz files into your mod folder, or into your install folder in the data\z\ subfolder. z_CMBN-Panel-Mod-RT-v10.brz is for Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy z_CMFB-Panel-Mod-RT-v10.brz is for Combat Mission: Final Blitzkrieg z_CMFI-Panel-Mod-RT-v10.brz is for Combat Mission: Fortress Italy You can also copy over the image and readme there, it does no harm. But you should only copy over the single matching .brz file for each game. ---------------- Download from this place: http://www.gb-homepage.nl/index.htm (Select "Combat Mission" in left navigation window) A preview image is in the zip file. So you can check if it is worthy

When working with text, that is were 4k should really shine. Like in office work, or with eBooks. The twenty years old 96-dpi screen standard was never sufficient for rendering pleasant text (unless it is with a pre-bitmapped font).

Can I have the M1A2's then?...

For what it is worth, There is a system here at the office with the same graphics hardware, so I was so kind to do a quick test: HP laptop with Windows 10 Pro (Build 19041.928) Intel UHD Graphics 620 - Driver v27.20.100.8854 Dated 14-10-2020. (Graphics is part of i5-8250U CPU) https://battlefront.sharefile.com/share/view/s5e19b6f89ce483a8 CMBS Windows v102 DEMO.zip (1.051.868.252 bytes) Works fine. Intro shows up, Menu shows up, 3D game shows up.

I agree with you. I also found that once you set graphics quality above what your system can comfortably handle, then you get things like: - decreased framerate, of course. - inconsistent framerate. - automatic reduction of draw distance. - inconsistent draw distance, or hickups and redraws. Though making a case of any of this, or explaining it, is not easy, also because it is all done by the game in the background, without notification. I don't know of a framerate counter in the game itself (only FRAPS etc.), or an indicator that the game is trying to compensate framerate. Now with people using 4k monitors, which require 4x the amount of bandwidth to fill the screen, it seems like a can of worms. I haven't messed with 4k screens myself, on purpose, since I need all my available GPU power already, just to fill the usual 'Full HD' with the few games/sims I use. PS. I am perfectly content with the graphics. I know when comparing it current big budget games it won't compare. But these big budget games will again be graphically outdated in the future, it is just a race I don't care for much, since it is good enough for me.

Interesting that it works at all. So what does this mean in practice? That you can use the scenario but have to redefine all units, and does that mean that the AI plans and scripting needs to be redone as well?

But what happens then, for example when you port a scenario from CMBN to CMRT? The game cannot automatically transform the included US/British units to Soviet equivalents.

Master maps and Quick Battle maps can be considered. They contain no specific unit information. But when there is specific unit information stored in the file, I expect it to fail badly. Since the unit information must match the units available in the game. This goes for campaigns and scenarios.

I have similar "problems". Thought it would help to make a spreadsheet, showing the availability of all the vehicle variants, in the different WW2 games and modules... Started it, then gave up quickly because it became tedious. Talking about it may help too. And admitting the problem, of course

Normal map naming in the CMRT v2.10 and v2.11archives is not always right. The variation numbers are often in the wrong place in the file name. This will prevent the game from using these normal maps. https://community.battlefront.com/topic/139308-questions-remarks-on-normal-map-files/

As usual the question is nagging me, and I decided to try and test it. Found this vertical stripes normal map pattern here http://alexnedmonds.blogspot.com/2014/01/maya-tutorial-rope-normal-maps.html Made a mod with 24 bitmaps: smod_soviet_m43_soldier_uniform *something*. Being 8 variants, optionally with mod-tag guards or cavalry. Using the original name sequence: "smod_soviet_m43_soldier_uniform_normal map 2 [guards].bmp" it does not show any stripes pattern in the game. Changed all names to make the number the first variable: "smod_soviet_m43_soldier_uniform 2_normal map [guards].bmp". Now the stripes become visible in the game. That is the answer to point 1.

1) CMRT v2.10 F&R archives contain quite a few normal maps where the syntax of the file name is different from what I would expect. Like "smod_soviet_m43_officer-sr_uniform_normal map 2 [guards].bmp" From glossing at other files, it seems the normal syntax is "smod_soviet_m43_officer-sr_uniform 2_normal map [guards].bmp". Or are both of these names workable for the game? 2) What is the logic when a variant (2,3,4, etc) or a mod-tag variation like [cavalry] is not available as normal map. Will it use the normal map of the base texture, without the variation number and/or mod-tag? It is not always easy to see the effects of normal maps. At least not on my system. Which makes it hard to test.. PS: The normal maps for doors and windows in CMRT do not match the texture.

I would think so. Or maybe it is some weird other method I have not considered. Mostly it does not work. But I just tried one scenario where the file version is just one step difference: backdating an empty map in format 126 back to 125. It loaded up. The last scenario file version is already at no. 155 for CMCW and CMRT.

Yep, I noticed these things too. Though I had not mapped out the header like you did, so completely. I've seen some other game's packing, which used random numbers woven into the data. The seed value for the random numbers was hidden with math in the header. It was nasty. But since this data block here is total gibberish, it is even worse.I have no plans to try anything. Thanks for sharing the source of ScAcaDe with it. The EngineVersion listing in ParameterAnalyser.java was interesting. I suppose a scenario can never be opened in an "EngineVersion" (or is it map format version) older then the one listed in the scenario header.

BrzPack is not all that different from the official RezExplode/RezPack tools supplied with the games, but I had a framework for an extractor at hand, and BrzPack has a few extra features. Download from this place: http://www.gb-homepage.nl/index.htm (Select "Combat Mission" in left navigation window) ----------------------------------------------------- From the included Readme: BrzPack - Archiving utility for Combat Mission Brz format, G. Broers 04-05-2021 v1.00, Freeware, Use at your own risk, files limit is set at 8000 and 2GB. Packs all files in current folder to BrzPack.brz except BrzPack.exe/BrzPack.brz Unpacks any brz file you drop on the icon to a folder with the archive's name. You can press Ctrl+Break to interrupt and close the program, but it will leave files unfinished when doing so. The Brz format only allows for standars ASCII characters for files and folders. Brzpack is only ASCII aware. Only use BrzPack inside folder-names made out of ASCII characters. Use BrzPack only to pack files with names made out of ASCII characters. When extracting = exploding: BrzPack automatically creates an index file of the Brz file. Which is just a text file with the file listing. BrzPack allows one to optionally pass a wildcard string, only files matching this wildcard string will be extracted from the archive. For example "mdr" will only extract files that have "mdr" in their name or extension. BrzPack will retain the 'modification' date and time from the brz archive for all the files that are unpacked from it. When packing: The Brz format does not allow for multiple files with the same name. BrzPack automatically checks this condition. Requirements: This is a WIN32 console application. It was tested on Windows XP/7/10