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[Exciting news about Battlefront and Slitherine]

2 hours ago, Thewood1 said:

https://steamcharts.com/app/1369370

Not direct sales numbers, but one benchmark people use to determine new players is to watch CMSF2 concurrent players around release time.  CMSF2 was maxed out around 200 within 48 hours of release.  But a week or two after release it'll drop.  There are sites around that track games on Steam, but Steamcharts is what I have always looked at. 

 

For comparison, ARMA 3 comes in around 50k max and 20k current users.  So I wouldn't call it gang busters, but its better than a sharp stick in the eye.

True, but Arma 3 is much less centered on its original core mission of simulation. The more popular you become, the less niche your product general is due to the fact you're trying to reach as many markets as possible. It's happened to Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, and it's now happening to Arma 3. I look at sims like Steel Beasts and CM as good examples of maintaining your core audience while generating the required funds via military contracts. Everyone wins

Note: MicroProse is doing essentially the same exact thing as CM and Steel Beasts.

[Exciting news about Battlefront and Slitherine]

On 9/2/2020 at 8:27 PM, Macisle said:

I've caught a few vids by YouTubers popular for military strategy and FPS content showcasing the SF2 Steam release. They've all been quite positive. One guy with a strong presence in the Arma community went out of his way to comment that the AI in CM absolutely wipes the floor with the AI in Arma.

So far, so good. Congrats BF and Slitherine! -Looking very forward to the WWII titles getting the sunshine.

I totally agree with that statement. Problem I've noticed with Arma is that while the AI can behave realistically when modded correctly, they don't pose enough of a real threat:

What I like about CM:SF2 is that the AI behave realistically in a firefight (cover, morale, rate of fire, accuracy, etc.) and are not invincible to stupid decisions. You can overcome ridiculous odds in Arma due to the fact that you aren't restrained like the AI are. And the moment you buff up the AI reactions the game becomes arcadish. CM:SF2 finds the right way to solve this issue by removing control from the player as the one actually engaging.

[BFC, Possibly inaccurate statements ref CFSF 2 that's on Steam]

On 9/3/2020 at 9:05 PM, MikeyD said:

I think the general consensus is let 'em rant & rave all they want over at Steam. As long as the game sells that's all that matters. BFC will moderate their own board and Steam/Slitherine can moderate theirs. It is a bit amusing, though, to see tutorials and play-throughs on Youtube from guys who apparently only played the CM series twice before. 

Steam in a nutshell: 

 

[Help Battlefront Out & Leave A Steam Review]

Since Combat Mission has launched on Steam, many people have been thrilled with its arrival as well as the possibilities it offers, including improved MP support. However, it seems there is a group/segment bent on reducing their overall rank/score. One major negative review managed to garner 28 awards (not too subtle) . So, to give Battlefront a helping hand, everyone here needs to leave a positive review to help counteract those efforts.

[What the actual hell is this game?]

Thing with Combat Mission I've learned is it punishes impatience and rewards thoughtful planning. My very first game I played I thought I could just wing it and successfully rush into a city and take over...that was a bad mistake. Lost most of my armor and my team was wiped out. You have to be careful with how you approach a situation.

Also, if battles were so easy to conquer, why does it take on average 250,000 bullets for every enemy killed IRL: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-forced-to-import-bullets-from-israel-as-troops-use-250000-for-every-rebel-killed-314944.html

It's not easy. War is freaking hard. And Combat Mission does a good job exhibiting that difficulty.

[Arma - Authentic Wargaming]

3 hours ago, RockinHarry said:

Correct. It´s the mix of compatible add ons that let it all work better or worse. IIRC I´d limited myself on just using TPWCAS and ASR AI and got good results with my vs AIP battles. Also did a bit of "hacking" some TPWCAS to suit my needs better. Think it had something to do with soldier stance changes in particular circumstances, but it´s years gone since I did.

yep, still on Arma 2 CO. I´ll have a look out for mentioned XMOD, thanks. There´s like a related thread at Bohemia as well I´d guess.

The most to me disappointing feature in ARMA was tank combat, particularly with WW2 gear. Never tried online play, although that´ll surely change anytime, also making tank combat (teamed crews) more realistic and less robot like.

Well, be on the lookout over the next year or two. I'm going into AI development specifically for Arma 2 CO. Goal is to replicate what KAI accomplished and possibly push the boundaries even further. I don't just want competitive AI, I want them to behave realistically as well.

[Arma - Authentic Wargaming]

9 hours ago, RockinHarry said:

yep, I know most of these from ARMA2/IronFront. What about Tpwcas (and ASR AI)? Or is it now part of ARMA3 game mechanics (which would be quite cool)? I´d played WW2 only, so just know or played those add ons concerned usually.

I tried TPWCAS and it didn't really work that well with the mix. ASR AI is OK as a mod by itself (I don't really use any of the ASR addons).

As for Arma 3, I don't really play it all that often. The AI are just disappointing (even with AI mods). I show these clips to my Arma 3 mates sometimes and they generally remark about how advanced they are in comparison to even Arma 3. Also, if you still play Arma 2 CO, you should seriously check out XMOD. The developer of the mod (Joker), has been working on it since 2013. It's all run on his server (client side). The mod encompasses pretty much everything (UI, map, advanced AI, colors, clouds, etc):

The overall look of it makes me think of classic Ghost Recon 1. Definitely worth a look.

[Arma - Authentic Wargaming]

18 hours ago, RockinHarry said:

thanks for posting! I´d enjoyed ARMA 2 and Iron Front quite a lot with many the AI add ons applied. Haven´t come to switch to ARMA 3 and its WW2 mods yet unfortunately, but that´ll change in the near future. 

Edit: That footstep sounds appear bits too meaty IMO, but off course that can be modded as well.

Well, in case you're interested, this is what I'm using (and pretty good results IMO):

 

[Arma - Authentic Wargaming]

Hey guys. Seeing that many of the people here on this forum enjoy wargaming and such, I thought I'd inform you guys of a pretty neat mod mix I've been testing with over the past several months that creates very realistic AI. Introducing Smart AI Mix, it's a combination of GL4, Zeus, ZGB, SMK, and SLX (credit to Chris B for this mix). These AI take effective cover, maneuver properly (including bounding overwatch), flank, garrison buildings, utilize vehicles, deploy grenades, maintain 360 security, and much more. It's definitely worth a look if you're interested in wargaming:

Fireteam CQB Cover to Cover:

 

Fireteam 360 Security:

 

AI Deploying Flares To Spot Enemies:

 

Fireteam Assault On Rahmadi:

 

If anyone is interested in trying this out, let me know and I can post a list of the required AI addons.

[Campaign Not Showing???]

2 hours ago, IanL said:

Sounds like an install problem. You could run the install again. Make sure the install is unzipped into a new empty folder before running it.

If that, or any other suggestions you might get from here, don't work I recommend contacting BFC support.

I did a fresh install (uninstalled the original one) and I'm still getting the same issue (even used winrar instead of 7zip). Really odd in all honesty. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

[Campaign Not Showing???]

I finally got around to installing CM:SF2 and for some odd reason the campaign isn't showing anything (all blank). Same thing happens with Quick Battle mode. Would anyone know how to fix this?

[Squad Level Drones]

22 minutes ago, sburke said:

This is also 2008 not 2018.  Just a reminder  

This does come to mind though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-1_Predator

[Shock Force 2 Beta Showcase Video]

Everyone on the forum right now :

 

[CMSF2 Demo]

On 10/1/2018 at 6:56 PM, sburke said:

Serpentine!!

 

Anytime I play Squad and we're under heavy fire, I always tell my teammates to run in Serpentine fashion 

[CMSF2 Demo]

deleted (wrong quote)

[They meant september of next year!]

20 minutes ago, IanL said:

c) stick to your policy of not spending time posting a response to everyone that complains and instead focus on getting valuable work done

I would pick c) too because it has been repeatedly demonstrated that a) does not really stop the arguing that happens in b)

I somewhat disagree. While I do believe that PR should never respond to every little complaint (it would take a lifetime), I think a general update would do them well. And, while some would definitely be annoyed with the delay, I would think that most reasonable people would understand the process and accept it. BF's ultimate goal shouldn't be about ending these silly arguments. Rather, their focus should be on heightening the quality of their brand image and their communication with the consumer.

[Familiarization with Combat Mission]

Because I have absolutely zero in-game experience with Combat Mission and Shock Force 2 demo hasn't released yet, what would be the best Combat Mission demo to somewhat familiarize myself with the controls and such (and yes, I understand that they are not updated to Engine 4.0)?

[They meant september of next year!]

42 minutes ago, General Jack Ripper said:

@Battlefront.com

Why do you do this to us?

We just want to love you, hug you, and give you all of our money.

Crazy thing is, you won't even just take the money.

This is a very complicated relationship. I think we need counseling.

Nice poem   I've got nothing better to do so here's another one  :

There is a game by Battlefront, that rules the gaming league

Combat Mission owns this title, and none other can compete.

But sadly the game never released, and stayed in development mode,

And even after thirty years, people still wait for it to go.

[Combat Mission future]

18 minutes ago, DerKommissar said:

Yeah, as of late, I am not happy with Bohemia Interactive. I'm much more interested in Virtual Battlespace then in more garbage survival shooters. The trend seems to be that they are going to be making kiddy games for the consumers and proper simulations for governments.

Thank the Nine that BFC is sticking to their niche. I can't wait until Rome to Victory, let alone the unnamed Red Thunder module. Hopefully CMSF 2 does really well and cash can expedite the development of these. I'm curious regarding BFC's opinion on crowdfunding. I'd be glad to be a backer of more content.

Hundred percent agree with ya! I'd take Arma 1 or Arma 2 any day of the week (with mods of course). Unfortunately, VBS doesn't offer Personal Editions anymore Titan IM may offer it in the future to gain more recognition and publicity. Thankfully, BFC hasn't gone with the masses but rather continues to offer high quality content.

[Combat Mission future]

13 minutes ago, DerKommissar said:

My computer doesn't like large busy maps in CM, even less so than in Arma.

Performance/technical optimization would be very much welcome.

Though, if your PC can manage it, you can create pretty amazing large-scale invasions. Just yesterday, I set up an assault with M1 Abrams against enemy BRDM-2s guarding a city in Fayshkhabur. The Militia never stood a chance 

[Combat Mission future]

13 minutes ago, Mord said:

So the longest you can get is 8km with a width of 2.3km and the max area you can get is 18.6km^2 at 2.6km by 7km. That's 1860 hectares BTW.

In all honesty, that is pretty decent in size. Obviously, it isn't the size of Chernarus or Altis, but you don't really need that capacity for a single mission. People more or less prefer those large maps because they can switch to various locations and such for differing campaigns.

[CMSF2 Demo]

18 minutes ago, Erwin said:

I gotta say, I felt more safe in Turkey, Jordan and some of the other ME countries.   Yes, they have lots of guys with guns, but they are there to protect visitors.  My wife and I experienced no problems and even shared a laugh or two with bored checkpoint guards.  They even let me fire their 50cals and shoot off an occasional RPG!

 

 

 

 

(Just kidding about the last sentence b4 anyone gets too excited.)

For a second you got me thinking you were at the Demolition Ranch 

[They meant september of next year!]

The one good thing about not receiving an update from Steve is that the release date is somewhat in the ballpark.

[Hasty AAR: Rahadnak Valley Search (USMC)]

Great AAR and screenshots! Brings the story to life