New file at the Repository: CW Pacific: Makin Atoll - Yellow Beach (2012-09-21)

[Battlefront Repository]

12/20/43 (Historical, Huge). A reinforced battalion of US 27th ID must cross an open reef to secure a beachhead in the Japanese fortified zone of Makin Atoll. Play US or H2H only. For best results, install the Pacific Terrain, Japanese Forces and LVT Alligator CW mods uploaded by LongLeftFlank.

More...

[Erwin]

Amazing accomplishment LLF... and anyone else involved.

[Vergeltungswaffe]

Truly outstanding

[LongLeftFlank]

Hmm. Disappointing box office for my baby on its opening weekend: 16 DLs on the Repo and 7 at GaJ. Are people just preoccupied with the CMFI demo, or what? Or maybe there really IS very little gamer interest in playing PTO, even for free. Or maybe I shoulda pandered to Commonwealth module buyers by doing Kohima or Arakan or sumfink....

Well we'll see if it ramps up.

[Bob Willett]

Be patient. There's lots of games and scenarios out there not mentioning outside of PC life many of us have this time of year that keep us busy. My buddy and I are playing yours next. You've got a hit here and we all know you worked your %^&* off on this for sometime and we've all watched your sneak-peeks in awe of your progress and of course the quality of what you were creating. Thank you for creating and sharing!

[mjkerner]

I agree with abob, LLF. You'd have one more d/l if my video card hadn't decided to fry itself Friday! I had planned to assault Makin this weekend.

[LongLeftFlank]

Hee hee! And there's my little fren' with his drive by 1 star rating again. Where you been, buddy? Do you even own the game?

[Erwin]

It's probably some girl you p'd off...

[LongLeftFlank]

Nah, I also participate in some Asia-focused investment blogs. Some people there go instantly nuclear when you dare voice the slightest criticism of their sacred nation or values. They basically go on a dorky crusade to shut you down using any stupid channel they can.

Forget trolling -- this guy's like Gollum following the Ring. As soon as he decided I fit his stereotype of a racist Japan-hater (ironically, he's likely an unreconstructed admirer of the Co-Prosperity Sphere), he decided to start pecking. If I get anything worse than this, the moderators will hear it.

[Erwin]

Well, only a jilted lover or a kid would be this childish, so my money is still on a Jap girl you f****ed and fled from, or some dorky 15 year old.

[LongLeftFlank]

But not both... Uhh, at least she looked 18, but really, how can you tell, you know? I mean, I swear to you, I thought the schoolgirl uniform was just for show! (beads of sweat appear)

[LongLeftFlank]

OK, in one week my Tiny bocage recon scenario has gotten more downloads than Makin has in a month. Makin downloads seem to average 5-6 a week; no idea how long that'll last.

Not fretting about this; I'm genuinely curious to what extent that's a reflection of strong demand for single-sitting "grab 'n go" scenarios.

Or whether it's really limited community interest in gaming PTO.... Makin is distinctly lagging (40-50%)other large CW scens released about the same time. Or maybe a lot of people know how to use the Repo but are daunted by or can't be bothered with the whole modding "Z" file thing.

[Blazing 88's]

I have no interest in PTO what so ever. I like that theater more for Naval Carrier battles and Air sims.

[Erwin]

LLF: I think that cos there are SO many CM versions now, there is fragmentation of the base. I am in the middle of campaigns or scenarios from CMA, CMSF, CMBN and CMFI... Probably many of us just want to finish what we started b4 starting something new - no matter how amazing like Makin..

[snake_eye]

@LLF

I played your Mankin PTO scenario. I must try it again having had troubles with the memory needed to have it run smoothly.

I have to say that you put in it, as usual, a lot of work. The wharfs and piers are well done and it makes a change to play an amphibious assault. I put aside the fact that there are no US Marines assaulting with their tracked vehicles and Japanese against them, since what counts is the pleasure to simulate Mankin assault. On that part it is well done and the objective in, doing it, is to my feeling attained.

Unfortunately as I have found it myself the best work and the time afforded in doing it, is not measured or even thought of by numerous players. Between a scenario difficult to do and one easier, there are not that many downloads difference. It is not easy to grab that difference in looking at the repository. That difference being seen, only when you play the battle.

For the rest the offer is following the marketing trends of these days.

What counts is to have a scenario played in a war theatre in demand. Normandy is much asked now days. I think that Italy is a bit less in demand and yet it affords a lot of potential scenarios that could be made. However it is running, for the time being, on the fact that it is a novelty, for how long?

Look at CMSF base game, then Marines, the Brits and NATO. The scenarios numbers made seem to dwindle down from the first title to the last one. If you look at CMA it is worst.

Not convinced, look at the Forum. CMFI is highly looked upon, then CMBN, CMSF and all the way down CMA.

I have a scenario for CMBN which only needs its briefing to be finished. I started it since November 2011 and when I thought that I could give it a go, CMFI was announced. So, I play it from time to time, change a thing or two and put it aside for better days. I am just wondering if I should release it anyway or if I should wait for the V 2.0 CFMI game engine that should be available soon. Will people be willing to pay for it ? If not, do I need to put more work into that scenario, if just a few people are going to play with it? The answer is probably yes, since like you LLF, I am doing it for pleasure and only willing to share it with others, recognition being definitively not what I am running after.

Cheer :cool:

[Erwin]

Well said snake...

If a designer is after numbers, (s)he's working in the wrong game genre. This is a highly specialized group of fans who do appreciate what you, LLF and PT and all the other talented designers (and modders etc) have accomplished. You have to come to terms with the unfortunate fact there's just not as many as you would like.

It's a shame that CM2 has become so much complex that it's a lot of work compared to CM1 and far fewer people seem to actually play CM2 (vs argue endlessly about esoteric aspects of it).

[LeeW]

LVT Alligator? Why is it carrying the .303 MkVII ammo of the enemy instead of .30cal M2 ammo?

[LongLeftFlank]

Because the base vehicle is a halftrack and unfortunately all US halftracks carry bazookas. Bazookas were still in limited supply in the PTO in late 1943 and I didn't want 15 more floating around -- they're too handy for bunker-busting and would unbalance the scenario.

So you have Canadian halftracks instead, carrying Brit ammo. Sorry Charlie, no small arms resupply. I considered that but decided against. You should have enough forces to manage without that.

[John Kettler]

LongLeftFlank,

I learned something potentially useful should you essay another PTO scenario. In watching this full length doc, I learned that getting ashore at Tarawa, given the long slog through the water (as the veteran put it, "water doesn't compress, it resists"), exhausted the men. This is from a combat cameraman who was there. Since I doubt this situation was unique, I think it might be worth investigating, in terms of fatigue levels for the forces landing. I believe it also explains much of what happened with the first wave, once it finally got ashore.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/shooting-war/

When you have time (at/before the 12th of Never), I commend this terrific film to your attention. It's got insights, personal accounts, explanations and wonderful interviews with the men who shot some of the iconic imagery of WW II. Included are the planes crashing on the Enterprise, the attack on Midway and the famous shot of the Japanese counterattack in the background and our guys in the foreground on Tarawa.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Sublime]

LLF - dont take it personally. I think its a combination of things but for me -

though you did an awesome job just changing the graphic doesnt do it for me. I still know it's brits under the image and it'll kill it for me.

Also it's a big scale assault thats amphibious. I usually like battalion or less and CM is awful for amphibious assaults, just because how the water acts (IMO).

Add to that the effort, which admittedly isnt much, but when I get home I just wanna fire up CM and go.

But even all that isnt the primary reason - I almost exclusively play PBEMs and I'd never to get all my opponents to mod it too. I did play a lot of single player but as we all got deeper into using the engine and I realized how the AI really works it ruined it for me. It just seems so dumb, and that it plays and doesn't react to what I'm doing just.. bothers me. Like ghosts fighting ghosts. It a shame because I always loved campaigns, I'd accept it if we had something like CMC was supposed to be

oh and f*ck that idiot with his 1 star

[LongLeftFlank]

Thanks for the feedback, Snakeye, Erwin, Sublime and others. Tarawa is out until we have flamethrowers; the lack of this key weapon at Makin is a lot of what drove me to choose it even though the battle was a comparative walkover against a weakened and leaderless defence. I thought it would make an interesting diversion for the curious CMer, and tried to make it as accurate as the game engine and force mix would allow. If I did another one, it would likely be from the Japanese side (H2H?), to give the flavour of playing that force as opposed to killing them -- Buna maybe. Or as Kettler suggested, the Matanikau battles on Guadalcanal, or the Cape Gloucester landings. These weren't bunker assaults where flamethrowers would be missed.

Re immersion problem using "modded Brits", you'd be astonished how differently Fanatic troops play. Keep in mind that all "national characteristics" are set using only the visible factors -- morale, leadership, C3, squad size/splittability, weapons, mechanization. Were Charles to program Japanese troops he would use these same levers to establish their essential behaviours.

[John Kettler]

LongLeftFlank,

Good points. I realized, just now, something important would be missing from the Matanikau River idea I had: flares--of every sort. I'm pretty sure they featured prominently in the one I mentioned with Stuarts and M6 37mm antitank guns alike blazing away with canister as the Japanese came charging across the river and into the teeth not only of the usual weapons, but the newly issued M1 Garand!

Regards,

John Kettler