Guest Paul Roberts Posted December 22, 1999 Share Posted December 22, 1999 Hi all, I haven't got the demo, but it's my impression from screenshots that smoke in CM simply rises straight up in a narrow plume. Is this the case? If so, is there any protection to be gained from smoke for a unit who isn't precisely behind that thin plume? Photos I've seen from WW2 show smoke rolling across the battlefield like huge ground-level clouds, and this is obviously the effect that someone placing smoke would desire. I'm not worried about the graphics so much as about the amount of line-of-sight blockage that smoke can cause in the game. Can someone reassure me that smoke in the game will obscure more than just a very tiny column? Thanks! I can't wait to receive my CM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
not here Posted December 22, 1999 Share Posted December 22, 1999 ...and will smoke be affected by wind speed and direction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lokesa Posted December 22, 1999 Share Posted December 22, 1999 First, get the freackin demo! unless your operating with a video card having less than 8 meg's it should work for you. Smoke is abstracted. Each plume you see actually represents a much greater LOS blockage to your troops. No wind spped and direction have no effect on smoke. BTS seems to like to do things to perfection or leave them as abstract. For them to do wind would require a pretty serious program running in the background all the time which would chew up CPU. As it is now, smoke is highly functional yet CM runs smoothly (if it's not broke...) Another reason why smoke is handled as it is is that everything you see in the game uses polygons and/or takes up VRAM. These are both limited commodities and somewhere along the way a line has to be drawn as to what goes in and what doesn't. I believe that to do smoke well would cost more in these areas than it would be worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted December 22, 1999 Share Posted December 22, 1999 Umm, Lokesa, CM is working on Pentium 100 laptops with no 3D card. You don't need a 3D card to play at all. It helps a lot but it isn't necessary. Lokesa is right as for the rest of his message though. It's abstracted but quite functional. As processing power goes up I'd expect it to be given a little more attention. ------------------ ___________ Fionn Kelly Manager of Historical Research, The Gamers Net - Gaming for Gamers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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