Help: I need to figure out the compass

[A Canadian Cat]

I know, I know it seems silly but I just do not get it. In real life I am perfectly capable of using a compass, really I am. But in game I just do not get it. It has never mattered before - I can tell where the objectives are and where my guys are what else do you need to know? Well I just started a scenario where I have no terrain objectives my only objective is to prevent the enemy from reaching the south edge of the map. But I have no idea where south is :-(. The units I have started with are in the centre of the map and seem to be facing every which direction. I have no idea which side of the map is what. My only help is the compass but it just spins around - help.

I have searched the manual - no mention of compass. I have searched the forum - lots of mentions but nothing that explains it. The basic question is how do I find the south edge of the map?

[Bil Hardenberger]

The arrow points to the direction you are looking.. so if it is pointing South why then you happen to be looking South.

Bil

[A Canadian Cat]

I knew I would feel dumb after seeing the answer:-) Which only leaves the question with Juju's UI mod is the red arrow or the grey arrow pointing to the direction. I am thinking red.

[Hister]

Yep, it's red.

[A Canadian Cat]

Thanks guys.

[c3k]

Calling it a "compass" is an insult to all magnetic devices. It is more of a "you're looking this way" device. Marco Bergman has an excellent mod which substitutes an "eyeball looking" in place of the "non-north seeking arrow".

Just wait till you need to determine wind direction for your smoke screen. That's when the "compass" will kick your butt, every time.

[para]

I have alway found the compass to be confusing, so you are not alone Mr leslie

[Michael Emrys]

I have alway found the compass to be confusing, so you are not alone Mr leslie

The first couple of times I played with it, it irked me no end (I too am familiar with compasses). But once I gave up thinking of it as a compass, it all made sense. It's actually much more useful this way in the game. I can tell at a glance which direction the camera is facing.

Michael

[A Canadian Cat]

Calling it a "compass" is an insult to all magnetic devices. It is more of a "you're looking this way" device. Marco Bergman has an excellent mod which substitutes an "eyeball looking" in place of the "non-north seeking arrow".

Just wait till you need to determine wind direction for your smoke screen. That's when the "compass" will kick your butt, every time.

Oh, yeah for sure. I have never been able to make use of wind direction in the briefing. Time to look for that mod...

[fatehunter]

consider it a directional orientation device, not a compass.

I work with magnetic and gyro compasses all day. They can be very confusing.

[A Canadian Cat]

Marco Bergman has an excellent mod which substitutes an "eyeball looking" in place of the "non-north seeking arrow".

Do you mean this one?: http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=314&func=fileinfo&id=1084

[para]

The first couple of times I played with it, it irked me no end (I too am familiar with compasses). But once I gave up thinking of it as a compass, it all made sense. It's actually much more useful this way in the game. I can tell at a glance which direction the camera is facing.

Michael

Now it's been explained it seems so simple

[Erwin]

It always puzzled me why in a realistic sim we have been lumbered with this non-RL "device". If you just want an orientation aid, the old "N" on CM1 maps made it easy.

[JonS]

I use Marco's 'eyeball' mod which helps a lot. I also have another mod - also done by Marco, I think - which places the cardinal and sub-cardinal compass points as big letters in the sky. Not very realistic, perhaps, but I find it helps a lot.

[c3k]

Do you mean this one?: http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=314&func=fileinfo&id=1084

Yes, the zmb-viewpoint.brz is the one. (It is mentioned at the end of his list of all the other mods included in that pack.)

[Erwin]

I wasn't aware of Marco's "compass points in the sky" mod. That's what I want. Is that in repository or CMMODS?

[Sgt Schultz]

Or one can just plop a map into the editor and place an "N" on the center of the North map edge with the "Landmark" tool.

I will do this for all my maps/scenarios from now on. I spend so much time on my maps I always know where North is, and it never even occurred to me that others may have problems.

Thanks for the heads up on this. I am sure other designers may be convinced to add an "N" to their future projects.

[JonS]

Or one can just plop a map into the editor and place an "N" on the center of the North map edge with the "Landmark" tool.

I've tried this and found it doesn't work all that well, even on very large maps, because the landmarks are out of place if you're anywhere other than the centre of the map. For example; imagine being in the northeast corner of a map facing east. Directly ahead you'll see the "North" landmark, which is totally wrong. It was after fiddling about with that approach for a while, and failing, that I adopted the letters-in-the-sky idea. They don't suffer from parallax(? is that the right word here?) at all.

Edit: it can be useful, though, during scenario design to have various reference marks scattered about the place so you can keep a sense of what belongs where while in the 3D editor.

[Vinnart]

Oh, yeah for sure. I have never been able to make use of wind direction in the briefing.

Knowing wind direction is VERY important in deploying smoke effectively, and is really the only time I use the compass. To figure direction just rotate till the arrow points in the direction the wind is coming from, but remember it will be moving toward that back azimuth. If it is moving in a favorable direction it can be a great screen for moving troops behind, and is sometimes the only option that will get you across ground safely.

Funny, more people no go land nav in real life than most other things. I couldn’t believe how many people failed it when I went through it at the NCO academy. Lots of officers wash out of it too during OCS.

[JonS]

Knowing wind direction is VERY important in deploying smoke effectively, and is really the only time I use the compass.

I find the best method for correctly deploying smoke is to identify my most valuable tracked asset, push it forward until the enemy turns it into a blazing wreck. I then carefully note which way the resultant pyre smoke drifts so that I may correctly lay a smoke screen in a futile attempt to retreive an already lost situation.

[BLSTK]

I find the best method for correctly deploying smoke is to identify my most valuable tracked asset, push it forward until the enemy turns it into a blazing wreck. I then carefully note which way the resultant pyre smoke drifts so that I may correctly lay a smoke screen in a futile attempt to retreive an already lost situation.

Too funny, Jon. Wait, something's burning.

[A Canadian Cat]

I find the best method for correctly deploying smoke is to identify my most valuable tracked asset, push it forward until the enemy turns it into a blazing wreck. I then carefully note which way the resultant pyre smoke drifts so that I may correctly lay a smoke screen in a futile attempt to retreive an already lost situation.

Well that was much more poetic that I was going to write but that pretty much sums up how I tell which way the wind is blowing. Sooner or later something is on fire and if you really want to tell before your valuable tracked asset is burning you can always have it pop smoke to test things out.

[A Canadian Cat]

Funny, more people no go land nav in real life than most other things. I couldn’t believe how many people failed it when I went through it at the NCO academy. Lots of officers wash out of it too during OCS.

Yes, I helped a lot of my mates figure this out in real life - which is one reason I was feeling so dumb not getting it in the game. I am defiantly going to install the suggested mod. If it does not look like a compass then I will no longer be confused (about direction at least).

[Michael Emrys]

...if you really want to tell before your valuable tracked asset is burning you can always have it pop smoke to test things out.

And if you want to save a smoke for later, you can just read the environmental conditions popup at any time during the game.

Michael

[A Canadian Cat]

And if you want to save a smoke for later, you can just read the environmental conditions popup at any time during the game.

Michael

Now that I can understand the viewing direction gizmo (aka. the compass) that conditions popup will be useful. Thank you all. Before the kind folks here explained how to figure out which direction is what, that conditions popup was very close to unless to me.