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Conducting Coop play under the current engine


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Guys,

A short while back I bought a friend of mine CMBN/CW/MG etc: We're thinking of doing some sort of coop play, we have a tremendous amount of experience running various campaigns online over ten years with various PC, miniatures, role playing and board game systems to suit us. I see some guys like Wyntergreen are running 2v2 so why not 2v0.

I thought the mechanics of file transfer would go like such:

1. Start with an acceptable scenario

2. Each of player commands a portion of the force

3. We could probably even get a non-player friend to command, looking at overall situation, give orders, parcel out arty and reserves etc

4. We produce decent operational planning graphics for the mission

5. How it actually works:

-Player 1 plots moves for my forces, save file Turn-1A.bts put in a drop box

-Player2 plots moves for my forces, you then hit execute and view the action: save file before moving to plotting phase. Turn-1b.bts put in a drop box.

-Player1 views the action then go on to plot turn-2a.bts etc etc

6. That allows us both to move our forces and view action, we cant see enemy side. We can transmit SITREPs and requests to the commander.<-This is the part that fun, planning and decision making on what to do based on the situation.

7.This could all take place in the framework of a campaign.

Am I missing something in the mechanics of this?

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http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=108823&highlight=2vs2

The procedure is very straightforward and as soon as you are in the routine the hiccups are very rare (usually if someone forgets to send the notify email or mixes up turn numbering).

One caveat is that these games tend to be slower than 1vs1 because individual delays add up on the total. But apart from that I can only recommend it. It's like playing a big battle with just half the work.

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Thanks!

I'm not one that has to tinker over every detail of every pixeltruppen minute by minute and we've discussed that if nothing is going on we can let our various moves run on for a few turns under the auspices of one or another of us.

We are thinking that in this battle we will approach it as being part of the same battalion. A non-player character (another friend) will act as the BC. (He won't actually be playing CMBN, though part of my evil plan is to entice him to buy it through this experience) I will produce operational graphics for us to use. He'll provide the company missions (under the framework of the bn mission) and his commander's intent and we will plan from there. We will share the fire support assets and he will dole them out based upon the plan, requests and his decisions. He will also control reinforcements and when they are released. My partner and I will communicate with each other via email messages passed through the CO. Radio messages will be subject to garbling (by him) or one of us can dispatch a runner with the attendant delays. If our command squads are collocated, we can pick up the phone and have a chat.

Being all ex or current military we prefer our games to be chaotic and "frictiony".

Last year my friend ran for a while a miniatures and Mapex/RPG campaign in Normandy as the Canadians. We used the maps form GMT Battle for Normandy, miniatures (I ain't been shot mum rules), and even Arma 2 Invasion 44 FPS to move the narrative along. This year was added Avalanche Press' Panzer Grenadier series games. Now we can continue the push towards Caen with Combat Mission!

Los

p.s. I have half a mind for us to fly the CAS in il2 1946 coop (we are all in an online campaign of that too), the success of which releases CAS assets.

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I like the idea of different players controlling armour and infantry. Would you risk leaving your Shermans within Panzerfaust range of buildings if your partner's infantry were faffing about behind you? Probably not. This would be very similar to most trench eye view accounts where the author believes that the armour jiggered off at exactly the wrong moment.

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It wouldn't seem that onerous design-wise to allow certain units on both sides to be designated as AI-controlled by a scenario designer and assigned AI-plans, etc. So you could fight a small unit as part of a larger attack, etc. Or even preprogram an entire battle and watch the "movie" in Designer mode as the computer controlled sides duke it out.

But I'm sure that's well down the list of Nice to Haves....

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It wouldn't seem that onerous design-wise to allow certain units on both sides to be designated as AI-controlled by a scenario designer and assigned AI-plans, etc. So you could fight a small unit as part of a larger attack, etc. Or even preprogram an entire battle and watch the "movie" in Designer mode as the computer controlled sides duke it out.

But I'm sure that's well down the list of Nice to Haves....

This is also a very nice idea. Combined with triggers for the AI and I would be a happy man.

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Its all good. I think many want to move their experience to the next level...having their battles being part of a larger campaign framework means that there is a tomorrow, a reason to act realistically with your pixeltruppen, the coop work being done by some adds a level of cooperation, planning with others, roleplaying, coordination and friction. There can be a lot more to this excellent game than moving units around to get just the right angle on something.

Los

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