Is CM dying?

[Bergerbitz]

Jump the cars, Fonz! Just jump the cars!

Sharks, however. Don't bother with those.

[A Canadian Cat]

My bad! Typed in haste without sufficient sleep

No worries - I figured it out but just wanted to make sure it was clear to all. We had enough people talking about 2.1 when they mean 2.01 over the last few months.

Putting "beta" on it actually gums up the works because everybody feels they are now entitled to speak as BOTH a customer and a tester.

LOL too true - I did not think of that angle. Also putting Beta on it might not really have the desired effect. I know a lot of people who just don't use Betas - ever. In fact I don't as a general rule. However for something like this game that I really care about I would.

No, what customers respect is things getting fixed in a timely fashion. They respect new features getting added that enhance their gaming experience. Provided the good outweighs the bad then all is fine and dandy.

Yep!

"Would you rather wait 4 more weeks for a patch to make sure that the top cover of the MG34 isn't floating in the air or the M15A1 isn't using the wrong models for non LODs, or would you rather a patch now that dramatically speeds up your gameplay and adds 2 dozen fixes, many of which directly affect gameplay?"

I'm pretty confident that put that way people would rather risk a floating MG34 top cover than having to play for 4 weeks without the speed improvements and everything else.

Spot on. The missed defects discovered so far are all minor in my opinion. No big deal. Some what annoying perhaps but really not going to effect game play.

Not to get too negative here but I am struck by something: recently, I forget now which release, quick battle PBEM games were broken and that took quite a while before it was fixed. Now we have these minor issues that seem like they are getting fixed very fast. Does that reflect that there was a work around for the PBEM breakage? Or that PBEM play is down on the list of stuff you care about?

In terms of testing, I would like to hear that major play methods have now been added to your testing check list. Someone verifies that both scenarios and QBs can be started and played in all the modes (single player, muti-player, Real time and WEGO)

[Rocky Balboa]

The point I made in the other thread is that knowing the numbers didn't help anybody "debug" the problem for the 4 years of active development of the three games with that data. People saw the numbers and didn't question the results, therefore didn't question the numbers. And yes, armor quality was displayed along with the thickness, angle, armor type, and other factors.

The fact that someone figured there might be a problem WITHOUT data proves that the game has sufficient information to figure out if something is right or wrong. It's not necessary for you guys to figure out the specifics of what a problem is, or it's possible solution, only to note where there's an issue. We can handle it from there, whether it be a mouse cursor that isn't working right, a graphic coming up in the wrong spot, or a shot going through some armor that probably shouldn't.

Steve

I think the sound we just heard is the sound of viewable in game stats slowly slipping down the todo list.

[JasonC]

Steve - everyone knows that Fonzi can jump - it is Hollywood, even if small screen Hollywood, after all. It is the revealed desperation that is taken as an indicator, not a comment on the coolness of a jacket or any imaginary failure of a stunt. My comment began with a "judging by", and refers to another poster's revealed --- mood, let us say --- not to the game itself.

[Fuser]

Funny, I would say CMx2 series are experimenting, at last , a virtual take-off and really start to shine....the future looks eventually, VERY promising....

[akd]

Judging by ASL-Vet's post, I'd have to say "yes" to the original thread title. When attacking the loyal fan base and defensively bad mouthing the glory days of CM1 is a true believer's first instinct, I'd say Fonzi has gone airborne...

Sometimes people have bad days.

[poorfish]

One of the possible reasons for so little feed back is that the comment space on the senario page is limited to only 1500 characters. And last time I tried to type a message it got all screwed up, as I recall, and the BB would not let me add another comment. Perhaps this is fixed now?

[DLaurier]

I think it's much *easier* to buy from a known website than trying to find a local shop with the CM game you want. I think many companies are moving to Download-only distribution.

Pre-paid credit cards kinda make that a tricky proposition.

[Apocal]

Can anyone explain this Fonzi reference to me?

[sburke]

Can anyone explain this Fonzi reference to me?

LOL TV show called Happy Days. We are all dating ourselves really badly.

[Doug Williams]

Can anyone explain this Fonzi reference to me?

That would be a reference to "Jump the Shark", in which Fonzi literally ski-jumped over a shark in one of the later episodes of the Happy Days television show. It is generally seen as the moment in which the show's quality started to go downhill.

"Jumped the Shark" has now become a phrase used whenever any franchise has started a decline in quality. People who try to appear more intelligent/witty/in-the-know than most will allude to "Jump the Shark" without actually using the term.

CM is far from having "Jumped the Shark", IMO. In fact, I have high hopes for it's continued improvement and longevity.

[Battlefront.com]

It is a sad, sad day when I find out one of our American customers is too young to understand Happy Days references. Makes me fell old. Well, to cheer me up Emrys can come here and tell us about earlier times when shadow puppets on cave walls were the evening's entertainment

Steve

[sburke]

It is a sad, sad day when I find out one of our American customers is too young to understand Happy Days references. Makes me fell old. Well, to cheer me up Emrys can come here and tell us about earlier times when shadow puppets on cave walls were the evening's entertainment

Steve

You don't want to know what that snake puppet was when he was telling the story of Adam and Eve. Let's just say he should probably have to be registering his residence with the state.

[Apocal]

That would be a reference to "Jump the Shark", in which Fonzi literally ski-jumped over a shark in one of the later episodes of the Happy Days television show. It is generally seen as the moment in which the show's quality started to go downhill.

"Jumped the Shark" has now become a phrase used whenever any franchise has started a decline in quality. People who try to appear more intelligent/witty/in-the-know than most will allude to "Jump the Shark" without actually using the term.

CM is far from having "Jumped the Shark", IMO. In fact, I have high hopes for it's continued improvement and longevity.

I'm familiar with the phrase "jumped the shark" but was not aware of its origins, thanks.

It is a sad, sad day when I find out one of our American customers is too young to understand Happy Days references. Makes me fell old.

I'm actually nowhere near the youngest regular CMer. There were quite a few others around my age, but most of them are waiting for CMx2 Modern 2.

[Heinrich505]

It is a sad, sad day when I find out one of our American customers is too young to understand Happy Days references. Makes me fell old. Well, to cheer me up Emrys can come here and tell us about earlier times when shadow puppets on cave walls were the evening's entertainment

Steve

Laughing...too....hard.......can't breathe......need EMS quickly.....

Heinrich505

[Quintus Sertorius]

That would be a reference to "Jump the Shark", in which Fonzi literally ski-jumped over a shark in one of the later episodes of the Happy Days television show.

I wonder whether that episode is on Hulu or something...it would be nice to have a link for reference.

[umlaut]

[Sixxkiller]

I just want to point out that there isn't a day that goes by that the Battlefront staff isn't trying to improve this game. You may not see it like this because you don't see it everyday and have to wait for the results, but it is happening.

[db_zero]

In general the PC platform is not nearly as popular as it was back when CM first came out. Sales are decreasing or flat.

You could release a game like CM in the 90's and the gaming media would write articles and generate all sorts of buzz. You had all sorts of PC gaming mags and websites devoted to games like CM.

Look at what's happened to combat flight sims.

The world has changed. CM is a niche product, but it will never die out completely. There will always be people who will buy and play it-at least for the next 10-30 years, perhaps longer.

Once we all die off you may see CM go away, but with people living longer I could easily see CM going on for a while. I may be in a retirement home playing CM, just like the generation before me spent their old age playing bridge or cribbage.

[Battlefront.com]

The shift away from PCs has been mostly for casual gaming. It went from PCs to consoles. Now it's going from consoles to mobiles. For the most part the people that have gone from one to the other and to the other aren't the type that is interested in our games anyway. Which means that to a large extent we haven't been affected by the shifts simply because they aren't interested in the reasons for the shifts (flashier graphics, for the most part).

The only downside of so many people fleeing PC gaming is that we've definitely had our ability to cross over into more mainstream gaming limited more. Having said that, the crossover appeal is more theoretical than practical and therefore in effect we probably aren't in actuality more limited than we were before.

Steve

[ZPB II]

Scientists say that in 13 years the Space Lobsters will have reached Earth, so no more CM releases after that point.

You might be able to persevere in a undermountain bunker somewhere, but good luck contacting the DRM server.

[Apocal]

In general the PC platform is not nearly as popular as it was back when CM first came out. Sales are decreasing or flat.

You could release a game like CM in the 90's and the gaming media would write articles and generate all sorts of buzz. You had all sorts of PC gaming mags and websites devoted to games like CM.

Look at what's happened to combat flight sims.

Combat flight sims are doing fine. New IL2 coming out, various DCS games, War Thunder being a fairly big hit, etc. The response in the gaming media has been muted because in all the above cases its Russian devs and Russian publishing houses pushing out a product at least somewhat orientated towards Russian audiences.

It isn't really the same thing with land wargames. I don't remember how exactly I heard about CMSF, but I'd been away from CM for quite awhile (I was the stereotypical "filthy casual" -- played CMBO for a few months then bailed) and I do remember guys I played ArmA with talking about a dearth of good company/battalion scale tactical wargames and going hunting around for something (anything). Somehow I stumbled onto CMSF. I don't know why no one got the word out that CMx2 existed, but there were quite a few dudes who were (and are) interested in something like CMx2 generally but have no idea it exists.

[Skwabie]

Combat flight sims... Russian devs and Russian publishing houses pushing out a product at least somewhat orientated towards Russian audiences.

It won't reach the hype it had in the 90s for sure, I reckon the scene in Russia is somewhat an after effect. And the capital market opening in those eastern bloc countries sure helped. Besides those russian made stuff are rather crude software wise after taking a close look at them.

Relating to CM, when looking at flight sims anything that went too ambitious had died, at least commercially. As long as CM stays simple the chances of it surviving another crisis is pretty good I guess.

But they gotta move the set to modern. WWII are for old timers these days, the youth can read stories 'bout it but hey if you haven't been there it won't be the same.

[LukeFF]

Besides those russian made stuff are rather crude software wise after taking a close look at them.

Eh, no, not at all.

[BletchleyGeek]

The shift away from PCs has been mostly for casual gaming. It went from PCs to consoles. Now it's going from consoles to mobiles. For the most part the people that have gone from one to the other and to the other aren't the type that is interested in our games anyway. Which means that to a large extent we haven't been affected by the shifts simply because they aren't interested in the reasons for the shifts (flashier graphics, for the most part).

The only downside of so many people fleeing PC gaming is that we've definitely had our ability to cross over into more mainstream gaming limited more. Having said that, the crossover appeal is more theoretical than practical and therefore in effect we probably aren't in actuality more limited than we were before.

Thank you for your answer on the topic of automated testing, Steve.

Regarding the PC vs. consoles: Sony and Microsoft platforms are just dumbed down PC's (very much like a Mac nowadays is just the same hardware, just with a better OS and a snazzy form factor). I don't think the PC is dead, anymore than it was back in 2003 or 2004 when major retailers in the US (like Walmart) decided to just say no to PC games, going overboard with the promises made by Sony and Microsoft of killing the PC as a gaming platform.

Yet I do think you guys have quite a beachhead in that more 'mainstream' market, and it is CM Touch. How hard would it be to retool/repackage an experience like the one offered by CM Touch for the XBox One, for instance?