Ken Talley Posted July 9, 1999 Share Posted July 9, 1999 Quick question. One of the screenshots in the Computer games review is titled "...now you don't". In the screenshot, the antitank gun is now represented by a yellowish orange blob. What exactly is going on here? I am not sure. Thanks, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted July 9, 1999 Share Posted July 9, 1999 Ask Chairman Bill It is supposed to be a transparant explosion. Seems that DirectX API is not all that easy to get transparancies to work. Some PCs currently do transparancy no poblemo, others big problemo. It appears that Scott Udell's system is one of the unfortunate ones. This will be fixed by the time of release. Of course, everything works perfectly on all our Macintoshes For a look at a the way explosions are supposed to look like, check out the QT movies with the Priest in them. That thing gets whacked many times. Or look at the screenshot in the 2nd Preview with the PzIVs advancing over a bridge and over a field. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Galanti Posted July 9, 1999 Share Posted July 9, 1999 I've got a question about a different shot, specifically the detailed stats shot. I know I saw a shot a couple of months ago that had a Sherman with the stats up, but I can't seem to find it to compare the differences, so I'm just going to ask I was wondering what the silhouette, transport class, and blast firepower values were for. Also, why are there two numbers for the armor, i.e 50/10 for the front turret? Finally, are the armor values and penetration values in some specific unit or just a generic game unit (I'm assuming that the numbers are comparable, so you can figure out if you have a chance of penetrating...)? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted July 9, 1999 Share Posted July 9, 1999 We have 17 different types of Shermans in the game, and those are just the American ones. So you'll have to wait for a new screenshot to see all that data... <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I was wondering what the silhouette, transport class, and blast firepower values were for. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Silhouette is a measure of vehicle size, but particularly its height, and affects how easy it is to spot it or hit it. Transport class describes how heavy/bulky a unit the vehicle can transport. This comes into play when towing heavy artillery. Smaller vehicles can't pull the big stuff. Blast firepower is a rough measure of the effectiveness of the high-explosive round against unarmored targets. (It's actually more complex that that, since CM measures not only the power of the blast but also the radius, and tapers the power down as distance from the blast-center increases. And larger weapons have larger blast radii, so even a "near miss" from an 8-inch howitzer will probably kill you whereas a 37mm HE will pretty much have to land right on your head to do damage.). The two armor numbers represent: thickness (mm) / slope (degrees). Penetration values are in mm, but because armor penetration takes so many variables into consideration (many of which depend on the particular target type) there's no one set of penetration numbers that applies in all cases. What you see there is "typical" but actual values can vary substantially on a case-by-case basis. We will provide colorful armor penetration diagrams with the game to further help players understand their weapons' capabilities. See http://www.bigtimesoftware.com/images/88_128.jpg for an example. Charles [This message has been edited by Big Time Software (edited 07-09-99).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak40 Posted July 10, 1999 Share Posted July 10, 1999 The screenshot are looking quite good. I'm seeing realistic looking European terrain. Tanks look great too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Beman Posted July 10, 1999 Share Posted July 10, 1999 That picture "Now you don't" looks like somebody dropped half a grapefruit on that infantry gun! I think the picture was supposed to be "Now you see" the infantry gun targeting that infantry squad, and then "now you don't" when it fires. If CM really does run better on a Mac, I may seriously consider joining the Think Differently (Dark) Side... DjB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Rock Posted July 11, 1999 Share Posted July 11, 1999 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>If CM really does run better on a Mac, I may seriously consider joining the Think Differently (Dark) Side...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> As I have a PII at home and will be getting an iMac at work I'll have the best of both worlds. Will never get any work done, of course, but that's not a problem. This does have me wondering - BTS doesn'e seem to find it too difficult porting games to both platforms - why don't more companies do so? Do some types of games port more easily, or is it just that some developers don't bother to learn how to do so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted July 11, 1999 Share Posted July 11, 1999 The first thing is that the developer has to believe that the Mac can make them money. Second thing is that they must have a marketing plan in place so the Mac folks actually know about the game (many good Mac ports died because of this...) The next thing is the understanding that it is better to do a simultaneous development effort rather than a port-when-done mentality. Why? Simple -> time to market. Usually a Mac port of a PC game hits 6-18 months after the original. By this time the Mac folks have already figured out that they don't want it (i.e. the game is all hype), have played it on a PC, or in used PC emulation. The end result is a lost Mac sale. But doing simultaneous development is a really tough job that hardly anyone out there can pull off, or at least do a good job. Most programmers only program for one platform, and even fewer know how to program for both concurrently (this is an artform all by itself). Charles is one such person who can do both and has with his last three games. Not only is Charles programming an amazing game, but he is doing it for both the PC and Mac at the very same time! All coding is done on the Mac and then scooted over to the PC in a matter of minutes. This means that there is largely one code base, translating into more stable and consistent game play for both sides. If someone finds a bug in the Mac version, it is likely in the PC version as well, and vice versa. The only real exception are platform specific issues, especially with APIs. Both platforms have their own quirks, but as you can tell our opinion of MS APIs is a lot lower than the ones on the Mac Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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