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besides graphics, what is better with this game compared to CMBB? is the gameplay any different? how large is the community? I originally bought CMSF when it came out and didn't really care for it, are the more recent titles any better? if you own all of them, could you put them order of your most preferred.

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besides graphics, what is better with this game compared to CMBB? is the gameplay any different? how large is the community? I originally bought CMSF when it came out and didn't really care for it, are the more recent titles any better? if you own all of them, could you put them order of your most preferred.

Try out the demos for CMBN or CMFI or just wait until the CMRT demo is released. You're the best judge as to what you like or not so give the demos a whirl.

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1: Download CMBN or/and FI demo (formulate your own opinion)

2. Community is of a fair size not huge but it is a niche market. The Few Good Men and The Blitz are ladder and Tourney fan sites.

My order of Preference is

CMRT v3.0 due to engine upgrade and novelty of newness

CMBN v2.0 with Commonwealth module

CMBN v2.0 with Commonweath and Market Garden ( I dont seem to play MG as much as I thought I would)

CMFI v2.0 with Gustaf Line module (I can't fight worth a dang with the Italians)

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The CMx2 engine is miles beyond the original CM games. It has become much more detailed both visibly and (especially) under the hood. For example, in CMBB, an infantry squad was treated as a mass blob; in CMx2 games, that squad is made of individual soldiers responding individually to circumstances. You can actually see the ones firing, the ones cowering, the ones moving, and the ones who haven't yet got the enemy in their sites reacting individually.

It shouldn't be difficult to find reviews of CMBN and CMFI and their expansions. Reviews for CMRT will be coming soon, I'm sure.

My capsule review: I've been playing WW2 wargames on computer and on the tabletop since the 1980s. While nothing is perfect, the latest CM engine is the most detailed, the most realistic, the most interesting, and the most satisfying wargame I've ever played.

Purely for reasons of theater and content, I rate CMBN (with all the expansions) higher than CMRT and CMFI. But they are essentially the same game focusing on different parts of the war.

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It's a very different game from CMBB, different mechanics, different UI... it's hard to compare.

It's the same core game engine as CMSF, but there have been some pretty huge improvements to the game engine since 1.0 came out with CMSF in 2007. Even within CMSF, the difference between the 1.0 release code and the terminal 1.32 is pretty huge... Obviously, are also some pretty huge differences between modern combat and WWII combat. Engagements between M1 Abrams and T-72s simply do not play out like engagements between Panthers and T-34s.

I advise you to wait until the demo comes out and then give it a try before you buy. Shouldn't be too long. While you're waiting you could download and give the CMBN and CMFI demos a try. There have some further improvements to the game engine with CMRT, but besides the obvious presence of Russians rather than Americans and Brits, the differences between CMRT and the most recent versions of CMBN/CMFI are modest in the grand scheme of things.

Everybody has their personal favorite of the games, which generally has more to do with theatre preference than any technical difference in the game engines between titles, so I don't think my "personal ranking" of the titles is going to be of much use to you. I like CMRT best, but this probably has more to do with my stronger interest in the East Front than anything else.

The other thing to be aware of is that the WWII CMx2 titles get updated to the current-state-of the art game engine as new iterations come out. So expect BFC to offer an "Engine Upgrade" to CMBN and CMFI that will bring them up to to CMRT's standard (v3.0 of the engine) within a month or two for something like $10. This is a significant difference compared to the way things worked with the CMx1 family; once CMBO was done, the code was locked and improvements that came with CMBB and CMAK did not filter back to this title. This is no longer the case with CMx2.

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what everyone else said....

There is no direct comparison of CMBB to CMRT though you do have some familiarty with CMSF, the changes over the last few years and the difference in period make it a whole different game.

Play the demos. I would have ranked CMFI as my least favorite if I had been asked without playing. As it turns out I spend more time messing around in CMFI than either CMRT or CMBN... go figure.

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thanks for the info, very helpful. I guess cmsf left me with a bad taste in my mouth because it was impossible to PBEM with my long time gaming partner. but with what you guys said in my other thread about the different ways to transfer the large files, I think I will give it a try. thanks again.

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I played the original CM and CMBB and have all of the Shock Force games. Really no comparison. I find it hard to get into SF after the newer titles and can't wait for SF to get upgraded.

Really shines when you play h2h. I spend over an hour late last night just looking at my ongoing games and amazed at how the battle develop operationally when you have a good reliable h2h opponent.

The AI is good, but really there is no way to program an AI that can handle a rapidly changing situation in an urban environment.

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besides graphics, what is better with this game compared to CMBB? is the gameplay any different? how large is the community? I originally bought CMSF when it came out and didn't really care for it, are the more recent titles any better? if you own all of them, could you put them order of your most preferred.

HERE we go again lol

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thanks for the info, very helpful. I guess cmsf left me with a bad taste in my mouth because it was impossible to PBEM with my long time gaming partner. but with what you guys said in my other thread about the different ways to transfer the large files, I think I will give it a try. thanks again.

Dropbox with CM Helper (successor to H2HH) really makes PBEM management a breeze. I have six or seven games going, and I never have to remember anyone's email or even whose turn it is. CM Helper does all that for me.

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I have some questions. How many campaigns, two? Do we still need a mod to turn off ambient sound?

Plus the CMx2 community will be making top-notch content soon. My CMBN folder has about 20 campaigns and close to 250 scenarios, the majority of which were made by the community.

In fact many of the same people who made the "official" scenarios release new ones on a regular basis.

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If you aren't sure, just wait for the demo to come out. Some long-time CM fans report they just can't get into CMx2 at all and others mention that they dislike the period of the war chosen for CMRT.

So far CMRT is my favorite, but I am partial to the east front because I fought there.

...what?

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