Four titles with estfront game,what about combine ?

[t34577685]

Last year i heard that there are four titles with estfront,each title have several DLC.

But there are some worry about it .

for exemple:

1.I play a qb battle in year 1945,and then i want to play a battle in starlingard in year 1942.

To do this ,I want to EXIT the CMRT game and open anther APP(peherps combat mission watching volgard) .

2.When I download a MOD (such as ARIS TERRIAN mod),I want to paste them into four folder.

My advice :what about combine four title game into one APP.

if i buy three of them,I can aslo combine three title game into ONE APP,

if I buy ONLY one of the four ,it aslo will be ONE app.

the MORE title AND dlc I BUY ,the more contents it will be in the APP.

of course ,I hope the westfront battle from the end of 1944 to 1945 will combine into CMBN.

Sorry for my English.

[sburke]

Your English is fine.

Unfortunately BF has stated pretty consistently they will be separate games. Plans are always subject to change, but that has been the direction so far.

The same for Western front late 1944--1945. That will be a new game and not an additional module for CMBN.

[Oddball_E8]

IIRC there are some issues with having that many units in the game.

This is why they have to split them up into different years.

I don't remember the exact reasoning behind it but it was something along the lines of that.

[MikeyD]

If BFC provided all units and all timeframes combined then BFC would have to put out a single $500 product... about five years from now. Is that really what people want? Wait ten years for the development of an impossibly large sixty gig mega-product?

[76mm]

If BFC provided all units and all timeframes combined then BFC would have to put out a single $500 product... about five years from now. Is that really what people want? Wait ten years for the development of an impossibly large sixty gig mega-product?

But that's not what the OP is asking for--he's asking for the ability, as games come out, to combine them all in one game rather than four separate games.

The biggest issue for me is map re-use; it will be a real shame if we can't re-use Russian maps CMRT for other games in the series.

[H1nd]

But that's not what the OP is asking for--he's asking for the ability, as games come out, to combine them all in one game rather than four separate games.

The biggest issue for me is map re-use; it will be a real shame if we can't re-use Russian maps CMRT for other games in the series.

This! They should the very least build a map converter or something like that!

[Apocal]

I asked for an omnibus edition, Steve seemed unenthusiastic.

[t34577685]

But that's not what the OP is asking for--he's asking for the ability, as games come out, to combine them all in one game rather than four separate games.

The biggest issue for me is map re-use; it will be a real shame if we can't re-use Russian maps CMRT for other games in the series.

YES ,that's what I mean.

I'm not asking for a huge game for one sale 500$,I just hope that when one separate titles come out,people can install it combine into one app.

[Michael Emrys]

YES ,that's what I mean.

I'm not asking for a huge game for one sale 500$,I just hope that when one separate titles come out,people can install it combine into one app.

Right, got that from your first post. But I think the catch is that writing the code to make that possible could turn into a real nightmare. I am not a programmer, so I may be unduly pessimistic about that, but until I hear otherwise from BFC, that will continue to be my expectation.

Michael

[zmoney]

If BFC provided all units and all timeframes combined then BFC would have to put out a single $500 product... about five years from now. Is that really what people want? Wait ten years for the development of an impossibly large sixty gig mega-product?

Yes, this is what people want.

[Collingwood]

Not me. I want the banquet - one plate at a time. Sure, I would like the kitchen to serve me my courses a little faster but I don't want to wait for years for a complete meal. I'm hungry now

[Ales Dvorak]

Yes, this is what people want.

Waiting 10 years for 500$ product. Isn't today's moto "I want it all & I want it now"?

500$.... and still same people have complains about 10$ upgrade....

[Kieme(ITA)]

I'd like to see such a huge compendium when cm2x engine will be at the end of its lifetime, besides, the final price wouldn't be too high because some parts of it would be 10 years old...

[Fizou]

Id love to see as few family releases as possible. Fewer executables, more options in game as well as less space required for the same mods. That said with more modules per family Id be more than willing to pay a higher price for a module having "family content" etc.

Will have to wait and see what route BF takes but so far it looks like they are going for more families. And they have reasons to do so as well. But one can dream

[Holman]

1.I play a qb battle in year 1945,and then i want to play a battle in starlingard in year 1942.

To do this ,I want to EXIT the CMRT game and open anther APP

I believe you're saying you don't want to have start a new program just to start a new game, right?

Actually, it's always a good idea to quit and restart CM when starting a new battle. I've had graphics memory problems occur when starting a new scenario right after another one. It's been said that close and restarting the game clears your video memory (or something).

2.When I download a MOD (such as ARIS TERRIAN mod),I want to paste them into four folder.

My advice :what about combine four title game into one APP.

Perhaps it would be possible to have all the Eastern Front games draw from a common mod folder, with tags handling any desired distinctions between regions/years?

[PhilM]

Id love to see as few family releases as possible. Fewer executables, more options in game as well as less space required for the same mods. That said with more modules per family Id be more than willing to pay a higher price for a module having "family content" etc.

Will have to wait and see what route BF takes but so far it looks like they are going for more families. And they have reasons to do so as well. But one can dream

My sentiments (my bold bit) exactly!

I appreciate so much that BF will update the earlier CMx2 titles to stay current with RT "v3.0". But - though not a programmer (nor is this my living) - the current route of having to go back and make BN v3.0 (?) and FI v2.0 (?) seems like it is much less efficient than having one engine, which then has plug-in data sets for any and all periods you want to buy. (Leaving aside the naming oddity that the latest apparent version, BN v3.0, will actually be the oldest in origin ...)

Version upgrades for the engine would be paid for (though patches, free); as would be data packs for the periods and fronts you want to play.

You start CM vx.x: THEN decide which of the "data packs" that you have you want to play with ...

If you don't want to upgrade the engine you could just stick with what you've got; if a new engine version is needed to work with a newly developed period/front data pack, then you have a choice of buying it (them) or not. If, say, some new unit data is required to make original BN units work nicely with the new capabilities of v4.0, then those upgraded units for the old title(s) could be bought as an optional part of the cost of buying 4.0. (The upgraded units will have to be developed anyway, to make BN v4.0 in the present scheme?)

It doesn't SEEM like this is any more work, nor less revenue-generating, than the separate families approach.

Surely it is easier to keep developing one engine (and UI, etc), than having to keep 3 (plus) versions of it looking the same? And fewer resources spent getting BN to v3.0 and FI to v2.0 means more resources to allocate to new income generating material?

But I have the luxury of not needing to make this work, nor pay my mortgage: so what do I know!

[A Canadian Cat]

Check out this thread https://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=113621

Steve responds to some of these issues in post #4 and #13

The basic issue is we look at a family and think that adding more locations to it would be easier and not as much work as starting a new family but clearly that is not the case. Adding more locations and more ground tiles would also have the effect of making the UI more complex - more choices in the scenario editor - more problems to solve if you start a map in Germany in 1945 and switch it to Italy in 1943 etc, etc.

I am confident that they are making the right decision for their code base, resources and even us customers.

[Lt Belenko]

I don't mind paying for each module/upgrade. But I would like one massive game 41-45 maybe even call it "Barbarossa to Berlin - Too". That way I can put all QB settings to RANDOM.... "Life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you get inside".

And on West Front too. I'd like to see a combined BN with Bulge thru Eagles Nest.

Just change the $55 for a new game to $40 and change the $35 for each module to $40 and it all works out the same for BFC in the end. Just going to need bigger fancy metal boxes to hold the disks in.

[Skwabie]

Your English is fine.

Unfortunately BF has stated pretty consistently they will be separate games. Plans are always subject to change, but that has been the direction so far.

The same for Western front late 1944--1945. That will be a new game and not an additional module for CMBN.

That's a damn shame... I was thinking one theater one game with addon modules. Scripted scenarios/campaigns with handcrafted maps & AI already is a shortcoming of BF's stuff for me. Without cross sharing between games it's only worse...

[Kieme(ITA)]

Hmm, well, you could just change setting option in the editor menu, for example: now you can choose between east europe and russia, let's say you add: Southern/mid italy, northern italy, normandy, west germany, holland, east germany. Then all buildings and Tiles would change as a consequence, same goes for weather type, which would be linked to the year.

Combinations are automatic: it won't be possible to place winter ground within normandy.

I really don't see much stress on the editor side.

[sburke]

Hmm, well, you could just change setting option in the editor menu, for example: now you can choose between east europe and russia, let's say you add: Southern/mid italy, northern italy, normandy, west germany, holland, east germany. Then all buildings and Tiles would change as a consequence, same goes for weather type, which would be linked to the year.

Combinations are automatic: it won't be possible to place winter ground within normandy.

I really don't see much stress on the editor side.

Heh having a drop down is the easy part. Getting all the back end that applies to that drop down is a whole other issue. Bf is the arbiter of whether they think this would be possible and so far their answer is an unequivocal "absolutely not".

[Frenchtouch]

Hi everybody !

First post here...

I cross my fingers to have the less .exe for each family !

It's an important thing for us customers and i pretty sure the owner of a game will have every future module for his game !

In my case i possess CMBN+CW+MG but i m pretty sure i won't but a new game to play the bulge and Germany. But with a module it will be different !

May be a customer hesitate more if he must buy a new game to continue 6 months later...

Even one exe for each front will be coherent.

Even the update of the engine will be more easy. In MG it 's possible to play without having CW module for example.

Go BF you can do it!

My 2cts...

Thanks for this wonderful community and excuse my french-english !

[76mm]

Version upgrades for the engine would be paid for (though patches, free); as would be data packs for the periods and fronts you want to play.

You start CM vx.x: THEN decide which of the "data packs" that you have you want to play with ...

This seems like a really good idea to me, but presumably not as easy as it sounds.

I've said this before, but for me the most important issue is map re-use. Having a wide selection of maps make it much easier for people to create scenarios, more quick battles, etc.

But making good maps (especially large ones) is a difficult and time-consuming exercise, and having to re-make them for four Russian Front titles seems like a real waste of time, given that many of them will cover the same terrain in different years. Therefore I really really hope that Battlefront gives us some kind of map converter utility, or better yet, just allows us to use the CMRT maps in the 43 title, and the 42 title, etc.

[womble]

...I really really hope that Battlefront gives us some kind of map converter utility, or better yet, just allows us to use the CMRT maps in the 43 title, and the 42 title, etc.

It might just be that converting the maps at "BFC central" is a trivial task, and each title will have all the old (relevant) maps, plus any maps designed "specifically" for the new one. It may even be that the new maps will be made available to the other Ostfront families as the engine gets patched and upgraded. So it may be that the titles will all have an ever-growing library of maps even if the architecture constraints mean they're separate families for technical reasons clear only to brains-in-jars.

[76mm]

It might just be that converting the maps at "BFC central" is a trivial task, and each title will have all the old (relevant) maps, plus any maps designed "specifically" for the new one. It may even be that the new maps will be made available to the other Ostfront families as the engine gets patched and upgraded. So it may be that the titles will all have an ever-growing library of maps even if the architecture constraints mean they're separate families for technical reasons clear only to brains-in-jars.

Well that would certainly be helpful, but I'm also concerned about user-made maps. My incentive to spend the hours necessary to create a big, beautiful map is fairly limited if I know that I will only be able to use it for CMRT, whereas if I knew I'd be able to use it for the next three games as well I'd be cranking out maps right now.

I should say that one of the primary reasons I am so interested in maps is that I really enjoy (fictional) meta-campaigns, which frankly require a large amount of maps.