Red Thunder/CM Question

[Lacroix]

got 50ish bucks, and not sure what to buy at this Moment so i got few questions

(so far i have cmbn 2.12 base game)

so to put it simple here are 5 specific questions:

1. is Perofrmance in RT better than in CMBN(CW+MG)

2. does cmbn MG 2.12 have better performance than CMBN 2,12 Base game

3.are Graphics better in Red thunder in comparison to CMFI/Market garden

(not very important but then again, i love nice graphics)

4.do you think that RT needs 1-2 patches to be playable or its just fine as it is and patches can come later?

5.will v3 engine be ported to CMBN series and have 99.9% same features?

edit: almost forgot.

6) did anyone who has radeon graphic card encountered problems in Red thunder, specially with shadows?

[Kieme(ITA)]

My two cents for what I can reply to.

1) didn't see any difference, I don't own FI but the entire BN collection and didn't notice any performance difference, it's all about map sizes in the end for my computer.

3) again, can't speak for FI but normandy and garden have the same graphic quality as in RT, RT has a new shader system as far as I have understood that has to be tweaked again.

4) I think RT is very playable right now, there are no major bugs I can tell about, no recurrent crashes for many people, nothing game-breaking.

Patches can only improve what we have now. as for my side the only thing that disturbs me is the Su-152 crew popping out of the wrong (and closed) hatch, and some strange shaders behaviours, apart from that it's fine with me.

Patches will improve shaders and some other bugs, one I noticed is the lack of anti aliasing when using the movie filter, for example, but that doesn't make the game un-playable at all.

Aris modded all soviet tanks and most of german ones, so I am fine with that too

[Baneman]

2. does cmbn MG 2.12 have better performance than CMBN 2,12 Base game

I can't say I've noticed, but my machine seems pretty smooth on all the titles, so I'm not sure I'd notice a couple of frames improvement.

[Fizou]

got 50ish bucks, and not sure what to buy at this Moment so i got few questions

(so far i have cmbn 2.12 base game)

so to put it simple here are 5 specific questions:

1. is Perofrmance in RT better than in CMBN(CW+MG)

Yes for most.. its V3 of the engine with certain updates.

2. does cmbn MG 2.12 have better performance than CMBN 2,12 Base game

No, its the same basic code.

3.are Graphics better in Red thunder in comparison to CMFI/Market garden

(not very important but then again, i love nice graphics)

A little.. its more about new features like flame weapons, hit decals, AA fire on aircraft and water animation showing when units ford streams.

4.do you think that RT needs 1-2 patches to be playable or its just fine as it is and patches can come later?

Definately playable as is but there are a few minor issues that will be sorted with the 1st patch. Might want to wait and try the demo for the respective installments if you are uncertain.

5.will v3 engine be ported to CMBN series and have 99.9% same features?

Yes it will. Estimated two months after RT release earlier by Steve. So june, july or somesuch. Note that it, just like 2.0, will be a upgrade and not a free patch.

[c3k]

Performance: all v2.12 games are the same. So, CMBN base v2.12 = CMBN MG v2.12. (RT is NOT v2.12.)

Graphics: The stock graphics in RT is about the same as the stock graphics in CMBN+. There have been a lot more mods made for CMBN, thus far, than for RT. However, the mods have been creating a lot of goodness for RT lately. The only graphic difference between CMBN and RT will be due to the mods you use.

RT patch: There will be one, to fix some minor niggles. It is eminently playable. As good as, or better than, v2.12.

Engine improvements: RT v1.00 (the current release) has some improvements over CMBN v2.12. These improvements will be made available to CMBN through a paid upgrade, at some point in the future. So, RT v1.00 is more advanced than CMBN v2.12.

The decision should come down to which theater you prefer. The CW/MG modules add a lot to the CMBN base game, but if you don't like Brits or SS, then you won't see much value there. (Some great battles, too.) If you really like mid-'44 East Front, then RT is what you're looking for. It's a matter of personal taste.

But who are we kidding? You know you need them all!

Ken

[Macisle]

My opinion:

Game performance in terms of frame-rate on my rig is about the same as CMBN 2.12 (perhaps ever-so-slightly more sluggish).

Graphics-wise, the stock game is about the same as the stock MG bundle at 2.12. However, the modders are really pumping work out fast for CMRT and it is excellent stuff. Here is a gallery of mine with some screens (only contrast and color-saturation adjusted--oh and one shot is from CMBN): https://www.flickr.com/photos/93038112@N02/sets/72157642409856023/.

Also, the game has hit-decals, which are way-cool and there are already mods to make them even better.

The game has yet to crash or hiccup for me and is very stable. There is no need to wait for a patch on that count. Gameplay-wise, many of us feel a subtle, but significant improvement in infantry play in CMRT. For my part, I am going to wait to return to CMBN until after the v3 upgrade comes out. I have a ton of content yet to play and I want what I'm getting in CMRT in BN.

Other than that, off the top of my head...

There are some really excellent maps in CMRT. Works of art and excellent to play on (I'm in QB heaven right now). Beautiful work on all the models, too.

I'm a Western Front guy who is now addicted to Eastern Front action for what looks to be many moons at least. It definitely has a different feel and is AWESOME.

No regrets purchasing the game whatsoever. I'd buy again in a heartbeat. But if you're unsure, the demo should be out very soon.

[LiveNoMore]

I have the Raedon 7780 graphics card and yes, I have shadow issues. I found that turning shaders off still gives me the shadows I like, but not the deep black holes around vehicles.

[Lacroix]

I have the Raedon 7780 graphics card and yes, I have shadow issues. I found that turning shaders off still gives me the shadows I like, but not the deep black holes around vehicles.

damn i am really starting to think that amd gpus and cpus are ****ty products

i have radeon 7750 and on some maps (cmbn) shadows flickers or move when i move the camera

[Amizaur]

RT is very playable right now , regarding to gameplay it has some minor things to be corrected, fine tuned or improved, but nothing really important IMO. Patches would only make game even better.

Well, forgot about the shadows issue. I have problem on Radeon 7950. I have to play with shadows off, because they look bad, same like the guys above.

[warrenpeace]

Note that RT does have a pretty severe bug involving troops entering buildings on certain maps. However, this seems to mostly affect newer laptop users with Nvidia graphics cards and Windows 7. There is more extensive info on the tech forum.

[Lacroix]

I have the Raedon 7780 graphics card and yes, I have shadow issues. I found that turning shaders off still gives me the shadows I like, but not the deep black holes around vehicles.

are those shadow issues big deal or something that you notice only when you look long/hard enough and in certain rare situations?

[LiveNoMore]

I think they are a big issue. You decide. The first screenshot has Shaders on, the second off.

[A Canadian Cat]

1. is Perofrmance in RT better than in CMBN(CW+MG)

Yes, but only at the edges. This is not a huge difference but I find on my old machine the camera movement is smother and you can run larger maps or more units before things get sluggish. I would guess that much of the time you will not see a difference.

3.are Graphics better in Red thunder in comparison to CMFI/Market garden

(not very important but then again, i love nice graphics)

That depends on what you mean. The basic graphics capabilities are the same but CMRT has the added feature of hit decals - which is really really cool. So that is better.

4.do you think that RT needs 1-2 patches to be playable or its just fine as it is and patches can come later?

Nope - quality is good with no show stoppers. Playable right now.

5.will v3 engine be ported to CMBN series and have 99.9% same features?

I see you already have the answer but I want to point out that last time they ported a update the added a few bonus features that later appeared in the newer game. I wonder if they will do that again.

6) did anyone who has radeon graphic card encountered problems in Red thunder, specially with shadows?

Funny I was going to say I was not experiencing a problem until I saw @LiveNoMore's post. I see that. Frankly I never thought it was a problem. Looking at back lit things often look like silhouettes so I did not give it much thought. Upon reflection, you are right it does seem a bit too much.

Frankly I spec'ed out a NVIDIA card for my new machine because of stuff like this. I know it will not be a panacea but the number of niggling issues seems higher with the AMD cards.

<sad_story>

As an aside: my new machine was ready Friday but they forgot to tell me until late Saturday so I could only pick it up Monday and got it home to discover that they for got the 770 video card and had the wrong mother board it the case. The just forgot the video card but accidentally ordered the wrong mother board :mad: Grrr. Back to them yesterday where they hoped it would be ready later today.

</sad_story>

[sburke]

I spec'ed out a NVIDIA card for my new machine because of stuff like this. I know it will not be a panacea but the number of niggling issues seems higher with the AMD cards.

<sad_story>

As an aside: my new machine was ready Friday but they forgot to tell me until late Saturday so I could only pick it up Monday and got it home to discover that they for got the 770 video card and had the wrong mother board it the case. The just forgot the video card but accidentally ordered the wrong mother board :mad: Grrr. Back to them yesterday where they hoped it would be ready later today.

</sad_story>

Building your own is so much more fun AND you leave the store with all the right stuff. I am by no means a computer whiz, but I can follow basic directions and understand electrical connections. It isn't rocket science. I am now 3 years into the machine I built and it hasn't given me any issues. I am beginning to thing of upgrading some components though.

[Lacroix]

thanks for info, i ll go with market garden at the moment. RT will get some patches and be even better and by then i ll be ready for Eastern front after constant battles in normandy

[A Canadian Cat]

Building your own is so much more fun AND you leave the store with all the right stuff.

Yes, that would help. I actually would be OK building my own, it does sound fun. The issue is time. I'll be spending a lot of time just getting it set up. Adding building time would be politically difficult

[MikeyD]

About the shaders, something had apparently got over-written during compiliation of the installer and CMRT's very pretty new shaders got bumped back down to CMBN standards. Something that'll get corrected with a patch soon enough. In the meantime some people have been using the CMFI shader patch in CMRT.

About performance, my machine has always objected to heavily forested maps. Things have improved tremendously for me in CMRT for heavily forested maps. If you never had problems with heavy forest then you won't notice a difference.

As to graphics, I prefer CMRT to CMBN - but I would, wouldn't I.

[womble]

Things have improved tremendously for me in CMRT for heavily forested maps.

Splendid. Having "Show Trees" on makes the framerate plummet almost to uselessness on my rig in CMBN. Really looking forward to the v3 upgrade for the existing families.