Something seems to be happening here, dudes.

[MikeyD]

I just now popped onto the CMFB purchase section on the website and found the brand new CMFB game engine v4.0 for sale.

[AttorneyAtWar]

Looks like Santa (Steve ) left us something in our stockings!

 

[weapon2010]

yes I saw all the gameplay changes and they are fantastic, but where is the promised "follow command" for vehicle movement?

[Battlefront.com]

Just now, weapon2010 said:

yes I saw all the gameplay changes and they are fantastic, but where is the promised "follow command" for vehicle movement?

And thanks for reminding me I neglected to make a post about this last week!  Things have been a little hectic as of late.

The short of it is there were some common ways to use the command that really, really, really borked things badly for the units that were tasked with following.  We tried and tried to change the equation, including narrowing the focus to road movement only (we renamed it Convoy as a result).  This did improve things, but only because of lowered expectations rather than any real improvement.  In the end we wound up with a Command that did about 60% of we wanted it to do and only acceptably about 80% of the time.  It simply wasn't good enough to release.

Sometimes we put things into the game which have rough spots and you guys rightly expect us to fix them ASAP.  In this case Charles didn't see any feasible way for it to be fixed, therefore whatever we released was going to permanently disappoint people.  And not just a little bit either.

An experienced player with good discipline, narrow focus, and making no mistakes could certainly make use of this feature to do some really good things.  It's probably why our testers took so long to conclude it was beyond hope.  They adapted quickly to the quirks, but still experienced far too many situations where units completely screwed up the intent of Follow/Convoy.  If our expert testers couldn't get a handle on the downsides, it's a sure bet the average player would HATE this thing.  Then they would hate us, then they would kick their dog.  We don't want that on our conscious

On the plus side, in nearly 18 years of making Combat Mission games I can't think of anything else that got this far along that had to be yanked because it simply didn't work.  In retrospect we're kinda surprised there's not been more.  Probably the closest thing I can think of was the frontline adjustment concept for CMx1 Operations.  Worked OK enough to keep it in CMx1, but not enough to try it again.

In the end we're all sad that Follow/Convoy got yanked.  I've personally been pushing for this feature since CMBO Beta days.  It was at the top of my list for CMBB, CMAK, CMSF, CMBN, Upgrade 2, Upgrade 3, and Upgrade 4.  So it wasn't for a lack of understanding why it's important to have... just that it's one of those things which is far easier to do on paper than in reality.

That said, we're not giving up on Follow.  It's probably dead for CMx2, but I feel I should carry on the tradition of pushing for it every chance I get going forward.

Sorry

Steve

P.S.  Special kudos to our testers for not being shy about calling it out for what it was.  More kudos for supporting out decision to yank it.  Nobody wanted it to end that way.

 

[weapon2010]

 ok , thanks for clearing it up, to me its not a major disappointment anyway, as I am kind of a micro manager with the vehicles anyway, once you make the initial paths with waypoints for long routes its really not that bad, as you can drag and pause your waypoints, even without this the other 4.0 additions look very cool, cant wait to see how "the peek around buildings works" and very happy about the better infantry spacing, is this the Christmas bone?or do we get something else to pick out?

[Warts 'n' all]

Many thanks to Steve for taking the time to give us his views re:- "Follow/Convoy". In the meantime Upgrade 4 is going on my shopping list.

[BletchleyGeek]

A similar feature was basically broken for six years on a game very well known for the capability of the AI of having their units to move in formation. It isn't an easy problem.

Good to hear from you guys, and please, don't refund me more orders of the upgrade for CMRT v4 - I bought the bundle but the person I am buying the upgrade for only has CMRT

PS: BTW, the new download interface is showing me items as available it shouldn't, like the full MacOS versions of the games.

Edited December 24, 2016 by BletchleyGeek

[Battlefront.com]

And now I know who you are

One of the new features is people can use their license on both MacOS and Windows.  It's not surprising that a lot of people out there have a Mac laptop and a Windows workstation or the other way around.  Others have issues like their primary computer was X, it died, now they have Y and want to move licenses over.  Not too long ago it was impossible to offer a seamless cross platform licensing experience, which meant we had to do a lot of manual work or disappoint customers.  We don't like disappointing customers

Yeah, the wall of options for the Upgrade 4 Big Bundle is daunting, isn't it?  Not only are there 2 platforms for each game, but we also wanted people to have the option to download a minimal sized Upgrade as well as have the option for the full installers.  What we find is that over time people lose track of older installers or reinstall old stuff out of order.  Causes a lot of headaches for everybody, so when someone has to do a fresh install they should have access to an-all-in-one option.

One of the "downsides" of having games that are playable for many years AND are added to is that issues like this come up.  Think about how many people switch computers, replace harddrives, switch OSes, have a nasty virus, etc. over the course of 10 years!  Yup, a lot!

Steve

[Philipp]

The Mac crossplatform feature is just great! I am in exactly the position you describe, Mac laptop, PC for gaming, and whenever I was out of the house I had to make do with SF and Normandy.

Very much appreciated, looking foward to playing with the improved infantry movement. 

Happy holidays to you all. 

[sttp]

"SCREEN EDGE PAN TOGGLE:  Tired of trying to fine tune a camera position and then messing it up by touching the edge of the screen with the cursor? Using the hotkey ALT-E you can disable camera panning by touching the screen edge with the mouse cursor."

It's a Christmas miracle! Dreams really do come true.

[Pekische]

Just my BN and BS modules upgraded. THX for your effort devs! This is great Christmas gift.! Merry Christmas.....

[Big Boss]

FORWARD OBSERVER KILL CREDITS Wow!

COMBINE SQUAD COMMAND Wow!

IMPROVED INFANTRY SPACING Wow!

Thank you very much Battlefront for this new upgrade

[Ithikial_AU]

Great early Christmas gift. Merry Christmas and 2017 is looking good.

[Placebo]

Great Christmas gift, thanks to all the BFC team. 

Also great to have the full installer, I was dreading ever having to re-install CMBN as there have been so many uogrades so this is a real bonus.

 

[Holien]

Anyone able to point me to a features list? My Google fuu is failing me...

[Pete Wenman]

 

http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=37&flypage=shop.flypage_bfc&product_id=601&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26

 

Upgrade 4 Features 

GAMEPLAY

HULLDOWN COMMAND: Vehicles have access to a new movement command called Hulldown. This command allows a vehicle to move forward until only the turret is exposed to a specified target, and then the vehicle stops moving.

IMPROVED INFANTRY SPACING: Infantry on the move will now respect each other's personal space! While moving, squad and team members will maintain a few meters of distance between each other. Soldiers will also spread out laterally on the move when possible (some terrain may necessitate column movement, such as paths through rough terrain).

PEEKING AROUND BUILDING CORNERS: Infantry units positioned adjacent to building corners will now automatically post some soldiers at the corners to observe and fire around the obstacle

AI PROACTIVELY AVOIDS HIGH-EXPLOSIVE FIRE: The TacAI that runs soldiers and vehicles will more proactively, and reactively, attempt to avoid incoming HE fire. Two classic examples are that the AI will attempt to avoid being wiped out by incoming artillery barrages and direct tank fire.

COMBINE SQUAD COMMAND: Combine Squad is a new Admin Command for squads. This command is useful for squads that have suffered major losses and need to consolidate their remaining personnel into larger teams!

USER INTERFACE

EXPANDED WAYPOINT DESCRIPTIVE TEXT: More special unit commands (such as Hide and Deploy Weapon) will now be marked with white floating text above the waypoint they are assigned to.

CAMPAIGN BRIEFING: The overall campaign briefing is now viewable during any campaign mission by going to the Menu Options Panel and selecting "Campaign".

FORWARD OBSERVER KILL CREDITS: Finally, time to see how effective your artillery really is! Forward Observers now get credit on the AAR for any casualties caused by off-map fire missions called in by them.

SCREEN EDGE PAN TOGGLE: Tired of trying to fine tune a camera position and then messing it up by touching the edge of the screen with the cursor? Using the hotkey ALT-E you can disable camera panning by touching the screen edge with the mouse cursor.

EDITOR

AI AREA FIRE ORDERS: The AI can now be scripted to use Area Fire! Each AI Order can have a target zone designated.

AI FACING ORDERS: Each AI Order can be given a location for it to Face towards.

AI WITHDRAW ORDERS: AI Groups can be ordered to Withdraw towards their movement destination. Vehicles will move in Reverse to the destination, while infantry will leapfrog back while turning around to face behind them.

CAMPAIGN RESUPPLY: Personnel replacements and ammunition levels are now more uniformly resupplied across all core units between campaign missions, as opposed to the all-or-nothing check on each unit done previously.

3D FLAVOR OBJECT CLONE TOOL: Flavor object can be cloned within the 3D view without having to go back to the 2D view.

32 ORDER AI PLANS: Each AI Group can now have up to 32 Orders, increased from 16.

STREAM TERRAIN: Small streams can now be placed on battle maps.

GRAPHICS

New tracer and muzzle flash effects.

[BletchleyGeek]

4 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

We don't like disappointing customers

Yeah, the wall of options for the Upgrade 4 Big Bundle is daunting, isn't it?  Not only are there 2 platforms for each game, but we also wanted people to have the option to download a minimal sized Upgrade as well as have the option for the full installers.  What we find is that over time people lose track of older installers or reinstall old stuff out of order.  Causes a lot of headaches for everybody, so when someone has to do a fresh install they should have access to an-all-in-one option.

One of the "downsides" of having games that are playable for many years AND are added to is that issues like this come up.  Think about how many people switch computers, replace harddrives, switch OSes, have a nasty virus, etc. over the course of 10 years!  Yup, a lot!

Next April will be six years since the release of CMBN... a lot has happened in my real life since then too

[A Canadian Cat]

6 hours ago, sttp said:

"SCREEN EDGE PAN TOGGLE:  

It's a Christmas miracle! Dreams really do come true.

My thoughts exactly. Oddly enough while I never put this on my top three wish list, in practical terms this might be the best thing in the whole release. Not a day goes by that I don't get burned by the edge panning and now it never happens. Yay.

[Chudacabra]

Quick question, if I upgrade to 4.0, will current PBEM games be compatible?

[Rinaldi]

Congrats to @Battlefront.com on the release, hopefully now you guys will actually rest for the Holidays instead of constantly trying to please the fickle crowd

Thirty dollars well spent, and we were just wondering aloud when we could get the stream terrain for Normandy - our latest Arracourt maps needed it.

[sburke]

32 minutes ago, Chudacabra said:

Quick question, if I upgrade to 4.0, will current PBEM games be compatible?

That has always been problematic as to during what phase you saved the game.  If I were you I would install the new version in a new folder and finish your pbem in the old, saves hassle and guarantees you will be able to finish your pbem.

[Michael Emrys]

1 hour ago, IanL said:

Not a day goes by that I don't get burned by the edge panning and now it never happens. Yay.

I'm 50-50 on this one. Sometimes I find the edge panning useful and handy, but I admit to frequent severe annoyance when I move the cursor down to the Menu panel to save a setup only to have my carefully framed picture go shooting off the top of the screen. So I will give this one a try and see how it works out for me.

Michael

[Muzzleflash1990]

If I have:

CMBN Big Bundle Engine at Upgrade 2

CMRT which I believe was at Upgrade 3

CMBS at v1.04 which is also at Upgrade 3

Then I should upgrade CMBN to 3 and then get the upgrade big bundle?

Suppose I later was to get CMFB or CMFI would the upgrade bundle work for them in the future?

Edited December 25, 2016 by Muzzleflash1990

[akd]

Yes and yes.

[Muzzleflash1990]

2 hours ago, akd said:

Yes and yes.

Thanks.