Update on Engine 4 patches

[wadepm]

2 hours ago, Thewood1 said:

Surprised there aren't more comments about the progress on the patch that was mentioned...patch fatigue?

We're trying to leave things clear for a "real" announcement.

[absolutmauser]

1 hour ago, wadepm said:

We're trying to leave things clear for a "real" announcement.

I didn't get the memo, obviously.

[absolutmauser]

13 hours ago, Ultradave said:

Testing is happening.  (how's that for saying nothing? )

Don't forget it's not one patch, it's one for each title.

Carry on, sir! 

[Dynaman216]

At least not today.

[Ales Dvorak]

                ^ ^ ^

Really? But we have your recipes.

[sfhand]

A question for Steve, a bit off topic but still upgrade related. At this point in time is CM2 Windows going to remain a 32-bit program?

I made a really large map/scenario with the idea of mimicking old CM campaigns over the length of a 4 hour battle. Everything was testing well until our Win32 versions started getting oom errors as reinforcement forces were added to the survivors of the previous skirmish. My theory is 64-bit would solve the oom issue and allow for larger battles.

This doesn't mean I am not still in awe of what CM accomplishes. After all these years that's a pretty good endorsement, IMHO. Thanks for the countless hours of enjoyment.

[Battlefront.com]

Testing of the patches is going very well.  Er, now it is at least.  We had some difficulty getting CMFI and CMRT prepped because the TO&E was already set for the two Modules that are in the works.  The coding wasn't set up for going backwards so it took a little while to work through cutting everything out.  And no, the thought of just giving you all that stuff in a patch did not occur to us, though it did occur to us that someone would likely make that suggestion

We're going to give the testers a little more time to beat on them and out the door they go.

Steve

[Battlefront.com]

On 2/8/2019 at 2:01 PM, sfhand said:

A question for Steve, a bit off topic but still upgrade related. At this point in time is CM2 Windows going to remain a 32-bit program?

Yes.  Recoding the game engine to be 64-bit is not on the menu.

On 2/8/2019 at 2:01 PM, sfhand said:

I made a really large map/scenario with the idea of mimicking old CM campaigns over the length of a 4 hour battle. Everything was testing well until our Win32 versions started getting oom errors as reinforcement forces were added to the survivors of the previous skirmish. My theory is 64-bit would solve the oom issue and allow for larger battles.

You should run some system diagnostic tools to check that theory.  If it does seem to be that CM is trying to use more than 4GB of RAM you can possibly help your situation by removing Mods and, IIRC, downgrading Model Quality.

On 2/8/2019 at 2:01 PM, sfhand said:

This doesn't mean I am not still in awe of what CM accomplishes. After all these years that's a pretty good endorsement, IMHO. Thanks for the countless hours of enjoyment.

Thanks!  And as always, you guys push our games waaaaaay beyond what they were intended to do.  It's never ceased to amaze/amuse us how much stuff can be jammed onto the screen!

Steve

[absolutmauser]

15 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

Testing of the patches is going very well.  Er, now it is at least.  We had some difficulty getting CMFI and CMRT prepped because the TO&E was already set for the two Modules that are in the works.  The coding wasn't set up for going backwards so it took a little while to work through cutting everything out.  And no, the thought of just giving you all that stuff in a patch did not occur to us, though it did occur to us that someone would likely make that suggestion

We're going to give the testers a little more time to beat on them and out the door they go.

Steve

Thanks for the update, Steve! 

[wadepm]

Is it refresh monkey time?

[Michael Emrys]

3 hours ago, wadepm said:

Is it refresh monkey time?

Not yet. Give it a couple of days.

Michael

[JSj]

37 minutes ago, Michael Emrys said:

Not yet. Give it a couple of days.

Michael

I think you misspoke there, what you really meant was: "Give it a couple of months."

[Michael Emrys]

21 minutes ago, JSj said:

I think you misspoke there, what you really meant was: "Give it a couple of months."

Well, that does have the virtue of guaranteeing that he won't be tying up the server.

Michael

[wadepm]

On 2/12/2019 at 12:49 AM, JSj said:

I think you misspoke there, what you really meant was: "Give it a couple of months."

I'm going to start doing it anyway...

[Apache]

On 1/17/2019 at 12:20 AM, Battlefront.com said:

Exactly.  This happens to me all the time.  I put aside no more than 1.5 hours of TV time at night while eating dinner (benefits of both spouses being self employed is dinnertime doesn't need to be sacred).  Sometimes we watch a single intense show or movie, but more often-than-not we watch episodes of something light.  When working intensely all day long on various things, relaxing intensely isn't really on the menu.  Been rewatching all the Monty Pythons in order lately!

Steve

I used to be a tabletop gamer.  Recall the first time I fired up CM1, the loading music, throwing Shermans down the road towards occupied positions.  Sensational.  Even dabbled again in tabletop long after that, whatever rules (and there were bloody loads from the more action movie style Flames of War to the 25 tables of Battlefront WWII) the club was playing with scenery that was at best dire compared to even CM1.  Spent lots of $$$, HOURS of time painting just to have ONE reasonable sized Armored Infantry Company with support, then there was the time to set up, and again, play against who (especially as the scourge of 40K and the now defunct Warhammer spread).  

Gave up in the end, settled on CM for all my wargaming fix and happier for it.  What a long way CM has come since then.  For any of the faults folks might find with CM (I still find myself screaming, albeit less now (just luck of the draw) "Cheating AI" when the ONLY guy in my squad that gets taken out is the damn leader and a tank almost instantly spots and whacks my (I thought) perfectly set up and hidden AT ambush) even the worst of the odd anomalies still leaves the game light years ahead of even the best table top options (6 to hit, 3 to save blah blah blah mechanics) plus, outstanding terrain and a TO&E for all the modules that would cost thousands of dollars to collect, paint and store.  Makes me shudder to think.  With the quality of CMFB and CMBS (never thought I'd enjoy modern, though ATGMs still annoy the hell out of me!) I don't even find myself modding these days, well, not AS much.  More than a few times though, being retired, I've fired up a quick game at 10pm only to find the sun peaking through the blinds at 7am, just after the "bloody cheating AI ;)" zapped the FO team, and who gets takes out, yes the bloody observer!!!

Looking forward to the patches.

[Battlefront.com]

Can you guys imagine how much mischief we could cause if we did have the AI cheat?  "Hmm.  So the Human just called in 3 batteries of 155 artillery on my rifle platoon that is out in the open, eh?  Well, let's see how well that works if we kill the FO unit seconds before it makes the fire for effect call".  Yeah, that sounds like it could be fun

Update on the patches.  We're still fixing things.  Found out yesterday that MacOS Mojave treats some of the installer stuff a little differently so that had to be addressed to avoid people double clicking and getting a blank screen.

At the moment we're doing some last minute TO&E fixes.  While making Rome to Victory I got into some retro revisions which had a ripple effect.  Almost done with it.

These last minute fixes do delay things, but worth it IMHO.  I'm still thinking that we can have them out before March (yes, of 2019). 

Steve

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Small bonez is better than no bonez:

[wadepm]

Refreshing...

 

[rocketman]

Initiating in 3 .. .2 ......1......

 

[JSj]

5 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

Can you guys imagine how much mischief we could cause if we did have the AI cheat?  "Hmm.  So the Human just called in 3 batteries of 155 artillery on my rifle platoon that is out in the open, eh?  Well, let's see how well that works if we kill the FO unit seconds before it makes the fire for effect call".  Yeah, that sounds like it could be fun

But, can you guys imagine how many times we have experienced mischief just like that? It must be dozens of times! So it was you all along causing this to happen deliberately!!! Oh, those thousands and thousands of times when this did not happen? Meh, those must have been just coincidences.

[absolutmauser]

5 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

Can you guys imagine how much mischief we could cause if we did have the AI cheat?  "Hmm.  So the Human just called in 3 batteries of 155 artillery on my rifle platoon that is out in the open, eh?  Well, let's see how well that works if we kill the FO unit seconds before it makes the fire for effect call".  Yeah, that sounds like it could be fun

Update on the patches.  We're still fixing things.  Found out yesterday that MacOS Mojave treats some of the installer stuff a little differently so that had to be addressed to avoid people double clicking and getting a blank screen.

At the moment we're doing some last minute TO&E fixes.  While making Rome to Victory I got into some retro revisions which had a ripple effect.  Almost done with it.

These last minute fixes do delay things, but worth it IMHO.  I'm still thinking that we can have them out before March (yes, of 2019). 

Steve

If you need to take extra time for the Mac edition, please do! I murdered my Windows box recently by having it substantially overclocked on stock air for a long time. Hey, it lasted six years! =D

[absolutmauser]

1 minute ago, JSj said:

But, can you guys imagine how many times we have experienced mischief just like that? It must be dozens of times! So it was you all along causing this to happen deliberately!!! Oh, those thousands and thousands of times when this did not happen? Meh, those must have been just coincidences.

If you were wondering why CMx2 requires an always online connection, it's so Steve can personally login and mess with your game. =D 

...

 

 

(It doesn't you guys, chill)

[Derfel 2nd]

Allright; just to pass the time I'm opening a betting book on this;

What will come first, the NHL trade deadline or The CM patches?

[Derfel 2nd]

On 2/16/2019 at 8:36 AM, Apache said:

I used to be a tabletop gamer.  Recall the first time I fired up CM1, the loading music, throwing Shermans down the road towards occupied positions.  Sensational.  

Amen to that brother, Amen to that. (or "So Say We All" for the nerdier folks).

After all these years I still get a kick from remembering the guys insisting that ASL and it's ilk were SO much better and entertaining than any wretched computer game, firing up CMBO and watching their jaws thudding to the ground...

[A Canadian Cat]

12 minutes ago, Derfel 2nd said:

What will come first, the NHL trade deadline or The CM patches?

Oh god that bloody trade deadline. Usually its annoying as all the sports casters gossip about it for months.  Don't those guys have something else to talk about - like, I don't know, games maybe. This year is worse for me since my team is in the basement and the gossip is they are going to trade their three top players - which would be insane. So, while I wish for the patch to be released as much as the next player, I really, really, want the trade deadline to be tomorrow so I don't have to listen to the gossip any more / can deal with the aftermath of a terrible set of trades.