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2019 Reporting For Duty


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Happy 2019 everybody!  Time for the annual look ahead with a little look back as needed.  So let's start with the look back first and get it out of the way.

2018 was one of those years where a lot more happened behind the scenes than was visible to you all out in the public eye.  The two big ones that you all did see were the new website and the release of CMSF2 with (almost) all of its content.  As I've stated more times than I can count, CMSF2 turned out to be a LOT more work than we expected it to be.  It was our first time overhauling existing content at all, not to mention the equivalent of 4 releases at once.  It was definitely worth putting in the time and doing it right.

So what's next?

The first thing you guys are going to see is the patches for all non-CMSF2 games which incorporate a bunch of fixes.  Some are specific to a particular game Family, some are to the Game Engine itself.  The most important of which is an overhauled TacAI response to things that go boom.  The most obvious part of that is a change in behavior for soldiers in fortifications and other good positions of cover. 

CMSF2 customers will see completely overhauled British, German, Dutch, and Canadian campaigns released as they are finished.  No specific timeframe set for these, but personally I want to see all of them done before the end of February.

As soon as the game patches are out we'll restart development on Fortress Italy's Rome To Victory Module.  This one is pretty much complete in terms of the game itself.  What isn't done is the scenarios and campaigns because we pulled everybody off them for an "all hands on deck" overhaul and testing of CMSF2 content once we realized the magnitude of that task.  Hey, nobody can fault us for aiming our sights low, right?  With our crack crew of scenario guys back on this game we expect to be done before the end of winter.

At the same time we're plowing ahead with the first module for Red Thunder.  It's pretty far along already, but we have a few more terrain and TO&E tweaks to do before the content can get pounded out.  If all goes well this one could also be out by the end of winter, but I'm guessing it might go into the Spring.  We will not hold up either this or the Rome To Victory Module for marketing reasons.  Meaning, if they are both done on the same day, we release them on the same day.

With this stuff done our publicly announced products will all be in your hands.  What will we do with the rest of 2019?  Not to worry, we have things queued up :) For more modest sized releases we hope to give you guys at least 2 or 3 Packs.  There's nothing specific nailed down for these, however we do have ideas and people interested on working on them.  So for now that's all I can say.  Talk about bigger stuff in the works will come to a forum near you in a few months.

That's all for now!

Thanks to all of you for another year of strong support and we look forward to keeping things rolling.  If it weren't for you we'd be flipping burgers and we know it :o

Steve

P.S.  CMSF2 v2.01 is being posted today, so there's that too!

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Sounds great Steve. The "2 or 3 packs" was a pleasant surprise, as I thought 2019 would be more along the lines of RT and FI modules. Is there any chance that the SF2 campaigns can be released one by one so we don't have to wait for all to be done? 

Keep rolling and I will quietly ponder what the "things queued up" might be. I hear  good things come to those who wait 😊

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Thanks Steve! 

2019 is shaping up to be rather smart. Grateful CMSF 2 is out and progressing. One of my favorite CM Games. Very much fun leasing to  bring 10 year old scenarios Back into the Future... and make them Better. 

1 hour ago, Battlefront.com said:

So for now that's all I can say.  Talk about bigger stuff in the works will come to a forum near you in a few months.

Excellent Bones✅

Buzz

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I would love a CMBN pack that was a mix, say, of:

Some more weapons (I think there are some Axis weapons that were being used)

Some new fortifications (e.g. bunkers with AA position on top, or tank turret).

Commandos.

Some new small tree (shrubbery!) options.

A couple new building types (e.g. some Norman churches)

Some new sounds for weapons/explosions that work for the Mac (I think ChrisND mentioned these may have been in the works at some point?).

...and a few missions using the new bits.

Ok, that sounds like quite a lot for a pack, come to think of it...

 

 

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3 hours ago, Dynaman216 said:

At this point, considering the year that was 2018, I'll believe it when I see it.  That said I'll be more then pleased to be happily surprised.

Not unjustified :D  However, the big bugaboo in 2018 is now gone.  The Engine 4 patches are very far along and won't take too much to get them complete.  Rome to Victory is already done in terms of coding, artwork, and TO&E with only scenarios and battles needed.  As time consuming as they are, they aren't 12 month time consuming ;) CMRT's Module is also very far along and in the final stages of artwork completion with a bit more work to do on TO&E.  The Master Maps for that one are pretty much done already.  Packs, on the other hand, aren't even decided upon.  Though I think we might have one in the first quarter if things go well.

The thing to know here is that the reason 2018 didn't have much released is exactly the reason why so much will be released in 2019.

Steve

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Very much looking forward to the upcoming modules, specifically the Red Thunder one. Who doesn't like winter on the Eastern Front? Not to mention all of the new and bizarre goodies that will come with late war German formations such as the volkssturm. 

22 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

For more modest sized releases we hope to give you guys at least 2 or 3 Packs.  There's nothing specific nailed down for these, however we do have ideas and people interested on working on them.

Fingers crossed for some type of engineering vehicle pack for the modern games. I would be plenty happy with just an Abrams/T-72 mine plow pack for both titles. A MICLIC vehicle would be nice as well, but that might have more coding and/or engine limitations that make it impractical. I figure the mine plow tank might be more doable because we have the Sherman Crab tank from the Normandy vehicle pack, and the mechanic in the modern titles could probably be adapted from the Sherman Crab code. 

Regardless, even if the packs are just mission/campaign packs I'll be more than happy. Both the CMBS and CMBN battle packs were great. The more campaigns/maps the better in my opinion. 

22 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

Talk about bigger stuff in the works will come to a forum near you in a few months.

Ever the tease 😀 looking forward to that announcement.

Thanks for the bones!

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4 hours ago, IICptMillerII said:

Very much looking forward to the upcoming modules, specifically the Red Thunder one. Who doesn't like winter on the Eastern Front? Not to mention all of the new and bizarre goodies that will come with late war German formations such as the volkssturm. 

Napoleon and Hitler spring to mind ;)

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On ‎1‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 9:45 PM, Battlefront.com said:

The most obvious part of that is a change in behavior for soldiers in fortifications and other good positions of cover. 

Apart from what is quoted above, has there been any other disclosure of what changes we are looking forward to?

 

Edited by BornGinger
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9 hours ago, Jumpete said:

Great news Steve. Reading your post, I was thinking that if the modules develop is so advanced, why don't bring us some screenshots as a last Xmas sweet.😉

Yeah, Benpark, why don't you? Instead of giving away likes for silly comments. After all the waiting we would like to see a decent bone instead of yet another tiny bone fragment covered with some riddles.

Edited by Aragorn2002
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