Pre-orders for Combat Mission Cold War are now open.

[A Canadian Cat]

6 minutes ago, Howler said:

15 hours ago, mjkerner said:

Thanks for the new avatar, Ian!

You beat me to it!

Grab the ace version...

[A Canadian Cat]

11 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

put in some multiplayer support that no Combat Mission has (so far).  And it needs to be extensively tested. 

<snip>

The features Slitherine has asked us to put in require lots and lots and lots and lots of testers.  Waaaaay more than we can do with our traditional method of testing.  Fortunately, we know exactly where to find people who want to help out.  A lot of people

Oh cool!!!! I didn't know that - excellent.

[Howler]

11 minutes ago, IanL said:

Grab the ace version...

Thanks @IanL.

[purpheart23]

10 hours ago, BFCElvis said:

You have no idea how much I want to change my avatar to this. But I'm not one of the 41.

There's an avatar for the fighting 41? Does it include hookers and blackjack?

[BFCElvis]

1 hour ago, jens703 said:

If I buy CW from the Battlefront Website now ...

• I get access to the game in April (minus the multiplayer part)

OR

• I can/have to participate in a beta-phase 

When the game is released on Steam in June, I can register my copy (bought on the Battlefront Website) in Steam?

Are my assumption on buying Cold War correct?

Thanks!

Jens

I have corrected the false bits. (and a couple of spelling and grammar things)

[A Canadian Cat]

8 minutes ago, Howler said:

Thanks @IanL.

LOL looking good

[mjkerner]

@HowlerLooking good, Howler!
And never, ever, think it’s a good day to stain the deck. There is no such day.

@BFCElvisSorry I grabbed that avatar, but it was too good to pass up!

Edited April 9, 2021 by mjkerner

[Amedeo]

I'm interested in plagiarism as an art form! 

[BFCElvis]

52 minutes ago, mjkerner said:

@HowlerLooking good, Howler!
And never, ever, think it’s a good day to stain the deck. There is no such day.

@BFCElvisSorry I grabbed that avatar, but it was too good to pass up!

I'm not one of the Fightin 41....So, ya didn't steal it from me.

[Jumpete]

12 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

Yes.  However, I'm not sure yet if we can make it work with games that Slitherine has not yet released.  

After Cold War is released we'll be working with Slitherine on CMBN.  Every 3 months or so another CM Family will get its turn.  As with Shock Force 2 and Black Sea, all Modules/Packs get released at the same time as the Base Game, all will be up on Steam, and all Battlefront keys will work seamlessly for Steam.

Steve

First of all I'm sorry for the off-topic, but since the CMBN is in the pipeline for Steam, I suggest to dev team the possibility to include the Stug IV in the TOE.

[mjkerner]

12 minutes ago, BFCElvis said:

I'm not one of the Fightin 41....So, ya didn't steal it from me.

Yes, but you were the one who sent the emails, and therefore had a large part in our genesis. Ergo, you're the official 42nd member of the 41, lol!

[ratdeath]

Now I want to see The 37s again! (Star Trek Voyager).

Fun episode!

[Lethaface]

1 hour ago, mjkerner said:

Yes, but you were the one who sent the emails, and therefore had a large part in our genesis. Ergo, you're the official 42nd member of the 41, lol!

Indeed. Gunny Sgt Elvis

I'll gladly transfer my 'allowance' to sport the badge to @BFCElvis. And thanks for mailing the key! 

[Gkenny]

14 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

OK, time to clear up some stuff.

We are jointly publishing Cold War with Slitherine.  Until the Slitherine launches there is no Steam version and Slitherine isn't planning on launching until June.  Registering ahead of time doesn't do anything in terms of accessing Cold War.  Having a pre-order key from us also doesn't get you advanced access to Cold War.

So why is Cold War going to take a few more months to come out for Slitherine?  Because they asked us to put in some multiplayer support that no Combat Mission has (so far).  And it needs to be extensively tested.  Which is why an otherwise nearly complete Combat Mission game with traditional features isn't being released by Slitherine sooner.

Does this mean you guys are going to have to wait until June to get your hands on a version of Cold War with the new multiplayer features and Steam version?  Yes.   Does this mean you will have to wait until June to play Cold War that meets normal Battlefront release standards?  No. 

Confused?  Well, no need to be! 

The features Slitherine has asked us to put in require lots and lots and lots and lots of testers.  Waaaaay more than we can do with our traditional method of testing.  Fortunately, we know exactly where to find people who want to help out.  A lot of people

As soon as Cold War is up to our usual quality standards you will be the first to know.

Steve

Count me in

[markus544]

So When...June or late April...I bought my copy of CW from BF.  I'm still somewhat confused.  But that's just me.  Or am I not alone.

[BFCElvis]

3 minutes ago, markus544 said:

So When...June or late April...I bought my copy of CW from BF.  I'm still somewhat confused.  But that's just me.  Or am I not alone.

Your Battlefront copy is still on track to be available to you in April. Access to your Steam version will not be available until June. All Combat Mission games purchased on the Battlefront.com website also come with access to the Steam version.

[markus544]

33 minutes ago, BFCElvis said:

Your Battlefront copy is still on track to be available to you in April. Access to your Steam version will not be available until June. All Combat Mission games purchased on the Battlefront.com website also come with access to the Steam version.

Okay thanks for that...I wait somewhat patiently.

[Artkin]

This game has the potential to be accepted by the majority and EXPLODE on the market with a proper multiplayer feature. I wouldn't know exactly how to employ it... Lobbies? Seems abstract for CM's theme but is the most flexible/plausible option.

[Sorcerer117]

On 4/9/2021 at 12:37 AM, Battlefront.com said:

Slight clarification:

To which I posted:

I should have said:

For sure we have found and fixed a couple of things that are Steam specific issues.  However, since we're not 100% sure how the Steam version got shorted a few things, we're going through things a bit more to see if we've missed anything.  We should have something up for you guys soon.

Steve

Thanks Steve.

[badipaddress]

19 hours ago, BFCElvis said:

Your Battlefront copy is still on track to be available to you in April. Access to your Steam version will not be available until June. All Combat Mission games purchased on the Battlefront.com website also come with access to the Steam version.

Thanks for the clarification. 

12 hours ago, Artkin said:

I wouldn't know exactly how to employ it... Lobbies? Seems abstract for CM's theme but is the most flexible/plausible option.

If it is the PBEM++ system from MatrixGames/Slitherine it is very handy and I can't wait to have it implemented on all CM titles.
You can start new matches in the lobby, when you finish doing your moves your turn pbem files will be automatically uploaded to the Matrix servers. When your opponent responds, you are notified with an email.
Currently you have to send turns to your opponent by email, with the files that are placed in different folders, My Documents for CMFI (the only CM title that save files here!), game folders for CMBN, Steam folder for CMSF2 and CM Black Sea, uff! 
If you want to automatize the file transfer you need to setup some symlinks to a dropbox/onedrive folders for each title.
With PBEM++ it's easier to find new opponents and ease the file transfer part.

Edited April 10, 2021 by badipaddress

[c3k]

The news about multiplayer and steam...is huge.

(understated, and now undergoing a move to prevent undermining a mostly underground game and avoid dunderheaded replies. (<- Yeah, I know, but I was stumped.)) 

[Artkin]

2 hours ago, badipaddress said:

Thanks for the clarification. 

If it is the PBEM++ system from MatrixGames/Slitherine it is very handy and I can't wait to have it implemented on all CM titles.
You can start new matches in the lobby, when you finish doing your moves your turn pbem files will be automatically uploaded to the Matrix servers. When your opponent responds, you are notified with an email.
Currently you have to send turns to your opponent by email, with the files that are placed in different folders, My Documents for CMFI (the only CM title that save files here!), game folders for CMBN, Steam folder for CMSF2 and CM Black Sea, uff! 
If you want to automatize the file transfer you need to setup some symlinks to a dropbox/onedrive folders for each title.
With PBEM++ it's easier to find new opponents and ease the file transfer part.

Ah yes this seems just slightly automated. You still need dropbox... IMO - unacceptable.

This would never work, or make sense to push as a proper "MP". People in the "mainstream" gaming hemisphere would never accept this.

I was hoping for genuine multiplayer Real Time support, as most RTS are. BFC will never make it big if they dont push real time multiplayer IMO. The audience that wants to play Xcom and similar games is just too small.

 

[Probus]

So that’s what they meant by multiplayer. I’ve been playing multiplayer since I rediscovered Combat Mission last year. It would be nice to have a slick, built in, online interface. 

[Muzzleflash1990]

If they integrated with Steams networking utilities (or some other 3rd partner) we could get direct connections instead of having to port forward. This would help with the "live" TCP/IP modes. In my country at least, Carrier-Grade NAT is the norm, so no amount of fiddling will get port forwarding working for you. I have to resort to VPNs for TCP/IP.

[BletchleyGeek]

7 hours ago, Artkin said:

Ah yes this seems just slightly automated. You still need dropbox... IMO - unacceptable.

The facts of Slitherine PBEM++ system is that you don't need Dropbox. The files are exchanged over the cloud, through Slitherine's servers. There is a matchmaking service too, where you post "challenges" which can be open to the public, or protected with a password (so your buddies can get into it but no randos). Whenever a new turn file is available, you get an e-mail letting you know about it.

This system, in coordination with a third-party app like Discord (or even Steam internal chat system) I think is a pretty positive and a significant step forward.