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Been gone over a decade, what did I miss???


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Hi guys,

I've been gone a while and wonder how the field looks in regards to new games? With new I mean anything after 2011, sometimes time really flies :)... Not many familiar names left on the forum, the list of available games is looong and I've switched to a M1 MacBook.

I loved CMBO and CMBB and hope there is something like them out there? Are there any re-makes or similar? 

I sadly noticed Mr Emrys is no longer with us, any other of us old timers who have left this earth?

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Welcome home, Jussi! 

The CM1 games are the same as they were pre-2007 when CM2 games (starting with CMSF) started to be released.  You should read up the blurb on the BF site and see what interests you.  You probably haven't heard that there is a war in Ukraine right now and you can simulate that using the CMBS game.  :blink:

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There's definitely "something like" CMBO and CMBB out there! :) There's even something a little bit like CMAK, but (out of the box) restricted to the Italy bit...

The CMx2 range touches Cold War 1 speculatives in the Fulda Gap now, too, as well as too-near-to-real conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.

The abstraction level is pared back a few layers now, with individual troopers replacing Larry, Curly and Moe and controllable at the team level rather than the full squad, and individual weapon effects are directly modelled rather than amalgamated into "firepower" ratings.

A few people prefer CMx1 enough to not make the transition to 2, but not many, I think. Thankfully, there are free demos for each of the new titles, so you can get a feel, yourself, for whether it's a change you're comfortable with without having to shell out any hard-earned.

Here's hoping you like the brave new world of CMx2!

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7 minutes ago, Jussi Köhler said:

Im looking mostly at WW2 at this point. Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy and Final Blitzkrieg, are they using the same engine? How many engines are there? CMx1 is the old CMBO, BB and AK games, yes? What is the current engine for the newest, modern era games?

All Engine 4

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3 hours ago, Jussi Köhler said:

Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy and Final Blitzkrieg, are they using the same engine?

Yes, they're all updated to v4 of the CMx2 engine, I believe.

3 hours ago, Jussi Köhler said:

How many engines are there?

Current engines? As in "state of the art"? Just the one: v4. But each "title" uses different assets and so is a separate product/install. There are "deprecated" versions, and the demos might not all be in v4, but any game you buy now will be v4, AIUI.

3 hours ago, Jussi Köhler said:

CMx1 is the old CMBO, BB and AK games, yes?

Correct.

3 hours ago, Jussi Köhler said:

What is the current engine for the newest, modern era games?

v4 of the CMx2 engine.

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101 on the homepage? I don't understand. Demo should be free if downloaded from BFC website!

https://www.battlefront.com/battle-for-normandy/cmbn-base-game/?tab=demo

MAC OS CMBN Demo download address:  https://battlefront.sharefile.com/d-s2f77e30cd1e4f6da

Yes, the CMBN Demo is still game engine THREE. BFC will not put any man-hours towards updating it most likely.

Some people have got all freaked out when I advised to play the demo. It aint the latest game engine! But look closely at what you get with game engine four and then see if you really think it is a major difference to NOT try the demo. I think playing the demo is a good piece of advice.

GAME ENGINE 4 FEATURES
Upgrade 4 offers a host of improvements and enhancements for people who own the original Base Game (Engine 3). All new purchases are Engine 4. If you are unsure what version you have, launch your game and look in the lower right hand corner for version information.

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 Artillery 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 Description 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 Anytime
 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 screen-edge camera panning.


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 objects 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 Small Arms Effects
 Tracer and muzzle flash special effects received a visual boost.

 

 

Edited by kohlenklau
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4 hours ago, kohlenklau said:

look closely at what you get with game engine four and then see if you really think it is a major difference to NOT try the demo

Wasn't 3 the one with the unfortunate behaviour by suppressed infantry (leaving cover and cowering in the open a couple of AS back for no good reason)? Or did it get bugfixed before 4 came out? If it was, that might explain why people might fear that it's not a good example of the game-as-it-can-be.

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As a fairly recent recruit, I tried the Engine 3 demos of RT and BN.  Then straight away bought the Engine 4 games: RT first, then BN, then FI, then FB.  And added F&R to RT.  All great, no regrets.  And now the modern bundle is nagging me but I may wait until current news makes it sit more comfortably...

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1 hour ago, womble said:

Wasn't 3 the one with the unfortunate behaviour by suppressed infantry (leaving cover and cowering in the open a couple of AS back for no good reason)? Or did it get bugfixed before 4 came out? If it was, that might explain why people might fear that it's not a good example of the game-as-it-can-be.

No, that was initial E4 release. And then in CMBN similar problems remained in 4.01 and 4.02. It was with CMBN 4.03 that it was properly rectified, in july 2020. That is still the last version as of now.

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Another Mac guy here, and have been since CMBO. Steam versions are PC only, not Mac. HOWEVER, Steam is just a convenience. You can buy anything from BF for Mac, and install in the Applications folder, and away you go. There is no difference between PC and Mac versions, EXCEPT, the recent PBEM++ from Slitherine, which will only be on PC versions, not Mac. Again however, you can play PBEM Mac to Mac, and Mac to PC without the Slitherene PBEM++ system, which we've been doing all along. There are a couple of utilities that make that PBEM process pretty smooth, but you can still just exchange emails like we used to in CMBO.

As @kohlenklau and a couple others mentioned, the demos are a bit behind the current issued games in game engines. If you try and like the demos, you'll love the current game status as the updates have added improvements to the system.

Any Mac specific questions, let me know. Happy to help.

Dave

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Many guys already said so: „Try the Demos!“ before you jump at the games.

The demos are not really up to date, but (not knowing CMx2) you won‘t notice the difference to the latest version.

CMx2 is indeed quite different from CMx1 and you will have to face quite a steep learning curve. But if you manage the transition, a „whole new world“ awaits you. 😎

And, trust us, it is manageable. I started with CMBO back in 1999, too, almost gave up after the first CMSF demo, but I am still here, playing all the WW2 titles, plus a little CM Cold War.

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7 minutes ago, StieliAlpha said:

The demos are not really up to date, but (not knowing CMx2) you won‘t notice the difference to the latest version

I agree, and for me I still remember the demo scenarios like they were yesterday (e.g. Monster Mash in RT).  Didn't really know what I was doing, but had a great time.  I was coming from older conversions of ASL type games so CM was quite refreshing...

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39 minutes ago, Vacillator said:

I agree, and for me I still remember the demo scenarios like they were yesterday (e.g. Monster Mash in RT).  Didn't really know what I was doing, but had a great time.  I was coming from older conversions of ASL type games so CM was quite refreshing...

Monster Mash is actually a great scenario all on it's own. Wide open tank fight. 

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1 hour ago, Vacillator said:

Agreed Dave, perhaps a PBEM is beckoning (how I like to get my butt kicked), although you may have more modern conflicts to cope with?

Sure. I'd be up for that. I don't currently have a copy on my computer I don't' think. I may have accidentally lost it in installing a beta at some point. If you have a copy can you pm it to me?  I have dropbox. 

Dave

[edit] PS - NVM. Found it.

Edited by Ultradave
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