Why didn't BFC provide an intrinsic grid option in action squares?

[markshot]

(Two questions in one day!  I have my CM hat on.)

There are tree options, smoke options ...

Wouldn't it have been simple for BFC to provide an engine based terrain grid?  Of all the possible mods, I think gridded has the greatest game play utility.  But as it must be done for each tile type, and games updates and expansions break it ... it is not really feasible to have gridded for all my games ... so I gave up.

But still, I don't understand why such wasn't an engine option?

Thanks.

[Vinnart]

I'm sure many things left out of the game are matters of having to streamline the design, but also to where to allocate time and manpower to develop one feature over another. Development is a process no matter what it is. Sacrifices are always made to come to something that is a happy medium. You can have a warship for an analogy, but it can't have planes, helicopters, missiles, big guns, and be super fast and fuel efficient all in one package for practical reasons. The good thing about development is it is an ongoing process. Those of us who have played CMx2 since its 1st version have seen it improve over time with added features or refinements in code with each version so I don't think they plan on stopping anytime soon in improving the game so who knows what the future will bring to CM.

In the meantime you can use grid mods. I use the same ones through all the games since the terrain tiles are all compatible. In some cases they won't show unless a tag is added, but it's all possible. Most of the time I'm playing with some grids on some terrain, and some without because I'm too lazy to mod. I've played so much CM (since Cmx1  for about 20yrs now)  I think I read the terrain more intuitively better now anyway.

Edited September 6, 2022 by Vinnart

[markshot]

Rather than trying to mod 8 titles + expansions on the same engine with the mods that I think all should have; I gave up.  You may not have noticed, but the CMBO/CMBB/CMAK community was larger and more prolific.

It is too hard to find something essential like a grid for all.  Like trees and smoke, it should have just been a player aid in the UI.  I am a retired software engineer and understand limited resources.  But I think this should have been an engine feature, and not a mod.  The action square and lack of a topo map view; make a grid an essential feature.  Can you play without?  No choice really.

I've purchased everything they have self developed here.  I feel entitled to express an opinion by virtue of my investment, and continued investment.  CM is excellent with no directly rival.  But that does not mean it couldn't be better.

[LukeFF]

18 hours ago, markshot said:

Can you play without?  No choice really.

I've played without those unsightly grid squares ever since Shock Force was released and don't miss them one bit. If it was that big of an issue to that many players during all these years of development I'm sure they would've been added back in. Like others have said, mods here are your friend.

[Vanir Ausf B]

On 9/5/2022 at 12:17 AM, markshot said:

Wouldn't it have been simple for BFC to provide an engine based terrain grid?

They actually did try it but according to Steve it cratered the frames per second.

[markshot]

Well, interesting.

So, what are the up to date mods which work with all titles/expansions, and not simply grass tiles?  (if you would be so kind)

I was very attached to some of VIN's mods like soldier actions, but any patch broke it.

I am not sure why BFC went with 8 stand alone duplicated engines versus just a large collection of DLCs.  The duplicate engines I feel complicate the mod scene.  Perception and marketing of milking the customer base?  This doesn't worry me.  Only a short exposure to PDS and CA will teach you how "greed", "shoddy work", "cut&paste programming" truly manifests itself in terms of business strategy.  I am okay with BFC's integrity as a game developer.  Their customers are smart enough to know the difference between "actual value" versus "perceived value".

By the way, there were other possible implementation which might have satisfied the player need and game performance.  Target/Movement is essentially aware of the AS'.  A LOS and/or path with option to show the elevation as each AS it crosses with a number.  Since it can be done for pauses, I think the performance hit would not have been huge.  Or a color codes path with blue being delta up and red delta down from start AS.