busboy Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 I just got Combat Mission the other day, and have since DLed lots 'o new textures. Now, I got some questions. I DLed lots of new textures, as I mentioned. I was hoping I'd end up getting my Mac version of CM looking like some of the EXTREMELY detailed screenshots I've seen lying around. Now, some of the Hi Res graphics I DLed helped, but it seems like I fell short and I was wondering if I'm not doing something. An example of my graphics issues are: the suspension systems of Shermans, for example, are highly pixelated if you get "reasonably" close. Windows on houses seem to "melt" out of the walls, rather than stand out. Finally, sometimes the suspension systems of high res vehicles look blurred, wile the screenshots I saw of them in operation were flawless. In general, graphics kick can, but I was wondering if there was some way I could get them better. Also, I DLed some custom, hi res Vickers and MG42 replacements, and they came out pixelated beyond all recognition. Also, would you CM vets recommending DLing anyone's custom sounds? The sounds in CM seem outstanding as is, what would ya'll recommend? I saw someone mention somewhere on the boards that you could have a leader type squad spot for on-map mortars. Did I misread, and if not how can I do this? About airplanes, I know you see the shadow when they fly over, but can you see the plane too if you angle the camera right? Just wondering. Anyhoo, I'm sure I'll figure out some more questions to ask later on this thread, and I'd like to thank ya'll in advance for your help. I look forward to playing this game, DLing other missions and improvements, and being part of this wonderful community. And you have no life that that peng post!!! ------------------ busboy CO, 99th Dragons A Warbirds Squadron 'We will heat you up' "It is well that war is so terrible, else we would grow too fond of it." -Robert E. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralsaw Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> I just got Combat Mission the other day, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Welcome aboard busboy (Where is the borg???) Can't help you with mods, so many, my head hurts. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> I saw someone mention somewhere on the boards that you could have a leader type squad spot for on-map mortars. Did I misread, and if not how can I do this? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> A leader that has command for a mortar can spot for it. The mortar need not have LOS. Check out the manual and maybe do a search on the forum. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>About airplanes, I know you see the shadow when they fly over, but can you see the plane too if you angle the camera right? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Nope. Take care! ------------------ My squads are regular, must be the fibre in the musli... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveman Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 Can't help you on the mods... the few I've downloaded run OK, but I've got a PC, not a Mac. Yes, any CO (platoon, company, battalion) can serve as a spotter for an on-board mortar team. Note that this doesn't include vehicles with mortars. The mortar must be close enough to the CO to be "in command". You can then fire the mortar at anything the CO can see. The targeting line will still show red, but will remain if the CO has LOS. For planes, the shadow is all you'll ever see... ooh, that sounds spooky ------------------ “Thus, the M4A3E8(76)W designation meant a tank with an official Mortality of 4 minutes, Actually 3 minutes, cost Extra, and had a 76% chance of going WHOOSH." - Bullethead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The CM Borg Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by busboy: I just got Combat Mission the other day, I look forward to playing this game, DLing other missions and improvements, and being part of this wonderful community. And you have no life that that peng post!!! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Assimilated ------------------ Resistance is Futile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pham911 Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 The mortars have been explained, but keep in mind that you can't move the mortar after setup or indirect fire won't work anymore. It works best if you dedicate a Company HQ to spotting from a mortar park or two that you set up behind cover. The beauty of this is that the HQ doesn't need to be unhidden for the mortar strikes to work, and using a Company HQ won't tie up a whole platoon near the mortar park(although good rear area security doesn't hurt...). You can also use the HQ to trace a fire line(which shows his LOS to the target), then have your mortars target the same point, then cancel your HQ area target and re-hide him. That's just a little tip, as it can be hard to find exact LOS from a seperate unit when using indirect mortar fire. Oh, and the HQ can move freely without screwing up your chances of using indirect fire, but he has to stay in command range of the mortars for it to work. The graphics sharpness seems to depend on both video card type and what your resolution your screen(and CMBO) is set to display at. I noticed a huge increase in level of detail and overall sharpness between 1024x768 and 1280x1024. Way more than I would have expected. This is on a PC, so since you're using a Mac your milage may vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 busboy - Sound Mods - the MDMP 1 & 2 and the Nightcrawler sound mods are both fine in general, mostly user preference. So you may want to preview them before applying them. As for the graphics. The pixelation that you're seeing may be somewhat normal. A good number of the bitmap/resources are "stretched" over the wire frames they sit on, especially the buildings. Many of the models in CM may not be detailed to the level that you're expecting. The buildings have simple flat textures for each wall, which probably accounts for the "melting" effect you're seeing with the windows - there is no wire-frame to give the windows any 3D appearance. I'm not sure if "mip-mapping" levels may be affecting what you're seeing. I don't believe the ATIs on the Macs have any controls to adjust this feature (it usually only affects bitmap appearance at a distance anyway). As for the MG bitmaps, you may want to look at them with an image viewer to make sure that they're OK and then reapply them with the Mod Manager. It's possible that the resource isn't updated correctly for them (I'm not sure how the Mod Manager works since I'm not running a Mac). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madmatt Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 All curretn screenshots at CMHQ are taken from a Geforce II 64mb video card with FSAA up the wazoo and at 1280x960 screen resolution. I do this since its the resolution that I play the game in! Up until about 3 months ago though I used a TNT2 Ultra card at the 1280x960 (No FSAA) but you would be hard pressed to see much difference in the screenshots. As others have said, its all in resolution and your video card. Personally, I wouldn't touch ANY video card other than a Nvidea based one but with a Mac I am really not sure of your options. One more point, and I have been asked this in the past. I don't apply any special blurring or filters or anything to *my* screenshots on CMHQ. Now, sometimes I post a picture that is obviously been altered (like a big sun or moon or something with a caption) but I would say that about 97% of all the POTDS and screenshots are right outa the game. Madmatt ------------------ If it's in Combat Mission, it's on Combat Mission HQ! Combat Mission HQ CMHQ-Annex, The Alternative side of Combat Mission CMHQ-Annex Host of the Combat Mission WebRing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 Just one other point: Be careful about trying to apply sound mods for the Mac. The ones that exist are not designed to work on the Mac, with the exception of some that I believe are posted at MadMatt's site. Oh, yeah: I have installed the machine gun mods you mentioned, and they look fine on my Mac. It's all in the resolution and card. But I play at 800 X 600 (otherwise I can't see the damn units), and have an iMac DV SE with the standard 8 meg video ATI card. Be sure you're not in software emulation, and try reinstalling the MG mods. ------------------ "Don't lie to me, Gustav! You're a stinkin' Mac user!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dNorwood Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pham911: The mortars have been explained, but keep in mind that you can't move the mortar after setup or indirect fire won't work anymore. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but I've moved mortar teams all over creation and still had nearby HQ's spot for them. On the other hand, it never even occurred to me that the HQ could be hidden and still spot. Is that a bug or a feature? (Finally, most of my experience has been with 1.03 - if you're telling me things are different in 1.05, I'm gonna be unhappy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Panic Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 Moving mortars only eliminates their ability to target preregistered target markers. They can still fire indirect using HQ units. ------------------ Two Rules to Live By: 1. Never Get Out of the Boat. 2. Charlie Doesn't Surf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pham911 Posted October 12, 2000 Share Posted October 12, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dNorwood: Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but I've moved mortar teams all over creation and still had nearby HQ's spot for them. On the other hand, it never even occurred to me that the HQ could be hidden and still spot. Is that a bug or a feature? (Finally, most of my experience has been with 1.03 - if you're telling me things are different in 1.05, I'm gonna be unhappy).<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, I guess some testing is in order. I had a bugger of a time getting indirect fire to work with mortars originally, and having them stationary seemed to solve it, but I suppose it could be something else going on that was tripping me up. I do seem to recall that BTS said that the mortars can't be moved, but can't find the thread. Unless someone has a definitive answer I'll test it tonight. I'm assuming that the spotting with the HQ's hidden is a feature, as they have to be in command of the mortars and could use hand signals, verbal commands, etc, to adjust fire and whatnot. They wouldn't have to be more exposed like a FO, as the FO's have to use radios and binoculars to perform thier task(though why you can't do that prone and hidden is beyond me...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busboy Posted October 13, 2000 Author Share Posted October 13, 2000 Thanx for the replies all. My hardware is a Mac G3 tower, 350mhz with an ATI 128, I think it is. My resolution on my NEC MultiSync 5FGe monitor is 832x624, and for some reason I can't change resolutions. (this has been bugging me for a LONG time, if anyone has an idea on what I can do in regards to that, I'd really appreciate it) On the machine gun pixelization, I think I did try re-installing 'em to no avail. I may just have to go in and put the old ones back, but I'll give reinstallment another try. As for the houses and such, I just noticed that on my computer the finer "lines" seemed blurred over a larger area rather than there being nice and crisp lines for "house features," for example, like I saw on the HQ website. Its no big deal if I just can't get that due to my different system, but I'd like to if I could! Thanx for the mortar news. How do I tell the command squad to spot? Is there a "target wide" order for them perhaps? Oh, and thanx to the CM Borg for assimilating me. Now that we are together, things are so much better. Tell me, what is my CM borg number? Oh, and one final thing to any mac users reading this. I saw voodoo has a snazzy new $350 graphics card out. Anyone got this? Would you recommend this? (well, I know its vastly better, and all, just really looking for opinions.) I think I'm also gonna buy some more RAM too, it'll really help in the future. Finally, if I may, could I give ya'll an address for another game that won't be in competition with CM? I mentioned it in another thread that got locked as the moderator said "for obvious reasons" and I assume thats what he meant. I just know that anyone playing CM is really into WW2 and accuratly done combat, and this one game in development is worth the time of anyone intirested in this kind of stuff. However, I won't mention it if its not appropriate to do it here. Again, thanx all! ------------------ busboy CO, 99th Dragons A Warbirds Squadron 'We will heat you up' "It is well that war is so terrible, else we would grow too fond of it." -Robert E. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaSCa Posted October 13, 2000 Share Posted October 13, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I can't change resolutions. (this has been bugging me for a LONG time, if anyone has an idea on what I can do in regards to that, I'd really appreciate it)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I used to have a Mac, but then I turned to the dark side. Anyway, on the PC side CM supposedly runs at whatever resolution you had your monitor set to the first time you run the game. This setting is saved somewhere (I forget where, and since you have a Mac it doesn't matter anyhow). I suspect that if you want the game to change resolutions you should muck about in your 'preferences' folder and see if you can find the 'cmbo.pref' or like named file, rename it, launch the game at a higher res, and see what happens. It should start at the higher res and then save that setting in a new file. Disclaimer I haven't played with a Mac since OS 8.0 but trying this probably won't break anything major and you can revert to the old file if things go awry. Of course I could be wrong and your machine may go up like a Sherman set to broil. If it does then...Oops...Sorry! [This message has been edited by CaSCa (edited 10-12-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busboy Posted October 13, 2000 Author Share Posted October 13, 2000 well, the bigger problem is that I can't find a way to even CHANGE my resolution. I'm hoping someone'll someday point a control panel I can get, but my resolution is stuck. On closer examination of the machine gun problem, I realized that its not just the 2 I replaced that are pixelated SEVERELY, but ALL small arms carried by soldiers. Also, is there anything special I need to do when replacing sounds with customs? I think I'm gonna DL 'em if they're recommended by the community. ------------------ busboy CO, 99th Dragons A Warbirds Squadron 'We will heat you up' "It is well that war is so terrible, else we would grow too fond of it." -Robert E. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pham911 Posted October 13, 2000 Share Posted October 13, 2000 Well, slap some egg on my face and call me incorrect.... After some testing, I discovered that I was, indeed, wrong. Mortars can be moved and still indirect fire, so thanks to those who pointed this out and enlightened me. Got stuck in the habit of not moving them after setup(only moving the HQ for spotting purposes), and it worked well enough that I never messed with it any more. I suppose it really doesn't affect my play all that much, as I still park my mortars for the games duration and am not sure if I can change that now. Not sure if I want to, either, as it is pretty effective. (Slyly saving face...) Also, the tracing target guide lines from the HQ and then canceling them seems to work fine. As for changing resolution, if you're talking about changing resolution on a mac, I can't help. But if it's changing resolution within CM, just go into the install directory, delete the preferences file in the root CM directory, and re-run the game. It should allow you to select a maximum resolution that corrosponds with what your desktop resolution is set at. And, the easiest way to test mods now is to just make a full copy of your BMP(and wav directory if doing sound mods) directory, install the mod normally, then backup directorycopy the directory back over it if you don't like the mod. Works for the PC anyways, but not 100% sure it will for the mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveman Posted October 13, 2000 Share Posted October 13, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by busboy: Thanx for the replies all. Thanx for the mortar news. How do I tell the command squad to spot? Is there a "target wide" order for them perhaps? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You don't have to do anything with the CO. Just have the mortar fire on an area that the CO can see. Since the CO must be close enough to be "in command" it's assumed he's passing along spotting info. As I noted above, the targeting line will still appear as if the mortar can't see the target area, but will display "Area Fire" instead of "Sight Blocked". Just try it out... if you have the mortar fire somewhere it or the CO can't see the target order will cancel out. ------------------ “Thus, the M4A3E8(76)W designation meant a tank with an official Mortality of 4 minutes, Actually 3 minutes, cost Extra, and had a 76% chance of going WHOOSH." - Bullethead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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