New user question

[steveo]

Howdy. I just downloaded the demo for my imac/b and I am very excited about the game and the existence of this forum. I am also new to the whole computer thing and I have had a great deal of help from the patient and helpful people at the imac discussion site so I hope things work out here.

I'm not (so far) what any of you would call a gamer. I have never seen a "war game" that I wanted so I'm not experienced with these types.

I'm a big fan of WW2 history and the exeptional depth of detail in this game (I almost feel bad calling it a game) is what caused me to download this demo.

I have looked through the first several pages of instructions and will eventually get through them all, however I don't want to wait until then to play with it. So here's my question (eventually):

Single player. I choose Allies. I make some selections in set up. I press GO.

Things happen. A movie is made. I see "Turn 1 of 30".

Then what? I assume I am going to play the machine. Am I wrong?

I see no way to make the next turn start, not even in the "hotkeys" box.

I'll leave it at that for now.

Thank you.

[Guest coolguy101]

You have to plot your moves for the turn. You do that by clicking a unit and then right clicking or pressing the space bar. After you plot all your moves for the turn hit the go button in the left corner. The computer will generate it's turns then you will see a video of the action. When your done reviewing the video hit the done button and plot your turns for the next turn and keep up tat order till the game ends.

coolguy101

[This message has been edited by coolguy101 (edited 01-08-2000).]

[BFCElvis]

Stevo ...welcome..you set up you units..then click on the big "GO" button on the screen..you the plot your units movements/tagets ect..the click "GO" again..you will then watch the "Movie" (probably many times from many angles) and click "done" then do it all again..couldn't be easier.

[Zulu]

Hi stevo

Go into the directory where you installed Combat Mission.

There should be a file named(for a PC its got an Internet Explorer logo on it) CM_Demo_Instructions. For a PC you just click on it and it opens in Internet Explorer. It's an HTML file so I would assume this works the same for a Mac.

Your questions on how to play will be answered in there.

After playing the demo a couple of times, you can place your order with Big Time. The game is only sold online.

[steveo]

Thanks for your help. Let's see if I've got it.

There is no formal "My turn" /" Your Turn". I make my moves, hit GO, and the "enemy" responds in the same 60 second segment and then it is my "turn" again? I start the second turn just by selecting a unit or units and giving them new orders based on what happened? For instance, if my first order was to advance and they did not because they were confronted by an enemy machine gunner, the next turn starts after I select some one to take out the machine gun? And press GO? I haven't tried this since I posted my question.

Does the new GO appear after I select a unit and give it an order?

Is there a post or site where I can go to get these most basic Qs answered?

I'm not using the instructions because I'm new to my imac and so far the only app I can open the instuctions in includes all the HTML codes, making it difficult to read through.

Thanks again.

[billcarey]

Steveo,

if you drag the CM instructions to Netscape (or Explorer) whichever you use to surf the web it will show up all nice and pretty

- Bill

[Mark IV]

steveo:

You are only playing the computer if you selected "1 Player" shortly after choosing the scenario. Then you (hopefully) chose a side (Axis or Allies).

The computer is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to play against you, and occasionally for you. So, you will see many references on this forum and elsewhere to the "AI". Usually AI means the computer enemy, but a sort of friendly AI also manages your individual units after you've given them their 60 seconds worth of orders.

For example, if you've ordered an infantry squad to move to a building, but halfway there it runs into an ambush by an enemy MG, the squad may (quite sensibly) take cover and return the fire. You didn't tell it to do this- the AI made your squad act like the little men they are, and react like a real squad.

You plot ALL the moves for all your guys, THEN you hit "Go". Then 60 secs worth of sh*t hits the fan (remember, the other guy, or the AI, has plotted his 60 secs worth of mayhem for the same time period, too). You can replay it from many angles and many units' perspectives to track the action, and you should, especially at first. View 4 generally works best for me to follow the general action in the movie.

When you've figured out what happened, you hit "Done" to end the replay segment. Now you plot the next 60 secs of vengeance, and you will note the Done button has changed back to "Go".

The first Go of the movie is the real nail-biter, when you've no clue what's about to happen. As you get used to it, you will probably find yourself replaying a little less, except when very vital, puzzling, or cool things happen. Then you will want to study them more closely, from different angles.

So, what's really happening is that you and your opponent are both scheduling 60 second moves for ALL your forces, then pushing Go and watching simultaneous resolution of the whole shootin' match.

The key is not to get stuck in thinking in terms of 60 seconds at a time, or trying to get the whole picture purely from an overhead view. As the destructions say, try to use common sense; what ought to work in real life will probably work in CM.

Except don't scavenge for ammo or hope to use dead bodies for cover .

[guachi]

If you want a good intro to the game head on over to http://combathq.thegamers.net

Make your way to the AAR section and read a battle between two beta testers, Fionn and Martin. The battle is from August or so when the game was still in Alpha state. Since none of us had yet seen the game, both Fionn and Martin go into the features of the game in depth.

The html instructions included with the demo are mostly answers to questions posted here. Steve basically ripped them out word for word and put them in the demo instructions.

If you have any specific questions try doing a search first as it is likely your question has been asked and answered by someone, sometime. If you'll notice, the pening screen of the demo makes reference to there being 10,000 posts. That was back in late October so you can see how busy this place has been in the pas ttwo and a half months. Otherwise, feel free to ask anything you like.

Jason

[Guest TOBRUK]

Hi Steveo;

Those before me left the best for last: the really cool 3D effects you can get. By pressing '1' or '2' and then using your mouse arrow at any edge of the screen you can fly all over the terrain at great speed. This also gives you a good feel for the hills and valleys which are very important for concealment etc. Have fun.