Ricochet Posted January 24, 2001 Share Posted January 24, 2001 There’s an article in todays New York Newsday about Combat Mission. I hope this causes another press of CD’s @ PLAY Winning at War Is Now A More Complicated Game Joseph Gelmis UNLIKE watching a movie, playing a computer game requires more than keeping your eyes open. You're not just a spectator-you're a performer. Anyone can watch "Saving Private Ryan," for instance, and vicariously experience what it was like to invade the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in 1944. But to play a World War II simulation like "Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord," you've got to have some knowledge of military strategy and think out carefully how to deploy your troops and their weapons effectively to win a battle. As a result, fans of computer simulations are usually hardcore gamers rather than casual players. And simulations-except for racing and flying games-tend to appeal to niche markets. Though I spent four years studying military history and tactics in the ROTC and three years as an Air Force flier, I'm still daunted by the steep learning curve required to play authentic war simulations. At the urging of a reader, Ted Ramos, who raved about "Combat Mission," I eventually found time to try it. As I expected, it was overwhelmingly complicated for someone who's not a military history and strategy buff. But I was able to understand why Ramos was an evangelist for the game and its creators, Charles Moylan and Steve Grammont. "Combat Mission" is available only online, as a $45 hybrid Mac/Windows CD-ROM, at www.battlefront.com. Game makers, self-publishers and site operators Moylan and Grammont have become folk heroes to the war game community. These rugged nonconformists in Maine have accomplished with imagination, virtuosity and virtually no money what corporately funded development studios couldn't -a revolutionary breakthrough in turn- based computer war gaming that renders rivals quaintly passé and makes the genre more accessible to a wider audience. Set during World War II, from just after the Allied invasion of Normandy through the Nazi surrender in 1945, "Combat Mission" weds turn-based strategic gaming and real-time action tactical gaming. Turn-based war games have been around for decades and are essentially electronic versions of board games: I move my troops, then you move yours. Real-time war games debuted in the '90s, with the advent of CD-ROMs and more powerful computers. The moves in a pioneering real-time game such as "Command and Conquer" occurred simultaneously, whether your opponent was the game's artificial intelligence-operated enemy or a live player. Millions of mainstream players are attracted to real-time war games because of their realistic graphics - miniature tanks, artillery and soldiers follow players' orders - and the ability to wage war with players over the Internet. But turn-based games have become less popular with publishers, who feel less and less loyalty to niche audiences. Turn-based game graphics haven't evolved much since kids obsessively played their war games with toy soldiers and homemade props on tabletops. And most of the excitement is intellectual: There's no visible combat between virtual armies. "Combat Mission" ingeniously blends the old and new technologies. The most conspicuous upgrade is the graphics: The game is in three dimensions, and you can view it from above or at field level. There is also an action phase in which the result of the player's planning is executed as a mini-movie. On your turn, you have unlimited time to issue orders, positioning squads, teams and vehicles for battle. Each turn equals 60 seconds of combat. Hit "play," and the artificial intelligence issues orders to your enemy. What you can't do is change an order during the action sequence. However, you're able to learn from your mistakes afterward, using the "replay" function. "Combat Mission" is playable against another gamer via e-mail. A multi-player patch for Internet gaming was recently added. "Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord," $45, from Big Time Software, at www.battlefront.com; for Mac G3 and G4 and Pentium 166 PCs with 3-D card or P 200 PCs without 3-D card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterNZer Posted January 24, 2001 Share Posted January 24, 2001 Bloody hell! How much do people pay for that kind of publicity normally! PeterNZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin Posted January 24, 2001 Share Posted January 24, 2001 If you build it, they will come ------------------ When men are inhuman, take care not to feel towards them as they do towards other humans. --Marcus Aurelius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spook Posted January 24, 2001 Share Posted January 24, 2001 Well, done, Ricochet (Ted), in that your advocations prevailed upon the journalist to provide BTS a nice little publicity boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted January 24, 2001 Author Share Posted January 24, 2001 I emailed a thank you to Mr. Gelmis and he returned in part: ".....The most important part of a critic's job is to recognize excellence and make the case for it. Personal considerations and inertia too often get in the way. PS: The column ran long and was -- without the editor informing me -- trimmed by at least 100 words, so it leaves out some key details and reads a bit jerkier than it was originally written." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog0606 Posted January 24, 2001 Share Posted January 24, 2001 If anyone is interested I looked up the site it's posted on and here it is: http://www.newsday.com/coverage/current/pluggedin/wednesday/nd745.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mikey D Posted January 24, 2001 Share Posted January 24, 2001 Has there every been a mention of CM in print that WASN'T gushingly enthusiastic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terence Posted January 24, 2001 Share Posted January 24, 2001 Originally posted by Mikey D: Has there every been a mention of CM in print that WASN'T gushingly enthusiastic? only on this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juardis Posted January 24, 2001 Share Posted January 24, 2001 Originally posted by Terence: only on this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spook Posted January 24, 2001 Share Posted January 24, 2001 Well, in honesty, there was M Walker's review of CM in gamecenter.com last year that was less than enthusiastic, where he gave CM a 7 of 10 rating. He basically liked the game, but got wrapped around his viewpoint on how the CM graphics weren't up to snuff. Oh well, there will always be outliers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madmatt Posted January 24, 2001 Share Posted January 24, 2001 Originally posted by Terence: only on this forum. ROFLMFAO!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted January 25, 2001 Share Posted January 25, 2001 Originally posted by Terence: only on this forum. Now THAT is pithy! heehee! I would far rather have a game flexible enough to generate scenarios randomly than something with photo quality artwork like Close Combat. I have a feeling the days of Close Combat are coming to an end - I don't wish them ill will, and many people enjoy their games, but the release of the Normandy game (again, without British or Canadian 'leg' infantry) just doesn't do it for me. There are plenty of horror stories out there on forums about ahistorical armour characteristics etc. (sort of like THIS forum actually, but without the love!) that makes one stop to think. On the other hand, most of the forum posts I've seen (ie at tanknet.org and similar places) actually sing the praises of CM while trashing everything else. Surely a good sign. I pray this is a wake up call for the pinheads at Hasbro et al who don't feel the need to interact with, or respond to, the guys that BUY the games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Weiss Posted January 25, 2001 Share Posted January 25, 2001 Originally posted by Terence: only on this forum. Yes truly, in the infamous words of Pogo, "we have seen the enemy and it is arse." ------------------ "Gentlemen, you may be sure that of the three courses open to the enemy, he will always choose the fourth." -Field Marshal Count Helmuth von Moltke, (1848-1916) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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