Feature suggestion with engine rewrite.

[Abbott]

The unit icons located on the interface bar are a wonderful upgrade with CMBB. Nice looking and informative. It sure would be nice if the icons were click-able which would take the player to the units location.

[Panzer76]

Yeah, but would be even more handy if we could get a clicable OOB up on the screen.

[Other Means]

i'd like something dead simple. the labels to be at a height above the battlefield with a line connecting them to the appropriate unit. maybe labels of the same type at the same height etc.

[Schoerner]

It's a good idea to assign a function to the unit-icon, but i don't know if this function is necessary, 'cause TAB already does that.

It was already mentioned before, but what i really miss are buttons depending on passengers and to auto-select passangers by clicking them.

Also a window with an organization chart of all units on the battlefield (units selectable via this chart).

[ January 30, 2003, 02:49 PM: Message edited by: Schoerner ]

[SteppenWolf]

My wishlist would be:

1. Units better placed in the setup phase of a random battle. Especially in big battles it takes some time to clean up

2. A 2-D map like alternative interface to issue orders. This would be also an easier to manage interface that allows IMHO very effective battle planing especially as a good map with heights allows much better planing of an approach.

3. An order of battle screen that allows to select units easily, especially if it would work with a 2-D map it would be very effective in issuing orders.

4. Not just lines, but markers where an unit actually stops. This would for example make it easier if many units travel along a road to keep a distance between units and to keep track.

5. I think many artillery weapons that need an LOS in combat mission in real live could be ordered to fire anywhere. There would be of cause a big accuracy penalty but that is the risk a commander can take or not.

6. A better hull down command for tanks.

7. A battle type where you actually get victory flags on the way if your units passed them and there are no enemy forces near by. Kinda like the "front line" decides if you hold flags behind it and the enemy holds flags in front of your line.

That's actually it

SteppenWolf

[MrNoobie]

1. Units better placed in the setup phase of a random battle. Especially in big battles it takes some time to clean up

2. A 2-D map like alternative interface to issue orders. This would be also an easier to manage interface that allows IMHO very effective battle planing especially as a good map with heights allows much better planing of an approach.

3. An order of battle screen that allows to select units easily, especially if it would work with a 2-D map it would be very effective in issuing orders.

4. Not just lines, but markers where an unit actually stops. This would for example make it easier if many units travel along a road to keep a distance between units and to keep track.

5. I think many artillery weapons that need an LOS in combat mission in real live could be ordered to fire anywhere. There would be of cause a big accuracy penalty but that is the risk a commander can take or not.

6. A better hull down command for tanks.

7. A battle type where you actually get victory flags on the way if your units passed them and there are no enemy forces near by. Kinda like the "front line" decides if you hold flags behind it and the enemy holds flags in front of your line.

wow these are excellent, especially number 1.

[Jaws]

When you choose your units in a QB a preview map would be handy. So you can pick the most suitable units for that map.

I.e. A tank coy in a wooded area is really frustrating. :mad:

[xerxes]

I've taken to using ctrl-v to hide the vehicles, select a passenger and then ctrl-v again. It's easier then trying to "grab" a squad in a HT.

[Schoerner]

That's a cool tip.

[yunfat]

1) Trees that sway in the wind

2) Water that is dynamic and transparent

3) Collision detection in game (real 3d engine)

4) Particle effects, coronas, and lens flares.

5) Nurb rendering for accurate damage of 3d objects like tanks and buildings

6) Trees that can be targeted for shell bursts above the heads of my enemies

7) Tanks that leave tracks

8) Explosions that look really nice, with transparent flames

9) Much more battlefield dust, and flotsam in the air

10) The ability of ricochets to kill

11) The ability for infantry to assist bogged tanks (can you imagine the extra motion capture work the BTS animation team would have to do for that one)

12) Trees that take damage (would require many more polygons/nurbs)

13) Dynamic skies/clouds/rain/weather... how cool would it be if the random weather setting was really random? ie you start a battle and its sunny, and by turn 15 its pouring. How about clouds passing over the battlefield?

14) Fauna

15) Many many death animations... people coming apart, limbs flying, dead arbitrarily scattered throughout the battlefield

16) A First Person mode that allows you to join your troops and see what they see during the turn phase. This would include a mode where you are in a tank and see what the gunner sees, preferably through a scratchy and dusty lens.

17) Turrets getting blown off, literally

18) Quick battle presets, dozens of them, rather than manually having to change stuff all the time (yes i know it saves your last settings, but i dont play the same people over and over so said settings are almost always changed).

19) A built in game browser that displays open servers (people ready to play) possibly with built in chat.

20) Faster framerates

21) THE ABILITY TO RECORD TURNS AS COMPRESSED VIDEO

22) World Ranking System, and a World Championship of CM.

23) Dynamic marks on walls

24) Dust when bullets hit concrete and other fixed objects

-------------

Many of the things I propose would be impossible for a software house like BTS, and would put the budget of the next CM well into the millions. Thats simply how much a modern 3d engine costs. I hesitate to say that NONE of the stuff I propose will make it to the next CM.

Before I get labeled a troll, let me say this, I love CM as much as any of you, and no, I agree the next CM engine doesn't have to look like Doom 3.

I can summarize my feelings like this, the current incarnation of CM graphics doesn't detract from the fact its an awesome game, but, CM could be so much better if it made your jaw drop the first time you fire it up.

I would play more, if thats possible.

[ January 30, 2003, 08:36 PM: Message edited by: yunfat ]

[SteppenWolf]

MrNoobie, this are the points I had about Combat Mission since Beyond Overlord. If they would put this stuff in (none of this I would think really needs a new engine) I would buy the games again just to get these features.

My dream would be if they revisit CMBO and CMBB add this stuff, bring the engines on the same level and make a CM Mega Pack But I guess that's just me dreaming for some excitement doing the waiting time...

SteppenWolf

[SteppenWolf]

Oh and before I forget it:

I wish there was a feature to figure out the LOS before moving an unit into this space... a tool like the current LOS tool that works without a unit select but just by clicking on a spot of the map.

SteppenWolf

[Lou2000]

I'd like to see some method of indicating exactly which unit(s) of mine have LOS on a particular enemy. I'd find this especially useful when an enemy gets displayed on the map for the first time.

In a large battle it can take some time to find out exactly who spotted the enemy unit ... and therefore who might be able to target that ememy ...... or worse ... be targetted by that enemy !

Just an entry in the enemy info screen showing unit ID's and range....for example:

'LOS-A0-250m'

'LOS-B03-325m'

The game engine must already have worked out this info for the enemy to be displayed on map.

Lou2000

[SpineRipper]

I would like and ambush and fall back comand for infantry, were they would fire a volley or two than fall back to a set way point.

[parsifal]

My first post!

Here are 2 very important ones IMHO:

A "follow" order that would allow vehicle column movement (along a road for example) without having to give individual orders to each vehicle. Moving 5+ tanks on a curvy road is a big, big pain.

A new LOS command that would indicate ALL the terrain in view for a specific unit. This could for example take the form of shading/darkening of terrain out of LOS. This would avoid playing around with a unit´s position and checking LOS to all possible target areas evry time.

Cheers!

Parsifal

[RoryODonnell]

Yes, right clicking anywhere on the map will bring up the line of sight tool (when no command is being set). I find it frustrating when I want to move a tank or some men into a postion.

Maybe an option for Infantry would be "snipe", similar to hull down ?

[SuperSulo]

Originally posted by yunfat:

1) Trees that sway in the wind

[snip]

I hesitate to say that NONE of the stuff I propose will make it to the next CM.

Uhm, doesn't trees sway in the wind already in CMBB?

[yunfat]

Originally posted by SuperSulo:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by yunfat:

1) Trees that sway in the wind

[snip]

I hesitate to say that NONE of the stuff I propose will make it to the next CM.

Uhm, doesn't trees sway in the wind already in CMBB? </font>

[Aaron]

I'd like the abitily to tell a unit to concerve ammo rather than having to hide him completely. Maybe just taking the occasional pot shot at very exposed enemies.

And maybe a "Target Once" command where the tank (esp) just sends one HE shell at a squad rather than continueing to fire at it long after the targets been routed.

Aaron

[Seahawk-vfa201]

Originally posted by SuperSulo:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by yunfat:

1) Trees that sway in the wind

[snip]

I hesitate to say that NONE of the stuff I propose will make it to the next CM.

Uhm, doesn't trees sway in the wind already in CMBB? </font>

[Seahawk-vfa201]

One graphical improvement I'd like to see is opaque rendering o fspotted units.

As it is now it is either seen (100 visible sprite) or spotted and no more LOS (marker).

Marker is fine as a remonder but would be nice to have the visible unit more and more detailed (conversely less and less) with better/worst LOS.

For example, at night and in the snow sure you may get a LOS to a unit but in reality it would be just barely visible. In the game instead the sprite is perfect even if in the game the unit is only able to see some sort of

a shadow somewhere over there

[ZealotBurner]

Besides the general improvement to the graphics engine that is a given with a total rewrite.

I want a video record mode, allowing the entire battle to be seen as one movie, preferably with various FOW settings. ie. See the battle through the Axis' eyes, or the allies eyes, or as all units or visible. This would be my number one choice addition.

An integrated campaign, Battlefront should contract Biltong and his team. This is also my number one choice addition. (sorry couldn't decide which is more important, decided to make them both the most important.)

And of course dancing girls to deliver the next game personally to my door, the moment it goes gold. Truly this one is the most important to my enjoyment of the next game.

Thanks for listening Battlefront.

[Manx]

Don't go all "corporate" on us -- just do the best ya can and stay true to the faith. That's all i'm asking of BTS and their future products.

[vbfg]

I'd love to see a means of viewing maps with contours and the like, even if only means dumping them out to a graphcs file. A good chunk of the fun of this game for me is making plans before hand. Often it's useful for seeing how the reality matches up with my intentions but that's not why I do it. I just like making plans.

At the moment I'm getting the camera as high as it will go and taking screen shots of what's visible. On my machine I can just about get the whole of the Prokhorovka map this way but anything larger and I get stuck.

I like the idea of an interface for selecting units riding on vehicles too. Just today it took me five minutes to select a HQ inside a German half track instead of the flame thower that was tagging along to warm the tea after the battle was over. I am cack-handed though I suppose, that might account for some of my difficulty.

I'm not so keen on being able to click on a unit in an order of battle and have the game focus on that unit though. I can see the convenience of it but as a total noob' I often lost some units through not being able to find them. I rationalised it away as "well, sometimes a commander just doesn't know where his units are...". I realise now that there are other aids like bases and increasing the size of units that help find them bu those first impressions counted for a lot in my conception of what the game is. I'm not sure if anybody else sees it the same way but I think I'd miss that, it's part of why I got so keen on making plans in the first place.

[vbfg]

Plus of course the obligatory request for a full game playback, preferably viewable from the perspective of whichever unit you choose as per the current playback now. Thanks in advance.