Guderian129 Posted June 24, 2003 Posted June 24, 2003 Well, placed my order on Sunday for the bundle pack. It just arrived on Tuesday. Two business days. Extremely impressed and pleased, truly cannot wait to start on these games. Only problem is.. Do I start with BO or BB first? Gah! - Guderian 0 Quote
Lou2000 Posted June 24, 2003 Posted June 24, 2003 Guderian, Welcome to the wonderful world of CM. You can pack the rest of your life away now and uninstall all your other software as you wont be needing them anymore I'd go straight for BB ... but thats just me ! 0 Quote
flamingknives Posted June 24, 2003 Posted June 24, 2003 BO is simpler and hence easier to get into. BB is more realistic, but that makes infantry movement a pain, which can be disheartening. 0 Quote
flamingknives Posted June 24, 2003 Posted June 24, 2003 flamingdoublepost :mad: [ June 24, 2003, 03:19 PM: Message edited by: flamingknives ] 0 Quote
wbs Posted June 24, 2003 Posted June 24, 2003 From Guderian129: Well, placed my order on Sunday for the bundle pack. It just arrived on Tuesday. Two business days. (sigh) Two business days.....You are so damn lucky! Not like it was in the old days (2001), when it took longer. 0 Quote
Doodlebug Posted June 24, 2003 Posted June 24, 2003 Originally posted by flamingknives: flamingknivesdoublepost :mad: ? 0 Quote
Guderian129 Posted June 24, 2003 Author Posted June 24, 2003 Well, played my first game just now. (American tutorial, I don't think I'm quite yet ready to handle the tactics and large scale fights of the Eastern Front) and I must say, I'm impressed! Graphics arn't the best I've seen, but who cares? I truly don't remember the last time I was on the edge of my seat when playing a strategy game. I did have my reservations. Traditional war games (Europe in Flames) where fun, but they were a bit dry and not very addicting. This one.. Well, the tutorial, both my tanks were knocked out and I was on the edge of my seat trying to advance slowly and knock out the German armor with my bazookas.. Failed miserably. Tried it again and this time I managed to win. Truly, I'm pressed. Worth the $72.00 that the two cost. Great game, I don't see myself going back to any others for quite some time! Really eager to do some multi-player games, I'm just terrible right now. Way to used too games such as Close Combat (while similiar, this one is a LOT more realistic), but until then.. Great job BF.C!! I'll be definatly looking into CMAK!! - Guderian 0 Quote
moneymaxx Posted June 24, 2003 Posted June 24, 2003 I'm lazy, so I just adapted one of my posts to answer your question wether you should play CMBO first or not. Your objective: You have to move a infantry platoon out of a wood over 300m flat, open ground to destroy the last remaining enemy MG in a heavy building, it’s windy. You’ve got the infantry platoon 2 light mortars with smoke shells, a light infantry gun and a jeep (the jeep and gun are 600m away and don’t have Line Of Sight to the MG). Tactic class A(mateur) You give your inf platoon orders to boldly charge the heavy building while everybody else has a coffee break and press go. Result: the platoon charges, the enemy MG opens fire, your platoon drops to the ground, is pinned then panics and tries to get back to the woods while being shot at. A total failure . Tactic class B(etter) The same as above but this time the mortars fire smoke shells in front of the house to block LOS and you give your platoon to wait some seconds before charging so that the smoke screen can build up. Result: The platoon charges, the enemy MG can’t see a thing because of the smoke, your platoon nearly makes it to the house but then the smoke screen disappears because it’s windy (this is not modelled in CMBO where smoke screens disappear after a set time). The MG opens fire and causes some casualties but half your men make it to the house and take out the MG in close combat. A success but you lost many men. Tactic class C(rack) If you have time to do so (all battles have a turn limit) you could embark the light gun on the jeep drive it out of LOS of the MG to the woods where your infantry is waiting, disembark the gun, move them into the woods (all the time you have to make sure that the MG can’t see the gun!), fire smoke in front of the house EDIT: with the mortars, move the gun forward so that it would have LOS to the house if the smoke screen wasn’t there. When the smoke clears you have everybody fire on the house. The mortar HE (high explosive) shells and your inf platoon might not inflict any damage because the MG is in a heavy building but they might keep their heads down while your gun is pumping one HE shell after another into the house, which after a while will result in a dead MG. A lot of work, but if you’re lucky you don’t loose 1 man. CMBB is the more realistic game, therefore it is less forgiving and sometimes only the class C tactics can be used, which might be a lot of work. In CMBO even class A tactics might work (with very heavy losses) since infantry is more robust and MGs less deadly. I think CMBO is a good game for the beginner and might be considered a tutorial for CMBB. 0 Quote
moneymaxx Posted June 24, 2003 Posted June 24, 2003 Originally posted by Guderian129: Graphics arn't the best I've seen, but who cares? I truly don't remember the last time I was on the edge of my seat when playing a strategy game. - Guderian [/QB]You've been assimilated . I don't know which version of CMBO they ship in the bundle pack, since there are 2. There is a second edition of CMBO with improved graphics that BF.C recently started to sell in stores. If you recieved the first edition, don't worry, you can upgrade the graphics to be exactly or even better than the second edition of CMBO (If you already have the second edition then the graphics can't be improved much more). This is called modding and is quite easy. What it does is replace the original textures of the 3d models and the original sounds with new, better ones. I add some links where you can find mods. http://www.cmoutpost.net/lists/cmbo_german/pzva.htm I linked directly to a page with Panzer VA Panther mods, at the top of the page you can see the original textures (CMBO first edition) and underneath the textures you can choose. AFAIK you can have 1 summer and 1 winter version of a tank/vehicle etc. at a time. Installing a mod will OVERWRITE the textures you had before, so you should make a backup of the textures in case you want to go back to the version you had (.bmp files in the bmp directory). http://www.combatmission.com/MDMP/mdmp.asp AFAIK those mods of textures and sounds were made by some people of BF.C, I don't know if they are official. The site has a lot more mods to choose from, especially nice are some grass and tree textures. http://www.cmmods.com/ I think that this is THE site for CMBO and CMBB mods, I find it a little bit difficult to find what I want but you sure should bookmark it. Should you run out of scenarios/operations you can find new, user made ones here http://ns9.super-hosts.com/~dragonlair.net/combatmission/ There are more than 1100 for CMBO and ovcer 400 for CMBB, that should keep you busy for a while . René 0 Quote
Guderian129 Posted June 24, 2003 Author Posted June 24, 2003 Thanks for the replies guys (and expecially thanks for those links, I'll be definatly looking into the mods). I got the 1.21 (I believe) of CMB0. Not sure if it's improved graphics or not, but I'll check the mod sites and just compare screen shots. Going to get into CMBO if it is the "trainer" so to speak. My experience with strategy games has been the RTS "clickfest" games (C&C and WarCraft) you know, no strategy just swarming with tanks or orcs. Fun, but eh. Either, the game rocks! Gotta go play some more! - Guderian 0 Quote
Ligur Posted June 25, 2003 Posted June 25, 2003 Slap on the mods, you'll be surprised how totally, utterly the game changes how it looks. There are two sites you want to get most of your CM:BO mods out of easily, these: http://www.cmoutpost.net/ http://www.combatmission.com/ A short list of good CM:BO mods that were on everyones top 20 when CM:BB wasn't here yet: - Ardennes mod for winter terrain: http://www.militarygameronline.com/TCMHQ/International.html - Panzertruppens buildings @ http://www.combatmission.com/mods/terrain.asp - DD's full foliage and terrain mods @ http://www.combatmission.com/mods/grass.asp - New small arms, explosions, and photorealistic sky @ http://www.combatmission.com/mods/sfx.asp - Optional terrains and many of the other good mods @ http://www.cmoutpost.net/ - Mad-Dog's mod pack 2 @ http://www.combatmission.com/MDMP/mdmp2.asp (the Mad-Dog mod pack 1 is not so impressive, its very old) for a variety pack, check out what you want and what you don't. Then you will want to REALLY upgrade vehicles. There were some masters who modded just about the whole CM:BO list of equipment and were the best of the time by far. Install every CMBO vehicle mod you can find made by the following masters of CM:BO fame: - Marco Bergman - Gordon Molek - Fernando J Carrera Buil - Andrew Fox And Makjager, Juju and Tiger (for older, low-res and some rare vehicles plus bunkers and whatnot) on those sites. You should be set to go with about 400% improvement on graphics. It really improves immersion. When you think you can handle the moral hit you take when infantry just d o e s NOT m o v e and Russian tanks never hit anything while German armor, any armor, beats the crap out of anything Russian start playing CM:BB, in a while you'll be used to used to all of that and get the hang of playing with Eastern Front. CM:BB mods are mostly found at www.cmmods.com and for example MikeyD and AndrewTF are pretty incredible. Captain Wacky made good terrain mods that ease the use of your map. 0 Quote
tooz Posted June 25, 2003 Posted June 25, 2003 I would advise you to get your fill of CMBO before playing CMBB. If you are like me, once you start CMBB you'll find it difficult to return to BO. My theory is that by the time I burn out on BB CMAK will be available. Find "The Scenario Depot" with any search engine. More scenarios than you can play in a year, and new additions posted weekly. Welcome aboard. Check out all of the forums on CM, especially FAQs and tips. Remember, if your wife/girlfriend leave you, you'll just have more time to play! 0 Quote
Guderian129 Posted June 25, 2003 Author Posted June 25, 2003 Yeah, I just got the game and the girlfriend ALREADY is bugging me! Bah! Doesn't she understand I need a good 8 hours to break myself in!? Anyway, have a slight problem. Been downloading some mods (doing the photo-realistic sky now), but when I try to replace the existing files it states that it is write protected on the CD. Am I doing something wrong? I guess it is also worth mentioning that (with CMBO only) I never had to install it. In fact, I never had a choice. I went to my CD drive, clicked on it, thinking it would go to the auto-launch menu, but it just threw me into the game. Does that have anything to do with it? ANy ideas on how to put this mod in? Thanks in advance! - Guderian Also, I'd like to state that this is a pretty helpful forum. One of the better ones I've seen. Thanks for the welcome and help so far! 0 Quote
laxx Posted June 25, 2003 Posted June 25, 2003 guderian, Do play the most excellent scenario Chance Encounter in CMBO as Allies. After you have beaten the SMG and StuGs to pulp, play the scenario Chance Encounter in CMBB (download from CM Scenario Depot) as Germans. Without too much difficult, you should be able to win in both games. After that, play CE-CMBO as germans and CE-CMBB as Allies Good news about CE is that there are numerous write up about the scenario, how to win, how to overcome the opposition. When I first started CM, I printed out all the various AARs to learn... 0 Quote
GreenAsJade Posted June 25, 2003 Posted June 25, 2003 Unless your version is something different to the one I have (I bought direct from BFC), you definitely should install. You clearly can't write mods over the top of the CD Try turning off "autorun" for your CD player, then use "my computer" to "explore" the CD. Click on the "install" thingy you find in there (good technical explanation, eh?) You will need to end up with a directory called CMBO, usually under "Program Files", and in it there should be a directory called BMP. That's where the bitmap mods go. (All this assuming you're burdened with Windows. If you have the joy of Mac, then I can't help you 'cause I don't, but I expect its something similar). 0 Quote
Ligur Posted June 25, 2003 Posted June 25, 2003 Guderian, mang, you're playing straight from the CD? Hmm, I remember some Gurus who played the game out of the box with no computer... Anyway, like GaJ says there is a "setup.exe" or "install.exe" on the CD, explore the CD and run it to install the game on your harddrive. 0 Quote
Bogdan Posted June 25, 2003 Posted June 25, 2003 Originally posted by Guderian129: Great game, I don't see myself going back to any others for quite some time! He he he !! Welcome in the CM community, herr Guderian ! Like many other guys here, I think I'm totally intoxicated ! I have first installed CMBO in August 2001 and it is still on my hardrive now ! CMBB came out on my computer last year (september 2002) and these are the only games installed here ! Surelly the next one will be CMAK I suggest you to begin with CMBO : easier, instantly fun and enjoyable for the newbie that you are !! After some months (yes, months ! There is so many vehicles, units, terrains and tactics to explore !), open CMBB... ...and restart your CM training from the beginning Then, you will be completely adicted to the game. Me, for example, I wonder myself if I uninstall CMBO or not... You can imagine how CMBB has impressed me !! The first scenario I played was the CMBO tutorial. It was a failure : my two Shermans were in flames and my GI's pinned in the woods... Today, the victory is easier to get, but the scenario is still fun to play and make me a bit nervous when the panzers come ! In some months, please come back from the eastern front and retry this CMBO tutorial. Then come nostalgy All the best and enjoy CM 0 Quote
Guderian129 Posted June 25, 2003 Author Posted June 25, 2003 Well, finally installed it (one step at a time for me), put in the sky mod from the Combat Mission HQ website.. And BOOM! None of the scenarios or operations are available to play. Just "Quick Mission". Am I totally inept with computers (well modding at least!) or this a common problem? - Guderian 0 Quote
moneymaxx Posted June 25, 2003 Posted June 25, 2003 No, this is not a common problem. I wonder what happened. But we won't stop until you get what you want . First, if you got the time, uninstall CMBO to start again. Second, install it again. This should get you back from where you started. I'll send you an email to your adress and try to talk you through the process . 0 Quote
demoss Posted June 25, 2003 Posted June 25, 2003 When you think you can handle the moral hit you take when infantry just d o e s NOT m o v e and Russian tanks never hit anything while German armor, any armor, beats the crap out of anything Russian start playing CM:BB, in a while you'll be used to used to all of that and get the hang of playing with Eastern Front. Oh, it's not THAT bad. Russian infantry is generally superior at close range to German infantry (it's the SMGs), and from time to time the armor is reasonably even as well. 1942 and early 1943 is a great time to play with for fairly even armor matchups, and there are some to be had in 1941, though you'll see a lot of Russian junk in that period as well. More seriously, I'm torn on what to suggest here. You're probably best in the long run if you start with CMBB, because that way you won't have to unlearn tactics that, as others have pointed out, work in CMBO but don't in CMBB (or real life). On the other hand, if you start with CMBB, you might never want to go back to CMBO - I fall into this category, as do many other people. So go with what appeals to you. If Western Front late war action is what appeals, go for CMBO. If the Eastern Front is what you like, go for CMBB. They're both great. To me, one is significantly greater than the other, but your mileage may vary. 0 Quote
Ligur Posted June 25, 2003 Posted June 25, 2003 Originally posted by demoss: Oh, it's not THAT bad. No, its not nearly that bad by a mile but fresh from CM:BO last early winter it sure did feel that way... 0 Quote
Panzertruppe Posted June 25, 2003 Posted June 25, 2003 Welcome to the board Guderian 129! The easiest way to start modding your CMBO is to download some new terrain ( Madmatt's hi-res grass is a good start. Once you have better looking terrain the rest is fun and easy! I like to look threw the screen shots of the differnt vehical skins at Combat Mission HQ......then I play a "Quick Battle" and pick out the vehicals that I thought looked good modded and see if I would rather have the modded vehicals in my game instead of the original( the modded ones are 100 times better). Just enjoy your game and take the modding slowly and back up your BMP files in case you make a mistake! 0 Quote
Guderian129 Posted June 26, 2003 Author Posted June 26, 2003 Well, I finally know the game. I got the rules down ect. Got some nasty surprises.. Apparantly infantry can't fire rifles at a concrete bunker to supress the MG team (that killed a squad that was gonna run while getting covering fire!) and that infantry can't enter said bunker from behind to kill the conscript crew.. Doh! Downloaded all the sky mods (awesome!), smoke and fire mods (awesomer!), and the texture mods for grass and snow (awesomest!). Being on 56k, it was painful. I feel with all them mods I accomplished mods and fear the fact of doing it all again. Anyway, I tried the Carentan operation as the Germans. I knocked out 3 allied tanks and then found out I lost ground.. Kinda infuriating. Second time.. I take out an American platoon command squad and a whole slew of paratrooper divisions while only taking light casualties.. I lose MORE ground! After all that, I think I'm gonna get re-assigned to the Eastern Front! I've been itching to do battle in the brutal streets of Stalingrad. Thanks everyone for your help and advice! I hope I havn't made myself too annoying. You've all been invaluable in helping me enjoy this great game! - Guderian 0 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.