SNEAK PREVIEW

[AUSSIEJEFF]

Originally posted by Seanachai:

Good Lord! I posted my own, completely satirical remarks to Rune before I read some of the borderline acrimonious posts on this thread, and I now withdraw even my 'kidding' remarks.

Good on you, Rune, for being excited enough about this game to make an effort to share it with others. I certainly understand that desire. It's that feeling of 'involvement' with this game that has led to my involvement with a community of people, many of whom I've never met, and others of whom I've had straight into my own home, to stay for several days, because I've met them through playing CM.

I certainly understand people's anxiousness to see the game. And I can even appreciate that some might be tired of seeing 'teasers' from those more in the know. But keep in mind that these people are 'excited' about a game we've all been waiting for, and they are also excited for us, their community. You know they want to get on here, and tell us all about it, because they're sure that we're going to love it, and they want to let us know that we're not wrong.

But of course, they can't. Because things may change, and no one wants to see people posting on release stuff like 'hey, I was unofficially told by someone that xyz would be so, and it's not, what the hell's with that?', or 'BFC has betrayed my trust, and defiled the honour of my family because I was absolutely promised pre-release that my anxiety over some obscure but significant bit of complete idiocy that was as important to me as oxygen was completely groundless, and now I don't see it here. I will never cease posting death threats as a result of this treachery.'

So I, for one, will simply wait. Perhaps, as a member of the Peng Challenge I have a slightly different perspective. Because I'm used to a certain level of teasing, and taunting, and even unseemly gloating. But I know it's coming from people I know and like, just as I know that what Rune was doing here was sharing his excitement with the Community, in the only way he truly could.

So remember, lads, we're not kept in the dark out of malice, and we're not being teased by those who've got inside information. We're dealing with a 'work in progress, subject to change', and the excitement of our fellows over a game that they can't wait to share with us.

Also, most of us are kept in the dark because we're a lot of worthless tossers and halfwits who couldn't be trusted with a burnt out match.

And I wouldn't want it any other way.

Good grief!! Now look what you've done Seanachai - you've gone and made me agree with most of your sentiment!

I'd also like to add MY 2<SUP>c</SUP> worth and say that the support by all BFC members in the form of feedback and monitoring of these forums is simply outstanding!!

I for one CAN wait. Rome wasn't built in a day .... or somefink like that!! Steve has promised it will be out before Thanksgiving. That gives you AT MOST, four months to prepare yer hardware - in all reality, probably much less. So button up and hunker down. The light is fast approaching at the end of the tunnel...

AJ

[rune]

Since I hosted, I will answer...

Yes, I did the same with CMBO, hellfish came to my house after I demoed cmbo for a bunch of people. I just did this with CMBB also.

The promise to keep certain things secret was based on units that aren't done, some features we want to be a surprise on release, and scenarios which I am still working on. I told the users to be honest, if they thought something sucked, say so.

If you feel you are being teased, it is quite easy. As Steve said, I just won't do these anymore. It was done because people asked for news, and I thought a fresh perspective is always good. Obviously a few of you don't think so. May I suggest not reading the thread, and let the people who do want to hear from someone else read this? I will flag a Thread do not read-game spoilers so you don't feel like you are being teased IF I ever do this again.

Obviosly, there are quite a few here reading this and enjoying hearing from a new perspective. I told the few that came here, that gameplay comments can be said, everything positive or negative. Just the above and features still being tested could not be talked about. Dan explained it weel, if something was seen, talked about then cut, the whining we would hear is more then this whining.

Oh yeah, Rune gave up his 4th also...notice no one complaining gave a **** about that either.

To the few that made it, enjoyed having you over and putting you to work a little. It was great seeing the expressions on your faces. Now I have to get back to work, but it was a pleasure having you over.

Rune

[Andreas]

Well said Rune, and Seanachai. You obviously can't make it right for some people, no matter what you do.

[_Axe_]

Thanks Steve for your and everyone else at Battlefront's hard work.

As I wait I play CMBO.

If only every other wait in life (doctor's office, tax refund, Guinness to settle) were as pleasant.

Jason

[Kanonier Reichmann]

Just one request from the guys at BFC. Can you perhaps delay the release of CMBB until the Aussie dollar gains just a bit more in value against the American one? Timing is all important.

(Ducks for cover)

Regards

Jim R.

[Hoopenfaust2]

What grass mod did you guys use at Rune's house?

Waiting for CMBB is tough (especially hearing about it from other posts) but hearing little things at a time makes my imagination run wild. BFC will put out a superior product some time soon and ALL of us will be happy.

Take a deep breath, chill out. CMBO still takes up 2 hours of my life everyday, I could play it for another 3 months.

Cheers

Brett

[ July 05, 2002, 08:11 AM: Message edited by: Hoopenfaust 101 ]

[Ozzy]

Originally posted by AussieJeff:

I for one CAN wait. Rome wasn't built in a day .... or somefink like that!! Steve has promised it will be out before Thanksgiving. That gives you AT MOST, four months to prepare yer hardware - in all reality, probably much less. So button up and hunker down. The light is fast approaching at the end of the tunnel...

Bah, Earth and Universe were created in 7 days!!

Which leads to the conclusion that CM:BB must be an uber-creation or somefink... :eek:

[Sig]

Originally posted by Ozzy:

Bah, Earth and Universe were created in 7 days!!

Which leads to the conclusion that CM:BB must be an uber-creation or somefink... :eek:

Aaaarrrgh, heathen! You forgot SUNDAY when God got a little nap! NO work that day, you ultra-liberal globalizing CM fanatic .

Sig

[aka_tom_w]

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

Guys,

We have our own reasons for keeping some aspects of the game, SPECIFIC aspects, close to our chest... perhaps it is because we don't want EVERYTHING about your first play with it just a recounting of what was said on this Forum or in articles. For your own good we are keeping some of the DETAILS away from general public viewing.

Now, if you don't want to hear GENERAL views of the game from fresh eyes, we can easily NOT host things like this in the future. However, I think the majority of people are thrilled to hear about some first impressions. You guys have been waiting a long time and thus far have only had our word, your faith, and a few screenshots to go on. Think of this as the start of the process of putting our money where our mouth is.

And why don't we just spill the beans about when the game will ship right now? Because we know what happens when we announce things. And because of that we have to choose our timing carefully for our sake as well as yours. No, we aren't your parents, but we have a bit of experience as to how things work

Also think to yourselves... "if they are showing the game to a few non-testers, might they be coming near the end of the development cycle?". You're a pretty smart bunch, so I'll let you answer that for yourselves. And no, you will not have to wait for Thanksgiving to see if the wait is worth it, no matter how much Michael wants to compare us to WKRP

Steve

Thanks Steve!

I'm THRILLED Rune Offered and Hosted the Sneak Peak, I'm really aprreciative that some folks could make it out to Chicago and that they have posted (and are posting) their thoughts and opinions. I would hope the negativity and whinning will wain, as more info comes out of the folks who saw it. I totally respect the NDA nature of some of the surprises there are in storre. I enjoy surprises and sort of like "Spoiler Alerts" (or the lack thereof) on certian posts I thank RUNE and BFC for NOT spoiling my first impression of the game.

NOW the Next challenge is to GET the damn game before EVERYONE and their brother gets the game and starts posting ALL the cool new features to the forum, in the form of SPOILERS ( :mad: grrr!), thus spoiling the surprises for those who DO not have the game yet.

So this post is a distant early warning APPEAL to those folks who get the game first to POST BIG "you know, so you CAN'T MISS IT!" Spoiler ALERTS on their posts so we can all enjoy the same thrills and surprises the FIRST time we get the game.

I do truly hope the faithful here will be among the first to receive their copies of the game. Who are the faithful? I believe there are ALOT of us and I would say ANYONE who preordered CMBO are among the faithful and they should all be amongst the first to have the opportunity to buy and play CMBB.

That aside, lets not forget about SPOILER ALERTS when CMBB comes out so we all get share the same thrill those folks at Rune's house got yesterday!

I thank Steve and Rune and BFC for their strict NDA policy! AND I'm thrilled to hear that 88 mm AT gun on defence REALLY can "Reach out and touch someone" with regard to that reference of 10 (!) KO'd tanks on its "BRAG" sheet!

Keep up the Good work!

AND THANKS!

-tom w

[ July 05, 2002, 10:42 AM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

[Ozzy]

Originally posted by Sig:

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

Bah, Earth and Universe were created in 7 days!!

Which leads to the conclusion that CM:BB must be an uber-creation or somefink... :eek:

Aaaarrrgh, heathen! You forgot SUNDAY when God got a little nap! NO work that day, you ultra-liberal globalizing CM fanatic .

Sig</font>

[Michael Dorosh]

<font size=22>APOLOGY</FONT>

First of all, I am gratified that ASL Vet and Gyrene saw things through a similar lens as I and were brave enough to express their views here.

I certainly do have an enormous amount of respect for rune, as a scenario designer, serious researcher, and as a man in general, and I have no doubts that his intentions were honourable. Yes, he should be thanked for his generousity.

I just wanted to clarify some of the feelings that I (and apparently others) have had about some of the goings on regarding release of game information.

Had I known rune had done this with CMBO with, as Berli says, no negative feedback, then I probably would not have opened my big "mouth".

Nonetheless, while I do enjoy the occasional piece of info - the screenshots of the new faces and German helmets were great, for example - put me in the camp that really doesn't want to see reference to "this is going to be really cool, but we can't tell you what it is yet."

We KNOW BFC is really working hard on putting out an exquisite product, and despite my frequency of posting, I really do have other things in my life than waiting for a game, so I do have some patience. You don't need to remind us CMBB is going to be great, we know that. I suppose it is a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Tough!

Anyway, no offence intended, though you gotta admit - just thinking about those turkeys is still enough to make one smile.

With God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!

[ July 05, 2002, 08:59 AM: Message edited by: Michael Dorosh ]

[CrapGame]

Appalling. Absolutely appalling. The fact that a gentleman would open his home to complete strangers in this era to let them get a taste of something that isn't quite finished yet, and then gets lambasted for doing so, makes me sick to my stomach. Gratitude is becoming more rare than sushi these days.

People complaining that too much "teasing" is being done by the guys at bfc are being ridiculous. If you don't want the samples, why log on to the forum every day? You know the occasional bone is being tossed, and even better are the events like Rune's place.

[ July 05, 2002, 09:22 AM: Message edited by: CrapGame ]

[kgsan]

In the spirit of Mr. Dorosh's effort to change the tone arouund here:

Originally posted by Michael Dorosh:

[QB]<font size=22>APOLOGY</FONT>

" . . . you gotta admit - just thinking about those turkeys is still enough to make one smile: 'With God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly'"

I don't think I ever saw that WKRP episode, but judging by Mr. Dorosh's quote I think I can imagine what happened. It reminded me of another bird-brained incident that really did occur.

Did anyone here see the opening ceremony of the Seoul olympics? I was in college at the time and happened to wander down to the dorm lounge, where we had a TV, one night just as the opening ceremonies were reaching their final climactic moment. The Olympic's PR geniuses released from the floor of the stadium a flock of what appeared to be hundreds of doves as a symbol of world peace, love, etc.

Well, birds being birds, rather than fly trimphantly out of the stadium as scripted, most of them headed for a comfortable place to sit, which happened to be on the edge of a large bowl sitting atop a giant tower, shaped, although I doubt the doves appreciated it, like a gigantic torch. A few moments later the said torch was ignited and voila: roast dove anyone?

I'm sure the guy who dreamed the stunt up thought that it sounded like a good idea at the time.

[phancucchin@aol.com]

I have questions about gameplay;

1.how do 'hulldown move' behave? do the player show the tank a place to hull down the vehicle?

2. do the infantry that have the morale concern move toward the enemy still? do they move away now?

3. the human wave commanding have the long delays?

4.machineguns with the water cooling features fire constant?

my english is poor but i hope the questions are simple. if the answer is the secret, many apologies.

[Ted]

Steve good to hear from you on the board again. It’s been a long time.

Maybe you should use a good grass mod for around your house. One that you won’t have to mow so often.

Maybe you should do what rune is doing and have a mow the lawn, fix the doors, expand the office, CMBB sneak peak party.

I’ll bring the lobstah’s

[aka_tom_w]

Originally posted by Ted:

Steve good to hear from you on the board again. It’s been a long time.

Maybe you should use a good grass mod for around your house. One that you won’t have to mow so often.

Maybe you should do what rune is doing and have a mow the lawn, fix the doors, expand the office, CMBB sneak peak party.

I’ll bring the lobstah’s

That's actually a GREAT idea, in the spirit of the "country style" barn raising Steve could host a "sneak Peak Party that would include the kind folks and fans of CMBB coming over to his house to help out with the chores.

While I don't live close to Steve maybe some other kind folks do and maybe they wouldn't mind helping out with the chores in return for a sneak peak at CMBB?? Steve if you ask this community for a helping hand with the chores, I'm sure at least a few folks would show up to help you out

Just a Thought

-tom w

[Wreck]

Will mow for CMBB!

[rune]

DANG IT....why didn't I think of that?

Grog Dorosh, no harm, no foul. As Tom stated, I know there are people who want surprises, it was not meant as a "Its cool but we can't talk about it". They may answer questions on gameplay, positive or negative, just that Dan is still working on some of the models, and you haven't lived until you have seen a Panzer IIIJ that looks likes it was on LSD in the 60s. Also I told them no specifics on units [Tanks], as they are still being worked on. I am sure you will see more posts coming from them.

To answer some questions:

We ran it on two computers networked so they could play tcp/ip. First computer is a Pentium 800, 256megs of memory with a GeForce 3TI. The second computer was a Pentium 266, GeForce card, with 512 megs of memory. Both ran the scenarios that were picked flawlessly. I picked one gor them to play 2 person, and 2 others they got to pick at random.

Hulldown, you select a place you want to be hulldown to, and the tank will go along the line to find a hulldown place.

I will let the other answer what they remember. Better sometimes to get things from a neutral third party.

Oh yeah, that was the funniest episode of WKRP I have ever seen. Imagine Les Nessman reporting like the Hindenburg the turkays falling from an airplane. "Oh the humanity of it all..."

Rune

[Wreck]

Steve, get back to work!

Seriously I think the silent majority are happy to wait, or at least, not unhappy. A little grumbling is expected; ignore it. Nothing to see here. These aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along.

[Louie the Toad]

To those who were lucky enough to occupy Rune's forward observation post yesterday, I have some questions to which I hope you will (can) reply:

1. Tell us more about the tank command control.

Were you able to compare German and Russian.

2. Were there any totally new units that we have not experienced before --- you know, LIKE motorcycles or horses (sorry)---- ducking.

3. Describe covered arcs.

4. How well did the 'find hull down' command work?

5. And the effect I have been waiting for: did tank brew ups include flying turrets?

Thanks...

If the game comes out while I am traveling on vacation I will simply know it from feeling a disturbance in the Force.

Obi Wan Toad

[Guest Panzer Boxb]

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

And remember, while you guys have been sitting around waiting for CMBB to release, we who are working on it have had pretty much no lives. Come to my house, see the broken front door, the busted back screen door, the 3 foot high grass around my driveway, the craphole that is my office, and me sitting alone in my house on the 4th of July while my family is sun tanning themselves at our family camp while I put in yet another 20 hour work day and then perhaps you will understand that you have the easier job here.

Hey, anyone else up for a "Let's go do Steve's housework so he can work on CMBB more" road trip? (That is said only one quarter jokingly!)

[Ron]

No question some people need to get a little (or a lot) perspective here, incredible reactions really. But on to the GAME!

1 - Can anyone comment on the differences between playing the German/Russian forces? Specifically command and control for armor/infantry. Did the loss of a Russian armor platoon leader have a noticeable effect on on the rest? I'm thinking more spotting and reactions here, not just command delay.

2 - Any concrete examples of Extreme FOW? Vehicle Morale?

3 - An example was given of an 88 getting 10 KO's, is there any change to how AT guns and also MGs are spotted? Camoflauge?

4 - Any new technical additions to AFVs that can be mentioned? I'm thinking of a more granular target aspect/silhouette/hulldown factor.

Thanks for the posts and info on CMBB from the guys who were lucky enough to see it in action. Looking forward to hearing more! And thanks to BTS and Rune most especially for giving this sneak peak, kudos.

Ron

EDIT: I forgot to ask, maybe the most important question, did anyone experience playing the AI? Any noticeable changes to the TacAI behaviour? I know probably hard to discern with so many cool features to grab your attention.

[ July 05, 2002, 11:25 AM: Message edited by: Ron ]

[Combat Engineer]

It would seem to me that the ones being teased here are the one's that actually made it to the party. Could you imagine having to go home and play CM:BO after that? Might be rough according to some of the descriptions ( I believe "cartoonish" was an adjective used by one of the gentlemen to describe how CMBO looked in comparison with CMBB).

Anyway, I have a few questions for the lucky guys who have "sampled" the new incarnation.

1. How is movement handled? I always found the way I plot vehicle after and vehicle on a road to be tiresome. Also the AI sometimes has a mind of its own in this regard, that can really frustrate me when I'm trying to go around building and such. Any improvements?

2. Can you actually see out of buildings with your troops? This seems very abstract to me in CMBO.

3. And also, as someone else asked but I did not see answered, how does the "seek hull down" command work? Very curious.

[The_Capt]

Ahh the sweet stench of marketing....

If there is a more souless occupation I haven't seen it yet.

OK my turn.

First of all what all you monkeys have to realize that though CM may be our substitute for sex, sunlight, life fulfilment..whatever.

To BFC, BTS, BST..whatever, it is a business. And businesses, though the needs of desperate nerds like us may be in forefront in their minds, like to make a thing called money.

So we have CM. Big gamble at the start and Steve and gang hit paydirt. "Ta Da" a niche market with overlapping comsumer base.

They made good and could afford to exploit their market penetration (uhuhuhu He said "penetration") by developing another game. Not an add on but a whole new step forward.

Now here is the thing BTC (or whatever) has competition and it is beginning to heat up in the kitchen.

G.I. Combat is but the first which is going to begin to crowd into this territory. So now Steve and gang have to behave, quite rightly, like there is competition. (BTW fellas if you don't..you should). So release dates become very important. It tells the other guy when you are ready and allows them to work off of that.

Now G.I. Combat is due out Nov this year, probably will be part of the X-mas blitz.

So BFC is going to have to release before that in order to get a jump on. It should be early enough to allow their consumer base time to save up and buy both. Cause nobody wants to force the consumer to choose in a niche market.

I would say Sep is about as late as they can leave it but I do not have access to their customer demographic database.

BUT if BC goes ahead and starts to blab about such and such a date. It first of all gives away their development time and also gives initiative to the other guys. As well as leads to a lot of bugging from this forum which can be a pain.

Now the lads aren't stupid, or if they are, they are lucky which is almost better. The Sneak Preview happened because it was a marketing ploy. Yup that is right, we have all just been targeted..how did it feel?

Now unless NDAs were signed and I doubt they were, word is going to leak out on the game and what it can do and probably when it will be ready. BUT BTS is comfortable about that and really would like word of mouth to do its magic. I suspect because the lads lack the big budget marketing money the competition might have.

So the bottom line is settle. This is all part of the process. BFC has invested a hell of a lot into this game and they can do what they think is best. If you don't like hints or suspense go do something else.

BFC has good reasons for what they are doing (if being a little Col Flag-like at times) and they also have good reasons not to make public what they are doing.

I guess the question is do you want BFC to get wiped out in a few yrs. If Bill Gates and his Stormtroopers marched in and added sunflare, tracer richochette and dust along with the same game for $45 bucks at Wal-Mart, half this freakin board will leave and then another small gaming company will fold or be bought out.

We will lose a lot, the personal touch in particular.

So settle..Sep at the latest or they are going to hurt themselves. Now go play CMBO or maybe even go outside...

Just a few words from your local marketing slimeball..

[Dirtweasle]

You elitist swine! I demand that the glorious Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul be given parity with Chicago...

Not possible oh Cold One of the North. First; All the fair citizens of Minne-So-Cold would have to learn to speak with a completley different nasal tonality. Additionaly you would be required to live through two separate Daly Mayoral administrations, riots in the streets, as well as other cultural experiences.

Speaking of the cold frozen lanscapes of Minnesota... Can anyone talk about the extreme cold weather types? The look and feel of the frozen steppes? Oh, and has there been any change to the LOS tool?