Zulu Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 I was wondering if CMBB will take advantage of the "average" current computers processing power. I remember the debates over a year ago about why CM only shows 3 man squads, had limited inf. movement animations, etc. Then I had a look at GI Combat and said, "Hot damn, Close Combat in 3d" I'm not going to sing praises about my enthusiasm for GI Combat other than to say if sure looks like it will have a place on my hd in addition to CMBB. IMO CC2 still ranks up there with CM as the top ground war-games. This leads to the question that my take on the "average" computer nowadays is probably 566MHz+ with 32 meg ram and a decent video card. Processors are cheap, ram is cheap, storage is cheap. Being that CM had minimum specs of I believe a 166 processor with 32meg ram and an 8 meg video card, nowadays a 166 computer is basically a boat anchor. You would have a hard time giving one away(I've got a Compaq 133 that even the local school didn't want). So will CMBB take advantage of the added processing power? Will it have better inf. animations? More inf being shown? How about random/better armor damage animations showing instead of a drooping muzzle, the turret gets blown off? Maybe a variable game timer. What I mean is that it would have a range of say 30 sec to 2 min. I would use the longer time interval for no contact movements. I would use the 30 sec for some contact movements. Its sometimes frustrating when you have a movement plotted, i.e. a vehicle/squad that comes in contact at the beginning of a turn. The AI, while very good, is not perfect, and this can get the vehicle/squad killed where a shorter time period would allow you to change the path/action and maybe save the unit. Ya I know its micromanaging but it would some add variety to the game. Further, the larger time limit could be locked in to better represent a overall brigade commander. (No micromanaging) Other Thoughts How about getting a tank to aim at a specific point. For example, if I’ve got a T34 that stumbles across a Kingtiger, the T34 has no chance of killing it from the front. However, depending on the distance, the T34 could told to specifically aim at the tracks to disable the tank instead of harmlessly bouncing 3 or 4 shells of the front armor. Once disabled it can be bypassed (effectively killed) The FAQ shows tank platoons available. Will we be able to choose automatic deployment formations? I.e. Wedge, vee, columns? Same for inf. Will the Assault command apply to armor? This would give you a sort of Overwatch armor movement command. How about a shoot at last known position logic? This would be used when the enemy armor pops smoke just at you are ready to shoot. You have already shot or have aimed and are ready to fire but will not because of lost LOS. In the 5 or 10 sec how far can the enemy vehicle have traveled? Shoot 1 shell at last known position and then look for more targets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmatt Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 So will CMBB take advantage of the added processing power? YES, the system and VRAM requirements are higher than in CMBO. Maps can be bigger (up to 9km square), and graphics across the board are much more detailed. Will it have better inf. animations? More inf being shown? NO, to do so with the existing codebase is INCREDIBLY time consuming and the payoff is not worth the investment in time. How about random/better armor damage animations showing instead of a drooping muzzle, the turret gets blown off? Maybe, but nothing too extreme like turrets being popped off. We have already added some graphic flourishs to shell impacts on armor for example. Maybe a variable game timer. What I mean is that it would have a range of say 30 sec to 2 min. I would use the longer time interval for no contact movements. Never! Combat Mission is designed from the ground up for 60 second turn resultions and executions. That will not change. How about getting a tank to aim at a specific point. For example, if Ive got a T34 that stumbles across a Kingtiger, the T34 has no chance of killing it from the front. However, depending on the distance, the T34 could told to specifically aim at the tracks to disable the tank instead of harmlessly bouncing 3 or 4 shells of the front armor. Once disabled it can be bypassed (effectively killed) That is way too specific of a decission to be made by the player who is in a Company or higher command role by design. In your example by the way, how would hitting the tracks on the KT do anything for the T-34 other than alert the KT of its presense? In reality the T-34's best course of action would be to get the hell outa there before the KT noticed him. In CMBB there is vehicle morale modeled now and such a thing COULD in fact happen (getting scared and running, that is). Vehicles will however switch to HE from time to time if they see that AP is not doing the trick, the idea being that they might in fact damage the gun or tracks with HE so what you want is already occuring, although out of control of the player. The FAQ shows tank platoons available. Will we be able to choose automatic deployment formations? I.e. Wedge, vee, columns? Same for inf. NO Will the Assault command apply to armor? This would give you a sort of Overwatch armor movement command. There are several new commands for armor which will allow for Overwatch behavior including the new Shoot and Scoot command. How about a shoot at last known position logic? That can be accomplished by using the Cover Arc commands. Madmatt [ February 01, 2002, 01:03 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zitadelle Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 Matt stated: That is way too specific of a decission to be made by the player who is in a Company or higher command role by design. In your example by the way, how would hitting the tracks on the KT do anything for the T-34 other than alert the KT of its presense? In reality the T-34's best course of action would be to get the hell outa there before the KT noticed him. In CMBB there is vehicle morale modeled now and such a thing COULD in fact happen (getting scared and running, that is).I think I have already seen armor units behave intelligently like this in CMBO. On several occasions, I've seen light armor move out of the LOS of heavier armor units before they have gotten plugged. During 'Move It or Lose It,' my American armored recce units moved out of the LOS of a StuG III and later a halftrack tried to move out of the LOS of a PzKW IVH (it was not as lucky...). In a Hurtgen Forest scenario, the computer TACAI controlled light armor is quickly moving out of the LOS of my Tiger IE. Unfortunately, the turret rotation is so slooow, the cat cannot engage the faster armor between the open LOS zones in the trees. I'll remember that for future deploy of big cats.... Anyway, I definitely approve of this built in intelligence. A strong appeal to CMBO is you can give units orders, but they will still tend to follow their own interests and worries. Don't make this another RTS piece of crap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmatt Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 Originally posted by Zitadelle: Matt stated: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />That is way too specific of a decission to be made by the player who is in a Company or higher command role by design. In your example by the way, how would hitting the tracks on the KT do anything for the T-34 other than alert the KT of its presense? In reality the T-34's best course of action would be to get the hell outa there before the KT noticed him. In CMBB there is vehicle morale modeled now and such a thing COULD in fact happen (getting scared and running, that is).I think I have already seen armor units behave intelligently like this in CMBO. On several occasions, I've seen light armor move out of the LOS of heavier armor units before they have gotten plugged. During 'Move It or Lose It,' my American armored recce units moved out of the LOS of a StuG III and later a halftrack tried to move out of the LOS of a PzKW IVH (it was not as lucky...). In a Hurtgen Forest scenario, the computer TACAI controlled light armor is quickly moving out of the LOS of my Tiger IE. Unfortunately, the turret rotation is so slooow, the cat cannot engage the faster armor between the open LOS zones in the trees. I'll remember that for future deploy of big cats.... Anyway, I definitely approve of this built in intelligence. A strong appeal to CMBO is you can give units orders, but they will still tend to follow their own interests and worries. Don't make this another RTS piece of crap!</font> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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