Shep Posted May 14, 2002 Share Posted May 14, 2002 Pak40, note that this thread began six or seven weeks ago, and that Moon's reply to my request is dated back in the third week of March. There's no telling when the game will come out because of BTS's strict "when it's done" policy, but I have the feeling we will be playing it before mid to late fall. For what it's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSpkr Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 Originally posted by Sir Augustus: I don't think it would be possible. It would just take up too much disk space.Nahh. I would imagine you would have the option as to whether or not to record a full game or not. Besides, that is what 20Gb+ Hard Drives are for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl Carrot Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 Originally posted by MrSpkr: Besides, that is what 20Gb+ Hard Drives are for.Do you have a spare one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zukkov Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 full movie playback!? wow! that would be so awesome! i know i could get lots of guys to buy it with that feature! not that i'm trying to pressure bts into adding an "unnecessary" feature. but that would be awesome! i agree with those that say don't hold up releasing the game to add the feature. release it on schedule(whatever that is) and add it later. too cool!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer_Meyer Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 20GIG hard drives are about 50 bucks. You can get a 40 gig for around a 100 bucks. Not to bad of a price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Saunders Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 Originally posted by zukkov: i know i could get lots of guys to buy it with that feature! not that i'm trying to pressure bts into adding an "unnecessary" feature.A feature that gets more people to buy the game could not possibly be "unnecessary". Can't pay the rent with a smile and a sub-machine gun! -Sarge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanonier Reichmann Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 I'd certainly pay extra for the movie payback feature. BTW, anyone taking bets on game day release. I'm betting 22nd June for some strange reason. Regards Jim R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karch Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 I think a lot of people have the "movie playback" feature wrong. It is not a Quicktime/AVI file you can play on anyone's computer or post on a website. It would be file that would tell the CMBB program what happens in the scenario from beginning to end. You can change perspective in CM, change elevation, change which units you are looking at, then rewind and watch the same time from a different unit. It would only be good for people that already own the game... or maybe playable with the demo version if BTS codes it well, then anyone could watch a saved game even without buying it. But it wouldn't be a plain movie file. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meyerpflug Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 I wasn't thinking about the "movie playback" feature as Karch explained it. It would behoove BTS to make sure a free demo is available that can play any CMBB movie, or as I stated before, have a seperate "movie playback" application that is available for free via download. Albert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shep Posted May 23, 2002 Share Posted May 23, 2002 *bump* Still no definitive answer from the grand poobahs on this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shades Posted May 23, 2002 Share Posted May 23, 2002 A full movie playback would really be a great tool. Just to see how your opponent/AI reacted to your moves and pick up some strategy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Uber General Posted May 23, 2002 Share Posted May 23, 2002 Agreed, playback would be awesome! I'd love to be able to see the complete ebb and flow of the units around the map without pauses in between. It would certainly be a magnificent training aid - you will get a much better idea of how far and fast a given unit will move if you can see it go continously. Excellent aid for getting your timing right. Even better if you can see your opponents moves too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dschugaschwili Posted May 23, 2002 Share Posted May 23, 2002 I don't think the hard disk usage would be a problem. Many people save all files from their PBEM games anyway, and having the game play the movie files one by one wouldn't be too difficult. There's one problem though. Currently the action doesn't stop at the 60 second mark, but all tank and arty shells that are already in the air continue the way to their impact points. So even the full battle movie would probably have to stop at the end of each turn if there's any kind of action. Otherwise we'll see tanks suddenly start burning although the shell that killed it only strikes two seconds later. On the other hand, BTS could change the engine so shells can be stopped in flight at the end of a turn, so the "over-time" at the end of the turns wouldn't be needed anymore. Now that would be nice. Dschugaschwili Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingknives Posted May 23, 2002 Share Posted May 23, 2002 oh yes - the 'overtime' at the end of turn is really annoying. It spoils the flow of combat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Havermeyer- Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 *ker splunk* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 I vote NO for full movie playback. Doesn't interest me in the least. Movies would look dorky when the action stops every 60 seconds to resolve all shells still in flight. It would make things TOO easy to learn - since when did Guderian ever get to "go to the videotape" to check out the success of a battle tactic? Seems odd to release full playback with a game that touts Extreme Fog of War. I could see an easier interface, maybe, where you could simply click on a list of turns and watch the 1 minute movie, which is easier than remembering which of the files saved on your HD are the ones you can watch and which are your opponents' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Havermeyer- Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Thanks, Dorosh. Anyone else wish to play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Black_Devil Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 I'm gonna come outa the woodwork on this one. I really think that this would be a very impressive feature to the game. What a welcome complementary addition to your AAR's. How many people have ever played a game, which they spent as much, if not more time recounting their "war stories" as they did actually playing the damn game? Surely - the ability to view the whole mission would be food for much of this (friendly) "after game banter". Its use as a learning tool seems kind of self explanatory. Having reached the coveted rank of "target drone" myself, I really would like to see a complete picture at the end of it all - just to see what killed me and how. Needless to say - I'll be making extensive use of the feature should it make it in. As for HD space - I really don't think thats a concern. You don't see "IL-2 Sturmovik" players crying about the HD space taken up by their saved missions now do you? Just like any saved game - you can delete it if you don't want it anymore. It might be worthwhile adding an additional feature, which allows players to view the film in one of three ways; The first way, would allow players to see ALL units, from both sides. The other two views, would be from each of the sides respectively (as you or your opponent saw the battle). Alternately, perhaps a single means of delivering the film, with some sort of graphical enhancement (shading, or glowing) of units, to indicate that they were not seen, or know about by one side or the other. In any event - I do think - is that it should be an option, players should have the ability to choose to use or not - and I do hope that it makes the deadline for CMBB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwazydog Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Sorry guys, this one didnt make the cut. Actually, Charles looked at this one for CMBO and decided that it would take a lot of work to get right, and thus we have never had high hopes of it making it into CMBB. There were many more important features ahead of it...I think everyone would prefer better combat modelling over playback. Something we will definately be looking at again for the rewrite though! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrold Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 This was sort of a disappointment, but an understandable one as the reasons were laid out. Part of the reason seemed to be the potential size of the file that would be necessary. From what Dan said, other priorities made this feature something for the back-burner. BDH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris talpas Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 These days a couple of hundred megabytes is chump change in terms of hard drive space. I would like to see full movie playback as well. It would be especially instructive to see all the action from your opponent's point of view. Chris (who has 60 Gbytes free looking for a raison d'etre) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Black_Devil Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Well - thats too bad, but I understand. I'm still gonna have fun when I finally get my copy - even if I do get blowed up by "mysterious" forces. I will be looking forward to the re-write though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwazydog Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Barrold, yup, it was nothing to do with file size...these days that isnt a problem. We decided to focus on features of gameplay as a priority (even to graphical tweaks) and thus full movie playback was a lower priority. As a wargame gameplay was first and foremost on the priority list for CMBB. Cut out the cover arc command and sure, we could have had full movie playback...I know which Id prefer though Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ales Dvorak Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Originally posted by -Havermeyer-: *ker splunk*Kling, klang.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrold Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 I realize it was just an example of a feature that might have been missed, having seen the functionality of the covered arc and how nicely it adds to the game, I am glad the decision was made as it was. Some of the recent additions since the first sneak peak are true advancements in realism that everyone here will appreciate. Keep up the great work. Even the clown tanks look absurdly cool. BDH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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