CM3 before the engine rewrite ?

[Sigurd]

In a recent interview, Martin said : “[…] the development of the next Combat Mission title will start this year already. Beyond that, we're looking at a complete engine rewrite […]”

Does this paragraph mean that there will be a CM3 before the engine rewrite ?

For clarity purposes, we may stick with this convention in this thread : we can name

“CM3” a hypothetical CM sequel with the current CMBB engine (for example in the mediterranean theatre),

“CMII” the CM planned for 2+ years with a new re-written game engine.

Well, I don’t want to start another thread to know in which theatre the next CM will take place, just when we will finally see it. I’m just another big CM fan, wanting to know how much time I have to wait for the next CM title. (I could imagine 6-12 months for CM3, or 2-3 years for CMII if no CM3 is planned)

Thanks to Rollstoy for having pointed this out in this original thread

[Panzer Leader]

Are we making bets? Here's my totally uninformed guess:

They are expanding and dividing their resources. One group will immediately begin writing the re-wrtie (CMII) while the other group will CONCURENTLY begin work on CM3 which will be the same engines as CMBB and will cover the Med (Africa)

As a reward for my preternatural perception (my wife call's it a 'woman's intuition') I would like a seat on either of the beta-test crews. Thank you and good night.

[Panzer Leader]

Oh, and Charles' brain will be carefully divided and each half will be carefully transplanted into a willing (yeah) host yet to be determined. Each of these "Charles-bots" will take over one of the branches in develpoment.

[Terrapin]

Originally posted by Panzer Leader:

Are we making bets? Here's my totally uninformed guess:

They are expanding and dividing their resources. One group will immediately begin writing the re-wrtie (CMII) while the other group will CONCURENTLY begin work on CM3

"GROUPS"? I thought it was TWO guys who did the coding.

[Sigurd]

Well, PzL, it could be a sensible guess, as the Martin's sentence above ends with "and we're researching other time periods and theaters to move to."

So, if BFC researches are finished before the rewrite of the engine, they could throw all this data in the current CMBB engine ? Would make sense.

On the whole, we're also doing a semantic analysis of Martin's original sentence, perhaps a native english speaker would enlighten us ?...

(Tarquelene for example, in the other thread, didn't think we should interpret it as "development of the next Combat Mission title will start this year already. Then we'll finish the game. Beyond that, we're looking at a complete engine rewrite,... )

[ December 05, 2002, 10:36 AM: Message edited by: Sigurd ]

[murpes]

Originally posted by Panzer Leader:

They are expanding and dividing their resources. One group will immediately begin writing the re-wrtie (CMII) while the other group will CONCURENTLY begin work on CM3 which will be the same engines as CMBB and will cover the Med (Africa)

Or maybe they're looking to an outside developer, who will develop CM3 on the original CM engine, while the BFC team is working on the new engine for CM4! Sort of like id software does. And maybe that outside team will be Lucas Arts and it will end up being a wego Star Wars game!!! :eek:

or maybe not.

[Pascal DI FOLCO]

I guessed that too, and it's a very good idea !

As Moon also pointed out "50% of the time was spent on research"... These 50% are useful whatever the engine. To a point, all graphical/sound work is too.

Making a "CM:Dantzig to Dunkirk" (CMDD, my find ! ) or "CM:Fox vs Rat" (CMFR, also © )based on current engine can give us stg to play in less than 18mo..

Most of the troops/vehicles needed for Desert War are already there, and approx half of what is needed for West 39-40 also, while the CMII engine will surely not be there before well, 30-36 mo !

The new "old engine" game could feed the fans and fill BFC coffers to end the new engine during the gap

All this is personal guessing, interpretation AND what I would like to see ...

[MikeyD]

I haven't heard a peep out of them about work on the next CM game, except occassional hints that they were waffling a bit on their original 5-year plan to go Western front/Eastern front/Med. Theatre.

We do hear rumors, though, that the engine rewrite (or at least talks about the engine rewrite) is progressing. The rewrite is supposed to make the physical act of game design less labor-intensive. It would make sense for them to get the new engine going before laboring over the next game.

My uninformed 2¢.

[Eden Smallwood]

While I see what you fellows are feeling is a possible inferrence from that, to me it looks like just an unfortunate choice of words. "Beyond that" looks like it's being used both in it's usual idiomatic sense "ButWaitThere'sMore", and as a literal "in the time thereafter", but I don't see a reason to think it means "speaking on a brand new subject now...". Anyhow, I hope I'm wrong this time, but I think it's a false alarm; this is how I read it:

Martin Turewicz:

[continue to patch CMBB..] but at the same time the development of the next Combat Mission title will start this year already. [As if that weren't news enough/once that commences], we're looking at a complete engine rewrite, to be prepared for the hardware and software developments and possibilities of the future, and we're researching other time periods and theaters to move to.

Eden

[[Wiking]]

How does BTS select Beta testers?

[Pascal DI FOLCO]

Originally posted by SS_Obergruppenführer:

How does BTS select Beta testers?

Either by paying Steve or winning a barefist fight with Matt..

:eek:

[MikeyD]

How does BTS select Beta testers? Kickbacks. Lots and lots of kickbacks.

[aka_tom_w]

Originally posted by SS_Obergruppenführer:

How does BTS select Beta testers?

I heard a rumour there was bootlicking involved in the process somewhere?

he he

-tom w

[Sergei]

Originally posted by Sigurd:

On the whole, we're also doing a semantic analysis of Martin's original sentence, perhaps a native english speaker would enlighten us ?...

Well, Martin isn't a native English speaker, so it could be a mistake from him as well?

[Guest Mike]

As a native English speaker I'd like to point out that teh 2 activities mentions - development of CM3, and teh engine rewrite, are not mutually exclusive.

well at least not as far as I can see.

As someone else said - up to 50% of the work on a game is research, and it seems silly to only start research once the engine is completed - they/we already know many of the fundamental parameters and requirements required of the ersearch already.

[Cameroon]

Well, to be one of the guys who says "I don't think so"...

I don't think so The new engine is NOT CM3, but CM3 will use the new engine. So re-writing the engine and creating CM3 can be done at the same time without it meaning that CM3 is being built on some other engine.

Guess time, or BFC, will tell.

[ASL Veteran]

I can't imagine them doing a mediterranian theater CM without dynamic lighting (for flares and gunflashes and stuff). There was so much night fighting in North Africa that it would almost be a shame to have the same type of night combat there that we have now in CMBB.

[Firefly]

Originally posted by Mike:

]As someone else said - up to 50% of the work on a game is research, and it seems silly to only start research once the engine is completed - they/we already know many of the fundamental parameters and requirements required of the ersearch already.

I agree, I think a lot of people probably don't understand the development cycle. Sitting down and writing the code is only part of it and normally happens towards the end of the project.

[Soddball]

Originally posted by Firefly:

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

]As someone else said - up to 50% of the work on a game is research, and it seems silly to only start research once the engine is completed - they/we already know many of the fundamental parameters and requirements required of the ersearch already.

I agree, I think a lot of people probably don't understand the development cycle. Sitting down and writing the code is only part of it and normally happens towards the end of the project.</font>

[Nippy]

And maybe that outside team will be Lucas Arts and it will end up being a wego Star Wars game!!! :eek:

Or maybe "Strategerific First" will pick it up, make them paint all the Tanks in CMBB Desert Yellow and Release as the African Theatre two weeks from now, then make people pay for the patch that makes the Russian tanks look British, and finally re-release it a year later as the "Grognards Choice" edition.

Me bitter? Na

[aka_tom_w]

So... no comment yet from any of the Official BFC voices??? :confused: :confused: ?

They must know we are dieing of curiosity!

-tom w

[MikeyD]

I'd like to interject an (uninformed) note of caution regarding all this anticipation about the rewrite.

Let's remember that BFC's a 'cottage' industry (by corporate standards) and a lot of the people who designed the artwork for the first two will be designing artwork for the third as well. There's a good chance that CM3 is going to resemble CM2 much more than some people are fantacizing.

Of course they could be huddled around the pc monitor at this very moment studying the artwork in Duke Nukeum, taking notes on how to 'improve' the overall style of their art for the next project.

[Gaylord Focker]

I like CMBB so much i don't even want to here about the new game an engine for awhile, i'm sure it will be amazing, but at the same time i'm too busy enjoying what i have.

[Vergeltungswaffe]

Originally posted by MikeyD:

I'd like to interject an (uninformed) note of caution regarding all this anticipation about the rewrite.

Let's remember that BFC's a 'cottage' industry (by corporate standards) and a lot of the people who designed the artwork for the first two will be designing artwork for the third as well. There's a good chance that CM3 is going to resemble CM2 much more than some people are fantacizing.

Of course they could be huddled around the pc monitor at this very moment studying the artwork in Duke Nukeum, taking notes on how to 'improve' the overall style of their art for the next project.

This is very wise, but just to keep the optimism there, note Steve's first post on page two of this thread:

http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=002605;p=

[MikeyD]

You call that optimism?

At some point in the next two years my old mac's going to have be discarded and I'm going to have to spend a truckload of money for a new system, plus all OSX (or OSXII?) compatible software.

Otherwise There will be no hope of me being able to run CM3. Yeh, that's optimism.

Yeh, I'm the kinda guy who's still waiting for that promised upgrade to 'Hellcats over the Pacific".