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Whining while I wait for the game...


Pierce

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It would be way cool if you guys emailed people a third scenario for the demo to play while we waited for our real copy to arrive.

Of course, I'm just whining, I really should be working, instead of reading the forums and playing VOT over and over.

------------------

Where's the John

Wayne option? (All Axis

troops miss, and you

never run out of

ammo.)

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Arrgh!

I just went to the order page to see if I could answer your question, and found out CM is backordered till Feb 26th.

Gee, I wonder if I got in by the 23rd. I hope so, since I ordered last Friday, I think.

It's kind of tacky to run out of stock... They should order the next batch when supplies are "LOW" not when supplies are "empty". I wonder if there is a CM metaphor there? I guess that's why my squad members can't scavenge ammo from dead comrades...

[This message has been edited by Pierce (edited 01-24-2001).]

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While stocking may seem like a small matter to you. To a small company like BTS it is cash that they have to spend and gamble that they won't be sitting on dead stock. While we all think CM is great and it should sell like water in a desert, there is still the possibility of slowing sales and wasting money.

Plus everyone wants the latest version on the CD, so "you can't serve two masters" in this case. The next batch may have the latest patch (1.12 when it's released) and BTS can ship this out to those who buy it until CM2 ships.

Oh... and there's the possibility that they are "waiting in line" at the duplicator (or the printer - the manual is more expensive to make I'm pretty sure) or that there are other supply-chain issues beyond BTS' control.

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Having worked in the CD-ROM, video game and the print industry, I find that hard to believe... Its not like cartridge games, where you have to wait for Sega to burn the ROMs and pay them $10 royalty whether you sell them or not. There are a lot of CD duplicators, and the cash outlay isn't that much.

They should be paying 1-2$/CD for duplication with a 1-2 week turn around, lots of 1000. So for $2000, they could get 1000 copies... In fact, since they've been doing this for awhile, it should be closer to $1 then $2... So they could order 2,000 copies to start, then order another 1,000 everytime they sell the first 1,000...

They could be in line at the printer, but if so then they need a new printer.... Hmmm... People tell me the manual is thick, so perhaps they have special requirements. Yet companies like "iUniverse.com" print-on-demand... They would have to order the manuals in larger chunks, but 1-month of lead time sounds like a lot, and you never revise the manuals...

And you want to talk about cash flow problems? Since they only sell online, they can't bill credit-cards until they ship, so they won't have ANY cash until Feb 26th.

So delaying the restock order makes cash flow WORSE not better.

Ah, well, I expect they're going to learn "The coffee shop lesson" the hard way.

The coffee shop lesson: In a well run coffee shop, the coffee dispenser is marked with a line. That means: <U>Before</U> you dispense any coffee, start a new batch.

Why: It takes 7 seconds to start a new batch of coffee, but 2 minutes for one to brew all the way. Even though you have to make the current customer wait 7 more seconds, its better then making the NEXT customer wait for an entire brewing cycle. That little mark on the coffee maker? It's called process control. By adding that little mark, you make sure that all customers get good tasting coffee quickly.

Starbucks is the monstrostity it is, because of process control: Brew coffee for X minutes (note the timers hanging on the coffee machiens). Steam milk until thermometer is in red zone. Throw out coffee older then xxxx (note timers...)

Pierce

P.S. I'm not really this grouchy, just impatient waiting for my copy to arrive...;(

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Guest Madmatt

The core reason for this delay was we wanted the next batch of CD's mastered to have the very latest version of game (with TCP) AS WELL AS an updated manual. Both updated code and updated manual were just recently completed.

It's not just the mastering of the CD's, but the printing of the manuals, packaging and re-stocking/warehousing times that we are factoring in.

Madmatt

[This message has been edited by Madmatt (edited 01-24-2001).]

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Yeah, I figured out you were using some sort of fulfillment house today when my copy arrived: (Yay!)

(Kind of a good news bad news thing:

Good news:

Your copy arrives

Bad news:

Some files are busted

Good news:

The update fixes some of them.

Bad news:

It doesn't fix all of them.

Good news:

Cleaning the CD with a Kleenex got two more files.

Bad news:

Down to one: 1000.mov that doesn't copy...

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Are you getting errors using the setup program to install CM or are you directly copying files off of the CDROM ?

If you run into errors with the installation program, then I would recommend directly copying files off the CD (the installation program is just a convenience - the entire root directory of the CD can be copied to the hard drive and the program should run fine).

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Guest Madmatt

The 1000.mov is the intro movie and does NOT need to be copied from the CD.

The next time you launch the game, press and hold the SHIFT key and it will disbale the intro movie from playing the future. as long as all the other files copied across you will be fine.

Madmatt

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Both the installer and directly copying cause problems.

The movie won't play off the CD-ROM either (actually the first 17.8 MB will play, then it hangs), so I just have to click.

So I've been able to play it. (Or actually, download and install a bunch of mods...)

Pierce

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