Why develop 2 engines to do the same thing?

[Guest Mike]

It looks to me like the Drop Team engine is going to cover a lot of the physics that is in CMx2 a lot better than x2 is proposing to do for itself - so why develop a 2nd engine at all?

[Sergei]

Because DropTeam is developed by TBG Software while CM is developed by BFC.

Next you're going to ask why Bill Gates doesn't use Linux code for Vista.

[MikeyD]

I've been wondering if TBG and BFC have been cooperating more closely than we think (This is based on absolutely no real info on my part, remember). But Drop Team seems to have a ballistics model much more sophisticated (CM-like) than is needed for a simple Sci-Fi shoot-em-up. And its got just the kind of terrain modellng that CMx2 could use. Could BFC possibly be using Drop-Team to pre-test new concepts? It'll be interesting, once we have the two products to compare side-by-side (and I've bought a platform that can actually run 'em!), just where the two games are similar and where the differ.

[Sergei]

Originally posted by MikeyD:

But Drop Team seems to have a ballistics model much more sophisticated (CM-like) than is needed for a simple Sci-Fi shoot-em-up.

I wouldn't call it a simple shoot-em-up. And ballistics calculations are much more important for Dropteam than they are for CM. It's Combat Mission that doesn't need complex calculations for that - in CMx1 the hit chance calculation is done at the moment the gun fires, and then either the shot hits the tank or it misses.

[Guest Mike]

Originally posted by Sergei:

Because DropTeam is developed by TBG Software while CM is developed by BFC.

Next you're going to ask why Bill Gates doesn't use Linux code for Vista.

Only if he was marketing Linux as well as Vista.

[Guest Mike]

DT-WW2 will evolve over time, covering different theaters of combat at different points in the war. The initial setting will be the hectic battles in Normandy during the summer of 1944.

Drop Team WW2 announced - the replacement for Combat Mission is announced!!

[Battlefront.com]

It's a valid question In fact, it is related to a topic of debate over in the ToW Forum. Here's the short answer...

Code is unforgivingly single minded once it is written. Trying to mix and match code tidbits is usually so difficult that writing new code from scratch is better. Especially when you consider that if it takes 3 months to port the code it is probable that hardware has changed enough that a better result could be achieved from a fresh start. In fact, usually a fresh start achieves a better result simply because it frees the programmer and designer up from decisions that were made early on that were regretted, found useless, or otherwise weren't positive contributors. So when a developer starts out with his own code base, it almost always stays with that developer.

I know it is maddening for you guys to see Product A with a fantastic graphics engine, Product B with a kick ass multi-player capability, Product C with fantastic physics, and Product D with finite realistic combat modeling, etc., etc. You think... "geeze, if these guys could just swap around some code they would have the perfect product". Trust me, we feel the same way, both as developers and as gamers If any of you think that we would rather spend our time writing graphics and physics code when we could be making game centric stuff, think again. But unfortunately, we get back to the single minded nature of code.

You see, Product A was developed with the code slanted towards graphics, Product B with multi-player as its heart, etc. Sure, no game is THAT single minded, but it is pretty close to that. Each game developer makes a decision what one or two features will consume the most amount of resources proportional to the other features. This colors EVERYTHING. In a way this is good because you do get a variety of game choices.

ToW covers certain ground, CMx2 covers different ground, and so does DT-WW2. Specifically, DT-WW2 focuses on massive multi-player team skirmishes. The weapons, physics, terrain, and units will be extremely realistic. If you haven't tried out DT yet, you should. Even though the environment is far future, things just feel right. You can, for example, figure out that with x weapon in y gravity you need to lead by z amount for a given distance. Gotta love the low G scenarios where you fire something and just see it go on, and on, and on, and on off into the distance. Not so in a heavy G world where the shot needs to be arced in order to get significant distance. So expect the same excellent attention to making things feel "right" and not "arcadey".

Like the current DT the player is in command of ONE unit at a time. For example, a tank or a squad of infantry... not a platoon or a company. You enjoy a mix of 1st and 3rd person perspectives of combat that allow for tactics and strategy (i.e. team planning and coordination). Most FPS games out there are pretty lame on the physics front and wind up being more about who is better at portraying Rambo or the Terminator rather than who knows how to cooperate best with his team mates.

Details about DT-WW2 will come out in the near future. And if it makes you feel any better about yourself MikeyD, you're not totally wrong with your guess This is Stan and Clay's baby, but we are collaborating with them because, well, we do know a few things about WWII It has nothing to do with CMx2, however, since the two games are extremely different. Rather, we are working with them because we know DT in a WW2 setting will kick butt! Fortunately, these guys are fun to work with. Clay may even really be a brain in a nutrient jar like someone else we know!

Steve

P.S. For those of you who don't know, DT is the first Battlefront.com product I have extensively beta tested since CMBB. Yup, I logged more hours on DT than CMAK even. I didn't have to, I chose to because it was so much fun blowing up Mace Oh, and Berli sucks. Just had to remind him of that.

[ August 06, 2006, 10:07 PM: Message edited by: Battlefront.com ]

[Sixxkiller]

Berli, secret cheat codes eliminate Steve from making comments like that.

[Mace]

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

I didn't have to, I chose to because it was so much fun blowing up Mace Oh, and Berli sucks. Just had to remind him of that.

I hate you. *sob*

[Andreas]

Originally posted by Stalin's Organist:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />DT-WW2 will evolve over time, covering different theaters of combat at different points in the war. The initial setting will be the hectic battles in Normandy during the summer of 1944.

Drop Team WW2 announced - the replacement for Combat Mission is announced!! </font>