So is it safe to assume the Brits Module won't take 13 months?

[c3k]

flamingknives,

, no, not grinding an axe. Sharpening several hatchets, but not grinding an axe!

Regards,

Ken

[jomni]

I'd rather have an additional red faction. Like Russians or something.

[Combatintman]

jomni,

Yes but with the current equipment you've got the makings of the Russians already - whereas there is nothing in the current Blue makeup that will even resemble the British and with the Brits you hopefully will get some really cool kit like Challenger 2, Warrior, Scimitar and Jackal.

[Battlefront.com]

What Moon said is correct about things going much faster now. As stated on the previous page, up until version 1.08 we were working almost exclusively on game engine stuff. There was some Marines stuff going on in parallel, but it was mostly artwork. Oh, and we had to put in a couple of weeks to get the game engine set up to work with Modules too. That was a one time investment as well.

The British Module has been in progress for some time now. There's still a lot of work left to be done on it (we haven't actually put any Brit stuff into the game yet), but now that we have the Marines Module almost out the door, work should progress quickly. More info on that soon.

We are planning one more CM:SF Module. It will cover some portion of NATO forces, still as yet to be determined specifically. Most definitely expect German equipment at the very least.

Red Forces are basically at a logical dead end for now. CM:SF's setting is purposefully limited to the Syrian setting and we've already stretch reality enough for the Syrian stuff already in the game as of the Marines Module.

Why not add more current Russian stuff into the game as a generic enemy force? Because we don't want to do a half assed job of it, which is what dribbling in this or that vehicle would amount to. Instead we are planning on releasing CM:SF 2 sometime after the first WW2 game. Not only will it have a temperate setting and modern Russian equipment, but it will also have all the game engine improvements going into the next major release (Normandy). We think it's better to devote our resources towards that goal instead of spending it on more CM:SF 1 Modules.

We think 3-4 Modules per Title is about we should do before shifting efforts to entirely new settings. That seems to be the "attention span" people have for any one setting.

Steve

[Abbott]

Word is Syria was in Moscow today looking to purchase armaments.

[Hannibal]

T-80 and Red air support I assume are waiting for the next brand new game not for one of the upcoming modules .

[Battlefront.com]

C3k,

no, not grinding an axe. Sharpening several hatchets, but not grinding an axe!

Well, whatever you want to call it I'd call it unnecessary. Besides annoying people, what is it you hope to accomplish? One of the three "hatches" you listed isn't even a bug but a realistic feature. Sheesh...

Steve

[The_Red_Rage]

Maybe sqeeze in BTR-80 and Shilka? Syrians must have tons of ZU and ZSU units and i believe they are getting new BTRs as well with T-90 order. They are dropping around 4 billion on new stuff (half of it is aircraft and air defense, but there is at least 1.5 billion worth of land toys).

Hopefully French will be combined with German module - so much interesting equipment, possibility for tons of African-themed scenarios, and Foreign Legion! :cool:

Edit: 400 Shilkas according to Wiki

http://www.armyrecognition.com/moyen_orient/Syrie/vehicule_artillerie/ZSU-23-4/ZSU-23-4_Syrian_Syria_01.jpg

[Battlefront.com]

Abbott,

Yup, since Syria had most of its debt wiped out a few years ago they've been on several shopping trips to Russia. T-90 is on the top of their list, which is why it wasn't thaaaat much of a stretch to put it in. The other stuff they're looking for is mostly outside of CM:SF's scope or is already covered in the game.

Hannibal,

Yeah, that's the sort of stuff we're putting off until we reshape the battlefield. Definitely T-80s and air support will be available once we move to the temperate setting. No brainers in fact

Steve

[Hannibal]

The French are already in Lebanon makes more sense to add them then the Germans.

[Hannibal]

I hate to say it but think you are on the right track breaking donw the games in small little time periods .

I asumme the WW2 game will have US and Germans in Normandy then add the British then Waffen ss .Are there plans to do an eastern front game After the Normandy Games .I know I am getting way ahead of myself .

[Abbott]

The Eastern Front is where it's at and Steve has mentioned that he is partial to the theater himself.

[Mord]

Interesting seeing some definites on older hints.

That announcement of CMSF-2 is very promising. No longer speculation as far as it happening.

My question is, how small/large is the scope of the Normandy game gonna be? Units wise? Vehicle wise? Time wise? DDay to +30, all of France?

I've brought this up many times before but now that we are closer maybe there are more concrete ideas. I so don't wanna be limited to a smattering of AFVs and guns and stuff...I'd love to see the same amount of equipment spread out over 4 purchases and get what was in CMBO. Or even pay for vehicle packs. I don't care how much it has to be, if I can get the equipment and Battlefront is compensated it's a win win. (I can't wait to see crews loading guns, crew operated MG's, all the cool stuff I had to use my imagination for in CMX1.) Looking back CMBO was worth 400 bucks easy...

As far as WWII goes, I hope we'll see Market Garden, The Bulge and some great East Front games/Modules.

Mord.

[Battlefront.com]

Yes, the smaller time chunks work out best for everybody. As we've said all along, it gets you more stuff quicker and over the long haul than the old CMx1 system ever could. Instead of getting one big blast of stuff ever 2-4 years you get content every few months AND that content can in parallel with other settings. The delay between CM:SF's initial release and the Marines Module is just that... a one time event.

As I've said before, we've been working on CM:SF Marines, CM:SF British, and CM: Normandy (full title still pending official announcement at some point) for months now. Just because you haven't heard or seen anything from these other things doesn't mean there isn't something to show The slipstreaming strategy is already clearly working from our perspective. You'll see that for the first time after the Marines Module is out and we start officially discussing the British Module.

Mord,

The scope of CM:SF 2 will be much larger than CM:SF 1. Currently three Modules are planned as follow ups to the primary (Title) release. At this point that's all I can really say about it.

As for the scope of the initial WW2 Title, we will make details known in good time. However, I can give you some idea about the eventual scope since I've said some of this stuff in the past. The first family of WW2 games will cover up until the time the weather changes. This is also a time when both the Allies and the Axis made massive changes to their units (organization and equipment). Therefore, it is a logical place for us to stop. I expect that, on balance, there will be more stuff in this first batch of WW2 releases than was in CMBO for the same timeframe. Subsequent families of WW2 games will cover other parts of WW2, including the Eastern Front.

I doubt very much, though, that we'll ever duplicate CMBB's unit list even after several years of Eastern Front releases. This is mostly because we don't think it's worth our time to do that. I personally LOVED putting in the Hungarians, for example, and played with them quite often. But I honestly don't think the interest level for some of this stuff justifies the investment of our limited time. Even with our expanded capacity for content we will ALWAYS have more stuff we could be doing than we have time to do it, therefore choices must be made. However, we've no definitive plans that far out so it's too early to speculate on what might or might not happen for Eastern Front.

Steve

[MeatEtr]

I doubt very much, though, that we'll ever duplicate CMBB's unit list even after several years of Eastern Front releases. This is mostly because we don't think it's worth our time to do that. I personally LOVED putting in the Hungarians, for example, and played with them quite often. But I honestly don't think the interest level for some of this stuff justifies the investment of our limited time. Even with our expanded capacity for content we will ALWAYS have more stuff we could be doing than we have time to do it, therefore choices must be made. However, we've no definitive plans that far out so it's too early to speculate on what might or might not happen for Eastern Front.

Steve

Interesting, thanks for the info. So will these East Front releases be under one title or spread out over both CMSF and CMSF 2? Hopefully it will be under one title, since then the unit list could certainly be comparable to CMBB. Not including the other nationalities units besides the two big players, germans and soviets.

[John Kettler]

Steve,

At the rate your "crazy, impossible scenario" regarding combat with Syria seems to be coming to real life, I think it might be a good idea to at least think about what the Russians might bring with them to protect Tartus, if nothing else. Some have suggested VDV, which I'd love from the cool toy standpoint, but VDV properly speaking is a strategic asset, and unless the Kremlin wanted an expensive tripwire in place, forward deployed, I just don't see that as likely. What would make sense, though, is a force of Russian Marines. Here's some information on the Black Sea Fleet (whence cometh the Admiral Kuznetsov, Moskva, etc), to include the Black Sea Marines.

http://www.warfare.ru/?lang=&catid=321&linkid=2231

Regards,

John Kettler

[Dakuman]

Thanks for the update Steve. It looks like things will be picking up speed once the Marine Module is out.

I am really looking forward to seeing what CMx2 can do with the WWII Normandy setting. Water...bocage...the French countryside teaming with Tigers and Shermans. Can't wait for some screenshots

[Mord]

Mord,

The scope of CM:SF 2 will be much larger than CM:SF 1. Currently three Modules are planned as follow ups to the primary (Title) release. At this point that's all I can really say about it.

I'd love to see those Ruskie and NATO vehicles in a temperate setting. "much larger" I like the sound of that!

The first family of WW2 games will cover up until the time the weather changes. This is also a time when both the Allies and the Axis made massive changes to their units (organization and equipment). Therefore, it is a logical place for us to stop.

I personally like the smaller time chunks idea (though I won't fully comprehend it until an actual historic game comes out and I can compare).

Does that mean from Summer to Winter? Or all four seasons?

If the latter, if I am getting this right it would go something like this;

Title: Normandy

Time frame: Summertime/weather effects found in summer.

Specifics: For particular region/battle; Bocage, Flooded Fields, Farms...dead cows...LOL sorry, had to throw them in!

Units; Base TO&E's to get Title rolling (Germans Vs Americans).

Modules; Nationality specific (British, Commonwealth)? Plus extra TO&Es for Germans and US? Possible new terrain depicting different parts of France?

Then the next Title; different Season tied around different Country or specific battle?

The way I see it, Chronologically for Europe it would be;

Title: Normandy/France/summer.

New Title: Market Garden/Holland/Fall.

New Title: Belgium/Bulge/Winter.

New Title: Germany/Rhine/Spring.

And whatever you guys are gonna do with Ostfront which is a whole nuther monster...

Mord.

P.S. yeah, I know, but while we have you around we need to milk ya for all we can get...

[The_Red_Rage]

I wonder what is meant by "larger scope" in CMx2. Larger maps? Larger formations of units? Controlling anything over a company is abit of a strain atm (both, on a computer and player's micro managment skills), so i hope we don't go into brigade level of representation.

Looks like it's going to be at least 1.5-2 years till we see temperate setting with modern Russian stuff, so alot can change till then. One thing i noticed after playing CMSF extensively is that I'm alot less excited for a WW2 title, or rather not excited at all. After being skeptical of initial port to modern setting, i am completely converted. Modern combat rocks!

[Paper Tiger]

I suspect that 'larger scope' means not confined to just one geographical location, such as Syria in CMSF. So it could mean able to operate in settings as varied as Europe to Central Asia, or possible even North America too.

[The_Red_Rage]

I hope that's the case...not that i don't like larger battles, but with current state of the game engine they run at 5-12 fps on a decent system (hopefully it will get tweaked towards CMSF 2).

New setting speculation - Ukraine?

[Moon]

I hope that's the case...not that i don't like larger battles, but with current state of the game engine they run at 5-12 fps on a decent system (hopefully it will get tweaked towards CMSF 2).

New setting speculation - Ukraine?

Maybe you should simply adjust your quality settings/options downward? I don't know what system you have, but I have totally mediocre dual-core with an old video card (GeForce 6600) and it's giving me much more than just 5-12 fps on average, even on the biggest maps. However, I don't have the settings on Best of course, but Balanced for Texture Quality and Models.

[The_Red_Rage]

I have Macbook Pro 2.2ghz dual core, 128mb vram, 2 gig ram - should be more than enough for a game like CM:SF with maxed out settings (it runs Call of Duty, Half-Life 2, Company of Heroes on medium high settings). I run improved/improved, no anti-aliasing, vertical sync off with 35 to 7 fps. I get better performance with balanced/balanced, but redraws go out of control making the game uber ugly. As a rule graphics are secondary for me, but when vihicle changes textures like a chamelion due to texture redraws it can be quite a mood killer.

Besides, CM:SF can be quite beautiful on "best" - it is a shame that 90% of people cannot run that setting unless it is for "Your best screenshot" thread.

[Moon]

Macbook... that explains of course.

[Lethaface]

I run CMSF at uberbest settings (extra FSAA and Anisotropic Filtering in GFX card) on a P4 (alike, Xeon actually) 2,66 GHz with 1GB ram and an 7800GS with 256MB DDR3 (XP). Which is obvious a very oldish system, hell my mobo is probably around 7 years old hehe... (it supports DDR and pre-DDR RAM and 478 socket and the one before it)

In larger maps the FPS is still very decent (above 20-30 i think), redraws happen frequently though when scrolling the map. Strange thing it is even in WEGO. The largest maps (for example the excellent 'Armour Attacks' by GeorgeMC) have many many redraws, however only when I scroll the map. While I should tone my settings down for larger maps, I think it's strange even replays suffer from redraws. And except for the redraws it just looks to beautifull to tone anything down

With all the other posters with much more heavy machines seeming to have less performance then me, i'm happy not to be in the position to upgrade my system anywhere soon

So a question I would like to se conformed:

Is there any1 with a Quad Core and a 8800 GT still having redraws on WEGO replays?