Game observations from a returning CMx1 player

[ASL Veteran]

Okay, after getting Shock Force and the Marines Module over the weekend and messing around with it a bit (along with the demo) I just wanted to make a few observations. I talked a friend of mine (off and on CMx1 player) into downloading the demo. He downloaded it and played the scenarios a few times. I then offered to take him on in one of the demo scenarios “Metal Grind” as the Syrians. I was unsure if multiplayer is fully supported in the demo and he tried to send me a PBEM file but I couldn’t make it work. Either PBEM isn’t supported in the demo or I’m just incompetent because I managed to access the saved file he sent me and it asked for a password, but it never went into the scenario from there. I then offered to take him on in Real Time and he agreed. So after setting up, about two seconds after hitting the ‘Go’ button my Anti Tank missile launched and toasted up a Stryker. My boys then fired off another missile a few seconds later and toasted up another Stryker. Unfortunately that was my AT team’s last official act and the scenario went badly downhill after that. I attempted valiantly to keep my T-72s relevant through fancy maneuvering, but things were just happening way too fast. When my reinforcements arrived I basically had to stop messing with my original tanks in order to position my reinforcements. Even though I was constantly clicking and giving orders non stop, there was just no way to have any sort of an action plan and I was feeling a little overwhelmed.

The thing was that the Syrian forces really need to be babied in order to survive because it only takes about a two second lapse in judgement and your whole force has been smoked like a cheap cigar. It’s really difficult to get more than one vehicle into firing position at the same time without getting the first one smoked before the rest get into position, although I tried pausing the first tank etc. My friend didn’t really have too much trouble as he just had to hunt with his M1s and just let the M1s do their thing. Eventually my guys basically just sat around as his tanks ran up to them and smoked them one by one. After the battle we were joking about the game and my friend admitted that he had a little jolt at the beginning because my missile hit him so fast. He said “yeah, I just turned my head for a second because my kid asked me something and I had two smoking piles of wreckage.”

Anyway, I think that scenario was probably a bit too big for me in Real Time. It was fun and interesting playing as real time, but I was having trouble just keeping the one original tank platoon alive and fighting, let alone all that other stuff that was entering as reinforcements. One thing I probably should have done in retrospect was to plot more movements from the setup phase than I did and that probably would have helped. It did leave me a little curious as to why the We Go TCP / IP option isn’t available in Shock Force like in the original CMx1. I can understand that it could be tedius if you were playing a large scenario We Go TCP / IP as there would be long delays, but a scenario like Metal Grind is probably just a little too big for me to handle in Real Time, but small enough that We Go turns would go pretty quickly.

I experienced a few pathing issues with the second scenario from the CD. I don’t remember the name of the scenario (began with an A) but there were several buildings with high walls in front of them that were located just on the other side of a highway embankment (very nice looking and playing scenario – well done). Apparently, even though there were gaps in the high walls in front of the buildings my troops (blue) didn’t seem to be able to negotiate those gaps and would end up running down the street instead of running through the gaps. I used a demo charge on one of the walls and they passed through the hole blasted in the wall, but it didn’t seem like a charge should have been necessary there.

I also played …I think it’s called “Allah’s Fist”. I had one M1 that was positioned opposite where a horde of T-72s came on, range of about 2000 meters or so. My M1 was duking it out for a while with shots detonating and bouncing off all over the place. Eventually though they knocked him out (My M1 must have taken over ten hits in the front minimum) and I was just curious if the make up of modern armor is such that repeated hits will weaken the armor? Nothing was penetrating at first, then two hits went through in quick succession – one immobilizing my tank and the other smoking it.

My friend seems to really like the game so I think he’ll get it eventually. The one thing he mentions the most is the battle sounds. With each soldier individually rendered the sound of battle is a lot more energetic and full than it was in CMx1 and he really seems to like that. He even said the game reminded him of “Close Combat”. Heretic I say! My friend also had a little difficulty adapting to the new spotting during our real time game because he kept saying “my guys are blowing stuff up and I have no idea what they are fighting”. I told him it was the relative spotting, but it’s probably not practical to not be clicked on an individual unit when playing real time.

One thing that I personally find a little annoying is when playing We Go it always comes up after each minute where it automatically starts to replay the turn again. I don’t always want to replay the turn and when I do it’s usually from a different perspective than the one I’m at when the turn ends so not only do I not like that pop up coming up and forcing me into a replay, but it sticks the screen in place so I can’t maneuver into a new spot before the replay starts if I do want to watch a replay. Is there a way to turn that ‘feature’ off? I figured out that I can just hit the red ‘done’ button when the replay starts, but I would rather the default be no replay than to have a default replay.

[stikkypixie]

The PBEM thing is a bit confusing. They first "turn" is just giving in the password. Then you should send the file that is in your "Outgoing Mail" folder to your friend.

[salwon]

I can't imagine how multi-RT works without pausing. The chaos you described is completely manageable when you have time to stop and catch your breath. You'll never go back to WeGo again*!

*Unless you do

[Cpl Steiner]

I can't imagine how multi-RT works without pausing. The chaos you described is completely manageable when you have time to stop and catch your breath. You'll never go back to WeGo again*!

*Unless you do

Pausing makes RT like WEGO to a degree but you still don't get the replays, which is one of the features people have always loved about the CM series of games. Having played a lot of RT I've since returned to WEGO and am enjoying it a lot because of the replays.

[panzermartin]

Steve said a sort of pausable TCP/IP would be introduced for the WW2 game. If that rolling 30 secs replay makes it too, I wouldnt miss WEGO that much.

[ASL Veteran]

The PBEM thing is a bit confusing. They first "turn" is just giving in the password. Then you should send the file that is in your "Outgoing Mail" folder to your friend.

Hmmmm, well I just looked in my outgoing mail folder and it's empty. The original file he sent me is still in the incoming mail folder and when I go into 'saved games' I can load it. I do get to the part where it asks me for my password, then I put one in and it goes back to the main menu screen. I then go into Program Files and my outgoing mail folder is empty. I do a search for the file and I just find the original file he sent me and not my saved file. The wierd part is that every time I try to save the file after putting in my password it continues to count up - in other words he sent me file XXX vs YYY 01 and I save it as XXX vs YYY 02, then nothing is in the outgoing mail folder and I repeat the process and it defaults to XXX vs YYY 03 etc. Yet no file is present. I'm using Vista with the Nvidia 8 series card (so CMx1 doesn't work anymore) - maybe Vista is doing something funky with the file and storing it somewhere that I can't find.

[GSX]

Hmmmm, well I just looked in my outgoing mail folder and it's empty. The original file he sent me is still in the incoming mail folder and when I go into 'saved games' I can load it. I do get to the part where it asks me for my password, then I put one in and it goes back to the main menu screen. I then go into Program Files and my outgoing mail folder is empty. I do a search for the file and I just find the original file he sent me and not my saved file. The wierd part is that every time I try to save the file after putting in my password it continues to count up - in other words he sent me file XXX vs YYY 01 and I save it as XXX vs YYY 02, then nothing is in the outgoing mail folder and I repeat the process and it defaults to XXX vs YYY 03 etc. Yet no file is present. I'm using Vista with the Nvidia 8 series card (so CMx1 doesn't work anymore) - maybe Vista is doing something funky with the file and storing it somewhere that I can't find.

Maybe your using different versions?

[Sergei]

I'm using Vista with the Nvidia 8 series card (so CMx1 doesn't work anymore) - maybe Vista is doing something funky with the file and storing it somewhere that I can't find.

Clearly the files are going somewhere. Use the Windows 'search files' feature to look for *.bts in all drives, that should settle it.

[missinginreality]

ASL, your outgoing emailS are well hidden by vista in your virtual folder:

check here:

C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Combat Mission Shock Force\Game Files\Outoing Email

[ASL Veteran]

ASL, your outgoing emailS are well hidden by vista in your virtual folder:

check here:

C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Combat Mission Shock Force\Game Files\Outoing Email

Yes, this is where the file was, although it was extremely difficult to find. A regular search ended up with no hits at all (for all locations). I had to do an 'Advanced' search and check the box to search for non indexed, hidden, and system files before the file was located. I then had to figure out where it was because when it located the file it just had the individual file pop up in the search box, but not where the file was located. I eventually figured out how to get the thing to tell me where it was. I found several other files that I had 'lost' previously too. I've actually lost entire games on Vista. I still can't find Civ 4 BTS . I haven't had any real problems with Vista since I got this rig, but wow, they sure made explorer difficult to navigate (hard to believe I'm sure for those who aren't on Vista). It seems like games exist in several locations at once. Accessing this file location for every PBEM turn is gonna be a total pain in the ..... beeeep.

[missinginreality]

Ah glad you found them mate; yes indeed Vista doesn't make it easy hey; though they say it's meant to be

What I've done is dragged a shortcut to both the incoming email and outgoing email folders onto my desktop then they're right at hand when needed. Adds to the clutter a bit but certainly makes it quicker to get them. Alternatively you could make a single folder on the desktop and drag all your game folders into there as shortcuts.

[c3k]

ASL Veteran,

LOL! I had a similar and VERY frustrating experience with Vista and my CMSF savegames. I couldn't find them anywhere until I got some help from mates at this forum. One of the better pieces of advice I recieved was to create a shortcut on my desktop which targets the savegame directory. Now all my savegames are a single click away.

Hope it helps.

Regards,

Ken

[ASL Veteran]

The worst part of it is that the App Data file is apparently a hidden file, and all files in it are also hidden (thus making it so I couldn't find it during my file search). I was wondering about that because when I wanted to attach the PBEM file to my e-mail I tried to go down the path to get to the file and the App Data file wouldn't come up - yet I was looking right at it in the search box!! I did create the desktop short cut, but then I also went into the properties for the App Data file and took off the hidden file status and .....ding ding ding ding ding - there it was. Wow, I mean, have this file that is active and that a lot of files default into, then make it a hidden file so nobody can find anything after it goes in there. Brilliant!

[sfhand]

It's been a while, so my recollections are rather fuzzy, but I never had to go digging for the file the way you have had to (although I did temporarily turn off UAC...). If I'm not completely out to lunch (and I probably am) I think I once I set up both my email client and CMSF to be run as the administrator the files were written to their proper locations (and not hidden). I may have also tweaked the directories' security settings under their property menus, but I wouldn't start there first.

[Lethaface]

CMSF to be run as the administrator

Yes, just right click the CMSF shortcut you use, click "Properties" and tick "Run as administrator". The option is in the second tab IIRC.

The only annoying thing is the 'allow' part Vista now gives you everytime you start the game, but most Vista users will be quite familiair with that..

[ASL Veteran]

Having finally fired up a PBEM game for that city fight on the demo vs my friend I've also discovered that ... hey, the game works without the CD in the drive when playing the regular game! That was kind of wierd. The PBEM file swap has been improved too - now it just takes two file exchanges to get through a turn rather than the three it used to take! Very big improvement and a huge time saver. I'm taking the Syrians in the town fight from the demo and my friend is cautiously advancing down the road alongside the market .... right towards my IED . I've got some artillery lined up to come down on him pretty soon and I've got several AT missiles in position for after the IED blows up. Steady boys. Maybe I can avenge our terrible loss in Metal Grind where I literally had one man left firing a pistol (and the scenario still didn't end ). Unfortunately for me my friend set up the game with the basic difficulty so the borg spotting is still enabled - huge disadvantage for me.

[Moon]

Yes, just right click the CMSF shortcut you use, click "Properties" and tick "Run as administrator". The option is in the second tab IIRC.

The only annoying thing is the 'allow' part Vista now gives you everytime you start the game, but most Vista users will be quite familiair with that..

You can always disable UAC to get rid of that as well.

[c3k]

Hmmm, I am in _no_ way a Vista expert, but I still have UAC enabled and I do not need to run CMSF as administrator.

Regards,

Ken

[sfhand]

c3k, are you playing PBEM and using the default incoming and outgoing directories?

[c3k]

sfhand; no, I thought this was (UAC) was occurring under any instance of opening the CMSF exe file. Disregard my post if I am mistaken.

Regards,

Ken