Details on which men died (friendly and enemy)

[meade95]

I know this has likely been talked about before. But it definitely would be nice in AAR, if there could be a more detailed list of which soldiers actually have been KIA (on your side). So, you can see which men were killed, with what unit, etc, etc.....

Also, it would be nice to see, for example if an enemy unit is targeted (tagged to be KIA, via part of mission orders)... That if they are killed.... Where exactly they were taken down at (without having to search around the map for dead enemy bodies, after the game ends).

Also, I think if a given unit is targeted to be taken out.......I wish upon enemy surrender that didn't necessarily give one credit for accomplishing such.

Or better yet, is there a way to create a mission script where a unit is trying to escape (if things get to hot)...and then can reach some type of safe-zone?

[Falconander]

Been covered before but I'll second the notion to unit stats. I believe the TOW series has this so I find it unusual that it is not here. Sometimes this is the best part of the game and makes strategy throughout change accordingly.

As far as the targeting thing goes, I kind of like it the way it is now. Either I know for sure, or I am frantically checking around to see if we got him. I also have to go and check bodies but this is not too far from having soldiers getting close enough to verify the target has been killed.

Sometime I wonder if we achieved the objective but find out with a sigh of relief that the boys got em. I guess that is part of the AAR. Sometimes in the midst of the fray you don't have time to figure out who is who so you have to rely on intel coming down to see if the target was hit.

That is strange that you would get points for a target that actually was not killed. I'll have to pay attention to this...

I think I have played before and not gotten the points for certain targets but I may not remember correctly...

[panzermartin]

I'd love to see detailed stats of battles. Kill lists and casualties details sound great. If hardware permits would be nice to even learn not only where private was killed/injured but what actually got him (shrapnel/AK/Sniper rifle). Will help to add some soul to a game that somewhat lacks atmosphere and connection to the player.

[Pandur]

yea id love to see such detailed stats too, i mean we have none now and they need to code em up, so do it right once and for all time afterwards

a vehicle could list how many guys it coaxed, how many it hit with heat/HE/KE/canister.

for infantry it could be sorted into the support weapon(like the SAW/RPK now), rifles, hand granades and a class for RPGs/AT4/bazookas and so on.

that would be sweet. the CMx1 stats where nice, but now one can do it even better.

[Holman]

On a related note:

One thing CMx2 lacks is an easy way of reading, during play, exactly how many soldiers a unit has lost. Right now the player's memory is the only way to keep track of this.

What I mean is this: say a squad starts with nine men and takes four casualties. During the time those casualties are still on the map they will be listed (in very small print) as casualties on the squad list on the left edge of the screen. Once buddy aid has occurred, even that listing will disappear.

Meanwhile, in the unit box of information in the middle-bottom of the screen (the graphic list that shows what weapons each man is using), those four casualties will disappear as soon as they get hit. When four men go down, that nine-man squad will look like a five-man squad. There is no obvious indication of the loss outside of player memory and (until buddy aid, when even it is gone) the listing in tiny print on the side.

I think it would be better for casualties to remain in the unit box with their weapon icons turned red (just as wounded soldiers' weapons turn yellow) rather than disappearing entirely. This would make it very clear that a unit has taken casualties, and would allow the player to skim quickly through his units (using the -/+ keys) for status updates. Naturally, units that started the scenario somewhat depleted (as in a campaign) would not list lost soldiers at the start. Thus there would never be confusion about whether a particular squad started a scenario at full strength or already down some men.

It's not the most important issue in the game--we all have memories, after all, and we usually get to know our unit counts. But this change would help with situational awareness without requiring any extra screen real estate (since the soldiers are already taking up that box-space until they get dropped and replaced by emptiness). It might be a good interface refinement for Normandy and after.

[SlowMotion]

I'd love to see detailed stats of battles. Kill lists and casualties details sound great. If hardware permits would be nice to even learn not only where private was killed/injured but what actually got him (shrapnel/AK/Sniper rifle). Will help to add some soul to a game that somewhat lacks atmosphere and connection to the player.

Yes, that kind of detailed 'killed by' list would be good at least for tanks, vehicles and guns. Such thing is in use at least in

Black Shark

[dan/california]

On a related note:

One thing CMx2 lacks is an easy way of reading, during play, exactly how many soldiers a unit has lost. Right now the player's memory is the only way to keep track of this.

What I mean is this: say a squad starts with nine men and takes four casualties. During the time those casualties are still on the map they will be listed (in very small print) as casualties on the squad list on the left edge of the screen. Once buddy aid has occurred, even that listing will disappear.

Meanwhile, in the unit box of information in the middle-bottom of the screen (the graphic list that shows what weapons each man is using), those four casualties will disappear as soon as they get hit. When four men go down, that nine-man squad will look like a five-man squad. There is no obvious indication of the loss outside of player memory and (until buddy aid, when even it is gone) the listing in tiny print on the side.

I think it would be better for casualties to remain in the unit box with their weapon icons turned red (just as wounded soldiers' weapons turn yellow) rather than disappearing entirely. This would make it very clear that a unit has taken casualties, and would allow the player to skim quickly through his units (using the -/+ keys) for status updates. Naturally, units that started the scenario somewhat depleted (as in a campaign) would not list lost soldiers at the start. Thus there would never be confusion about whether a particular squad started a scenario at full strength or already down some men.

It's not the most important issue in the game--we all have memories, after all, and we usually get to know our unit counts. But this change would help with situational awareness without requiring any extra screen real estate (since the soldiers are already taking up that box-space until they get dropped and replaced by emptiness). It might be a good interface refinement for Normandy and after.

I quite like this idea, and it sounds simpler than most of the ideas I like. So either its outstanding or I'm thinking about it wrong.

[c3k]

I second this motion. Although, I believe it was brought up in a thread a while back.... I know! While I wait for CMUK (okay, "schmuck" is wrong...CMBF??), I'll play "Search through old threads!" Back in a jiff...

Ken

[Wengart]

I believe Kill stats are going into Normandy.

[LukeFF]

I quite like this idea, and it sounds simpler than most of the ideas I like. So either its outstanding or I'm thinking about it wrong.

+1, Seconded

[Cpl Steiner]

Agree with most if not all of the points above. Call it morbid fascination or whatever but I've always loved detailed post-battle stats. CMx1 told you how many enemy each squad managed to kill, injure or capture, and I used to love scouring the map to find those unusual heroic units that had taken out two or three time their own number.

With CMx2 things should have improved rather than got worse. We should be able to see how many rounds were fired, kill stats for individual soldiers instead of whole squads etc. It could be so good but instead we just have global figures for the whole side not even broken down by nationality when two are present on the same side.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Yarp. Me wants.

[meade95]

On a related note:

One thing CMx2 lacks is an easy way of reading, during play, exactly how many soldiers a unit has lost. Right now the player's memory is the only way to keep track of this.

What I mean is this: say a squad starts with nine men and takes four casualties. During the time those casualties are still on the map they will be listed (in very small print) as casualties on the squad list on the left edge of the screen. Once buddy aid has occurred, even that listing will disappear.

.

+1 to this - This sometimes drives me crazy (as to why it is, this way).

[Wodin]

Another yes vote from me.

[76mm]

important feature for me too...

[Battlefront.com]

I know... trust me I know I'm hoping this can be in for CM: Normandy. There's some internal bookkeeping bugaboos that are avoided by having the dead forgotten about, so it's a matter of Charles prioritizing putting in the time to fix that up. It will happen eventually, but obviously sooner is better!

The good thing is that the information is already 1:1. Which means when we DO get it in the visuals will tell you everything you need to know.

Steve

[costard]

You don't shoot low, Battlefront.

We appreciate the effort.

[theFightingSeabee]

Yes, this would be great. I figured there had to be some programming reason why it's not in there. ONe thing I would like to stress is that I'd like to see it implemented IN-GAME. Just like hitting Enter in CMx1. I really loved that feature and I think it would be a major improvement and would be loved by all.

[Cpl Steiner]

Yes, this would be great. I figured there had to be some programming reason why it's not in there. ONe thing I would like to stress is that I'd like to see it implemented IN-GAME. Just like hitting Enter in CMx1. I really loved that feature and I think it would be a major improvement and would be loved by all.

To my mind the info should be displayable for each man by doing something on the control panel. Currently when you hover the mouse over a soldier in the control panel unit display it pops up the name of the weapon system. I would change this in some way so you gain access to an info panel showing everything you ever wanted to know about that soldier.

Suggested Soldier information:

Name - yes I want to know everyone's name, not just the squad leader

Rank

Weapon

Starting Ammo/Magazines - e.g. 25/3 = 25 rounds in current mag, plus 3 more mags

Current Ammo/Magazines

Starting Grenades/Rockets/Missiles etc.

Ending Grenades/Rockets/Missiles etc.

Injuries - e.g. "Arm - Flesh wound" for a Yellow casualty, [EDIT] "Chest - Internal Injuries" for a Red casualty, "Head - Fatal" for a Brown casualty. I would also like this info to be accurate, i.e. where the soldier was actually hit, which with CMx2 I think is possible.

Confirmed enemy KIA - FOW during game but accurate at end

Confirmed enemy WIA - FOW during game but accurate at end

Notable events with timestamps - e.g. 15:37 occupied Obj Pooh, 16:00 left Obj Pooh

You would have to figure out how to show all the different weapon systems without missing anything out but I'm sure that could be doable.

[SlowMotion]

Here's a screenshot showing how the end-of-mission log looks like in Black Shark.

For each unit damaged/destroyed you can see the initiator:

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z213/r31070021/CMSF/bs_briefing_log.jpg

[MattMulder]

Looks like i'm not the only one writing down everything that happens in those 1 minute actions.

I remember having begun some kind of novelized AAR, but in French ( my english's not good enough) and a single turn would take up to 5 pages...me and my sens of details

Anyway, nice idea. We definitely should try that.

[Mord]

The Kill List for me was like opening your Christmas stocking after all your presents...something to look forward to after all the major stuff was out of the way.

It added a lot to the narrative of the post battlefield sweep. Wow, these guys did this, this squad was wiped out here but accomplished this before they bit it, and so on.

I think in the end whether a lot of us realize it or not we are telling stories with these battles, as well as fighting them...it adds a deep level of immersion for me, it's like reading the memoirs (sometimes postmortem) of the guys doing the shooting and dying.

I can't wait to see it return, I wish BFC would do it for CMSF, retro fit it or something later on, if it can't be done before hand.

Mord.

P.S. @ Cpl Steiner, I am all for the FOW accuracy until the final end screen.