CMx1 games

[patboy]

Who definitely stop playing Combat Mission AK-BB-BO?

I stopped playing these games for several months ago and the only motivation I had, was the mods! I expect a lot (perhaps too) the new game engine, hoping that the gameplay is better than what I saw on the demos of shock force!

[Paul AU]

I was creating CM:BB scenarios five minutes ago.

[Other Means]

I haven't played CM1 since SF came out. I tried to and everything seemed a bit too...neat. I dunno. Once you're used to less abstraction the compromises made in CM1 seem a little too pat. There's abstraction in SF too of course but the whole lot seems a lot messier and more realistic.

Have you tried the Brits demo?

[hcrof]

I agree with Other Means, it felt like a board game when I went back and sooo ugly! (even with mods)

I am looking forward to Normany (or rather the eastern front game ) for when I want to go back to WW2

[Michael Emrys]

I stopped playing 4 or 5 years ago because the computer I had then was no longer able to handle the graphics satisfactorily for reasons I never understood. Then two years ago I started using a Mac that would not boot up in 9.2.2 and that was the definitive end of that.

Michael

[birdstrike]

Only been playing CMSF since it came out.

I still had CMAK installed up to last year, but deleted it when I needed the space for CMSF mods and modules.

[Smaragdadler]

Same. No CMx1 since 2007.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Every now and then to cater to my RobO campaign addiction.

[Battlefront.com]

I have to say that even I'm surprised at how "spartan" the old CMx1 games feel. Not just graphically, but in terms of detail and character. Sure, sure, sure... I know I'm one of the guys that made Shock Force and therefore am biased. What is sometimes conveniently forgotten is that I also spent nearly 7 years of my life making CMx1 games. I put a lot of my time and energy, not to mention more than a wee bit of love , into them. I don't view them negatively at all, but I can't help but view them in context with CMx2. And when I compare the two I can't help but see and feel the differences between them. I don't have rose colored glasses when I look at CMx1 and that is why I can't avoid feeling they are a bit "empty" compared to CMx2.

As fondly as I remember my games of CMx1 (and "fondly" is an understatement!), I probably will never play another CMx1 game in my life. Instead I look forward to playing CMx2 games and seeing the engine evolve over time. Like many of you here... the day I get to see an ISU-152 rumble to the front to take out a pesky German strongpoint is a day I'll give a little shout of joy (OK, a BIG shout!). Although I am totally enthralled with modern warfare in a way I never would have thought possible 10 years ago, and am stoked for Normandy, my heart is somewhere in the middle of Mother Russia's great battlefields. Probably always will be.

Steve

[MikeyD]

I go back every once in awhile but ony to look over my old mods nostalgically, not to really play it. It's like my virtual model kit shelf - Ah, there's my Jagdtiger mod, there's my final production Panther mod. Remember all those hours that I devoted them. Then I fire up the game and get thoroughly bolluxed-up trying to control camera movement.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Yeah, the camera takes some getting used to. I keep trying to use my mouse wheel.

But for all the joy I got out of it, playing it now it feels quite crude compared to CMSF. The biggest gameplay bug is the infantry firepower. Adequate at the time, it's too abstract now that I've seen the joys of long range MG fire in CMSF.

[Apocal]

I played rarely up until a few months ago. A lot of other games came out, plus the graphics... they were definitely nice for their time.

[Canada Guy]

I still play CMBB religiously (and have even been known to break out CMAK on occasion). It is the subject matter. I absolutely love the Russian front (though I did take a break for a week after reading Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier" as it was just too realistic).

Every Saturday afternoon I get to have a great cup of coffee (Tims), spend 2 hours playing against the computer or send my turns to 2 games I have going against a friend from Sweden. It is one of the things that I look forward to every week.

I have modded it to the hilt, downloaded 100s of scenarios, make sure that I have an extra copy of the game in case one disk gets scratched and am even investigating whether XP virtualization though Windows 7 will work or not (and will post if I can get it to work).

Yes, it is more simplistic than CMSF, yes, the graphics are not as good and the computer opponent is a little easy but I love it! It is one of the highlights of my week. I have even gotten my 10 year old son to start playing against me. I look forward to playing it for the next 10 years until Bagration et. al. and other Russian front games come out. I will probably still have a soft spot for it in 20 years time.

[Vergeltungswaffe]

BB and AK are the greatest games ever,...for now. Currently playing in CMMC3 (which uses AK), and it is great, but SF/Marines/British plays so much better that when CM:N comes out, I know I will finally uninstall BB and AK. That will make me sad,...but only long enough to dive into Normandy.

[Sgt Joch]

As fondly as I remember my games of CMx1 (and "fondly" is an understatement!), I probably will never play another CMx1 game in my life. Instead I look forward to playing CMx2 games and seeing the engine evolve over time. Like many of you here... the day I get to see an ISU-152 rumble to the front to take out a pesky German strongpoint is a day I'll give a little shout of joy (OK, a BIG shout!). Although I am totally enthralled with modern warfare in a way I never would have thought possible 10 years ago, and am stoked for Normandy, my heart is somewhere in the middle of Mother Russia's great battlefields. Probably always will be.

I always have a couple of CMBB games on the go on top of my CMSF games. Sure, I see how simplistic it is over CMx2, but it still works, is still fun to play against a good opponent and its the only way I can get my OstFront fix. I will retire it from my Hard Drive when CM:Bagration comes out.

If you really want to scratch your OstFront itch (or make it worse ), pick up a copy of Glantz's latest book:

http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Stalingrad-Soviet-German-Operations-April-August/dp/0700616306

I am about 150 pages in and it is excellent.

On a related point, do CMx1 players find that playing CMSF has improved their CMx1 gameplay? I played CMBB and CMAK for several years before CMSF came along and now realize I was not using the most efficient tactics. When CMSF came out, along with most other players, I had to relearn new tactics and make full use of combined arms tactics to be an effective player. When I now play CMBB, I approach it and play it as if it was a CMSF game and I find that this new approach has substantially improved my gameplay.

[Other Means]

...am even investigating whether XP virtualization though Windows 7 will work or not (and will post if I can get it to work).

I tried just installing it without vitualisation and it worked no problem. I'm on W7 64bit.

[Canada Guy]

Sgt Josh,

Unfortunately, even after playing for 6 years I think now, I am still a bad player. I think my record for PBEM is 7-8-5 (W-L-T) which makes a good ASL piece but a not so good win-loss record.

I also agree though that until I see CM:Bagration, CMBB will still be played on a regular basis.

Other Means,

What kind of a video graphics card are you using? I think using almost any Operating system but with a pre-DX10 card, will work but once you use ATI

3xxx or greator video card or NVidia 2xx or greater, the DX10 will not run the CMx1 game.

[Other Means]

I've got a gf GTX 260. I didn't do anything special, I just installed W7 on my C drive, BB/AK are on my D, I ran them and:

There's a good performance boost for SF under 64b as well.

No warranties, real or implied

[Battlefront.com]

Sgt. Joch,

Glantz... yeah, that guy is one of my historian heros

On a related point, do CMx1 players find that playing CMSF has improved their CMx1 gameplay? I played CMBB and CMAK for several years before CMSF came along and now realize I was not using the most efficient tactics. When CMSF came out, along with most other players, I had to relearn new tactics and make full use of combined arms tactics to be an effective player. When I now play CMBB, I approach it and play it as if it was a CMSF game and I find that this new approach has substantially improved my gameplay.

Interesting! I never would have thought of this had you not mentioned it, but now that you have it does make sense. I think it is fair to say that most CM:SF players will say that they have had to "up their game" because of the increased lethality, the reduced abstractions, and generally sparser terrain. As has been discussed here since the start, sloppy players could get away with a lot more in CMx1 than CM:SF, therefore it makes sense to hear that a good CM:SF player might be able to play CMx1 better since CMx1 is more forgiving for a number of reasons.

Steve

[MeatEtr]

Like many of you here... the day I get to see an ISU-152 rumble to the front to take out a pesky German strongpoint is a day I'll give a little shout of joy (OK, a BIG shout!). Although I am totally enthralled with modern warfare in a way I never would have thought possible 10 years ago, and am stoked for Normandy, my heart is somewhere in the middle of Mother Russia's great battlefields. Probably always will be.

Steve

Ditto here, thanks to your beloved CMBB, I knew very little of the Eastern Front before it. Now with dozens of books under my belt, I still can't get enough of it. It's certainly my preferred front in terms of gaming and reading. So I'm very much looking forward to CM2: Bagration.

[Battlefront.com]

MeatEtr,

It's certainly my preferred front in terms of gaming and reading.

Me too.

So I'm very much looking forward to CM2: Bagration.

Me too

Steve

[phil stanbridge]

I have both CMBB and a highly modified CMAK installed on my laptop. I must admit that I haven't played either for a short while, and I'm not sure I will unless it's a little 300-500 point user specified QB which are so much fun. I found I preferred the improvements in CMAK to CMBB although with the interest in Campaigns that breathed new life back into both games for me. It's a shame Campaigns was cancelled. But now I have Shock Force to look forward to.

[Jaws]

CMBO had terrible graphics when it appears on the market. CMX1 never was an Eye candy. But its gameplay is never surpassed even not by CMSF.

CMX1 FOREVER

[Michael Emrys]

...thanks to your beloved CMBB, I knew very little of the Eastern Front before it.

Interesting. Coming as I do from an older generation of gamers, Panzerblitz kind of did that for me (even though my very first wargame was Stalingrad).

Still though, it's hard for me to really love the Eastern Front. That was such a viciously ugly war and I can't really root for either side. I guess my favorite period of the war was France and the Low Countries 1940. There is a quality to that campaign that I find hard to describe. You could almost say that it has "virginal purity" somehow. But since it was over so quickly you don't get the variety and evolution of armor and other weaponry that I think forms the main attraction in games at CM's level.

Michael

[Sgt Joch]

Lets face it, we all have our fav period for WW2.

I have always been more interested in the Eastern Front, partly because it was the decisive front in WW2 and partly, because the Eastern Front was so mysterious when I was growing up. There were tons of books available on NWE 44-45, but very few from the eastern front.

Another totally irrational reason is the fact that Canadian and Russian weather are very similar. I can play a winter CMBB battle on a battlefield covered by snow and fir trees and then go out for a walk with my dogs and see the very same landscape...minus the bullets of course..