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When Is CM:Normandy Going To Be Available?


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CM: Normandy . . . .

What we are striving VERY hard to do is to ensure that people who are reasonably OK with the CMx2 game engine will be happy with its initial portrayal of WW2. This includes not only the setting and the gameplay, but also some promised features like "cherry picking" for QBs. We're very pleased with the setting and general gameplay's existing state in terms of satisfying those goals, so polishing them will only make them better. As for those features, like QBs, we're very sure we have that fixed up just fine . . . .

My apologies if this has aleady been answered elsewhere, but does anyone know if the QBs in CM:Normandy will have the option for randomly generated maps as in CMx1?

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Definitely no randomly generated maps like CMx1. We will likely never put that into the game as the effort needed would be massive, and the results of questionable value.

We do have an idea for maps assembled, randomly, from pre-made "mega tiles". This is an idea we feel will have a lot of benefits to the game system. However, it's a pretty big thing to add and we don't feel it should hold up CM: Normandy's release. Therefore, it's on the chopping block at the moment. In its place would be a rather large number of maps that could be used randomly or manually selected by the QB player (an option that is currently not available).

Steve

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Definitely no randomly generated maps like CMx1. We will likely never put that into the game as the effort needed would be massive, and the results of questionable value.

Steve

Can't you simply use the same basic code from CMBB to generate new maps?

I'm confused as to why the entire thing would have to be done over if it's already been done and put into production. And even if it does need to be done over, it would seem that if you guys did a good job with the CMBB generated maps, the Normandy maps would only be an improvement.

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Steve already answered this some time ago, when CMSF first came out. CMx2 maps are probably something like a factor of magnitude more detailed and complex than CMx1 maps. So any code to create a "random" map that would make any sense has to be that much more complex as well.

So, no. simply reusing the CMx1 coding for random map generation is not possible. I'm sure it's theoretically possible to program a random map generator for the CMx2 engine, but the effort required to do so would mean delaying or canceling significant other game features.

As far as I'm concerned, randomly selecting a map from a large map library is just fine. And I'm sure designers will release more maps once the game is out.

Mega-tile map creation would be even better, but I can wait for it.

Cheers,

YD

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Can't you simply use the same basic code from CMBB to generate new maps?

I'm confused as to why the entire thing would have to be done over if it's already been done and put into production. And even if it does need to be done over, it would seem that if you guys did a good job with the CMBB generated maps, the Normandy maps would only be an improvement.

YankeeDog outlined the challenges in more detail, but it's also important to remember that CMSF/CMN are based off an entirely different engine that CMBB. Importing the same basic code wouldn't even make bad maps, it simply wouldn't work at all. Due to the new engine, you'd need to rewrite the entire code, and, as YD pointed out, it would require tons more effort than the original code did, and probably not work great either.

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Then there is the 'minor' matter of AI plans. If maps are going to be random, then a scripted AI has to do some pretty neat tricks.

Also, only a few people realize that all the millions of seemingly random maps in CMx1 games were actually hand made by a room full of chimpanzees clicking around in the map editor. Then the maps were tagged according to properties (hills, trees etc.) and embedded into the game code. At the same time all the official scenario maps were hand picked from the small number of passable maps. These were then given to scenario designers to fill with units. From 1999 to the time of CMSF the price of bananas unfortunately climbed so high that BFC couldn't afford them anymore, so Mark Ezra was used instead.

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YankeeDog (and others) have it right. We could no more use the CMx1 map generation code in CM:SF than one could drive a Ferrari on wooden cart wheels. Plus...

So, no. simply reusing the CMx1 coding for random map generation is not possible. I'm sure it's theoretically possible to program a random map generator for the CMx2 engine, but the effort required to do so would mean delaying or canceling significant other game features.

And that would be just to have a crappy random map generator :) CMx1's generator was only so-so, yet the degree of complexity of the terrain it handled was magnitudes more simplistic.

Which is why I've said, for quite some time, that we will not have a random map generator in CMx2 *ever*. It's simply not worth the time investment. Plus, we would have to alter it for different settings and (at some point) overhaul it to handle a finer detailed mesh than even CMx2 has right now.

The way to go is the MegaTile concept. But only when it won't hamper the game's development and we have the time to make sure it's working right. There's a lot of technical challenges we haven't even begun to look at. Now is definitely not the time to start.

Setve

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"And who is Mark Ezra??"

Think of Smeagol slowly evolving into Gollum, with white skin and big eyes but with thick glasses and hands that are shaped to cup a mouse due to the centuries he has spent under lock and key in the depths of the BTS / BFC version of Moria, chained to a 30" monitor.

Every few years Steve promises to let him spend an afternoon in the outside world, on the surface, and then his hopes are dashed as the next day a new module is announced and he has to create another few thousand maps for it. :)

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Think of Smeagol slowly evolving into Gollum, with white skin and big eyes but with thick glasses and hands that are shaped to cup a mouse due to the centuries he has spent under lock and key in the depths of the BTS / BFC version of Moria.

Every few years Steve promises to let him spend an afternoon in the outside world, on the surface, and then his hopes are dashed as the next day a new module is announced and he has to create another few thousand maps for it. :)

simians_planet2.jpg

"Noooooo..I can only imagine how horrible this is (although, to be honest the last film I saw was in 1968)..Does he at least eat bananas? Bananas are good."

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No, raw fish and the rare Hobbit.

Hobbits are best prepared rare. The young ones—the best for eating—are tender enough so as to not require prolonged cooking. Eating them rare also preserves the more subtle flavors of the young. A quick stir-fry of thin slices with scallions and bean sprouts works well.

If you can only find older Hobbits, it is necessary to stew them quite some time and the excess grease may need to be skimmed off repeatedly.

Michael

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