BFCElvis Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 1445 hrs This will be a brief update. It will do very little to progress the battle. The minute of battle that included the panzerfaust shot that I ended my last post with was the craziest 60 seconds of the battle so far. All across the map things were going on. I am going to take a second and focus on one slice of it. It occurred to me when looking at the screen shot below. Full size Looking at it I noticed my surrendering men in the background and realized there were several things in this turn I had neglected to mention. Let’s start with the beginning of the turn. The Sherman I have going to Hill 144 stopped in its tracks when it stopped the HQ unit that I have had such a hard time dealing with during the entire battle. I finally was able to do with my Sherman what my ground troops had not be able to do. Full size As soon as they were taken care of a previously unobserved MG team is spotting to a bit to the right. There are no icons in this screen shot because they were destroyed on impact. The smoke is still hanging in the air from the shoot that the HQ unit took. Full size Over near the as of yet unseen panzeschrek 3rd squad, that you saw in a screen shot in the last post, is devastated while firing at the German. If I took a screen shot of every potato masher hand grenade that was thrown at them I’d probably jam the BFC server up for a week. They are essentially eliminated in seconds. Full size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFCElvis Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 As the Sherman turns to aid the dying squad it is hit on its left side by something big. I have no idea where the shot came from and why there weren’t any more after this. There is no area to my left that I can imagine any enemy units still occupying. This screen shot shows the round after it has bounced off my Sherman. Full size Which brings us back to this. Full size Well, that is a happy ending for the luckiest tank in the Army. I exhale as the round sails high over its target. Full size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanzfeld Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Elvis, Can you tell us more about your troops that surrendered? Do they come under control of the Germans? What happens to them? Also, does your build have close combat (hand to hand) fighting in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFCElvis Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Elvis, Can you tell us more about your troops that surrendered? Do they come under control of the Germans? What happens to them? When your troops are surrendering there is a fairly long period of time that they remain with their hands in the air. During this time they can be "rescued". To do this you need to either eliminate the threat that is causing them to surrender or adding enough friendly forces to the scene. If they are not rescued then for friendly troops surrendering they simply disappear. For enemy troops surrendering white flag icons appear for a little while and then the men disappear. If you are familiar with CM:A it looks similar to exit VPs, except for the addition of the white flags. I wouldn't be surprised if Jon posts a screen shot or 2 of my guys when they finally are gone. From I understand his posts are slightly behind mine at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanzfeld Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I hesitate to comment of features that have either not been announced or not come up in the battle we are playing. I'll leave that for Steve. Fair enough. Steve did say that hand to hand is in the game but it is abstracted so it has been announced. I do not care if it is abstracted or not. I am just very happy its in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnersman Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Elvis, Can you tell us more about your troops that surrendered? Do they come under control of the Germans? What happens to them? Also, does your build have close combat (hand to hand) fighting in it? In the quote below Steve is not speaking to hand to hand combat specifically. But he might as well be talking about it. Animations are very expensive, and difficult, to make. The primary reason is that there must be all sorts of transitions between them, with various weapons, for various LODs, etc. We have thousands of animations in CMx2 already, but obviously most of them are quite subtle or taken for granted. What this means is if you guys gave us a list of 100 animations that we agreed with, we'd still maybe get to 2 or 3 of them each major release. Animations are the bane of game developers. Steve Found in the CMSF forums, preCMBN website. (PCMBN...if you will? ) http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=92917&highlight=hand&page=3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanzfeld Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 This is what Steve said: "Close combat will be improved for CM:BN. But as I've said forever and a day... there will not be any close quarter combat animations. That's just not something we can fit in. Plus, no matter what we can realistically do with the animations they will still look unrealistic. Even FPS games with tens of millions of Dollars (for you Europeans, that's about 300 Euros ) don't have very good CQB animations. So we're not kidding ourselves about it." From the Santa Steve thread. No animations (I dont really care) but there is close combat (hand to hand). And since CMSF had no close combat at all then any "improvment" means at least SOMETHING is in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryujin Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 It does make me wonder how we'll know whats going on.. will close combat be two guys facing each other and exchanging mean looks and harsh language until one of them suddenly falls over dead? Even one simple and not so great animation would be nice just to give the player information. By the way, this AAR is quite an interesting read, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkhorn1x Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 OK - I really shouldn't be doing this - NDA and all - but here is an example of the Close Combat graphics: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFCElvis Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 It does make me wonder how we'll know whats going on.. will close combat be two guys facing each other and exchanging mean looks and harsh language until one of them suddenly falls over dead? Even one simple and not so great animation would be nice just to give the player information. By the way, this AAR is quite an interesting read, thanks! Hee hee. No, there is an animation. One guy shoots the other. Or more accurately they both try to shoot each other. I don't know about you but if I got up close with an enemy unit in battle and had a gun in my hands the first thing I would do would be shoot. Later over beers I would tell how I killed him with my bare hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanzfeld Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 But if they are both out of ammo then they still try to kill each other with no animation yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 No problem Elvis...I was mostly seconding a request from somewhere back in the thread...and I always look on the bright side...It'll give me something to look forward to tomorrow. Mord. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFCElvis Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 1446 hrs The 105mm artillery is really coming down heavy now. The bad news is it looks like it is hitting just in front of the villa and few, if any, rounds are landing on the buildings. Some are coming near enough that they should at least be suppressing any fire. Full size Full size Full size The Sherman who got so lucky by ducking the schreck has made it safely to the base of Hill 144. I know it is a precarious spot and was only recently occupied by a German HQ, a MG team and a sniper unit. But I badly need a foothold. Full size I still have 1st Squad/2nd Plt advancing quickly to join them. Since no other serious fire was taken on the advance and the Panzerschreck team has been eliminated I am also sending a forward observer to the hill with the hope of finding a spot with a clear LOS. So far that has been my biggest challenge…finding a spot with good LOS. Full size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFCElvis Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 3rd Platoon continues to take casualties and surrender while attempting to gain control of the wall. That is one well defended wall. It appears that there is one squad that has taken out an entire squad and is holding one at bay. I am starting to think that maybe before continuing to Hill 144 I should have had the Sherman stop and try to take care of them. Hindsight…20/20 Full size In the center 3rd plt/F Co. has finally been able to advance a little bit past the intersection. They have been beaten up so badly that I am not convinced they will not be of much use under fire. They do have a view to the Villa so perhaps they can provide some covering fire when the time comes to advance. Full size Now mortar fire has joined the 105s in trying to wreak havoc on the Villa. But most parts remain calm and unaffected. Full size Finally, 3rd Platoon is able to dislodge the German squad fy the wall (or what’s left of it) and take that position. They now also have a view of parts of the Villa. Full size This posting has included nothing about is happening on Hill 154, the JPz IVs, most of my Shermans, and a couple of Pak 30s. What happens with them could very well shift the entire balance of the battle. And it all begins innocently enough at the foot of Hill 144. This is where 1st Squad/2nd Plt has arrived and immediately begins surrendering in the face a German Panzershreck team followed by a German rifle squad. Both are quickly taken out by the Sherman. (The trees were removed in the shot to show the dead and dying German troops more clearly. In addition to my surrendering men.) Full size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanzfeld Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Cool! You can see that helmets can fall off dead troops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wespe001 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 The images are splendid, as soon as the play is on line, I will buy it immediately. Still cheer for this remarkable work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InFireBaptize Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Hi all, I bought the original game but haven't been playing it much. I have question about this. 1. Have the graphics been improved! looks like it. 2. Would there still be time limit during missions? 3. Would there be annihilation mode instead of time limit? 4. Release date? 5. Would there be co-op, LAN or multiplayer? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottie Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 1) Is that a destroyed wall in the 14:46 II image ? 2) In CMx1 i tried to place units behind a wall for cover but it just didnt work. The extensive use of WALLS for cover in CMx2 suggest that are a preference for cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panzermartin Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Wow, hit decals on buildings?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanzfeld Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Wow, hit decals on buildings?? I doubt it. Just the "damaged" texture I bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panzermartin Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Well at least its an extra damage layer compared to CMSF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
para Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Cool! You can see that helmets can fall off dead troops! yeah just noticed that too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincere Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 The helmet is a nice touch. Great DAR Elvis. By the way what experience and morale level were the squad who fought at the wall and began to surrender? And did you 'rescue' them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFCElvis Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 The helmet is a nice touch. Great DAR Elvis. By the way what experience and morale level were the squad who fought at the wall and began to surrender? And did you 'rescue' them? I did not rescue them. I had no one in position to do it without taking heavy losses to the rescuing unit. Not long before the surrender they were were regular/tired/nervous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincere Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I did not rescue them. I had no one in position to do it without taking heavy losses to the rescuing unit. Not long before the surrender they were were regular/tired/nervous. Thanks Elvis. Keep up the good work. Am wondering where you're planning on deploying the reserve infantry and enjoying all the close combat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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