Silly Question?

[Pud]

Gday all

Back from the dead again and I'm looking at buying the game, however this is what the demo looks like to me on the high settings.

The colours are absolutely horrible! I'm concerned that my PC isn't capable of running this game as it should be seen and if that's the case I wont be purchasing it, on the other hand I am hoping its just the demo which looked like this for everyone.

I am sure this has been asked before but couldn't think of the correct search to my question. I also wanted to just greet everyone again anyway from down under.

Bruce (aka Pud)

[panzermartin]

This is just the setup zones coloring. Press go and the reds will go away..

[Thomm]

The strange colors indicate your setup zone and the objectives.

Once you start playing, everything will be back to natural colors except for the objective zones, but their coloring can be de-activated by means of a hotkey (find them by pressing the MENUS and then the HOTKEYS buttons)

Best regards,

Thomm

[JG11Preusse]

wondering why someone makes a screenshot at the setup army phase and dont look what will happen after starting the battle ?

one mouseclick further and then you would have seen how it looks like then.

you are also able to zoom in and out and maybe take a glanz when zoomed more inside and not only from most outside

[GreenAsJade]

I don't think its a silly question. The OP lucked out somewhat in picking this map to start with ... I had the same very initial reaction to those colours all over the map, fortunately for me it was clearer what they were. In the OPs map the fields aren't that attractive, there's not much else there to offset the surreal look.

Pick another more interesting map: it's better

GaJ

[Pud]

I didn't go any further as I was expecting something similar to the old CM games where the setup map was identical to the actual playing map so I certainly wasn't expecting any colour changes once you start also the colours were frying my brain I couldn't risk causing permanent damage!

Thanks for the quick response anyway guys.

[JG11Preusse]

there are also a lot youtube videos where you can see how it looks like ingame.

[Pud]

They are also why I was concerned about my video card/PC setup going by my initial view at game setup, many thanks

[Fredrock1957]

Welcome back Pud, your CM website always contained some cool stuff back in the CMx1 days....

[Hessian deserter]

Welcome back Pud. There are also several terrain desaturation mod's in the repository,that you can add if you prefer them over the stock ones,same with roads and walls. and probably soon to be, all other obejects. I do think the vehicles in this game are all very well done and modders will have there work cut out trying to make them look better.

[c3k]

Alt-J will get rid of the objective zone color.

[MOSwas71331]

What level of difficulty are you playing at? I've never seen where the German units are located at the start of the game. I've also never noticed different map coloring for set up areas or objectives.

I'm using an iMac with MacOS 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard). I haven't yet switched to 10.7 (Lion).

[YankeeDog]

What level of difficulty are you playing at? I've never seen where the German units are located at the start of the game. I've also never noticed different map coloring for set up areas or objectives.

He's playing as Germans, ergo he's seeing the German units and setup locations. IIRC, that particular scenario is not recommended to play as human player Germans vs. US AI, but there's nothing stopping a player from doing so.

The American side in that particular scenario does not have a setup zone, which is why you won't see a setup zone when you load this scenario as Americans -- the player is obligated to "play them as they lie", which was a designer choice. Other scenarios are different. For example, the "Closing the Pocket" scenario included with the demo does have setup zones for the American side.

[MOSwas71331]

When I tried playing as the German to see how the AI would run its attack, I quit after seeing a screen telling me that this training mission is not designed for play as the Axis forces. I saw no point in going further.

[YankeeDog]

When I tried playing as the German to see how the AI would run its attack, I quit after seeing a screen telling me that this training mission is not designed for play as the Axis forces. I saw no point in going further.

Yep; it will give you that message. But if you really want to see how the German defense is laid out, or just noodle around with the German forces in that scenario, if you continue through it will let you play the German side.

I'd recommend doing this after playing through the Allied side to do this, to avoid spoiling the fun.

[MOSwas71331]

I still can't beat the AI at the Allied veteran setting, and all the posts I've read of people beating the AI on their first try and taking only a few US casualties in the process just make me feel stupid.

I've never even taken the farm yard objective, as I take so many casualties trying to get there, I see no point in continuing the game.

I am controlling my map views better, but I still can't duplicate dakuth's accomplishments in his video tutorial. One thing it would be nice to know is how he can clear out all a unit's commands in one or two keystrokes. (There are times when dakuth claims to change his mind about what to do with a unit, quickly clears its commands, and starts over with new commands.) It usually takes me a while to delete all a unit's waypoints and cancel all its combat commands. Hell, it even takes me a while to see whether a unit has any commands pending at all, except when the unit has a visible path with waypoints and / or a visible firing arc.

[MOSwas71331]

There's no point I can see in playing the German side. At least in my experience, the US units never move from their starting positions and the Krauts have no indirect fire weapons with which to shell the sitting GIs. If German units advanced into the view of US units, I suppose there might be an exchange of fire. Is that the case?

[womble]

I still can't beat the AI at the Allied veteran setting, and all the posts I've read of people beating the AI on their first try and taking only a few US casualties in the process just make me feel stupid.

Have you tried it on Basic Training? It makes it a lot easier to see what is going on, which can perhaps be somewhat counterintuitive, if you've got particular preconceptions. Makes the AI's mortar fire faster on-target though, I believe, so you have to be sensitive to that.

Are you playing WeGo or RT. I much prefer WeGo, myself, but if you're using RT, don't be afraid to (ab)use the pause button so you can maintain control at your own pace, rather than trying to rush when you don't even know what feet are, yet.

One thing it would be nice to know is how he can clear out all a unit's commands in one or two keystrokes.

Above the command pane of the UI, there are three icons for "Pause Indefinitely", "Cancel all waypoints" and "Take Cover". They're dealt with on page 92 of the manual under "Instant Commands". They might be what you're after. I hardly ever use them, myself, preferring to hammer the backspace key, with a final "Del" to clear any current combat orders. But "1) select the unit. 2) click the stopsign" should cover your wishes

Edit: On the other hand, it's perhaps a bit concerning that you're feeling the need to cancel orders so much that this would be a huge help. Perhaps giving fewer orders in the first place might help? While there's a lot of room for micromanagement, the AI's also pretty handy, and leaving it to select its own fires a lot of the time might help.

...it even takes me a while to see whether a unit has any commands pending at all, except when the unit has a visible path with waypoints and / or a visible firing arc.

I have to say, as someone with red-green deficient vision, the palette of possible target line colours is sometimes a bit invisible... It might help if you used Alt-P to show all paths, so at least you'll be able to see which units have movement orders without having to click on 'em.

Maybe another training exercise would be to start "Road to Berlin" in hotseat mode. That way you can see what mistakes you're making as you advance with the Americans. Where you're straying into kill zones, for example. I'm sure it's just a matter of finding the right manner of approach to the game that suits you.

[stoex]

I am controlling my map views better, but I still can't duplicate dakuth's accomplishments in his video tutorial. One thing it would be nice to know is how he can clear out all a unit's commands in one or two keystrokes. (There are times when dakuth claims to change his mind about what to do with a unit, quickly clears its commands, and starts over with new commands.) It usually takes me a while to delete all a unit's waypoints and cancel all its combat commands. Hell, it even takes me a while to see whether a unit has any commands pending at all, except when the unit has a visible path with waypoints and / or a visible firing arc.

One thing to note is that there is a small button above the command pane that cancels all of a unit's current orders. It looks like a stop sign.

Another thing to note is that when you delete waypoints with backspace, combat orders attached to those waypoints are deleted as well. So no need to do both, except in the case that a unit has a combat order before its first waypoint, meaning attached visually to the unit itself. That one needs to be deleted manually using the delete key, but it is the only one.

Third thing to note is that it is not generally a good idea in most cases to give your units more than a few movement orders anyway. Chances are those orders will go to hell anyway because something will happen within a few seconds . Stick with 3-4 move orders at once for each unit, and you won't have to do so much backspacing if you change your mind either.

There's no point I can see in playing the German side. At least in my experience, the US units never move from their starting positions and the Krauts have no indirect fire weapons with which to shell the sitting GIs. If German units advanced into the view of US units, I suppose there might be an exchange of fire. Is that the case?

Well, since there is no AI plan for the US in that scenario, they will never move except in self-preservation. If they spot you, they will shoot at you, however.

Anyhow, I haven't followed this entire thread and don't know if you are playing RT or TB. If you are playing RT, I would suggest playing TB and taking your time over things anyway, or at least pause to give orders in RT. I know I couldn't abide with the clickfest of pauseless RT for a million dollars. If that was the only way to play, I wouldn't own this game (same reason I don't own a whole lot of games... ).

[MOSwas71331]

I've used the veteran setting since I was told that there were no floating ?-mark icons for unidentified German units in the basic training mode and that the German unit performance wasn't better.

In CMBO-CMBB-CMAK, I believe the only play balancing adjustment was to get more or fewer or better or worse units for the sides. The AI always controlled its units the same way.

As I recall his play of the demo, dakuth used those floating ?-mark icons to lay down prep fire on the German positions. I had some fun doing that to see how effective that prep fire might be. [i think my best result was to eliminate one German HMG and inflict about 15 casualties.] I decided I mostly wanted to knock out the German AT guns (priority 1) and HMGs (priority 2), and I didn't feel lucky enough to expect my prep fire to be productive.

I also thought that if lucky prep fire was so essential to US easy victory, those posts about "how I won total victory with only three US casualties" would have mentioned how they handled their prep fire..

[MOSwas71331]

As I said in another thread, I've never played RT. I'm so clumsy with viewing the map and commanding my units, I expect I'd have a nervous breakdown trying to control more than four or five units in an RT game.

I also rarely give a unit more that two or three movement waypoints, and, when I do, it's only to keep a unit on a road which isn't straight. [i complained repeatedly about CMBO-CMBB-CMAK making it so hard to direct a vehicle to follow a road.]

[MOSwas71331]

I just tried giving a US unit a three waypoint movement command, and clicking the stop sign (middle brown button on the left containing a black hexagon) eliminated the movement path. That'll speed things up a lot! Thanks again.

[womble]

I've used the veteran setting since I was told that there were no floating ?-mark icons for unidentified German units in the basic training mode and that the German unit performance wasn't better.

I think that there are "?" for unidentified units in Basic Training.

In CMBO-CMBB-CMAK, I believe the only play balancing adjustment was to get more or fewer or better or worse units for the sides. The AI always controlled its units the same way.

The various levels of Basic, Veteran, Warrior etc. really aren't difficulty levels. Except maybe Basic. They're Fog of War levels and affect the delivery time of arty. That's it. Having "?" isn't as useful as being able to see the weapons, activity and other status of the enemy, while you're learning the game.

I also thought that if lucky prep fire was so essential to US easy victory, those posts about "how I won total victory with only three US casualties" would have mentioned how they handled their prep fire..

It isn't. I reckon it's more useful to either have your mortars move up in the front line so they can direct fire on the HMGs/ATGs when they spot them, or have them deployed in the starting farmyard ready to crash down on those knots of resistance when someone else spots them. Prep fire with 60mm is always going to be a chancy thing. At least using them as called/direct lay in Basic, you'll be able to see what effects they're having.

[stoex]

You're very welcome, MOSwas71331 .

I just noticed that womble beat me to that answer actually (not the first time we cross-posted, I think...), so we'll just extend the thanks to him!

Another tip, coming at your troubles from a very different angle: Do you have any friends who also play the game and live near you (and are a little more experienced )? If so, invite one over and have him play the game and explain stuff to you as you watch. It really worked wonders for a friend of mine who was frustrated with his initial experiences with CMSF when I gave him a 3 hour workshop.

[MOSwas71331]

I'd be happy to have someone living near Colorado Springs and able to win the demo come over and show me what I'm doing wrong. I've posted my email address and my phone number in other threads, and nobody has contacted me so far. Here's the info again: harry.pool@hotmail.com and 719 494-0854

Despite the listed advantages of advancing my mortars to accompany my infantry and tanks, here are the reasons I don't:

1. I remember my struggle to carry the baseplate to an 81mm mortar about 20 yards in ROTC summer camp in 1964. I'm not going to ask an electronic soldier to run (which is how they appear to move with a Quick command) a few hundred yards in the game carrying a 60mm mortar baseplate, even though the 60mm mortar baseplate may weigh about half as much.

2. I expect my mortar units would be high priority targets for the German defenders. I don't want them exposed to direct German fire -- which is already deadly enough.

3. By keeping my mortars near the weapons platoon leader, they can fire quickly at any German target on the map. [i don't like separating my MG teams from their platoon leader, but they should work fairly well with the infantry platoon leaders near them. If they don't, I think that's a flaw in the Battlefront model.]

4. There are already a lot of US targets moving toward the German positions. It seems unwise to add more targets, when I can keep the US mortars safe and able to engage German units anywhere on the map.