Graviteam Tactics: Mius-Front

[sandman2575]

So, anyone else getting severe performance slowdowns these days?

I fired up the El Guettar campaign (as Wehrmacht) in Tank Warfare last night.  Moved a bunch of "battlegroups" (still getting grips with this new organizational scheme) Turn 1, no combat. Turn 2, got into a very large fight in the north. My force was battalion strength easily. Opposing US forces somewhat less.

Wow, talk about a slide show!  Now, my 5+ yr. old PC is definitely getting long in the tooth, and I'm probably due for an upgrade. But it has handled Tank Warfare / Mius Front easily on high settings in the past. But seems like them days is over.

Any tips for performance boosts? I hear setting the combat radius to 'limited' helps, though I hate to limit these epic engagements. May have no choice however.

[Moreb]

Besides the obvious ones, i.e. lower graphics settings, no. Smoke and dust really put a strain on things. Update drivers etc. but, with battlegroups and large radius even newer rigs can have slowdowns I believe. It's been a while since I played that one. Just not a desert fan and the sheer scale frightens me. There are quite a few graphics settings to lower that may help your machine.

[-budd-]

There quite a few settings you can play around with, shadows,grass detail, distance to horizon, ect, before I upgraded i would turn off shadows, and lower grass detail and object detail, and i would play with limited battle radius on my old machine. I would just turn on the FPS counter and experiment with settings., if i remember correctly the higher i would zoom the worse the FPS would get.

[-budd-]

That tutorial is pretty good. Been playing Graviteam games for years and learned a thing or two. Didn't know you could actually select individual members of a squad.

[Michael Dorosh]

I just could never get into CMx2 at all. Its been a while since I played a scenario of CMBN, and only played a few, but it just never jived with me. I disliked the cartoonish, scrubbed clean environment, The shadows, the blinking vegetation, horrible hedge rows, realtime, and the performance on what should have ran it easily. I wanted to love it so bad especially since I was around heavily during the CMx1 beta days

I came upon APOS and put it down after 20 minutes thinking it complete garbage. About 6 months later I decided to stick it out and persevere through the UI to discover one of the most under rated games in the history of gaming.

Huge Maps, large battles, incredible dynamic lighting, strat maps, operational maps, tense night time silence interrupted by chaos , changing weather effects {storms roll in and out, sun rises and sets changing shadow location etc.}, actual trenches, great tank graphics, incredible fighting over many days, reinforcements and reinforcement phase, on screen planes, destroyable trees and buildings, AFV riders, AFV blowing to pieces, AFV continued explosions from ammo, night flares and so much more.

IMO, it is the best of the best for me. First day purchase even if it was $200.

Ok, after reading your comments about Mius Front in the CM thread currently running, I am once again doing some research into it, including going through this entire thread - which so far (p.10) has all been anticipatory...

I tried to find some YouTube videos, and the best one I could find was James Allen going on for 25 minutes while the camera was set at God level. Put me to sleep. Didn't help that he started the video by saying "this battle is really boring but I have to play it first."

Is there any video or review that immediately comes to mind that will give a good overview? The few minutes I watched of Allen's vid did mention how poor the documentation is and lack of tool tips. I'm tempted to drop some money on it via Steam. Based on what I can find, is the following true:

a) no map editor, but does have a scenario editor and a large map surface of actual historical terrain
b) tactical battles are linked into a larger strategic campaign?
c) I take it there are different units whose units are tracked, and persistent map damage?

Not deal breakers either way, just curious. Anyway, I'll keep picking through this thread and check out whatever links I find.

[Michael Dorosh]

Mius Front 101: Menu overview: Click Here

Hmmm, I'm thinking this is what I'm looking for....

[RyanE]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/501671/Graviteam_Tactics_Operation_Moduler/

South Africa in Angola.  An update to the Op Star DLC.  I liked this one a lot when it was released for Op Star.  I'm glad they are updating all of these older DLCs.

[jomni]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/501671/Graviteam_Tactics_Operation_Moduler/

South Africa in Angola.  An update to the Op Star DLC.  I liked this one a lot when it was released for Op Star.  I'm glad they are updating all of these older DLCs.

Though it's sad that you have to 're-buy' stuff.    I once thought that you get just one main game and all DLC's are in there.
I stopped buying Graviteam games after Mius Front was released.  But will probably buy all Mius Front DLC's eventually.

[RyanE]

Its like CM1 to CM2.  At least all the DLC works in one game engine.  I have set up weird M-60/Centurion(Oliphant)/Chieftain battles against T62s and T-55s in Op Star.

And just like with CM1/CM2, I bought the games and new engine without a second thought.  I have no expectation a company will support a 10 year old engine and hand out free updates forever.  They have to make money too.

[jomni]

Its like CM1 to CM2.  At least all the DLC works in one game engine.  I have set up weird M-60/Centurion(Oliphant)/Chieftain battles against T62s and T-55s in Op Star.

And just like with CM1/CM2, I bought the games and new engine without a second thought.  I have no expectation a company will support a 10 year old engine and hand out free updates forever.  They have to make money too.

Isn't the difference between Op Star and Mius Front is not major unlike CM1 and CM2.  Mius Front is basically an upgraded version of Op Star engine and not a complete redo like CM2.  Though I hear that Mius Front is exclusively 64bit so maybe that's a valid reason to split the development path.

[RyanE]

As you mentioned.  There was a major re-write from 32-bit to 64-bit.  Plus they upgraded from DX9.  That is pretty major upgrade.  There were also major UI changes and changes to detailed game play.  The best thing is that the more modern the computer, the faster it runs.  Which seems to be the opposite with CM2.

And keep in mind there are no mid-engine upgrades at $10 per at least.  The change from CM2 1.0 to CM2 4.0 is $30-$40.  That is the cost of Muis Front.  There have been dozens of features and updates to Muis Front at no charge.  Not only that, but the game is a lot cheaper that CM2 right out of the box.  For the cost of CMRT, I can buy Mius Front and a couple DLCs at minimum.

I guarantee you that if and when BFC finally rewrites CM for 64-bit and DX?, you will have to re-buy all that content.  And frankly, if all that isn't important, I am not sure Mius Front is worth it.

[Moreb]

Sorry. Down at our cabin this weekend and just now saw this.

a) no map editor, but does have a scenario editor and a large map surface of actual historical terrain

That is correct. This game is based and built around specific historical operations on a huge map fought over the span af several days. There is an editor where you place where the battle will take place, choose the forces, consisting of platoons, company's, sections, spotters etc and the parameters. There are also points on the map to place objectives and various things that the air will use to formulate a plan. The editor is a nice addition, but it is very constrained compared to CM. It is not nearly as functionable.  Its a nice addition but the meat and potatoes are its operations.

There is also a mode called Come Into Battle where you can quickly set up a random battle with a point and size parameter basis and also pick the units for your side so the enemy side will be unknown. It to me is a great addition but the problem for me is that it is geared towards newer player which streamlines the orders, taking away the advanced modifiers and limits a few other things. I hope they expand on this new mode in the future. I'm sure they will because it has been tweeted a few times in their patches.

b) tactical battles are linked into a larger strategic campaign?

MEAT AND POTATOES

This is where the game shines. The ops are historical, the maps incredible, the effects on the terrain permanent. The ops are played in phases and turns. On the Op phase, you will move your large formations on the overall map, bringing up reserves when necessary and end that phase. At that point, depending on the battle radius chosen, which you dictate by how large a piece of the pie you want to tackle and your rig, the game will generate tactical battles you play out. Depending on if you are attacking, the enemy is or if its a meeting engagement, the system will dictate the sometimes cryptic battle location and victory conditions. There are a lot of unknowns in this game and it is something that adds to its mystics and feel. You, the player, are often gaining information at a higher level and after the fact.

The tactical battle play out where you deploy forces, set initial orders, hit play and play them out in a pausable real time environment. I can write a few pages about those but I'll just stick to a few things that may be different from CM. You command units with a lot less micromanagement than CM. Most battles happen outside of towns as girl but when they do happen in villages, CM handles urban better with their transparent buildings and exact unit placement for infantry. I don't want to bore you so I'll just say that the battles are incredible! Very cinematic and realistic.

After that battle it will shift to another point on the larger map and another engagement that is happening concurrently will be generated. After all of these are done, keeping in mind the battles can be quite long, you enter the reinforcement and replacement phase. Then the op phase again where time will advance an increment. Repeat through the rest of the operation that will consist of many, many tac battles fought with the same units, replacements and often over the same ground as an earlier battle, especially if no ground changes hands.  So much more too. I just have to run for a few. Taking a walk in the woods. Sorry so sloppy. On a tablet in a hurry. Didn't even reread this.

c) I take it there are different units whose units are tracked, and persistent map damage?

Yes. See above.

Ask what you'd like and I'll try to respond later. Hope this makes a bit of sense.

[Toonces]

Damn, that Operation Modular DLC looks super tasty.  I might buy Mius Front just to get that!

[Gusington]

I was thinking the same exact thing and I know nothing about this game other than what is contained in this thread.

[jomni]

Damn, that Operation Modular DLC looks super tasty.  I might buy Mius Front just to get that!

It may be the first DLC I'll buy for my (shelved) Mius Front. :D