BFC has announced an Italy version of CMx2 with an upgraded 2.0 engine, pay for upgrade to CMBN, East Front and Modern in the next 12 months and so on.
Sweet!
WAHOOOO... X-mas comes early! Thanks for the heads-up.
Quote from: junk2drive on June 22, 2012, 09:09:44 AM
... with an upgraded 2.0 engine
Great 8)
J2D, THX for the head up :)
modern day NATO sounds promising
wow...what a surprise...can't wait.
It's not Russia....but oh well. Interesting it is a stand-alone. And using a new 2.0 engine....
From Moon's post on the forums:
"So, what does this mean in concrete terms for you right now, playing Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy and enviously gawking at the Combat Mission: Fortress Italy feature list? It means that once CMFI is out sometime in August, we'll work on an Upgrade 2.0 for CMBN. You will be able to buy this upgrade (the price is not yet determined), install it and voila, you will have Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy v2.0!!! The upgrade will automatically work for the base game and the Commonwealth module."
They're going to nickle and dime every little "update" now, aren't they? Wise move I suppose after they realized how they gave away the house with CMBO/CMBB/CMAK that covered entire fronts in one package.
So, what is CMx2 v2? I am still playing CMx1 v2, myself.
Speaking of nickel and dime. So, what's its going cost to own all the CMx2 WWII stuff?
Quote from: GJK on June 22, 2012, 10:58:17 PM
They're going to nickle and dime every little "update" now, aren't they? Wise move I suppose after they realized how they gave away the house with CMBO/CMBB/CMAK that covered entire fronts in one package.
So I noticed that the Brits and minor allies are absent from the force listing for CMFI. So if BF think they are going to sell me a Brits expansion for CMFI, after I have the one for CMBN....they will have gone over the line in my book.
Of course if the game engine wasn't so darn good, I'd flame all over the place and walk off in a huff. As it is...compared to my recently acquired Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) habit, CM is still relatively cheap.
So...
What, exactly, would be the advantages of "upgrading" (aka purchasing) a 2.0 update?
Quote from: Nefaro on June 23, 2012, 07:41:11 AM
So...
What, exactly, would be the advantages of "upgrading" (aka purchasing) a 2.0 update?
CMx2 Game Engine v2.0 Upgrade features
These features are part of Combat Mission: Fortress Italy, and will also be included in the 2.0 Upgrade for Battle for Normandy! And we're not talking some measly bug fixes, these are features often requested by the player community. Without further ado:
Game User Interface Improvements:
- Waypoint dragging. A waypoint can be clicked on and moved by dragging it to a new location.
- Hotkey Unit Groups. Select units and assign them to number keys for quick navigation during gameplay. To change the camera's location press Alt and the number of the group you want to navigate to. The camera relocates and the highest level unit of that group is automatically selected. In Iron Mode, only HQs can be assigned to hotkey unit groups.
- Grouped Spacebar Command system. Instead of getting all of the commands in a big list when the Spacebar is used, instead you get four groups of commands: Movement, Combat, Special, and Administrative. Selecting one of these presents the Commands specific to that Commands Group. The existing graphical Commands Panel now mimics this same behavior. This new feature not only makes it easier to find the Command you're looking for, and keep straight which ones are can be co-assigned to a Waypoint, but it also allows for more than 9 Commands per Command Group (a v1.0 limitation).
General User Interface improvements:
- New Load New Game dialog screen. The list of scenarios can now be sorted by size, length, or alphabetically. Details are presented in text form instead of icons.
- New Saved Game dialog screen. The list of scenarios can now be sorted by newest file, oldest file, or alphabetically. You can also filter between single player saves and PBEM saves. Save games can be deleted from this screen instead of having to flip back and forth between the game and your desktop.
- Visual Hotkey binding. A new dialog allows you to specify and view key assignments. Players can still manually edit and exchange Hotkey.txt files as before.
- Special Equipment icons enlarged for better readability. The enlargement reduces the number of icons from 12 to 6. Multiple items of a single type of equipment are now represented by a single icon with a number specifying how many of that item the unit has.
Editor Improvements:
- Auto-Assemble linear terrain tool. Roads, walls, fences, and hedges can now be automagically drawn across the map instead of placing them one tile at a time. The old manual selection interface still exists to allow tweaking specific Action Spots.
- BMP map overlay. Instead of having to create game maps by freehand you can now trace over a real world map within the Editor. Four different levels of transparency make the process easier by adjusting for different needs as work progresses.
- More AI Groups. The number of AI Groups available has been increased from 8 to 16. This allows for greater fidelity of AI Plans and their assigned units.
- Copy and paste AI Plans. Create a solid AI Plan, copy it, and paste it into an unused AI Plan slot. Once done the copied Plan can be modified to make a unique variant without having to build the Plan up from scratch.
- improved terrain elevation/contours, smoother and more intuitive.
Gameplay improvements:
- Target Armor Arc Command. Instructs units to engage only armored units within the specified arc. As with nearly every Command, outcome varies greatly depending on unit quality and battlefield conditions.
- Target Briefly Command. Tells a unit to fire all it's guns on a designated spot for 15 seconds, then cease fire. Conserves ammo and reduces the need for player management when short suppressive fire is the desired outcome.
- Expanded floating icon categories. New unique icons have been added for Ammo Bearer, Recon, Engineer, Air Controller, LMG, Light Truck (Antitank), Light Truck (Heavy Weapon), Light Tank, Tankette, Infantry Gun, Shelter Bunker, AT mines.
- FoW floating icons. FoW floating icons. Instead of getting a general area "?" icon and then immediately progressing to an accurate 3D representation, now there is an inbetween stage where you get a icon that represents the general category of enemy unit and no 3D representation. This tells the player "you know roughly what the unit is, but nothing more specific than that."
- Canister rounds. New game code properly simulates these special anti-infantry munitions. Although not very commonly seen, they are extremely effective when used properly.
Multiplayer Improvements:
- Pausable RealTime option. A player can request a Pause and, if the other player agrees, the game is Paused until both players request an end to it. Pauses can be "Playable" (Commands can be issued/modified), "Viewable" (navigation is allowed, but no Commands issued/modified), or "Locked" (no navigation, no Commands issued/modified). The different pause types reflect the different reasons for requesting a pause.
Graphics improvements:
- Improved rendering. Normal and Bump mapping allows for more texture detail while using less system resources and improving the pressure on framerates.
- Expanded Soldier details. A completely new way of assigning models and textures allows greater flexibility and variety of how Soldiers look in the game. It also allows for more flexible Modding possibilities.
Last Updated ( Friday, 22 June 2012 )i underlined my favorites
....and if its worth to buy the 2.0 update, i will test in the Italy stand-alone game released in August
(i hope its not the end of that month ;-) )
Well, they got me to pre-order again:(
Keep it coming. I'm still waiting for the ultimate bundle. That's how I got CMSF.
What does modern mean? Isn't CMSF modern?
How much are they charging for a game update? :o
Quote from: Nefaro on June 23, 2012, 09:54:52 AM
How much are they charging for a game update? :o
^to much ;)
IMHO: it should be free, at least for those who buy the Italy-Game
(i guess its 'included' in the next BfN module release so, so it will be a
purchase or waiting decision like allways with new stuff)
Interesting. Some of the waypoint dragging and arc stuff were upgrades from CMx1 v1 -> v2. :)
Well, I can only be a bystander until I get a new system. Y'all let me know how it plays.
Quote from: MarkShot on June 23, 2012, 10:25:03 AM
Interesting. Some of the waypoint dragging and arc stuff were upgrades from CMx1 v1 -> v2. :)
Well, I can only be a bystander until I get a new system. Y'all let me know how it plays.
The new CM runs on a fairly modest system. I would think in Taiwan you could get the parts to build a box pretty cheap.
We are taking our existing boxes. For actual hardware replacement value shipping is a breakeven proposition. But the time and nuisance savings of shopping and setup are worth it in the short term. Once settled, I'll begin shopping for a new Win7 desktop which will be the first of our next generation of tech. (Or maybe a laptop replacement if my wife sees herself doing a lot of local travel between Taiwan and Macau.)
Quote from: undercovergeek on June 22, 2012, 12:40:03 PM
modern day NATO sounds promising
I didnt see anything about Modern? Are you referring to Shock Force because I think I read that these 2.0 changes cannot be applied to those games and modules
Con
In the thread for Road Ahead it tells of a new CMSF2 game, Nato vs Russia (not Soviets) in the Ukraine
http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=104854
Ahh Shock Force 2. I'm in.
I hope some talented modders will create Cold War scenarios set along Fulda Gap and the NG plain.
Quote from: ArizonaTank on June 23, 2012, 07:26:56 AM
Quote from: GJK on June 22, 2012, 10:58:17 PM
They're going to nickle and dime every little "update" now, aren't they? Wise move I suppose after they realized how they gave away the house with CMBO/CMBB/CMAK that covered entire fronts in one package.
So I noticed that the Brits and minor allies are absent from the force listing for CMFI. So if BF think they are going to sell me a Brits expansion for CMFI, after I have the one for CMBN....they will have gone over the line in my book.
Of course if the game engine wasn't so darn good, I'd flame all over the place and walk off in a huff.
No, you wouldn't - there are still no flame weapons on inventory. And possibly not for some time to come, though perhaps they really aren't needed until they cover the late 1944-VE Day portion of NW Europe, when they really became standard issue in Commonwealth infantry units (i.e. Wasp, Badger, heavy use of Crocodile support).
Outside of the number of promised product releases in the next 12 months, I don't see this as a huge announcement otherwise - as GJK may be suggesting, this is basically Americans and Germans in slightly different coloured clothes fighting over different coloured grass, for a 55 dollar pricetag, with out-classed Italians thrown in. Some of the UI features will be nice, and it is great they will be patched into CM:BN. I may wait for the Commonwealth to come out for CM:FI and hopefully there will be a bundle deal at some point. Functionally, there will be no difference (or should not be) between British/Canadian/Polish troops in Italy, and in Normandy. The Germans might get some notable stuff, perhaps the Elefant? I see U.S. Rangers are included, finally, so maybe the FSSF will be in the Commonwealth module to sweeten the deal, and make Anzio a little more palatable. Not that it should matter in game terms, but visual representations of Johnson LMGs and arrowhead shoulder patches would be a nice touch.
Some modders were working on a Japanese mod, that the Italians may be useful for (easier to mod them as Japanese, both functionally and aesthetically, than British).
On the positive side, BFC is slowly grinding forward on their to-do list of features - the sortable scenario listing, cut-and-paste features in the editor, etc. are nice, but basic fundamental flaws in the overall game remain, such as the campaign structure (see Devil's Descent and the lengths that a creative designer had to take to put in decision trees to make it interactive, though the player still lacks access to selecting which units he would use from his own OOB), and the scale of the whole endeavour still seems "off". Half the time you're up above at company level sorting out where your platoons will go, but the other half of the time, you're fiddling around with individual bazooka gunners and ammo bearers and trying to tell an artillery spotter what side of a building he should stand on to get the best view.
The mentioned graphical improvements will be nice - since you're required to be down in the weeds half the time - but when they said in the announcement you could draw roads and hedges in the editor by choosing start and end points, I thought maybe it meant an improvement in how they actually looked in the game. I see the AAR screen captures show no such thing. It apparently just lets you "paint" them faster (a welcome improvement, nonetheless). The walls in this shot still show the "stepping-stair" walls:
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm6.staticflickr.com%2F5332%2F7425878150_d508d9bf6a_b.jpg&hash=71b91af6a7a333a162e0fa35c13a8e516494b9fc)
Roads and hedges aren't just an "immersion killer", it makes it incredibly difficult to recreate accurate historical maps from the limited set of road tiles in existence. The ability to overlay the editor onto maps and images is terrific and a great step forward; but until there is an ability to match this with WYSIWYG road construction, it won't mean much. But - I don't think there is any demand whatsoever for 100% historically accurate maps in any event. It's just an annoyance at this stage to have to look at those goofy layouts.
All in all, some nice-to-have features, but nothing that is an incredible leap forward. The NATO and Eastern Front titles have the potential to attract new players who have yet to dip toes in; if they are wise with their marketing they should do reasonably well with it.