developer: Battlefront.com
publisher: Battlefront.com
genre: strategy /
platform: PC / Windows
release date: World: 17 May 2011
USA: 17 May 2011
Europe: 17 May 2011
play modes: single / multiplayer
multiplayer: Internet
game language: English
age requirements: 12+
suggested system requirements:
Pentium IV 2.8 GHz, 1 GB RAM (2 GB RAM - Vista/7), graphic card 256 MB (GeForce 6800 or better); 4 GB HDD, Windows XP/Vista/7.
Combat Mission - Battle for Normandy (CM:BN) faithfully recreates the experience of tactical land warfare in Western France during World War Two. Using the unique Turn-Based (WeGo)/Real-Time hybrid game system (new to CM? Click here for more info to learn what makes it unique and different from mainstream RTS games) of our proprietary CMx2 battle engine, the first installment in this new series covers the three months after the Allied D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944, from Operation Overlord in June through the Cobra Breakout in August.
At the player's fingertips are a large array of carefully researched US and German Army formations, equipment, and vehicles (click here for a preliminary Table of Organization & Equipment) in what is probably the most versatile, genuine and powerful battlefield simulation to date.
Terrain
CM:BN depicts the 1944 Normandy landscape, both rural and urban, with an authentic atmosphere and, more importantly, tactical fidelity. Barns, churches, houses with sloped roofs, and many other styles of buildings are included in addition to revamped "modular" style buildings for building larger blocks, towns and even entire cities. Many new terrain types such as heavy forest ground, railroads, crops, (animated) water and fords, bridges (with weight limits) and of course the infamous Norman "bocage" hedgerows allow for a distinct and realistic look and feel of both rural and urban environments.
As one should expect, the terrain isn't there for looks alone - the detailed 1 meter by 1 meter terrain mesh allows for stunningly realistic maps that go far beyond visuals. Dynamic lighting, deformable terrain including partial and complete destruction of buildings, a wide range of weather types and environmental effects including rain, fog, heavy winds (with ballistic effects), realistic ground conditions, many new 'Flavor Objects' such as gravestones, haystacks, sheds or woodpiles and graphic special effects only help to further accentuate and intensify the playable environments.
Reality modeling
Like earlier Combat Mission games, CM:BN puts players in control of teams, squads, individual vehicles, and support assets organized according to painstakingly researched historical TO&E (Tables of Organization and Equipment), including US Army Infantry, Airborne and Glider, Armored, Engineers of different types, towed and self-propelled anti-tank units, and more. For the German Wehrmacht, the TO&E includes Heer (Army) Panzergrenadiers, Pioniers, Füsiliers, Sturmgeschütz and Panzer formation, and more.
Each soldier is modeled individually, including independent spotting and combat/weapon capabilities. The new context sensitive equipment loadout for individual soldiers means that you will see a Panzergrenadier firing his MP40 machinepistol with a Panzerschreck on his back. When the Panzerfaust is fired you see it visually and then it disappears. A large variety of completely new animations, stances and positions adds to the immersion. Soldiers can surrender and be "rescued", administer "buddy aid" to wounded comrades, share ammo with nearby troops and vehicles, fire from open topped vehicles or open hatches and much more.
The new improved Tactical AI ensures genuine battlefield behavior even at the smallest scale, no matter if you play a small platoon firefight scenario, or a large battalion sized engagement.
Vehicles are also simulated in greater fidelity in CM:BN than what was possible before. The new system allows not only for exponentially greater data modeling, but also the best visuals provided yet with the extremely detailed hi-polygon 3D vehicle models with articulated suspensions, animated hatches, MG and weapon mounts and smoke launchers. From the extensive damage modeling individually for each sub-system including the most realistic ballistics, armor and post-armor effects available to date, to the randomly individualized vehicle models (including external equipment like sandbags or ammo boxes, wheels and tracks, damaged fenders and more. Additionally, gone are the old CMBO days when US tanks magically moved through hedgerows without leaving an actual breach. Now you can watch a Sherman with Rhino attachment plow through bocage, leaving a gap for infantry to follow.
Command & Control
CM:BN features one of the most advanced C2 (Command & Control) models available in a game, controlling in a realistic way the flow of battlefield recon information, unit cohesion, availability and application of air and artillery support, and more. Two new Commands (Scout Team and Driver Team) allow more tactical control..
Weaponry
CM:BN features a mind blowing array of weapons, vehicles and equipment, all meticulously researched and recreated in astonishing detail. Besides the obvious World War Two era tanks, halftracks, trucks, and small arms and weapons, CM:BN introduces large crew-served weapons as well as on-map mortars and Infantry Guns (both of which are capable of firing in the direct as well as indirect roles). All of which are organized within historically correct command structures.
Player placeable Target Reference Points (TRPs) allow for increased accuracy and decreased delays for support fire missions. Static defenses and fortifications such as bunkers, trenches, barbed wire, and hedgehogs offer tactical challenges to both attacker and defender. Better still, in CM:BN fortifications are both user placeable and unknown to the enemy until after the Setup Phase.
Replayability
Unlike many other games, CM:BN offers far more than a limited handful of maps and missions. In fact, CM:BN delivers endless replayability, just like the first Combat Mission games did. Besides two semi-dynamic campaigns, one from each side's perspective, you will find dozens of standalone missions, full two-player capability for both online play as well as Play-By-Email (PBEM), and an innovative and almost entirely overhauled QuickBattles system including troops purchase, "cherry picking" and map selection and preview.
And that's just what comes with the game. Players have full access to a full featured Mission Editor to create their own maps, missions, and campaigns. If making new battles isn't your thing, then simply enjoy what others make by downloading them for free. There are more Combat Mission scenarios to download than any person could play in several lifetimes.
And make no mistake that missions in CM:BN are just an endless reproduction of Capture the Flag... the dynamic style of play inherent in our game engine allows for a variety of objectives that can even be unique for each side in a given battle, allowing each side to fight to fulfill its own goals rather than a single set common to both.
Gameplay
To accurately simulate the often frantic and rapid pace of modern combat, the Combat Mission game engine was designed and programmed from the start to be RealTime. Experience Combat Mission like never before as you order your units while the battle rages on around you.
Knowing that RealTime play is not for everyone, Combat Mission Battle for Normandy also offers the same ground breaking WeGo hybrid turn based system that propelled the original Combat Mission games to an unprecedented three Wargame of the Year Awards from PC Gamer magazine. Better still, the underlying RealTime mechanics overcome several game play problems found in the old Combat Mission WeGo system.
Play the game as you want, against the AI in Realtime or Turn Based Mode or against another Human player in Realtime TCP/IP or WeGo in PBEM (Play by Email) and Hotseat.
Building upon the legacy started 10 years ago with the release of the ground smashing Combat Mission Beyond Overlord, CM:BN incorporates years of experience and customer suggestions to produce what we think is the most genuine and enjoyable simulation of tactical ground warfare of World War Two. CM:BN is based on the extremely powerful proprietary CMx2 engine - the foundation for which was laid with the Combat Mission Shock Force series of Modern tactical warfare games. The CMx2 game engine is now in its 4th year of improvements and expansions, not the least of which are the host of brand new features necessary to simulate WW2 warfare in a temperate climate.
If you are a seasoned CM:SF player and just finished storming a village in Syria with a mix of NATO and US troops earlier today, feel free to skip the next part and jump right into the "What's new in Normandy?" section!
If you are new to Combat Mission and usually play RTS or FPS games, we're strongly recommending that you to read the next section carefully.
[What's the difference?]
Pretty much everyone who has ever played one of the existing Combat Mission games will tell you that it is different, and that there isn't anything else like it around. There are some obvious differences, such as the fact that unlike most RTS games, you can play CM:BN not only in "real time" but also "turn-based" with what we call the "WeGo" system. "WeGo" means that both players plot and execute their turns simultaneously; unlike "IGoUGo" where one player plots and executes his turn before the other does the same. During the plotting, time is paused for both players, leaving ample time for actual strategy and tactics, while during the 60 second execution phase, the action unfolds in real-time. Some people will find they prefer RealTime, others will want to stick with WeGo, while many will find they use both depending on mood, amount of free time, size of the battle, etc.
There are other major differences, however, that are not as obvious as the pure game mechanics. RealTime players will likely find this out intuitively with the very first game played. Players who are used to fast clicking making the difference between winning or losing, will find that in Combat Mission, *losing* is most often the result of clicking fast. Even though events happen in real time, the extensive tactical computer player (TacAI) takes care of a lot of details, so you can concentrate more on leading rather than clicking.
The main reason players need to think more than in other games is because real warfare is not about circling a bunch of units as fast as you can and telling them to all go to one spot and either kill or be killed. Instead, commanding realistic forces means that you need to understand how various units complement or contrast with each other, then determine how best to use them in a diverse and deeply detailed environment. The amount of research and historical detail that goes into the Combat Mission games (and we don't mean just visual details) produces a rich and rewarding game experience which can be mastered only through outsmarting the opponent instead of reverting to a quickly executed "tank rush".
Combat Mission achieves its fundamental uniqueness by having, at its very core, game functions that follow algorithms based on the real-world (ballistic paths for bullets, to name just one example) rather than using static and simplified results-based equations. By results-based we mean focusing on a few desired end results and crafting the equations to produce those results consistently. Such things as "hit points", "armor rating", and other shortcuts are much easier to code and test, even with some randomized variations, but eventually players will find that the range of gameplay possibilities is both limited and predictable. The more such games are played, the more those patterns become apparent and therefore the less interesting the game becomes.
Combat Mission's algorithms, on the other hand, produce a near endless amount of possible outcomes based on a wide variety of factors. Since the equations are realistic in nature, most of these things are intuitive to players, generating a feeling of "realism" but avoiding to merely reproduce strictly pre-defined events. This makes Combat Mission a "sandbox" that can be used to explore different tactics, options and situations, even those we as developers have never foreseen, with a reliable level of credibility.
In order to "learn" and master the "game", your best bet is to approach it as you would real life military tactics. Your best "strategy guide" is going to be a real military handbook for company commanders and small unit leaders. Add a few historical accounts of World War Two warfare, and you will be better prepared than if you read "walkthroughs" for a specific mission.
In addition to the larger scale benefits of Combat Mission's simulation core, there are many really cool low level game results that have far more meaning because they are so believable, and that are far more exciting because they may or may not ever happen again. From the heroic behavior of a soldier who, despite all odds, takes out a rampaging enemy tank with a rifle grenade, or a well executed infantry attack that is turned back by a single Forward Observer who has managed to stay put while the rest of your forces are routed. All of this is detailed visually to the extent that you can literally see a Bazooka round passing within inches (game scale) of hitting an enemy tank, exploding on the adjacent building, and taking out the enemy tank commander in the process. It's all there.
Certainly, we are not claiming that Combat Mission is a perfect simulation. For one, we do not want it to be to be honest, because a perfect simulation probably wouldn't make for a fun game. Secondly, trying to simulate EVERYTHING that can happen in real life is impossible to do. Period. Therefore, through more than 10 years of experience - more than anyone else around - we have figured out where to concentrate our efforts on details and where we can approximate through abstraction so that the overall results produced by Combat Mission are consistently considered "realistic" and at the same time "fun". It is this unique mix of fun and realism, playability and simulation, that makes Combat Mission so unique.
[What's new in Normandy?]
- Terrain
The biggest noticeable difference between Battle for Normandy and Shock Force is probably the environmental setting. The lush greens everywhere certainly is noticeable, at the very least. But it isn't just a color change, nor just swapping a few models out. CM:BN has a host of brand new terrain features to offer. Here's a quick sampling...
In addition to the familiar "modular" buildings there are now specific "stand alone" buildings. These new structures are custom made to give the playing field the rural character of the Norman countryside. Barns, churches, houses with sloped roofs, etc. are included in addition to revamped modular style buildings for larger towns and cities. As with Shock Force, there are terrain variations which lend themselves better to rural or urban environments, allowing the look and feel of each to be distinct and realistic.
The most notable enhancement is the introduction of water. Now you can make rivers, ponds, and significant open water to your heart's content. And what would water be without bridges? Or fords? CM:BN includes a wide range of bridge and fords types. Even better, some are restricted to certain types of units and not others. Or put into simple terms, a foot bridge is great for infantry but a Sherman tank will need to find another way across. These restrictions add new operational and tactical challenges that no previous CM game has ever had.
- Weaponry
CM:SF's Modern setting excluded large caliber guns (AT and IG) since both have long since been replaced by ATGMs and Grenade Launchers, both of which are found in the Shock Force in large quantities. Similarly, advances in fire control systems and increases in range made on-map mortars a questionable asset to include for the Modern setting. The return to WW2 means a return of these weapons to the 3D playing environment.
Both German and American forces have many big guns to call upon for direct fire support within the game. The biggest of which is the enormous German Pak 43 Antitank Gun. Wait until you see this thing in the game at its correct scale. You'll think fieldgray clad Munchkins are crewing it. As one would expect, the size of this monster is a serious liability both in terms of concealment and protection. Players may have the ability to dig them in with sandbags to help out with the protection a bit, but there's not much that can be done about concealment except deploying it in spot that has a lot of natural cover.
The on-map mortars are organized mostly in pairs, though sometimes in threes or singles. They can be setup to fire by direct Line of Sight or indirectly. Unlike the old Combat Mission indirect capability, the spotting unit can be half way across the map instead of just a few paces away. This is made possible by the new on-map "Assets" being hooked into the existing CMx2 Artillery Support system. As long as you have a valid spotting unit (much harder to find in WW2 compared to Modern setting) in command and control (C2) with the mortar, indirect fire can be directed remotely. If that fails you can usually use the mortar's Section or Platoon HQs to direct fire from nearby. On-map Infantry Guns can also be fired indirectly in this same way.
Of course, off-map options are provided for Mortars and Infantry Guns in addition to their on-map counterparts. Scenario designers and QB players have the option of choosing if which to use, provided there is an on-map option of course. In fact, most artillery is off-map only. As much as it would be fun to have a Battleship on map to provide direct fire support, that's stretching realism just a little too far!
- Quick Battles
Despite our best intentions the CM:SF QuickBattle system had significant turn offs for many QB players. Well, at least a couple of you mentioned that once or twice over the past three years. Therefore the new QB system has changed quite a bit to address the shortcomings of the system seen in Shock Force. But before we give some info out about what's changed, a quick recap of how we got to where we are at now.
In the original CMx1 (CMBO/CMBB/CMAK) QB system there was endless complaining about how units were valued and the difficulty in experiencing realistic feeling battles. The players who didn't care about the latter still cared about the former. Players without much familiarity with WW2 tactics were often seen saying things like "I thought a Company of HMGs backing up 2 Rifle Platoons was realistic. It isn't?". The CM:SF system, therefore, tried to solve both of these problems by restricting and/or hiding various things to make the choices both easier and less controversial. The motivation for doing this was based purely on customer feedback, but we obviously went too far.
CM:BN restores the ability for players to "cherry pick" their forces directly, unlike CM:SF's more generic purchasing options (see the UI section below for more details). However, we did not forget seven years of feedback prior to CM:SF, nor have we forgotten that the old system simply will not work with CMx2's more realistic handling of C2 and the new Relative Spotting model. Which means we came up with a new system that satisfies long standing wants, recently reinforced player needs, and the requirements of the game system itself.
Players now have the ability to purchase units for their QB force just like forces are purchased in CM:SF. This means you can purchase a Battalion sized formation and customize it to suit your needs and your purchasing budget. If there is something in a larger formation that you want included you have the option of purchasing common types of infantry, heavy weapons, crewed guns, artillery, and vehicles. These are added to your larger force structure wherever you want them to be "plugged in". You want a Medium Tank to be task assigned to a Rifle Platoon? Easily done. This both establishes clear C2 linkage but also gives your QB force a solid and cohesive feeling to it instead of CMx1's scattered and unassociated units. This is very important considering CMx2's basic features such as Relative Spotting and Artillery Support.
- New Purchasing UI
The old Combat Mission games allowed players to purchase pretty much everything individually. This was a good thing in theory, but in practice it meant that it was difficult to create a force that felt like it was supposed to be together instead of a bunch of random ingredients thrown into a soup. Because the CMx1 game system didn't have realistic features that would have punished such a force in real life, it largely worked out OK. At its worst it was annoying to be forced into purchasing so many things individually without much guidance as to the wisdom and/or realism of such purchases. On top of that Company and Battalion HQs basically served no significant game purpose.
With CM:BN, we can now do things like purchase a US Medium Tank Battalion and see how it is organized and what it has for unique Battalion level support forces. You can keep, reduce, or delete units from the Battalion until you have just a Platoon on its own, a partial Company supported by a Battalion recon element, etc. Better yet, we offer realistic choices within choices using hierarchical menus. You want 1st Platoon, B Company to have all M4A3 type tanks and 2nd Platoon to have all M4A1 types? One or two clicks and that's all taken care of. You want each tank in each Platoon to be a different type within the selected "family" of tanks? No problem, just highlight the individual tank and then the option you want it to become. It gives you the same flexibility as CMx1 but with far more guidance and in-game functionality, yet with fewer clicks and potential for confusion.
- New Rarity System
The modern setting of Shock Force didn't have much need of a Rarity system due to the short duration of the game's timeline. Not so for CM:BN, with both a longer timespan and a much wider range of equipment going into or coming out of service. The old CMx1 Rarity system was unique for its time and worked well for the most part. However, there were issues with how it played out sometimes and that caused us to redesign the system.
With the old Rarity system the basic point value of a unit was multiplied by a simple modifier based on how rare, or not, the particular item was for the selected game date. This often caused weak, but rare, units to be priced as high or higher than far more capable things that were simply more common. So why would anybody deliberately purchase such an item when the enemy might purchase a larger (common) force? The system definitely discouraged this for sure. The new system, however, doesn't recreate this problem.
In CM:BN, the player is given a Rarity Pool to draw from. Each unit has Rarity Points assigned to it, which are deducted from the Rarity Pool when purchased. The base price of the unit is unaffected. What this does is allow you to purchase something like a very rare, but weak, armored Car Platoon without compromising your ability to purchase things like infantry, artillery, or more capable armored vehicles. The only thing it does is chew up your ability to purchase other rare items. Put another way, your force will retain about the same proportional tactical value as the enemy's no matter what sorts of common and/or rare stuff are purchased. Well, that's if you play with the Rarity system turned on. Like CMx1 it can be turned off and therefore anything goes!
Rapidshare (200 MB)
No comments:
Post a Comment