Buildings

[LoneWulf63]

I have to say that I enjoy the fact that one can place infantry units in tall building structures such as church steeples. Really messes up one's day when a HMG unit opens up from one of these positions. I do wish that the same could be done with vehicles so that one could set up an ambush situation. Yes, the vehicle might become immobilized or the main weapons might be damaged. Think of the surprise a Russian tank crew would experience when they rounded a corner in a town, only to wind up looking down the barrel of a 88 on a Tiger I hidden in the rubble of a building.

Why can't buildings or sections of them be destroyed by HE fire from some of the heavier guns on SPGs or offboard artillery/aircraft? I have played other games, mainly the Battlefront Game's Combat Mission series, where buildings are destroyed after sustaining numerous hits from the larger guns. This would be a great addition to this game but probably would require quite an extensive revision of the code to be included in a patch. Maybe include these events in any future game of the series. Something else too. I haven't played any small unit action games where a bridge can be destroyed. Being able to do so to stop the advance of enemy units (especially tracked or wheeled vehicles) would come in very handy for the defending forces. Would love to see the water tower come crashing down...okay, maybe I'm asking too much.

Thanks. Chris.[8D]

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: resinslinger

I have to say that I enjoy the fact that one can place infantry units in tall building structures such as church steeples. Really messes up one's day when a HMG unit opens up from one of these positions. I do wish that the same could be done with vehicles so that one could set up an ambush situation. Yes, the vehicle might become immobilized or the main weapons might be damaged. Think of the surprise a Russian tank crew would experience when they rounded a corner in a town, only to wind up looking down the barrel of a 88 on a Tiger I hidden in the rubble of a building.

Why can't buildings or sections of them be destroyed by HE fire from some of the heavier guns on SPGs or offboard artillery/aircraft? I have played other games, mainly the Battlefront Game's Combat Mission series, where buildings are destroyed after sustaining numerous hits from the larger guns. This would be a great addition to this game but probably would require quite an extensive revision of the code to be included in a patch. Maybe include these events in any future game of the series. Something else too. I haven't played any small unit action games where a bridge can be destroyed. Being able to do so to stop the advance of enemy units (especially tracked or wheeled vehicles) would come in very handy for the defending forces. Would love to see the water tower come crashing down...okay, maybe I'm asking too much.

Thanks. Chris.[8D]

Chris,

There is a ruined terrain type that can be used on maps, and I know it shows up some. There are also models of ruined buildings that show up on some maps. But you are right, we don't have the ability in this release for dynamically destroying terrain or map objects. It isn't something we can add in a patch thougth. But it is certainly on our wish list of things we want to look at for the next game in the series.

Thanks!
Rick

[LoneWulf63]

Rick. Yes, I noticed that there were ruined and burning buildings in the game. Just being able to tear a building apart with direct HE fire is so much fun. Another question and something that should be seriously considered for any future games in the series. We need tree-bursts when artillery hits a woods or forested area. We also need for certain types of terrain (grass, grain fields, wooden buildings) to catch fire when they are hit by any kind of direct fire, especially flamethrowers. Speaking of flamethrowers, it would be great if the hand-held version the German Pioneer units used could be included in the game. I know that there is a limit to what can be added to a game, patch or new version, but I feel that the way this game is designed that it could easily incorporate more weapon types (many more). Remember, he who dies with the most toys....WINS.

Chris.

[rickier65]

Chris,

Destructible terrain is certainly on our list of things we want to add to the next game in the series.

As far as handheld flamethrower, are you referring to one different from what appear in the Novy Risadey scenario?

thanks
rick

[LoneWulf63]

Spoke too soon. Sorry about that Rick. I'll check out the scenario to see if it is indeed the flamethrower I am referring to. Chris.

[LoneWulf63]

Did a little research. I've included a photo of the flamethrower I'm speaking about. It was a single shot weapon that shot a flame out to about 26 meters. It might be a tad too small a weapons, then again, maybe not. These were used by Fallshimjager and Volkstrumm troops. It name was Einstossflammenwerfer. Anyways, here is the photo I found.

[LoneWulf63]

You know, this weapon could be used by German Fallschimjager or Volkstrumm troops much the way a PanzerFaust would be used, just a shorter range. Seems like it would be a great close-assualt weapon (especially again fortified buildings or bunkers). Did you know the Germans even had a flame mine? I don't know if they actually used them but damn that would be a terrible weapon to encounter. Thanks again. Chris.

[LoneWulf63]

The Germans did have a flamemine. Here is what I found on Wikipedia

"The Abwehrflammenwerfer 42 was a German static defensive flamethrower, flame fougasse or flame mine used during the Second World War. The design was copied from Russian FOG-1 mines that were encountered in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa. These were usually buried at intervals of 12 to 30 yards (11 to 27 m) covering road blocks, landing beaches, harbor walls and other obstacles. They were normally mixed in with other mines or emplaced behind barbed wire and could be command detonated or triggered by tripwires or other devices.

The mine consisted of a large fuel cylinder 53 centimetres (21 in) high and 30 centimetres (12 in) with a capacity of 29.5 litres (6.5 imp gal; 7.8 US gal) containing a black viscid liquid, a mix of light, medium, and heavy oils. A second, smaller cylinder, 67 millimetres (2.6 in) in diameter and 25 centimetres (9.8 in) high, was mounted on top of the fuel cylinder; it contains the propellent powder, which was normally either black powder or a mixture of nitrocellulose and diethylene glycol dinitrate. A flame tube was fixed centrally on top of the fuel cylinder, it was a 50 millimetres (2.0 in) diameter pipe that rose from the centre of the fuel cylinder and curved to extend horizontally approximately 50 centimetres (20 in). When the mine was buried, normally only the flame tube was above ground.

When the mine was triggered, a squib charge ignited the propellant, creating a burst of hot gas which forced the fuel from the main cylinder and out of the flame tube. A second squib ignited the fuel as it passed out of the end of the flame tube. The projected stream of burning fuel was 4.5 metres (15 ft) wide and 2.7 metres (8 ft 10 in) high with a range of about 27 metres (89 ft), and lasted about 1.5 seconds"

Like I said, what a terrible weapon to encounter. Chris.

[rickier65]

That doesn't look quite like what we have with our flamthrower unit. I think what we have is a dedicated Flamethrower Team.

But one of the neat things about PCO is that you could actually add this weapon to PCO and then create a unit that would have it as well. PCO uses a fairly 'open' system that allows you to do things like this.

I know there are some mine weapons that are in the system, but are not assigned to any units. But they are there if someone wants to create a unit to use them.

Thanks,
rick

[LoneWulf63]

Oh no, one more thing for me to think about. Making new units. Thanks alot.[:D]

[LoneWulf63]

Rick. What I think I am going to do with this weapon system is to intergrate it into a Fallschirmjager or Volkstrumm unit. I'm thinking that I will modify the flamethrower weapon (not the unit) and then incorporate it into the infantry units. As for the flame mines, Russian and German, that might take a little more work since they are units per se. I'll be sure to post both if I get them designed properly. Thanks again. Chris.

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: resinslinger

Rick. What I think I am going to do with this weapon system is to intergrate it into a Fallschirmjager or Volkstrumm unit. I'm thinking that I will modify the flamethrower weapon (not the unit) and then incorporate it into the infantry units. As for the flame mines, Russian and German, that might take a little more work since they are units per se. I'll be sure to post both if I get them designed properly. Thanks again. Chris.

Chris,

Be aware that if you're planning to play against others make sure you use unique file names and 'unit type' names for your new units. If you don't your units could end up replacing current ones. When playing in MP games, the sytem checks to make sure both players are using the same unit definitions.

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks
rick

[LoneWulf63]

Yep. I ran into that problem many years ago when the first SPWaW was available. I did a whole bunch of mods to that game and didn't tell my opponents about them. Scenarios didn't work too good. So yes, I will make absolutely sure everything is backed-up, as soon as I get a new DVD-RW dirve. Mine decided to crap out on me and it is going to hold-up my HDD upgrade. I can't make a System Restore disk to use as a boot-up disk for the new HDD. Don't ya just love computers????? Chris.