Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: kevinkin

Yeah, I mentioned CM Cover Arcs in the resupply thread as a way to conserve ammo. Also good to have a filter: armor only, infantry only, all, etc.. Having and setting arcs also increases the response time since the troops are only concentrating on a specific sector. Looks like AB is part way there with engagement ranges.

Can't you already use SOPs to assign armor vs infantry?

ORIGINAL: nikolas93TS

ORIGINAL: blackcloud6

MASSTER Camouflage.

I see that MERDEC Camouflage is in the game and is well recreated but have not run into MASSTER that was used by USAEUR in the early 1970s. It is distinctly different from MERDEC and would be a cool addition to the game (along with e big black stars that went with it instead of the big white ones used on US vehicles prior to this)

Well, there is always that one little detail hiding somewhere... [:)]



There is even Dual-tex experimental pixelated camouflage, and one of the beta testers thought it was a bug [:D]

Oh most cool! How do I make this so? Are certain dates to be used for the force to get it? Dual-tex too? Neato!

ORIGINAL: nikolas93TS

ORIGINAL: blackcloud6

MASSTER Camouflage.

I see that MERDEC Camouflage is in the game and is well recreated but have not run into MASSTER that was used by USAEUR in the early 1970s. It is distinctly different from MERDEC and would be a cool addition to the game (along with e big black stars that went with it instead of the big white ones used on US vehicles prior to this)

Well, there is always that one little detail hiding somewhere... [:)]



There is even Dual-tex experimental pixelated camouflage, and one of the beta testers thought it was a bug [:D]

That sounds like a beta tester who was topf of his game, and looking out for y’all.

1) unit movement order lines are obscured by trees, its really hard to see in a forest where you've ordered units to move; likewise, the NATO symbols are transparent in the trees and not clear

2) do helicopters run out of fuel? the AI appears to deploy helicopters early on, and then they leave too early in a large battle - not sure, it could be because I was bringing AA up and maybe they got scared off, but not sure if they left for some other reason... I think the helicopters should maybe be allowed to come back like the fixed wing planes do?

3) do fixed wing aircraft run out of ammo? in a larger battle I'm about 4 hours in, and I've noticed a few flights that didn't appear to shoot or bomb anything, not sure if they lacked a target or just didn't even have ammunition left

4) when you select a squad, it should have a button you can push which selects the larger parent formation, sometimes its hard to find and corral all the various squads belonging to a platoon or company

5) i think across the board, all units need access to more ammunition - i would suggest some sort of code that starts replenishing ammo after a specified amount of time. for example, SAM vehicle only has two SAM on it, I get that... but after it fires two, in a real world situation, someone is going to put two more on it. whether that takes 2 minutes or 2 hours, it needs to happen, rather than having the vehicle just sit there idling. even close combat had a timer on katyusha rocket reloads (although it was set to like a couple hours, well beyond the time of a battle, it was still in the code). mortars are a pet peeve of mine currently, you should definitely be able to have mortars that can literally fire all day long, although they should naturally cost more points in setup (and this can be easily modded. I remember reading a Vietnam war memoir, and this guy stated that during a battle he literally did nothing but unload boxes of ammo from an APC and toss them to people who were running them toward the firing positions. Of course, running out of supply should be a possible setting, but having plenty of supply should also be a setting.

6) tanks and aircraft should maybe be a little hesitant to waste missiles and shells on isolated infantry - not saying they shouldn't do it, but it's a bit extreme to have a whole column of tanks firing at a single soldier

7) its great the vehicles can get immobilized in forests/rivers, but there should definitely be a repair timer - even if it is set to several hours, I'm already 4 hours into a battle and its barely begun, so I imagine someone should be trying to fix that track - you could for example set the repair timer to say 40 hours, and then if a repair vehicle is within 1 'hex' it provides a 90% time reduction to all repairs

8) does smoke block helicopter line of sight? am curious on the mechanics of that

9) the marking options are good (where you can place reminders like ! and ?) - more symbols would be good, on a large map in a large battle I find myself using that quite a bit to delineate the front and axis of advance, ill post a video/screenshots if someone is interested

10) would be good to have the NATO symbols for different mortar types vary, so you can better distinguish a heavy and light mortar, also some of the mortars are set to immobile when they should have a slow (very slow) movement speed

11) would be good to have a battle setting that places you inside the center of a circle of enemy controlled territory, ie: a berlin map, or a paratroop scenario

12) honestly, at the scale these battles can take, food and water should be taken into account - you should actually be encouraged to have field kitchens and water tank trucks, providing a replenishment bonus within a certain radius

13) very much need a way to hide TRPs, the map is covered in + symbols that aren't very important, also the pre-aimed artillery boxes are useful but there should be an option to control their transparency, its a bit much when you've got 90 of them, would like to see color distinction as well for round types, and I see no reason a fire solution can't be switched at will between HE and smoke

lots of ideas, but I think it says a lot about the game's potential that I'm even suggesting some of these things

ORIGINAL: Kimura ORIGINAL: PoorOldSpike
engamgement-sectors "Firing Arcs"

Agreed. There should also be an option to concentrate fire on a specific target, even if you have to wait for the command to be dispatched. There also should be a way to order free fire on a terrain feature or building, even if no enemy has been sighted.

Yet another AI Tactics suggestion:

1) AI is literally Unstoppable. they often trying to storming and overrun VP. Sometimes it works but in other cases it looks very reckless.
I think AI player be more cautious and keep calm.


2) Need how to use terrain well. Current status of AI doesn't. For example His tank or armored units just straight forward to the dense forest which is possible Infantry ambush exist. Maybe He uses more Joint tactics between inf & armored, this can be solve.


3) Active Hit and Run(or Shoot n scoop) tactics for AI also would be awsome. Since release date i've not seen any AI tanks going backwards in dangerous situation.

ORIGINAL: kr0114

they often trying to storming and overrun VP.

3) Active Hit and Run(or Shoot n scoop) tactics for AI also would be awsome. Since release date i've not seen any AI tanks going backwards in dangerous situation.

Have you used the dummy objectives, set to the max? I think that makes it much less likely that the AI will be storming the spot you expect, and a lot more likely that they will be attacking a spot that you didn't expect. I haven't actually noticed this issue at all, although I generally play with AI as defender. Suicidal attacks in themselves are not a sign of bad AI, pretty much any real-life attack is going to result in high casualties - you should give the attacker far more combat strength than the defender.

Agree with hit and run idea, although would require some coding. Fast recon units should try to quickly probe a line and then fall back upon contact.

ORIGINAL: kr0114

Yet another AI Tactics suggestion:

1) AI is literally Unstoppable. they often trying to storming and overrun VP. Sometimes it works but in other cases it looks very reckless.
I think AI player be more cautious and keep calm.

2) Need how to use terrain well. Current status of AI doesn't. For example His tank or armored units just straight forward to the dense forest which is possible Infantry ambush exist. Maybe He uses more Joint tactics between inf & armored, this can be solve.

Good idea but it is not easy to implement "cautious and keep calm" and "use terrain well" in coding... It would be great if the idea or concept is as specific as possible, that would be helpful for devs to get some idea or might try something in script. Dont get me wrong, I'm not blaming you, but I'm just telling the truth.

3) Active Hit and Run(or Shoot n scoop) tactics for AI also would be awsome. Since release date i've not seen any AI tanks going backwards in dangerous situation.

I suggested this one during beta, but PACT tanks have notoriously slow backward speed than NATO tanks. Not sure how much would it be useful PACT tanks. But I'm still thinking it might be better than nothing. Right now AI just use smoke.

ORIGINAL: Adam Rinkleff

Have you used the dummy objectives, set to the max? I think that makes it much less likely that the AI will be storming the spot you expect, and a lot more likely that they will be attacking a spot that you didn't expect. I haven't actually noticed this issue at all, although I generally play with AI as defender. Suicidal attacks in themselves are not a sign of bad AI, pretty much any real-life attack is going to result in high casualties - you should give the attacker far more combat strength than the defender.

No i didnt. i'll try that thx

ORIGINAL: exsonic01


Good idea but it is not easy to implement "cautious and keep calm" and "use terrain well" in coding... It would be great if the idea or concept is as specific as possible, that would be helpful for devs to get some idea or might try something in script. Dont get me wrong, I'm not blaming you, but I'm just telling the truth.

No problem [:D] I wish I know all the mechanics of how this game works. For now those 3 points are my most detailed solution...

I suggested this one during beta, but PACT tanks have notoriously slow backward speed than NATO tanks. Not sure how much would it be useful PACT tanks. But I'm still thinking it might be better than nothing. Right now AI just use smoke.

Yep, So IMO it would be great AI can analyse each unit's character and use it.

Thanks to the developers for making such a great game.

As for suggestions, I also would like to see a "firing arc" added to the game. And with this arc the player can also set the range of the arc, for how far is goes out from the unit. This function is available in Combat Mission and it would be great to have it in AB, too.

Also, in Combat Mission you can order a unit to initiate "direct fire" on a target, or on any place on the map, within it's range of course. You simply move your pointer to where you want the unit to fire, and a line is drawn to it. If there is no line of sight to it then the line will show up red. If there is a clean line of sight for the unit, it will show up green. Once ordered and play resumes, the unit will begin firing at the spot the player specified. This works well when calling in mortar fire, or ordering a tank to blast a certain spot on the map for suppressive fire.

ORIGINAL: Deepstuff3725
As for suggestions, I also would like to see a "firing arc" added to the game. And with this arc the player can also set the range of the arc, for how far is goes out from the unit. This function is available in Combat Mission and it would be great to have it in AB, too.

In this game there is a "set range" option in the command (and in SOP you can set effective range or maximum range). You can use that command to make similar effect to firing arc, except direction control. I would like to have firing arc in this game, but I guess devs are too busy now. Maybe someday we can expect firing arc?

Also, in Combat Mission you can order a unit to initiate "direct fire" on a target, or on any place on the map, within it's range of course. You simply move your pointer to where you want the unit to fire, and a line is drawn to it. If there is no line of sight to it then line will show up red. If there is a clean line of sight for the unit, it will show up green. Once ordered and play resumes, the unit will begin firing at the spot the player specified. This works well calling in mortar fire, or ordering a tank to blast a certain spot on the map for suppressive fire.

I suggested that "forced attack to the empty ground" option in beta forum, but there is some problem issue regarding this one.
1) Player - AI balance.
Devs explained that they care about player - AI balance seriously. What players can do should be able to be performed by AI. Issue here is that AI cannot perform such "forced attack". I also never saw AI use forced attack in Close Combat or Combat Mission. It is not easy for AI to perform such "forced attack" on "suspicious place" for "suppress fire", since those concepts are too vague to write in the script. I also couldn't find good way to interpret those concepts to code.
I still enjoy CC and CM while AI cannot do "forced attack", so I think this game would be OK if they introduce this option now or in close future, (or at least when they introduce PBEM). It should be doable. But I also respect their opinion regarding forced attack.

2) Ammo and no resupply
One of the reason why devs are skeptical about "forced attack" is limited ammo. In this game, there is no resupply option. In small game it would be fine, but in huge game (more than 12km x 12km size with more than 25k point forces) you will see lots of tanks will run out of ammo. And forced attack can consume ammo too quickly.

But as far as I know, devs are thinking about this issue. I remember they once mentioned about make AI target and fire to splash icon, which represents the muzzle flash. This will depict the suppress fire in some degree. I think that might be a good option, not the same like forced fire, but still good enough to see the effect of "suppress fire". Hopefully, they brought some good idea about this issue.

Regarding resupply, I think devs have some idea, but I dunno how they think about resupply. I mentioned in other post, (tm.asp?m=4556081) it might be OK to introduce resupply for big size games or huge size games. Then that could ease the ammo burden for such suppress fire.

I am noticing a company of tanks. I can set SOP. Then I manually order one tank. That tank retains the SOP, but the rest of the company resets and I have to do the SOP again. Is that working as intended?

lol, just noticed STREETLIGHTS are on at night - does that actually affect illumination? is there an option to enforce a blackout? this is world war III lol

ORIGINAL: Adam Rinkleff

lol, just noticed STREETLIGHTS are on at night - does that actually affect illumination? is there an option to enforce a blackout? this is world war III lol

I'm sure I read somewhere on here that streetlights had no effect on illumination, aesthetic value only.


Cheers

ORIGINAL: blackcloud6

ORIGINAL: nikolas93TS

ORIGINAL: blackcloud6

MASSTER Camouflage.

I see that MERDEC Camouflage is in the game and is well recreated but have not run into MASSTER that was used by USAEUR in the early 1970s. It is distinctly different from MERDEC and would be a cool addition to the game (along with e big black stars that went with it instead of the big white ones used on US vehicles prior to this)

Well, there is always that one little detail hiding somewhere... [:)]



There is even Dual-tex experimental pixelated camouflage, and one of the beta testers thought it was a bug [:D]

Oh most cool! How do I make this so? Are certain dates to be used for the force to get it? Dual-tex too? Neato!

M60A1(AOS) should be there in the middle of 1970s. Dual-Tex patterns were tested by the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Europe from 1978 to 1984 and it was replaced when standard NATO three color camouflage was adopted. In game it is used only by M60A3 Passive, operated by above mentioned unit.

ORIGINAL: Adam Rinkleff

2) do helicopters run out of fuel? the AI appears to deploy helicopters early on, and then they leave too early in a large battle - not sure, it could be because I was bringing AA up and maybe they got scared off, but not sure if they left for some other reason... I think the helicopters should maybe be allowed to come back like the fixed wing planes do?

3) do fixed wing aircraft run out of ammo? in a larger battle I'm about 4 hours in, and I've noticed a few flights that didn't appear to shoot or bomb anything, not sure if they lacked a target or just didn't even have ammunition left

Yes for both.

5) i think across the board, all units need access to more ammunition - i would suggest some sort of code that starts replenishing ammo after a specified amount of time. for example, SAM vehicle only has two SAM on it, I get that... but after it fires two, in a real world situation, someone is going to put two more on it. whether that takes 2 minutes or 2 hours, it needs to happen, rather than having the vehicle just sit there idling. even close combat had a timer on katyusha rocket reloads (although it was set to like a couple hours, well beyond the time of a battle, it was still in the code). mortars are a pet peeve of mine currently, you should definitely be able to have mortars that can literally fire all day long, although they should naturally cost more points in setup (and this can be easily modded. I remember reading a Vietnam war memoir, and this guy stated that during a battle he literally did nothing but unload boxes of ammo from an APC and toss them to people who were running them toward the firing positions. Of course, running out of supply should be a possible setting, but having plenty of supply should also be a setting.

Ideas for this are being discussed on another thread.

6) tanks and aircraft should maybe be a little hesitant to waste missiles and shells on isolated infantry - not saying they shouldn't do it, but it's a bit extreme to have a whole column of tanks firing at a single soldier

They don't know if he is alone, and what if he is artillery spotter etc.?

7) its great the vehicles can get immobilized in forests/rivers, but there should definitely be a repair timer - even if it is set to several hours, I'm already 4 hours into a battle and its barely begun, so I imagine someone should be trying to fix that track - you could for example set the repair timer to say 40 hours, and then if a repair vehicle is within 1 'hex' it provides a 90% time reduction to all repairs

I agree on this, but I am not sure if there are some engine limitations at the moment.

8) does smoke block helicopter line of sight? am curious on the mechanics of that

I am pretty sure it does.

9) the marking options are good (where you can place reminders like ! and ?) - more symbols would be good, on a large map in a large battle I find myself using that quite a bit to delineate the front and axis of advance, ill post a video/screenshots if someone is interested

We are totally open to proposals on this aspect.

10) would be good to have the NATO symbols for different mortar types vary, so you can better distinguish a heavy and light mortar, also some of the mortars are set to immobile when they should have a slow (very slow) movement speed

If you look better, you will notice they do use different sprites. Also, keep in mind that those soldiers are supposed to carry a lot of ammo too. I doubt that 5 men can carry 40+ shells and the mortar itself.

12) honestly, at the scale these battles can take, food and water should be taken into account - you should actually be encouraged to have field kitchens and water tank trucks, providing a replenishment bonus within a certain radius

Whoa, now that is some serious grognard thought. [:D] I think C-rations and equivalents, water purification packet etc. pretty much eliminates that aspect at Armored Brigade scale.

13) very much need a way to hide TRPs, the map is covered in + symbols that aren't very important, also the pre-aimed artillery boxes are useful but there should be an option to control their transparency, its a bit much when you've got 90 of them, would like to see color distinction as well for round types, and I see no reason a fire solution can't be switched at will between HE and smoke

Thought i saw this mentioned earlier, seconded.

2) do helicopters run out of fuel? the AI appears to deploy helicopters early on, and then they leave too early in a large battle - not sure, it could be because I was bringing AA up and maybe they got scared off, but not sure if they left for some other reason... I think the helicopters should maybe be allowed to come back like the fixed wing planes do?

For longer battles, don't think the helicopters should be a one off, and more BP's for different map sizes.

Being able to rotate both the regular and iso maps.

Please add a checkbox for "disable fire all" on artillery console. Like an extra safety you can put on, its very easy to mistakenly click fire all and... I would like a bit more security to prevent that. At least two ranking officers should have to agree before the order can be issued, and it shouldn't just be something that any one in the command post can accidentally activate.

I think it would be good to also have a hotkey for pretargeting artillery, like if you create a 150x150 grid with one gun firing, you should be able to press x and place, x and place, x and place.

Also, there is no reason to prevent pretargeted artillery from changing ammo type, is there?