Matrix Games Forums

Arjuna,

I always trusted that you were going to finally include this very nice feature (well at some point I had my doubts but I knew in my heart that you were going to do it [:D]).

Now seriously, thank you very much for your attention to detail in your work on this series. I am sure that this new feature will help a lot of new players not so familiar with the WWII hardware to get easier into the game.

Thanks again !! [:)]


Txema

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

Hi all,

Today I finally got the armament estab views working. Now you can access the estab data for a vehicle weapon. You select a unit, select its Equipment and Supply tab, double-click on the vehicle you want to examine and then double-click on the weapon form the vehicle armaments list.

For me, the armament estabs greatly enhance the "game immersion" effect [8D].

ORIGINAL: oldspec4

For me, the armament estabs greatly enhance the "game immersion" effect [8D].

Me as well........great new feature!! Thanks!! [&o]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

The intent now is to provide just the Tutorial scenario, along with the tutorial movies. The Tutorial scenario runs for four days. It starts with a US armoured combat command ( Bde size ) up against a German Inf Regt. Over the course of the scenario the US side is build up to a Division. I won't tell you what the Germans get, as that would giving away too much.

That will be plenty big. And with four days, that will give you plenty of time to get a fell for the game.

Great news all around.

ORIGINAL: Arjuna
Most of the new features I have already mentioned earlier with the exception of the Screen Resolutions

Question: will Command Ops support a 'windowed' mode, so I can see the game and another document at the same time? I tend to do some HTTR battle planning (phasing, task allocation) in a spreadsheet, and writing down OOB data from the game screen followed by an alt-tab to the spreadsheet and back is cumbersome. Being able to have the tutorial or (digital) manual open side by side with the game would be helpful as well.

Looking forward to the game!

W1||14m ( William is it? ),

Welcome. I'm sorry but BFTB like the rest of the preceeding titles doesn't run in windowed format. The reason for this is that running in a windowed format has a significant performance hit. However, if you have two monitors connected then you can run BFTB on your main monitor and whatever else you like on your secondary and then switch between them with a simple click on the app you want to activate. Below is a screen dump of my current monitors. I have the game running on the 24" main monitor and a spreadsheet running on the 22" secondary monitor. Too easy.

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

The intent now is to provide just the Tutorial scenario, along with the tutorial movies. The Tutorial scenario runs for four days. It starts with a US armoured combat command ( Bde size ) up against a German Inf Regt. Over the course of the scenario the US side is build up to a Division. I won't tell you what the Germans get, as that would giving away too much.

Will the demo allow multiplayer?

Arjuna, thanks for clarifying the absence of windowed mode. I do run dual 1600x1200 monitors as one desktop on WinXP, with HTTR restricting the mouse to one screen and minimizing to the taskbar when try to switch to other apps with alt-tab or the windows key. It's something I can live with, however.

William

William,

When running BFTB on my Vista box the mouse is not restricted to the monitor running BFTB. I can freely move it to the other monitor. I'm not sure about XP as I don't have a dual monitor setup for our XP box. I'll ask the beta testers.

We put another BFTB Build ( #4.0.216 ) yesterday. This contained all outstanding UI fixes and mods, including code that reverse toggles the filter buttons on the Display toolbar when right clicked and mods to the selection code for the OB display. Previously when you were showing the "current" force structure in the OB display and clicked on another unit it refreshed the display with its structure. This made it difficult to use the OB Display to find all the subordinates of a unit. Now it will only refresh the display if you select a unit on the map. So you can select say a new reinforcement Bn HQ and then click on its subordinate companies in the OB display and this selects them on the map. You can then issue orders directly to them. Also if you double-click on a unit on the map then this will toggle the sidebar display between the unit's data view or the OB display. Similarly if you double-click a unit in the OB display, it selects the unit on the map and changes the view to its unit data. This makes for a seemless and intuitive interface.

This is the last mods we are doing for the UI. We're just down to ironing out the remaining AI bugs. We're aiming to sign off by the end of October, though there's still a fair bit to do before then, including the Intro movie, Tutorial movies, finalise the manuals, finalise all mods to the data content and test scenarios - a doddle really![;)]

Hi,

Sounds good!! Very much looking forward to the release.

About the UI --- will it now be possible to creare battlegroups directly on the OB display?? Or is it still accomplished only by control clicking units on the tactical map?? Thinking of those large clusters of reinforcements....
Thanks.

Rob.[:)]

Rob,

We haven't yet enables multiple selection for the OB display, so you will still need to form your groups from the map. But at least you will be able to find them more easily. It's a good suggestion, though.

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

Hi all,

Just to let you know we put out a new beta build ( #215 ) today. This includes:
New Features

• Refueling reaction/reassessment
• Contested FUP reassessment
• Contested Reserve Loc reassessment
• Screen resolutions - options for wide screens
• Aversion routes for attack approaches

Fixes & Mods - heaps and heaps

• Converted Scenarios, Estabs and Maps
• Bridge Building Bug re ConfirmMissionLoc()
• Mods to Allocation code
• Fixed inumerable scheduling issues

Most of the new features I have already mentioned earlier with the exception of the Screen Resolutions - new wide screen options. This we've added to support the new crop of wide screen monitors now available. Here's a snap.

What does "FUP" stand for?

FUP Forming Up Point

Arjuna,

Does Match Current Screen Resolution work with 16:9 monitors?

I would suggest that if it is easy enough, you could idiot proof the resolution setting by changing Wide Screen to "Wide Screen 16:10" and adding "Wide Screen 16:9" (and listing the standard resolutions), since that is the new direction for monitors.

Bink

Can't you already put in any resolution you want in AA games? Just put -resolution AxB in the shortcut properties.

ORIGINAL: bink

Arjuna,

Does Match Current Screen Resolution work with 16:9 monitors?

I would suggest that if it is easy enough, you could idiot proof the resolution setting by changing Wide Screen to "Wide Screen 16:10" and adding "Wide Screen 16:9" (and listing the standard resolutions), since that is the new direction for monitors.

Bink

Yes "Match Current Screen Resolution " still works. It is the default option. The shortcut properties method also still works. All we have done here is provide a simple method for choosing a specific screen resolution, which can be handy for folks who might set their normal resolution to X but want to use Y for BFTB.

Arjuna,

Here is a list of the common 16:9 resolutions:

1366x768
1600x900
1920x1080

From the most recent publicly available research I have seen, these resolutions now comprise the majority of shipping desktop and notebook LCD panels.

Bink

wow, I thought this was being released at the end of 08! Good luck, this is the one I really wanted !!!

It will have been worth the wait.