What's new with the upcoming 3.0 update?

[Sunbather]

Hello there,

I am kind of new to the whole 2D, operational wargaming but this game has been on my list for a long time. Before I buy, however, I would like to inquire what the biggest changes in the upcoming 3.0 update will be? I understand that this brings this game on par with the Campaign Series: Vietnam game but unfortunately that does not help too much.

A short summary should suffice!

PS: I am a sucker for sounds. Are there improvements in that regard to be expected?

[Jason Petho]

Primary inclusions with the 3.00 UPDATE are:

1. All the Legacy AI Improvements will be included

2. The CS Event Engine (aka Scripted AI) overhaul and improvements will be included: This means that each of my scenarios will have (at least) one side scripted, so you can play against the computer and have a good playing experience.

3. The UI updates will be included (many many options and cleaner screens, etc, as found with Vietnam).

4. The Unit data updates/improvements will be included.

5. The new Air strike model will be included.

6. A Week in ... scenario will be made and included.

7. A wack load of under the hood improvements, including revamping sounds.

etc.

[Sunbather]

Hello Jason!

Sorry for only getting back to you now. First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to give a such a good overview of what to expect.

This game (its setting, its modelling and processing of single units) should be perfect for me. As it stands, however, the actual controls and camera of the game are driving me nuts.

I don't know how the Vietnam game is coming along but I sure hope that the game won't almost crash anymore every time I give 4 units at once a movement order. The animation speed, even when cranked up, also needs a LOT of patience. But like I said the worst is the camera and the actual control of the units. The clicking and de-clicking of units is a mess. I often move my units without intention to do so. Every second time I try to use the upper or the right side of the UI, I oversteers slightly because of the ridiculous mouse sensitivity and then the whole screen starts to move. Why is there no

Sorry for the little rant but I really was under the impression that this game was a bit more modern than WinSPMBT...

Anyways... While I don't understand the limits of remaster a 30 year old game with an outdated engine, I sure know that they exist. I really, really hope that this version 3.0 will make this game enjoyable for me and also bring you a wider audience just like CS: Vietnam.

[Jason Petho]

Good day, Jeb

No worries at all, thank you for the interest!

You can watch me play live (Vietnam) on Wednesdays and Sundays here: https://www.twitch.tv/campaignserieslegion , or catch the follow ups on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7giuN ... z13dubeX-g

I think the 3.00 UPDATE will for enhance the game play, especially your experience against the AI, which is where the vast majority of the focus is.

[berto]

Every second time I try to use the upper or the right side of the UI, I oversteers slightly because of the ridiculous mouse sensitivity and then the whole screen starts to move.

I will see about maybe adding a 1/2 second or 1 second scrolling delay when the mouse pointer touches the game window or screen edge. (With the time delay perhaps customizable by way of Options > Scrolling > Time Delay...)

In the meantime, consider using Options > Scrolling > Scroll Bar if you find the automatic scrolling to be overly sensitive.

[Bagpipe]

offtopic but not worth a new post...

Is there any way to maximize CSME to hide the window and taskbar? It is really giving my OCD a field day!

[Jason Petho]

Good question, but by default I autohide my taskbar.

Right click on the Taskbar
Taskbar Settings
Automatically hide the taskbar

[Bagpipe]

Good question, but by default I autohide my taskbar.

Right click on the Taskbar
Taskbar Settings
Automatically hide the taskbar

Ah yeah...will give that a go lol cheers

[milkweg]

I don't want to autohide the taskbar. I have all the original Campaign series games and they display full screen with no task bar showing. This should be made an option, full screen or windowed (as it is now).

In the original games you can also press M to hide the menu, that option has been removed. That's ok with me though because I play with the menu showing anyway. But it should be optional.

[berto]

By default, the Middle East.exe frontend launcher summons the game engine with the (undocumented) -W[indowed] command-line switch. You can run the game engine full-screen bypassing the frontend launcher and instead doubleclicking meengine in Windows Explorer. That is, you would therefore launch the game engine without the normal -W command-line switch, and it will run full-screen. (Without benefit of the frontend launcher scenarios listing etc., of course.)

In forthcoming upgrades, we will consider adding the capability to run the game engine full-screen when launched from the frontend launcher.

[milkweg]

OK, thanks, that works but with no scenario picker it's kind of a no go here.

[Phoenix100]

Primary inclusions with the 3.00 UPDATE are:

1. All the Legacy AI Improvements will be included

2. The CS Event Engine (aka Scripted AI) overhaul and improvements will be included: This means that each of my scenarios will have (at least) one side scripted, so you can play against the computer and have a good playing experience.

3. The UI updates will be included (many many options and cleaner screens, etc, as found with Vietnam).

4. The Unit data updates/improvements will be included.

5. The new Air strike model will be included.

6. A Week in ... scenario will be made and included.

7. A wack load of under the hood improvements, including revamping sounds.

etc.

Just curious - is it still the plan that all this will be included with the shortly-to-arrive update?

[berto]

The imminent CSME 2.30 update will have everything described except for the scenario scripting. A handful of CSME 2.30 scenarios will be scripted, but most will not. CSME 3.00, due out late this year or early next, will be fully scripted.

In other words, CSME 2.30 will be fully up to latest CSVN 1.30 (also imminent) standards sans the scripting.

[Phoenix100]

Thanks. Really looking forward to it. Will the scripted scenarios be flagged (as in CSV - with 'CSEE') so we know which they are?

[berto]

I am not sure. The list of scripted scenarios is limited. Just the hypothetical Sirte scenarios, and the Teaching Set scenarios. Only the Sirte scenarios will be meaningfully SAI'ed.