Matrix Games Forums

Hello everyone:

I know that you can open any CMANO scenario in CMO, but with the massive quantity of new features in the "Tiny" update, does anyone have a sense of to what extent the older scenarios either utilize those or have their balance changed by them? A lot of the features seem to me like they would really need a scenario designed with them in mind to be utilized properly. How well are those older scenarios integrated in that sense?

I have the biggest changes are around cargo and transport. A lot of the older scenarios used teleporting and it weirds out people who don't have the history. I have also found that scenarios with a heavy amount of lua and the lua was doing unnatural things sometimes don't age well.

As to tactical stuff, some of the acoustic and sonar improvements can have significant impact on sub-heavy scenarios.

Some issues with balance do crop up, and some events do break but usually not to the point of making them unplayable. Normally a note to the scenario designer will get it fixed or failing that, you can ask on the forum and get a work around.

I'm new to CMO, but I totally see features consistently disabled in many scenarios. Like aircraft damage, weather affecting ship speed and aircraft and weapons, realistic gunfire, realistic sub comms, etc

What I'M wondering is if simply opening them up in the editor and enabling all that stuff is feasible. I mean ... Some of it is just . Why wasn't that already implemented? (such as those I specifically mentioned)
Sure, I can just go ahead and try changing those in the editor. But I wouldn't know if I were somehow "breaking" those missions unless they perhaps became totally unplayable somehow.

It's a shame such features aren't enabled in more scenarios as they really enhance the gameplay; the realism, which is what this game is all bout. IMO they should be going back through ALL the official commercial scenarios and campaigns that they sell and update them to the new models with the new features. A lot of work? Yeah, sure. So? That's their job. For the price of this game and its modules it should really be expected on a professionalism level. 80 bucks usd is PREMIUM cost for a game, which should be reflected in the game's appearance and feature set and just overall consistency. They should be polished to spit-shine.
In general it's part of their job to make sure old scenarios that come with the game and that are available for purchase (i.e. - Official commercial products) remain up to date with the current features of CMO.

artao5 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 4:16 am I'm new to CMO, but I totally see features consistently disabled in many scenarios. Like aircraft damage, weather affecting ship speed and aircraft and weapons, realistic gunfire, realistic sub comms, etc

What I'M wondering is if simply opening them up in the editor and enabling all that stuff is feasible. I mean ... Some of it is just . Why wasn't that already implemented? (such as those I specifically mentioned)
Sure, I can just go ahead and try changing those in the editor. But I wouldn't know if I were somehow "breaking" those missions unless they perhaps became totally unplayable somehow.

In most cases, the reasons those options are unavailable is that the scenario was designed before the feature in question was added to the game.

Simply making all such features available all the time could wreck scenarios that were designed (and balanced) without them.

PaulWRoberts wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 12:32 amIn most cases, the reasons those options are unavailable is that the scenario was designed before the feature in question was added to the game.

Simply making all such features available all the time could wreck scenarios that were designed (and balanced) without them.

Derp right. I neglected to mention that. I meant to.
That's what I mean. I know they're older, pre-features. I get it.
I mean, opening them in the editor and enabling all the features. Is that likely to break the older scenarios? Today thinking again I suppose it depends entirely on the scenario. Some will break, some won't. Depends how they were designed and when.

SO! I guess ... Has anyone already tried with any of them, on which it works fine?
Thanks.

artao5 wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 10:49 pm

PaulWRoberts wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 12:32 amIn most cases, the reasons those options are unavailable is that the scenario was designed before the feature in question was added to the game.

Simply making all such features available all the time could wreck scenarios that were designed (and balanced) without them.

Derp right. I neglected to mention that. I meant to.
That's what I mean. I know they're older, pre-features. I get it.
I mean, opening them in the editor and enabling all the features. Is that likely to break the older scenarios? Today thinking again I suppose it depends entirely on the scenario. Some will break, some won't. Depends how they were designed and when.

SO! I guess ... Has anyone already tried with any of them, on which it works fine?
Thanks.

I guess it depends on how dramatic the change is. "Realistic Submarine Communications" could easily wreck a submarine-dependent scenario that was balanced without it. And that goes even moreso for the new "Effects of Terrain Type" option (which, IIRC, can allow terrain itself to make SAM and AA systems blind).

I think one thing to consider is there are two things here:

1) By turning on those features, is it still balanced to play as a game where either side could win? Or at least not too badly affected.

2) Consider the "sandbox" value of any scenario and go in with the attitude of "I'm going to turn on all the options and see how that affects units/my side" regardless of win/loss - more to observe the effects.

Both of these are valid points of view (I enjoy both - who doesn't like to win? , and also, I like to tinker and learn). Probably plenty to learn from any scenario about the interactions of different platforms.

Dave