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Close Combat: The Bloody First

Kwota

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But there is a german campaign.

It just doesn't work as american one since you're using different divisions.
 

Burning Bridges

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I dunno. This looks more or less like Theatre of War, and will probably play as bad.

3D is a huge mistake if the very basics i.e. AI and campaigns are again ignored. I would play a 2D CC to death if it had the same formula and athmosphere as CC2. But this game is depressing shit.

Close Combat was an AAA game in a genre that normally belonged to indie games. In that respect it was one of the very few gaming orgasms a certain kind of player ever experienced, and the reason it remains in their memory forever.

This little new Matrix program on the other hand looks like yet another 3rd rate programmer tries mimicking Close Combat, and it will be shit. I would not be surprised if they still use the sound effects from 1998.

Another appetizer in a genre that wants 5 course meals, I expect next to no content and the amount of DLC milking will be outrageous.
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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http://www.slitherine.com/news/2793/Close.Combat.The.Bloody.First.opens.its.gates.for.Beta!
Close Combat: The Bloody First opens its gates for Beta!


No Mission Too Difficult. No Sacrifice Too Great. Duty First!”

We are very happy to announce that, after several months of hard work, Close Combat: The Bloody First is ready to go officially in Beta!

Developers have put a lot of effort into creating one of the most realistic tactical wargames ever, improving and refining the overall gameplay experience.

Now it’s your turn to duty! If you think you have what it takes, enlist here and help us in giving the final touches to the game!

IMPORTANT:

If you have applied in precedence for the Alpha, you don’t have to apply a second time as you have been automatically added to the Beta



Close Combat: The Bloody First is the latest release in the critically-acclaimed Close Combat series, and the first using the new 3D Archon engine. With this Close Combat: The Bloody First combines classic Close Combat tactical gameplay with battles fought across a wide variety of diverse 3D landscapes including craggy ridgelines, narrow valleys and dense villages. The switch to 3D also allows an increase in the level of detail (e.g. the specific types of ammunition used by each weapon are now modelled) with more realistic movement and projectile physics.





 

some funny shit

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Damn, that ugly 3d is so much inferior to beautifully painted 2d maps from old times.

CCTLD_Oct09_0001.jpg
 

Burning Bridges

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Jesus Christ this looks already outdated before it comes out.

Besides there is a game called Graviteam tactics that has been around for some time and does this much better in 3D, though I liked the 2D view in CC more.
 

McPlusle

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All they had to do was add more of those beautiful 2D maps but make the units move faster than snails (especially when they first begin to move) and it'd be 10/10. And focus more on infantry. Armored combat was always CC's weakness.
 

Burning Bridges

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The series already took a dip with CC4. Even though there are many good reviews for this game, it was dogshit.

What I personally liked about CC2 was that tanks was really precious. Never worked for anything but Market Garden imo. That setting was ideal because the Germans were outnumbered but could sometimes bring 2 or 3 tanks to fields and the Allies had their many first rate paratrooper units. It was so rewarding when you could knocked one down because it would really swing the battle when the enemy was out of tanks.

They should concentrate on working AI and paratrooper campaigns (eg Crete would be suited for this kind of gameplay), as well as a really engaging campaing mode (basically reinforcements, weapons and promotions).
 

Burning Bridges

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they are no AAA studio, how dare you ask the question

and btw, CC had multi story buildings they were just weird
 

commie

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Well, multistory in CC was more like LOS increase. It's not like you actually switched floors with the squad. They would always occupy whatever the 'highest' would be. I don't see how that would be hard to emulate in 3D; just map entry into a multi-floor building as expanding the LOS in that particular area. This is a barebones technique, not even taking into account ballistic trajectories etc.
 

mbv123

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Combat Mission Beyond Overlord which came out in 2000 had multi story buildings
 

sser

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Combat Mission Beyond Overlord which came out in 2000 had multi story buildings

And I believe tanks could technically shoot through the windows, threading the house from one side out the other. Also ricochets that could explode and harm.
 

LESS T_T

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Steam page, coming very soon:



“No Mission Too Difficult. No Sacrifice Too Great. Duty First!”

Close Combat: The Bloody First is the latest release in the critically-acclaimed Close Combat series, and the first using the new 3D Archon engine. With this Close Combat: The Bloody First combines classic Close Combat tactical gameplay with battles fought across a wide variety of diverse 3D landscapes including craggy ridgelines, narrow valleys and dense villages. The switch to 3D also allows an increase in the level of detail (e.g. the specific types of ammunition used by each weapon are now modelled) with more realistic movement and projectile physics.

Following the career of the famed US 1stInfantry Division (forever known as 'The Big Red One') Close Combat: The Bloody First visits the battlefields of Tunisia and Sicily for the first time, as well as covering the Normandy campaign.

CC_BF_info-banner1.jpg


With 3 theatres to cover Close Combat: The Bloody First places the focus firmly on the tactical level putting you in command of a 1st Infantry Division company (sometimes reinforced … and sometimes not!), leading your men through a series of linked operations and battles from Longstop Hill in Tunisia to Mortain in Normandy. You'll have to look after your men, work out the best combination of fire and movement, know when they need bolstering with armoured vehicles and decide when to call in support from artillery and aircraft.

You will command your squads in a variety of close combat situations and will have to learn how best to combine the use of small arms, mortars, machine guns, armoured cars, tanks and anti-tank guns in order to achieve victory.

CC_BF_info-banner2.jpg


You must learn the art of attack and defence in battles such as Hill 350 and Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, Gela and Troina in Sicily, and Caumont and Marigny in Normandy.

As you fight your way into and then across Europe from November 1942 to August 1944 you must overcome a wide range of diverse tactical challenges, such as commanding inexperienced troops being attacked by veteran panzers in North Africa, having to capture the bitterly defended town of Troina in the Sicilian mountains and of course storming across the sands of Omaha and into the 'hedgerow hell' of Normandy

CC_BF_info-banner3.jpg


The Settings
Tunisia – 5 Operations with 14 battles covering Longstop Hill, Sbiba, Kasserine Pass, El Guettar, Mateur
Sicily – 3 Operations with 11 battles covering Gela, Nicosia and Troina
Normandy – 3 Operations with 11 battles covering Omaha Beach, The Bocage and Operation Cobra

Features
  • 1 Grand Campaign, 3 Theatre Campaigns (Tunisia, Sicily and Normandy), 11 Operations and 36 battles
  • Completely revised 3D that bring a whole new look and feel to the classic Close Combat gameplay. The new 3D engine allows an increased level of detail (down to the the specific types of ammunition used by each weapon) and more realistic movement and projectile physics.
  • 32 completely new battlefield maps covering the rugged terrain of Tunisia (14 maps), the mountains and valleys of Sicily (11 maps) and the beaches and bocage of Normandy (11 maps)
  • For the first time the armed forces of Italy appear in an official release
  • Over 50 different vehicles, 300+ infantry and heavy weapon teams and over 100+ weapons and including for the first time US equipment from 1942-43.
  • All new graphics and effects
  • New sound effects
  • New terrain types to cover the jagged ridges of Tunisia and the rough, broken battlefields of Sicily
  • Historic organizations covering the US 1st Infantry Division and its German and Italian opponents
  • Integrated multi-player lobby and match-making forums.
  • Multiplayer allows for Co-Op play vs. the AI
  • Full Scenario Editor - Create your own "what if" battles
 

Alienman

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Hey, starting to look a lot better. Infantry combat in the city look actually good.
 

Beowulf

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Well, it looks very dated. It will live on die based on how fun the actual fighting is.

Here is ToW 2, for example. A game from 2009:

It looks better, and have far bigger maps, allowing for more realistic engagements ranges.
But on the other hand, the missions were very scripted and the AI rather stupid, from what I remember.

The other contender - Graviteam series, does only Easter Theatre (at least for WW2; and that's why it didn't catch on with wider audience, I'm afraid).

I don't mind playing old games, or games with poor visuals, but if the switch to 3D engine is what they were advertising the most, I can't stop but think what they did with their long development time.
I hope they managed to develop better AI at least, or it will be DOA.

As usual, I'll give them the benefit of a doubt, but given the publisher, the release price will be high enough that I will wait for other blokes to test it first.
 

Alienman

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Well, I would say it looks a lot better than the older videos, a 3D Close Combat could be fun if it keep the gameplay and improve the AI. Just two things that I miss by looking up some more information. Only American campaign, and the campaign is linear. So no cool strategic map like in Close Combat 5. Big mistake I think on both accounts.
 

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https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/10/04/wot-i-think-close-combat-the-bloody-first/

Wot I Think: Close Combat - The Bloody First

90


Anyone who has poured hundreds – thousands – of hours of hard work into Close Combat: The Bloody First and has the skin of an Opel Blitz rather than a Jagdtiger risks taking a substantial morale hit if they read beyond paragraph ten of this review. After telling you about the ways CCTBF is superior to its august ancestors, I’m going to tell you about the areas in which it’s markedly worse. Once I’ve pointed out that the long-awaited 3D incarnation of Atomic’s WW2 skirmish sim is by no means incapable of serving up diverting tactical encounters, I’ll attempt to explain why I may never play it again unless major remedial work is undertaken.



Since penning last Friday’s pre-review I’ve played unquestionably CCTBF’s finest third (the 33% set in leafy Normandy), discovered how to unshackle the game’s cruelly confined camera, and come to appreciate a host of small but invaluable play aids that I’ll sorely miss when, as I do from time to time, return to series pinnacles A Bridge Too Far (CC2) and Russian Front (CC3).



Freeing the camera via a simple configuration file text edit, transforms CCTBF’s headline innovation from a pointless aesthetic gimmick into a genuinely useful tactical tool and a significant immersion booster. For the first time ever in CC we get to see battlefields almost exactly the way our tiny troops see them, and this decision-influencing, empathy-enhancing privilege, in combination with a high-fidelity LoS system and maps generously sprinkled with view complicators and contour lines, gives a very conservative design much-needed freshness. True, loosening up the ludoscope shows up those missing skyboxes and, here and there, the odd untextured AFV surface, but fail to do it and you won’t fully appreciate Matrix’s cartographic craftsmanship; you may even wind up wondering whether the switch to 3D wasn’t all a huge waste of time.



While I’d like to have seen landscapes draped with richer, more saturated textures, and dotted with a few exploitable multi-storey structures, I love the way the bijou battlefields both capture the character of the places that inspired them, and manage to look quintessentially ‘CC’ at the same time. Even deprived of appropriate soundtracks (birdsong, rustling leaves, insect and livestock noises…) the majority of the game’s 36 maps are pleasing places in which to wage war. Partitioned by thick hedges and winding lanes, and generously sprinkled with hamlets and orchards, the Norman venues, especially so.


The short sight lines and abundance of cover offered by the bocage play to the strength of an AI which, in defence at least, is perfectly capable of making the player sweat and curse*. Get cocky with your Shermans – fail to use scout teams sensibly, and indirect-fire weapons surgically – and red and orange stripes can start appearing on your team monitor with alarming rapidity. Panzerfausts are surprisingly rare items in the desiccated clash zones of Tunisia; in Normandy, at times, there seems to be one lurking behind every grassy bank and stone wall.

*See last week’s piece for more on AI



Winning one of the eleven ops, or indeed the entire Tunisia-Italy-France grand campaign, involves battling your way through a sequence of maps using teams and vehicles plucked from a finite pool of units. A particular map may hosts several scraps if fights end without conclusive results. Persistent wrecks and damage, deployment zones determined by final positions, and the knowledge that even a stalemate can deplete the enemy’s unit pool and boost the stats of your own, ensure that you never feel like you’re simply repeating the same mission over and over again.



The devs enliven multi-battle games with interesting inter-mission timing choices too. On the offensive, it’s up to you to decide whether to rush into the next engagement immediately, or pause in order to lick wounds and replenish strength. As lulls also allow the foe to recover, and bring operation/campaign deadlines closer, they aren’t wise in all circumstances.



Pre-battle unit selection is given a novel twist via a team splitting mechanic. Commanders have the opportunity to form a limited number of small specialist units – scout and AT teams, snipers and the like – from larger units.



Although the old multi-mode healthbars and unit outlines haven’t survived the engine shift, we get compensation in the form of a powerful LoS tool (much improved by a quick tga edit) and some natty icon embellishments which make it easy to see at a glance which units have LoS to particular targets, and how long you’ll have to wait before a friendly AFV opens fire with a main gun. Thanks to aids like these, an admirably pithy set of orders, and relatively low unit counts, CCTBF is, like its namesakes, an unusually wieldy wargame.

Okay, this is the point in proceedings where Matrix employees of a sensitive disposition would be wise to stop reading. The compliments stop here, and the sighing and lambasting begins.

* * *



Let’s get the technical grumbles out of the way first. Every couple of hours or so this week CCTBF has treated me to a big fat Fatal Exception. Possibly more worrying than these disruptive crashes are the more common, brief (one or two seconds) pauses that intermittently freeze fracas. Is the engine struggling with LoS calculations? Quite possibly, given the bizarre behaviour of tanks at present.







Right now the game’s AFVs resemble WW2 armoured vehicles in appearance only. The angry accommodation together with its natural enemies, AT guns and bazooka/Panzerfaust toters, are mis-simmed in so many ways, scraps involving them often border on the surreal. Let me illustrate this point with some annotated screenshots. The following images were all taken during the opening clash of Operation Cobra. I was playing as the Big Red One.



^ Ludicrous Mexican stand-offs like this aren’t uncommon. According to the GUI, the Sherman can’t fire because it has a ‘bad shot’, while the panzer’s preposterous passivity is caused by a ‘steep angle’. Hmm.



^ After dancing an absurd do-si-do with the left-hand Sherman, the Panther in the centre has decided to flee down an alley fit only for a Kettenkrad. The impinging walls fail to stop or slow its escape!



^ Having acquired a taste for interiors, the Panther then decides to go the whole hog and ghost into the parlour of a nearby abode. Not only are buildings indestructible in CCTBF, it appears some of them are also panzer-permeable.





^ Further down the road, another Panther clearly has eyes in the back of its head/turret and top-secret experimental transmission under its carapace. Not only does it spot the Sherman that’s slyly stalking it the second the M4 rounds the corner, it manages to turn in the blink of an eye and get off the first shot. Give me strength!



^ There’s something tragicomic about the way this German tank keeps returning to the junction VL. Every time it heads off to do something else, the VL automatically flips (I’ve an ‘ambushing’ infantry team parked nearby) and the mystified, dutiful Panther retraces its steps.



^ Tanks don’t have the monopoly on idiocy. Mortars that refuse to target open-topped AFVs (“The armour’s too thick!”), routers who flee towards the nearest threat… I believe I’ve even witnessed an example of completely inexplicable/inexcusable friendly fire. There’s immersion impairers almost everywhere you look. This snap shows three of my men who managed to get themselves run over by a tank while I was busy elsewhere. In terms of vehicle avoidance, the infantry in arcade whimsy Crab Simulator 2014 had more sense than CCTBF’s crunchies, and I can’t code for toffee.



^ After some tense manoeuvring, my bazooka team is within 50 metres of two tempting targets. Demonstrating staggering incompetence/luck, the anti-tankists fire all five of their rockets without scoring a single hit or attracting return fire. Far too often exchanges involving large calibre weaponry feel like lotteries.



^ I’m uncertain whether this is an example of suspicious tanky omniscience or merely the game’s incredibly subtle LOS simulation. My tank crewmen in the foreground are being fired on by the Panther in the background, despite the intervening cottage. Has the eagle-eyed Panther really legitimately spotted them through those open windows?



A multitude of moments like these caused me to run some ‘scientific’ LoS and AI tests via the scenario editor and the unexpected results of those tests have left me somewhat troubled. The fact is I no longer trust CCTBF’s core simulatory mechanics. I have suspicions that, contrary to appearances, the game isn’t playing by the long-established non-negotiable rules of the genre.



An example. Deploy two large opposing mechanized forces, 350 metres apart on flat open ground in Combat Mission, Graviteam Tactics or 1st Gen CC, and moments after the scenario begins those two forces will spot each other and begin exchanging fire. Counterintuitively, something different happens in CCTBF. My tests seemed – and I stress ‘seemed’* – to indicate that many units in the game operate at the centre of 200m-radius detection bubbles. They’ll happily fire on targets at longer ranges if those targets have been flushed-out by others (‘borg spotting’ is instantaneous), but they’re unable to discover threats – even large tanky ones – for themselves until those threats have crossed their own arbitrary 200m threshold.

*It’s remotely possible that what I’ve observed is a review code quirk or a consequence of a misunderstanding on my part



Most maps as so small and crowded that these apparent limitations are barely noticeable, but if they are real and the result of some form of performance-prompted fudge, then it doesn’t bode well for the newcomer’s future. Eastern Front tank duels with 200m spotting bubbles? Hard to picture.



Another oddity observed while fiddling with the scenario editor, suggests that the computer’s offensive tactics are dependent on how many units the player opts to field. It doesn’t matter whether those units are in or out-of-LoS – the CPU surreptitiously counts/quantifies them and reacts accordingly – strange behaviour for a supposedly non-cheating AI.



In the test pictured above, the computer-controlled Germans refuse to advance their only tank if I deploy a full force in the hedge screened deployment zone on the left edge, but will do so if I deploy a rump of, say, two units.



A supernaturally prescient AI might seem like small beer to the non-wargamer, but to me and my kind, added to a disincentives column that already includes things like “Dodgy tank targeting”, “Mediocre AI”, “Occasional crashes”, and “Detection bubbles” it’s a pretty powerful reason to shun Close Combat: The Bloody First for the time being. The game makes a fairly decent fist of infantry combat, comes with some nicely crafted maps, and inherits CC’s natural elegance and approachability, but falls short in too many core areas to earn a positive review from someone who has Combat Mission, Graviteam Tactics, and Armored Brigade ready and waiting in his amusement arsenal.

Close Combat: The Bloody First is available now through Matrix Games, GOG, and Steam, priced around £31
 
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Burning Bridges

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"draped with richer, more saturated textures" LOL - The colors and textures looks like ass, like this game has been developed on a permanently damaged monitor. Developers should buy a good screen before they start producing 10 years of grotesquely washed-out, undersaturated graphics.
 

Burning Bridges

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Guys, reality check.

I too loved CC2 when I first saw it realized I could take various objectives with actual tactics, heard the accurate and highly athmospheric sound effects, and that there was an actual campaign mode (!) where you play the entire Market Garden operation with the outcome defined by your action.

That was 1997

I won't buy amateurish shit from people who have no experience with programming computer games, only because it says Close Combat TWO

Gravitream tactics isn't perfect but shows the minimum standard these days

 

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