CMSF British Forces - Trash Rides Again

<strong>[ Review ]</strong>

<p>Trash is taking another trip out to the desert for <strong><a href="http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=217&Itemid=327" target="_blank">Combat Mission: Shock Force - British Forces</a></strong>.</p><blockquote><p>Apart from all the new toys there is one thing that really sold the game to me. The original Combat Mission had a passable campaign and the Marines module improved rather well on that one. The missions however often felt a bit flat and samey. It's obvious that by now, however, Battlefront has really got the scripting and design down to a science when you start with the British campaign. From the first mission on it's clear the game doesn't pull its punches and that the designers spent a lot of time thinking up some rather nasty surprises. You can expect plenty of IEDs to line the roads and when you reach an objective more often than not the game is scripted to throw huge counterattacks or call in artillery and reinforcements. This is definitely one for the experienced Combat Mission player, but that's not surprising considering this is the second expansion.<!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></p></blockquote><p><a href="http://www.tacticularcancer.com/content.php?id=57">Read the full article here...</a> </p><div style="text-align: center"><a href="http://www.tacticularcancer.com/gallery.php?dir=CMSF%20British%20Forces&file=bail.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.tacticularcancer.com/screenshots/CMSF%20British%20Forces/thumbs/bail_thumb.jpg" alt=" " width="200" height="125" /></a> </div>

 

No I am not really commenting on the game, but this kind of subject matter is making me sick. If they really need to make games for entertainment about an ongoing war, they should be fair and include the option to fight on both sides. Otherwise it is does nothing but pour oil into the fire.

 

It's a fictional war set in Syria. Terrorists from Syria explode a number of suitcase nukes in western cities. Syria is proven to be the harbinger of said terrorists and refuses to release them, after which the coalition invades. In the available campaigns you play as the coalition, but quick missions and stand-alone scenarios are playable from both sides.

 

I'm not sure that something designed as entertainment needs to be fair to be valid. Sure, a product that is claiming to represent an actual historical situation should be as accurate as possible (primarily because that's what the audience for those type of products want), but a game based on a hypothetical conflict doesn't really call for being fair or showing both sides. This is a piece of entertainment created by a western (mostly American) team with the expectation that the vast majority of their consumers will be North American and European. If your resources are very limited (as they are for Battlefront) and creating two parallel campaigns would be prohibitively expensive, it only makes sense that you're going to focus on the home team, so to speak.

As for throwing fuel on the fire, it's unlikely that something this niche would ever be noticed in the wider political/cultural dialogue.

 

Eh? The AI scripting in CMSF and Marines is strictly time-based, there are no other conditions. I *wish* all that stuff could be tied to player reaching an objective, but it is simply unavailable.

 

Really? I didn't try my hand at scripting yet but it sure seemed that reaching certain objectives in the British campaign got a rather immediate respons. Tight scripting?

 

I am the lead designer for the next (probably) CMx2 release (since Snowball already announced it in russia, I guess I'll do no harm by confirming the next Apeiron release will be Combat Mission: Afghanistan, focused on 1980-1989 soviet campaign therein), and time passed since the mission start is the only condition available for AI scripting in CMSF and Marines. Haven't seen British Forces, but I am pretty certain such a core mechanic wasn't changed in a mere addon.

It's a royal pain in the ass really to script some AI activity based on the expected time it takes a player to do something rather than on player's action itself.

 

Jesus Christ I feel like a moron for not guessing that after all the hints you gave me. Also, you're a faggot for not telling me sooner.