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Close Combat: The Bloody First

Makabb

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https://www.matrixgames.com/game/close-combat-the-bloody-first




https://af.gog.com/game/close_combat_the_bloody_first?as=1649904300

Slitherine is working on 8th CC game which will also be the first one to be 3d in the series.




Screenshot_CC_TBF_01.jpg
 
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Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
That's been in development hell for a long time.
Have they ditched Unity? Yes, they have.
In terms of the technical and scheduling side of The Bloody First, the big news is that we’ve changed 3D engines. The project was begun under Unity 3D, but we have since switched to Slitherine’s in-house 3D engine, Archon. This change comes after much discussions about whether Unity was the best engine for the franchise going forward, and agreement that Archon was the better choice for future releases. This left us with a decision unique to The Bloody First – release this one version under Unity and then switch all future versions to Archon, or bite the bullet and make the transition now? As it did not make much sense to have a single ‘orphan’ release under Unity, the decision was made to switch The Bloody First over to Archon as well.

Archon has already been used to develop games of the same scope as Close Combat, and the latest version of the engine is better suited to our needs than Unity. It is a very flexible, data driven engine that already has great support for DLC and modding, major features we needed but which were somewhat problematic under Unity. Archon even has a built in scripting language we can use to expose game functionality – we can have scripted soldier behavior, or script the armor penetration model, for example -- and these scripts could be modified to change the game. The other major advantage of using Archon is that it is Slitherine’s engine. We have access to the source code to see exactly how it works, and there is an in-house developer who can modify Archon as needed. In short, we can add the new features we need and make sure they work the way we need them to, and we do not have to worry about existing features being changed out from under us.

Obviously the change to Archon has added extra work and extra time to the schedule. But the payoff will be a game engine that is more flexible, easier to mod, and easier and quicker to create new content for.

edit.
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4116917
Recently we have all been busy re-assessing the requirements for Close Combat (there will be more information on
this shortly) and this in turn has meant a complete schedule revision.

However, this process is now comple and The Bloody First is in full production and we plan to start beta testing
during January 2017 (and to release before the end of Q2 2017).
Multi-story buildings are not planned for The Bloody First. It is a solvable problem but it does add a level of complexity in a 3D game, especially when the camera is top-down.
:decline:
 
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Luka-boy

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On one hand maybe this complete overhaul makes them to finally release a game without frustrating AI issues.

On the other one this game has been in development hell for so long I doubt it won't be a mess.
 

sser

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That image is completely out of date as they switched to the Battle Academy engine (Archon, see post above). The Archon engine is pretty slick, but it does look like an iOS game in its current BA iterations. Hopefully, CC won't look like such a cartoon.
 

Galdred

Studio Draconis
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
On one hand maybe this complete overhaul makes them to finally release a game without frustrating AI issues.
Haha. I loled. Come on man. They cannot get multi-storey buildings in because its a 3D engine! But I hear Starcitizen releases soon. Dreed
Irenaeus
They have a point, though. It would be a pain UI wise, especially in a Real Time game.
 
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Slitherine's claiming they'll get this to release in 2018, with a proper announcement soon now that they've got the old games on GoG.
 

mbv123

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Slitherine's claiming they'll get this to release in 2018, with a proper announcement soon now that they've got the old games on GoG.
Holy fuck, that's good news. One of the reasons why I never played this is because I couldn't play it on my system because of compatibility issues for some reason. Now that it's on GoG I'm gonna try them out. Particularly interested in the CC3 because Eastern Front rulz
 

Bocian

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Have they finally figured out how to control forces bigger than a company?
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
http://www.slitherine.com/products/product.asp?gid=686

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

20180219031425.jpg

20180219031405.jpg
 

Burning Bridges

Enviado de meu SM-G3502T usando Tapatalk
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This was the exact same thing everyone said about Close Combat.

Everyone who saw it said it was ugly and that it was slow. Everyone except me and 1 buddy who was not into computer game, an ex-skinhead and Wehrmacht fanatic who bought the game with me. He split the game with me but "only if he could play as the Germans ".

One thing I do however see on the screens is that the 2D menus are not up to the task and done by someone who took a 8.8cm shell in the head. Close Combat needs no 3D, it needs crisp, realistic maps, great sound effects, graphically appealing menus with many different weapons and uniforms, as well as great gameplay with a long, engaging, open ended campaign (CC2).
 

Makabb

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It's close combat ! in 3d!...... i'm keeping my watch on this
 

Galdred

Studio Draconis
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I'm sorry, but that 3D engine is ugly as sin.
It doesn't look worse than Combat Mission to me, so I would be ok with it. The main problem I had with the CC was the AI (both friendly and enemy). Did they make significant improvement to it?
 

Burning Bridges

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Beowulf

Arcane
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Mar 2, 2015
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Classic 2D game redone in 3D by a bunch of 3rd rate developers. What can go wrong?

There were also small hints that made me want to punch my monitor. For example - trees look much better - on the flip side - deformable map is gone :argh:

P.S. ironically, there is also a second article about the commercial release of Armored Brigade. Looks much more faithful to Close Combat imo https://www.wargamer.com/articles/hands-on-with-armored-brigade-close-combats-secret-successor/

Armored Brigade looks good, but after playing the free version I'd say it's more like a crossover between Combat Missions and Flashpoint Campaigns, if I had to compare it to existing titles.
It even shares the same location and roughly the same forces match-up, as Flashpoint Campaigns (but seems to be more customizable and allows more modern forces).

1. The fights can have far larger scale, than in Close Combat games.
2. The terrain is not continuous, but discreet, the smallest point being a "node". So you won't have a single tree blocking a shot against a tank behind it (which sometimes was quite ridiculous in CC), but you positions your tanks in given node (e.g. forest), with given Cover attribute for that type of terrain. It can result in seemingly surprising outcomes, like your tanks being fired upon from far away when you think they are safely hidden behind trees. It can also produce more realistic results, like your tanks firing from behind the trees without you having to order their movements pixel-by-pixel to get the desired LOS. I'm pretty sure that LOS mechanics might be more complicated than that, at least they should be more complicated than calculating centre-of-the-node to centre-of-the-node straight line.
And yeah, terrain is discreet in any game, but the smallest point seems to be a lot smaller in CC games in comparison.

I guess in that case in can be called a successor to CC games, rather than a CC clone.
 

Endemic

Arcane
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Messages
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Have they finally figured out how to control forces bigger than a company?

May I suggest:

xtfF7O7.jpg


Obviously the graphics are ugly at this point (curse of early 3D) but the attention to detail is impressive. There are more than enough premade scenarios and campaigns to keep you busy for a while, and an editor\quick battle options.

RWbnLqH.png


N6efFiy.png


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