CMBN 2.0

[Dutch Grenadier]

Is it worth getting this upgrade now or can I wait till the Market Garden module is out?

What is better with the 2.0 engine? (your version not what is written on the official site)

 

[Lt. Smash]

The upgrade to CMBN 2.0 is not available, yet. CMFI is a different family of games based on the CM 2.0 engine. The CM 2.0 upgrade for CMBN is supposed to be available in a couple of months.

I've played a few scenarios with CMFI and, at this point, I can't tell how much it adds to the game. Certainly, moveable waypoints and armored covered arc are nice. The graphics are improved (especially, shadows) but it is not a huge leap forward (it still looks like CMBN, only slightly less jagged).

Will I buy the upgrade when it comes out? Probably. $10 is reasonable and the $5 savings you get for waiting for Market Garden won't motivate me to hold off.

 

[Dutch Grenadier]

I thought the 2.0 engine was released

 

[Mad Mike]

I thought the 2.0 engine was released

Only in a single game.

I don't really know, but there is probably a common code baseline for all CMx2 games, with CMFI representing the latest version of the "engine". But I guess all the work which has gone into the code for CMFI will now have to be backported into the code baseline for CMBN 1.10. This should be quite easy if they all share the same structure and architecture, which is basically what an "engine" is.

But from a product point of view, all the different games are stand-alone and have to be tested and verified stand-alone. So one game in 2.0 does not mean that suddenly all the others will be 2.0 as well. The time consuming process will be the testing to make sure everything still works as it should.

 

[womble]

Only in a single game.

I don't really know, but there is probably a common code baseline for all CMx2 games, with CMFI representing the latest version of the "engine". But I guess all the work which has gone into the code for CMFI will now have to be backported into the code baseline for CMBN 1.10. This should be quite easy if they all share the same structure and architecture, which is basically what an "engine" is.

AIUI, that's one of the things that BFC have spent a lot of time working on and are now relatively happy they've achieved, hence the new "Way forward".

But from a product point of view, all the different games are stand-alone and have to be tested and verified stand-alone. So one game in 2.0 does not mean that suddenly all the others will be 2.0 as well. The time consuming process will be the testing to make sure everything still works as it should.

There are also some big jobs to be done with the upgrade from CMx2 v1.x to v2.0, particularly the addition of "bump mapping" support to every model already extant in the game. I would imagine that there will be some future upgrades which don't address any global features of every unit (being more concerned with adding UI elements, say, or fire to the terrain) where that mass volume of conversion work (and its inherent testing requirements) won't be as necessary.