Announcing Campaign Series Middle East - 2.10 UPDATE

[Jason Petho]

Good day!

We plan to offer a CSME 2.10 UPDATE in the near future (likely Q1 2023).

This will bring the game up to current Campaign Series: Vietnam standards, giving you all the tools and toys that players of Vietnam have been enjoying.

The primary difference between the CSME 2.10 UPDATE and the full CSME 3.00 UPDATE will be the addition of CSEE Lua files for all stock scenarios. As the Lua scripting will take at least another year or so to complete, we decided to offer all the goodies in the CSME 2.10 UPDATE for you to play with in the meantime!

What are some of those goodies?

• Enhanced User Interface (including all new dynamic categorized toolbar, dialog pictorial backgrounds, etc.).
• Enhanced Fog of War.
• Enhanced Close Air Support Model.
• Enhanced Reconnaissance and Spotting.
• Enhanced Reporting.
• Enhanced Assault.
• Enhanced Movement.
• Enhanced Targeting.
• Revised Order of Battles.
• New Combat Results Tables.
• Overhaul of CSEE (Campaign Series Event Engine) system, with hundreds of new functions.
• Enhanced EAI (Engine AI).
• New units with new capabilities.
• Revised and Improved Sounds.
• New Unit Actions (Merge/Reduce/Fanatical Defend/Weak Defend/etc.).
• Recallable Command Report and Message Log.
• New display options (Map Hints, Hex Jump, TrackID Jump, and Highlights: All Units, Aircraft Units, AA Units, Reconnaissance Units, Loaded Transport Units, Landing Zones, etc.).
• New game options (Center on Action, Scrolling, Zoom, Toolbar, Unit List, Counters, etc.).
• Many new Organization Editor enhancements.
• Many new Scenario Editor enhancements.
• Many new Map Editor Enhancements.
• And hundreds more additions, improvements, bug fixes, etc.

This amounts to a whole new game, truly!

There will be additional improvements for the CSME 2.10 UPDATE to be revealed as we get closer to release.

This is turning a new corner for our team. We plan on updating our games on an ongoing basis so that the games will remain fresh and on par with one another. No game left behind!

We appreciate your patience and continued support! Stay tuned for more exciting announcements!

[simovitch]

This sounds great Jason. I bought CSV and CSME at the same time and I am enjoying the break away from WW2 (on more than one gaming platform) very much.

Will CSME have the helicopter resupply functions/limitations that CSV has?

[Jason Petho]

This sounds great Jason. I bought CSV and CSME at the same time and I am enjoying the break away from WW2 (on more than one gaming platform) very much.

Will CSME have the helicopter resupply functions/limitations that CSV has?

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the break. There's so much fun to be had in the new games.

And yes, CSME will have the new helicopter movement and supply limitations as CSVN. That is a major task, to ensure the scenarios are ready with those supply revisions.

[PzKw43]

Please release an East Front & West Front 2.10. It will be 3-4 years for East Front 1939-1941 and another 3-4 years after that for West Front 1940-1941.

[george420]

Thank you Jason,
Looking forward to it, good game.

[berto]

Quoted from the CSVN forum here:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 1#p5065461

Apart from any data file changes/fixes, the latest CSVN 1.30 Change Log (in reverse chronological order; including fixes for interim bugs in the latest new features):


Cumulative changes since the official CSVN 1.23 release (with the latest stuff highlighted):

• On entering a roadblock hex, the moving side will gain side awareness immediately, and the roadblock graphic (marker) will instantly show.
• Henceforth, only aircraft will be denied the Slow Time option.
• Watercraft out in open water and in waterways will henceforth have essentially zero chance of being concealed.
• Fixed a bug where loaded waterway transports might be prevented from moving.
• Fixed a bug where LZs might be cleared in waterway hexes.
• Units moving DoubleTime will be more likely to lose concealment. And Units moving SlowTime will be more likely to remain concealed.
• Overhaul of the mine/IED system, with improved DoubleTime/normal/SlowTime effects; addition of night and enemy proximity effects; delayed side awareness; and several bug fixes.
• Implementation of Opportunity Fire Dialog single button click OpFireLimit adjustments.
• Added code to support the new DoubleTime and SlowTime Unit List sidebar icons.
• Implementation of the new Slow Time system (at the cost of slower movement, helps to avoid mine/IED attacks; and if they happen, reduces their effects).
• Updated game engine Toolbars, with addition of the new Slow Time button, also more prominent placement of the Jump Map button.
• Implementation of the new XAlliedAttack/XAxisAttack hex flags (where the game engine records and remembers any combat action originating from any hex; and for any such hex, "authorization denied" will not apply, and arty fire/airstrikes vs. such hexes have reduced EP penalties).
• Updates/improvements to the Find Organization Dialog and (in the scen editor) Forces Dialog (among other things, every in-scenario unit in the organization lists will show its hex location).
• In the scen editor, fixes for the Units > Move Air Units Off Map function.
• In the scen editor, extended Lua CSEE debugging capabilities.
• Fixed a bug where DaisyCutter ops were not working for ground units.
• Fixed a bug where on PBEM (and LAN Play) scenario start, in the New Scenario dialog (and Player Dialog), the Rules button was broken. (It was and is WAD, however, in Standard (solitaire) and Hot Seat play.)
• Fixed a bug where ferrying watercraft might leave a hex, potentially stranding ferried ground units. The stranded ground units would then be stuck, unable to move onto land (and would not otherwise sink to their death). Now, ferrying watercraft are unable to move unless/until all ferried ground units leave the hex first. (And when they do, the watercraft lose 50 APs, representing the time lost in concluding the ferry operation.)
• In CSME (only), restored the mistakenly removed "Play Campaign" frontend MainMenu button.
• After every speed change, the Action Speed dialog automatically pops up confirming the change.
• The addition of Status > Action Speed > AI Play > Slow Down... and Status > Action Speed > Replay > Slow Down... for setting the AI Play and Replay speeds while in Human Player Turn mode. (Note the new Alt+ and Ctrl+ hotkeys also.)
• Implemented the Roaming Mode and GAS Toolbar buttons in CSME also.
• Implemented the new Game Action Speed (GAS) system, for speeding up/slowing down/pausing AI turns, PBEM replays, and human player turns.
• Implemented Display > Roaming Mode (Ctrl+Space), for quickly identifying units etc. as you move the mouse around the map. [clicking anywhere on the map toggles OFF Roaming mode]
• Implemented Options > Damage Results > Position > Center/Upper Left/Upper Right/Lower Left/Lower Right.
• The Units/SPs/Losses Dialog (old name: Strength Dialog) will now also show unit type surviving SPs in addition to SP Losses.
• Fixed the unscripted (no SAI) blind fire arty strikes know-too-much flaw.
• Added numerous empty hex checks, to intercept possible issues, also to speed up code execution.
• Implemented several new CSEE functions: fire_indirect_nearest_from(), garrison(), accompany(), order_airstrike(), move_slow(), has_attack().
• Implemented some additional testing features, for on the fly toggling ON/OFF new and work-in-progress features.
• Revised the CSEE counters_weakest() function. [still a work-in-progress]
• Fixed other minor bugs, and made other minor code improvements.

With all new features, changes & fixes to be included also in the forthcoming CSME update, of course.

CSVN & CSME releases with these new features, fixes etc. are forthcoming, in Q1 2023 most likely.

As ever, we keep busy!

[berto]

More than likely, we will renumber the forthcoming CSME public release version # from 2.10 to 2.30. This is

• To make clearer and better emphasize the many new features, changes, and bug fixes since CSME 2.01. More than a modest feature update, CSME 2.30 will essentially be a major new release. (Arguably a CSME 3.00 even; but we won't do that, because the forthcoming next version will lack CSEE/SAI; so 2.30 it will be.)
• To keep the CSME version # better in line with CSVN -- i.e., CSVN 1.30, CSME 2.30 -- with updates to both games coming out in the next several months. It is our plan that if/when we release a CSVN update, we will release a synchronized CSME update also. (So for example CSVN 1.31, CSME 2.31, and so on.)

Wait for it!

[athineos]

Will the Battle Generator still be functional?

[berto]

If it is included, it will be no different from before. What you have is what you'll get.

[matrixum]

Will the Battle Generator still be functional?

i am also wondering answer

[Phoenix100]

Really looking forward to this. Is it still on for 1st quarter this year? That would mean within a month, I guess....

[Crossroads]

Really looking forward to this. Is it still on for 1st quarter this year? That would mean within a month, I guess....

Within a month, give or take, hopefully. Fingers crossed!

[GavinP01]

Any news on when this update will arrive?

[Jason Petho]

It's been shipped off to Slitherine, they are currently processing it.

We will need to verify the install is good, and it will be released after that.

I will venture to guess sometime late next week, assuming there is nothing big scheduled at Slitherine.

[GavinP01]

Super stuff.
Am really enjoying the latest Vietnam update with all the great tweaks.

[Jason Petho]

That's great to hear, Gavin!!

[Schlonz]

Will the Battle Generator still be functional?

Hmm...the Battle Generator has gone AWOL.

[Zovs]

Will the Battle Generator still be functional?

Hmm...the Battle Generator has gone AWOL.

I think it was removed a long time ago.

[Schlonz]

No, the Battle Generator was still included in the latest version of CSME (prior to 2.30).

[Jason Petho]

The Battle Generator was stripped from the game as CSME 2.30 is now based on CS Vietnam.

If you want to use the Battle Generator, keep an installation of the old CSME.