[hormone4]

Here are some screenshots.
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/433/screenshots/Close.Combat:.Panthers.in.the.Fog

[mooxe]

I hope the units are 32bit as well. Hard to tell in those photos, some were kind of white washed.

[Dima]

Screenshots look nice .

What i don't like is specs:

Theatre: Western Europe
Unit Scale: Squad
Players: 1
AI: Yes
PBEM: No

[AT_Stalky]

Yeh, but they also said:

[Dima]

Yeah, looks like Cobra and beyond.

[KilovskimkIII]

Hmmmm... No mention at all of any changes or tweaks to AI at all.  The 32 bit detail is much improved though. Guess we'll all just have to wait and see

[AT_Stalky]

21 units sounds reallyyyyyy nice.


What they say about LOS and LOF worries me though.

[kweniston]

The units definitely don't look 32-bits, they stand out from the rest of the graphics. It seems to me only the trees/shrubs have been upgraded.

Interesting nonetheless.

[kweniston]

Product info:

Close Combat: Panthers in the Fog is the latest release in the critically acclaimed Close Combat series.  It details the desperate German counter-attack at Mortain, the last chance of the Wehrmacht to stave off defeat in Normandy.  Can you match the tenacity of the American defenders of Hill 314?  Or can you succeed where the Panzers failed, driving through to the sea and changing history?

Play single battles, linked operations, or even the Grand campaign simulating all six crucial days of fighting.  With 35 linked battlefields and historically accurate formations and units, strategic choices are as important as tactical prowess.  New features of long-range interdiction, strategic high ground and adverse weather conditions bring an insight into the challenges faced by those who commanded both sides in this pivotal WW2 battle.

For the Allies the Normandy landings of June were followed by two months of hard fighting in difficult terrain against a tenacious German defense.  But in late July the US Army’s Operation Cobra has finally created a decisive breach in the weakened German line.  Patton’s 3rd Army races through the opening along the western coast of France and into the clear, driving for the Brittany Ports.  Faced with the choice between retreat and last-ditch counter-attack, the Germans struggle to assemble a panzer force for one more charge.  Can the Germans move quickly enough to overcome a desperate situation, push through to Avranches on the French coast, and cut off Patton’s racing spearheads?  Or will the thinly stretched Americans troops screening Patton’s flank be able to hold out, regroup, and hold the vital lifeline open.

[kweniston]

Features:    

Over 50 historically accurate key units and 47 weapon types rendered in exact detail
Campaign map with 35 unique regions to fight over.
Command up to 21 squads at a time, and each squad can contain up to 10 men.
Improved 32 bit graphics allowing smoother, more realistic maps, more varied trees and improved effects
Refined front end and UI design making the game easier to play and updating the UI to more modern standards.
Improved force selection more accurately reflects WW2 formations meaning formations cannot be re-customised every battle. Losses and fatigue must be managed and platoons are historically balanced
Enhanced multiplayer experience using Slitherines integrated lobby, match making systems and routing server, which mean its never been easier to find an opponent and just play!
Improved High Level Gameplay brings the strategies of the battle to life with
Animated maps showing the progress of attacks and troop movements with new clarity
Holding high ground allows players to observe distant enemy troop movements.
Choose whether to allocate your air and artillery as close support for your own troops, or to interdict distant enemy formations.
Fog hides enemy formation

[Manoi]

and the maps are from SL...

[Manoi]

and I hope that they will release a map editor with the new 3D engine otherwise it will the end of the modding community.

[Sapa]

the yellow tanks is it the Germans??

another US vs Germany...this time i will spare my money and buy beer instead

the maps looks great! as always from my friend down under  

[Pzt_Kanov]

Oh wow what a great way to start a day!

Definitely the maps look 10 times better although it seems that they changed only the terrain and trees, everything else looks about the same like the explosions craters and debris.

So many questions, I think I'll register over there to see if I can get some answers.

I'm a bit bummed is not set in the east though

[AT_Stalky]

Yeh.

Its a long time since i made a map, but wasn the map really 8 bit as matrix claimes?
Dint I save em as tga 16 bits?

Manoi? TJ?

[Manoi]

the graphics were saved in 16 bit tga. I don't know from where come this 8 bit

[mooxe]

It seems like every release there is a huge focus on maps, I don't get why. This game is all about the combat. Good units and good unit data are what counts the most.

Having Slitherine's multiplayer lobby is a bonus, but if its not built into the game it will not take off. They are saying "integrated" but I have a feeling that this is another BattleHQ/Power Lobbies 3rd party application where only Slitherine games are played. Did it work for Matrix? No.

The game still being 1v1 is not encouraging to me either. After all the Matrix recycling its hard for me not to be extremely skeptical about this release.

[AT_Stalky]

Thanx
so i remember right then 16 bits.


When I draw map, I belive I made em in higher bits 8-bits times 3 chanels (RGB) =24? bits and then saved em in 16 bits to be used in CC, cant remember that I saw any difference.. Was winter maps though!
How do you make maps Manoi?

[Sapa]

I was waiting for a pacific campaign

[Manoi]