Clueless

[NIX 0]

Not sure if this is the right forum, but I'm hoping to get some help with this game. Just bought it yesterday and played for most of the day and night but I've about had it. It has so many cool features and I'm enjoying the real time aspects after playing Combat Mission for so long. But after playing a few single missions and starting the campaign I'm about ready to write off my 35 dollars as a lost cause. So I am turning to the experts on this forum for some help.

My biggest problem with the game is whenever I'm in a squad I have no clue what the hell is going on. I basically follow the leader around and do nothing but run and get down. He calls out locations to go to that I can't find, that there are targets at 11, 12 or 1 oclock but I never see them. Another issue is when he calls out to the squad using numbers I don't know who the heck I am. I can only imagine how lost I will be when it comes to me commanding.

Something else that really bothers me is how dark it is. In the first two campaign missions I can't see anything. I turned the brightness up to almost all the way but it doesn't help. Is that the same for everyone? I would think I could see farther than 1 foot in front of me at 530am in May.

I have looked at some websites for some help, tip and tricks but haven't really found anything that helps. I hate sounding like an idiot, but if anyone can help directly or give me somewhere to find answers I would appreciate. Again, I think this could be a great game and I really want to enjoy it. But right now I'm thinking its back to CM. Thanks.

[DnA 5144]

Well, unfortunately I don't know why everything seems to be so dark as I myself never had that problem. Could it be your video card/driver-set?

As the leader calls his targets, you will get a direction with it and an estimated distance. I don't know if you've seen this already, but in your HUD there's a directional clock which will aid you while looking for e.g. "3 o'clock". I guess it takes some practise, but using that and the distance to target, you should be able to see where the enemy is (you can also see their traces/muzzle flashes when fired upon).

If you have OFP set to cadet mode, you can press 'M' to access the map and see exactly where you are. Also use the in-game compass ('G' and the one on the map to guide you to your objectives. Just look where the objective is in relation to you (e.g. North West) and start moving in that direction.

To find out your squad number, you can look in the "Group"-section of your briefing our look at what number is said when you yourself use the radio (e.g. by pressing '5'-'5' to ask where the leader is).

I hope that helps a tiny bit and I'm sure other people will have better suggestions for you

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

When the radio message addresses you, that radio message is on a green background (unlike the others), so you can get your squad number from there as well.

Make sure to study the briefing, as it includes a lot of important detail regarding the mission.

Make sure to know where your squad leader is, then follow him around. Make sure to leave some space though to avoid a grenade taking half the squad out

[ralphwiggum 6]

if you ask me, that's the beauty of this game.

i guess in heated battle situation, you can't correctly tell where enmeies are, and your objective changes drastically depending on situation.

and some missions are held early morning, so it is understandable that it seems darker. i had to play at night, all lights off except for one.

[Krull SGC 0]

With the darkness problem, did you increase the brightness on you monitor, or in game? and did you try increasing the Gamma correction in the game options? If not that should help, otherwise you might have some hardware issues, anyhow just a thought.

[IGFs TopGun 1]

How to increase visiblity

http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bbs/Forum57/HTML/000713.html

brigthness 1.8

gamma correction 1.1 or 1.0

frame rate to full

I thought when the leader called out an enemy it was to his bearing and not yours? So if he says "enemy soldier, 12 oclock" that's off his nose and not yours.. I would use the map when called out. just make sure you hit the ground while your checking it:) they show up as red circles while you are green

Nix, where about are you in the world. maybe we can hook up and I can help you out?

[Mister Frag 0]

The important thing to be aware of is that when a small white watch dial appears on the screen after a threat is announced, the threat is always at the 12 o'clock position.

The direction reference from the leader is relative to the direction that he is looking in, but obviously members of the squad won't all be looking there as well. That's why he's not saying "2: Target 3 o'clock, 3: Target 7 o'clock, 4: Target 1 o'clock..." -- you get the idea.

The white watch dial is a mental crutch for players in Novice mode, and the threat (or destination in case of a "move to" order) is always going to be at 12 o'clock.

[NIX 0]

Thanks for all the help everyone. DnA hit the nail on the head with the graphics card shortcomings. Well, a few hours later and a lot of money shorter, I am all set with a new P4, 256Ram 1.8GB Gateway desktop. I have been putting off upgrading for the last year and decided the time was right. I fired up the games and all my problems have been taken care of! Except that I keep getting KIA. I look forward to playing even more and am upgrading the game to 1.46 tonight. Are there tournaments or anything for TCIP play?

Top Gun, I am from Colorado. How about yourself?

[kilerbee 1]

The clock shows the direction relative to U and not to the CO

(u can even see the small shift in the direction).

sometimes direction will difer from 12, depends on the situation.

use the bushes (you will be amazed how useful they r), they r not just landscape decoration.

call targets yourself, dont just wait for ai mates to find them (define REVEAL TARGET key), this will help your mates.