Combat Mission: Shock Force Patch Changelog

What's new in Combat Mission: Shock Force Patch 1.32

Jul 14, 2011

TO&E corrections.
Computer player is a bit more aggressive in moving on the attack.
Squads split into specialized teams and reallocate their grenades more intelligently.
In a campiagn, vehicles with decimated crews that don't refit won't be brought to the next battle with that decimated crew only to be immediately considered knocked out as a result.
In a campaign, heavy weapons teams will receive a new heavy weapon (if the previous one was lost) even if the force as a whole does not refit.
Camera movement and zooming keys are smoother.
Corrected a problem that gave too much much protection to soldiers on rooftops against airbursts.
Explosive power of minefields is toned down.
Marder IFVs carry a panzerfaust for passenger use.
In hotseat games, the arrival of reinforcements does not occur until after the next player has entered his password.
Assault moves work better.
Flashes of light, at night, look better.
Numerous small fixes.
Various stability improvements.

New in Combat Mission: Shock Force Patch 1.21 (Nov 12, 2009)

This patch will update your core CMSF game and all modules tv1.21, which includes many enhancements and improvements. Below is a brief list of some of the new v1.20 game features.
Combat Mission Shock Force v1.21 features
Soldiers
Soldiers on rooftops receive better cover.
Speed difference between Fast and Quick moves is slightly increased.
Soldiers tire more quickly moving across difficult terrain or in very hot weather.
Split teams that are in close proximity but on different vehicles will not attempt tjoin.
Teams that rejoin will retain the target orders of one of the teams instead of erasing them all.
Buddy-aid will not pick up heavy weapons from a different Team.
Vehicles
Passengers manning a vehicle weapon may use it even if the crew has bailed out.
Top gunner in a Humvee can use a personal weapon if his vehicle-mounted weapon is out of action.
Vehicles da better job using alternate crew treplace MG gunners whbecome casualties.
Tanks won't waste APFSDS ammon lightly-armored targets when alternative ammis available.
Refinements tvehicle damage from mines.
Added raditUAZ vehicle.
Bradley IFVs and CFVs carry some 40mm grenades for their passengers.
Vehicles move more smoothly in PBEM and hotseat replay.
Weapons
Times tset up SPG-9 and most ATGMs are reduced.
Powerful projectiles like sabot can penetrate trees and be slightly deflected rather than stopped.
Heavy weapons set up near the edges of buildings won't drop tthe ground after an explosion.
Corrected a small problem where automatic weapons had a pause between the first and second rounds that was slightly longer than it should have been.
MGs on bipods are a bit more stable than before.
Corrected a rare instance where ATGMs could fly tolow and hit the ground when they should not.
Terrain
Roads are smoother when traversing rough ground or steep slopes.
Large rocks (flavor objects) are more of a deterrent tnavigate over.
Flavor objects tilt tfit slopes when necessary.
Trees are less resistant tdamage from heavy artillery.
Artillery
Updated behavior for artillery/air support time-to-target. Conventional Red formation leaders are now allowed tcall in artillery from batteries at battalion level or below (e.g. light mortars).
Corrected some issues affecting artillery arrival time after target adjustment.
Corrected the display of artillery mission type in PBEM games.
Artillery battery and aircraft pilot voices use the correct nationality when they differ from that of the spotter.
User Interface
Troops may be given simultaneous Hide and Face commands, but changing facing often requires a soldier tchange position slightly, during which time he will not be "hiding".
When acquiring missiles from a vehicle, it is now possible ttake the last missile without its reloadable launcher (e.g. Javelin).
"ScenariAuthor Test" may be selected as a Skill Mode (1-player only). It will cause all enemy units tbe fully displayed tthe player, but not additionally "known" tplayer's troops.
Editor
AI Plan #0 can be deactivated in the editor provided at least one other plan is active.
In the map editor, some buttons were shifted from "Flavor Objects #1" t"Flavor Objects #2".
Corrected some small issues with elevation controls in the editor.
Miscellaneous
Large saved games that take longer tload dnot advance the game clock in the process of loading.
Corrected a slow framerate problem on the first PBEM turn.
Small bullets kick up a tiny bit of dirt and dust when they hit ground.
Computer-player air strikes aim at smaller areas, reducing friendly fire.
Corrected a problem where some ATGM teams would appear tleave their ATGM launcher temporarily behind when embarking on a vehicle.
Corrected a problem that caused the turn-based computer player sometimes not tdismount troops fully when instructed by the scenariAI plan.
Corrected a PBEM synchronization problem caused by saving and reloading the game.
Marines Module Only
US Marines sometimes have M203 grenade launchers instead of M32, especially at lower Equipment Quality settings.
Added US Marine Mk11 sniper rifle (equivalent tArmy M110).
The US Marine sergeant in the scout team wears infantry gear, not vehicle crew gear.
British Module Only
Jackal GMG (aka grenade launcher) can now be found in the Fire Support Section of the British Infantry Rifle Company, when the equipment rating is good (otherwise they get a WMIK).
Loader on Challenger 2 Enhanced will not reload the top-deck MG unless ordered tunbutton.
Warrior has slower (hand-cranked) gun elevation.
Gunner in LMTV will use his personal night-vision gear when appropriate.
LMTV carries more passenger weapons and ammunition.
British Engineer Troop has 3 TUM ST vehicles, not 6.
Corrected a problem with a US IBCT soldier carrying a British rifle.

New in Combat Mission: Shock Force Patch 1.11 (Dec 23, 2008)

Turn-Based Replay
Turn-based action is pre-computed with a "blue bar" before the action is displayed. This allows for improved performance of large battles on older computers, and for convenient "skipping ahead" in the early turns of a battle before enemy contact.
Craters, vehicle bog status, damaged buildings, walls, and trees display correctly (not too early).
Smoother vehicle and soldier movement.
The Fast-forward and Rewind buttons normally change time by 5 seconds, but will change by 10 seconds if the Control key is pressed, and 20 seconds if the Shift key is pressed.
Incoming rounds from air support attacks are displayed at the correct elevation.
Moving vehicles sound better in email replay.
Cease-fires and surrenders activated in mid-replay don't "forget" what happened later in replay when calculating victory.
Correct animation is shown after a soldier switches weapons.
Corrected a problem that sometimes caused unbuttoned vehicle crewmen not to be shown in replay.
Corrected a rare case where, after replay, a casualty could be shown using the animation he had just before becoming a casualty.
Vehicles
Improved pathfinding and obstacle avoidance.
Vehicle secondary explosions do not continue for too long in email games.
Improved coordination between the rotations of vehicle hulls and -turrets.
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused vehicle ammo to increase.
Stryker MGS uses an improved APFSDS round, the M900, rather than the M833.
LAV-25 will use its coax MG, not its 25mm cannon for "Target Light".
LAV-A2 series armor thickness reduced.
Modified ammo loadouts on early-model T-72 tanks.
MTVR trucks have a new floating icon image.
In the M7A3 Bradley BFIST and the M1131 Stryker FSV, if an artillery or air spotter/observer/controller is riding as a passenger, he will switch seats with a vehicle crewman so he can use the vehicle's powerful FS-3 optical equipment. Note that the vehicle must unbutton to use the FS-3.
The Platoon HQ Stryker ESV, with only one crewman (a driver) will use its MG if a passenger is aboard to man it.
Corrected a problem that sometimes caused ricochets off vehicle armor not to be displayed.
Fixed "twitchy" vehicle movement when moving to a destination very close to another vehicle.
Crews will not retain a pop-smoke targeting order after bailing out of their vehicle.
Fixed a potential problem with a BMP-3 crew re-entering the vehicle but then not using its weapons.
Passengers consistently close the rear doors on the LAV-25 when required.
When a vehicle driver is hit, another crewman takes his place even if there are passengers on the vehicle.
Increased time penalty for reloading a vehicle-mounted weapon with a destroyed autoloader.
Light vehicles have tighter suspensions.
Infantry
Improved soldier pathfinding.
Soldiers can "fire on the move" when inside buildings.
Fixed a bug that could make soldiers moving in a building suddenly drop down a level, or stand too close to the walls.
When a squad splits into teams, the teams divide ammo amongst themselves more evenly.
Corrected a problem where a soldier could become "stuck" moving up a steep slope.
When a squad splits into teams and later reforms, its original targeting orders from before the split won't still be active.
Accuracy of marksmen slightly increased.
Split squads reform when aboard vehicles.
Grenade throwing between adjacent levels in a building works better.
RPG-16 reloads correctly.
A slight difference in elevation will not prevent soldiers moving from rooftop to rooftop.
Corrected a problem where soldiers could lose a weapon recently acquired from a vehicle on the next turn of an email game.
TacAI
Improved infantry team evasive movement logic.
Soldiers with area-fire orders are better at taking aimed shots at individual enemies who subsequently appear in the targeted area, especially in buildings.
Suppressive fire: when you order direct fire at an enemy infantry unit, and that enemy unit later disappears from sight, the target order is not immediately canceled. Instead, your unit will continue to area-fire sporadically at the enemy's last known location for a short time if the LOS is sufficiently clear for area-style targeting (note that sometimes it won't be). Volume of fire is lighter versus open terrain, and shots will be taken at other targets of opportunity as usual. If the enemy reappears, it will again be targeted directly. If it does not reappear for about 45 seconds, the target order is canceled. A similar behavior applies to individual soldiers who have fired on enemy infantry without targeting orders from the player. They will continue to area-fire at their target's last known location for about 30 seconds.
Soldiers are better at moving to advantageous firing positions inside a building.
When appropriate, vehicles will attempt to "shoot and scoot" in cases like a BMP-1 where the guided missile takes a long time to reload.
Grenadiers are more willing to use their rifles, not just the grenade launchers.
Hunting units are not so quick to halt if they encounter distant explosions.
Troops crawling behind a wall won't go up to kneeling/firing position while waiting for teammates to catch up.
TacAI aims a little lower versus certain vehicles, especially those without turrets, for better accuracy.
Soldiers placed near the top of of a steep slope (looking up) are more likely to crouch than lie prone, so they can get a clear LOS/LOF over the rim of the slope.
Heavy-weapons gunners and forward observers are less likely to fire their light personal weapons (in order to keep a lower profile).
Javelin gunners fire missiles at enemy infantry in buildings less often.
Gunners pay slightly less attention to enemy vehicles that are abandoned but not destroyed.
Computer Player
Computer player is quicker to surrender when most of its forces are knocked out.
Computer player is more aggressive with its artillery and air strikes, and better coordinates its artillery smoke missions.
C-omputer-player units don't arbitrarily change their facing when the battle starts.
Computer player does a better job organizing movement destinations of its vehicles.
Bunkers
Fixed the "floating bunkers" bug.
Bunkers can reliably be placed near trees in a scenario without being shifted.
Medic/"Buddy Aid"
Soldiers more reliably pick up "important" weapons from fallen comrades, but marksmen won't drop their scoped rifles to pick up grenade launchers.
More likely to happen between soldiers in the same squad/team than in different squads/teams.
Works across action spot boundaries.
Less likely to happen when under fire.
Air and Artillery Support
Building protection versus artillery airbursts is increased.
You no longer hear enemy artillery and air support communication even if you have spotted their forward observer.
Targeting support fire on building domes works correctly.
If an artillery spotter loses sight of the target during the spotting round phase, accuracy of the fire mission is reduced appropriately.
U.S. Army JTAC, and U.S. Marine Fire Control teams are faster at calling in air strikes.
Incoming rounds from helicopter guns won't impact off-map (too early) when the game map is steeply sloped.
Joining teams together to reform a squad when one team is already spotting for air or artillery strikes works correctly.
User Interface
Hotkey for toggling floating icons can also toggle display of spotting contact "?" icons.
You may change between real-time and turn-based mode between battles of a campaign, or exit to the game intro screen.
The automatic prompt to save a campaign game now comes just after clicking away the end-of-battle screen, not after loading the next battle.
Pause command increments are: 5sec, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 1:00, 1:15, 1:30, (Unlimited) Pause.
Camera zoom up to x20.
Engineers who are passengers on a vehicle may be given a Blast move order, provided it's not the first waypoint.
An enemy unit will no longer remain "selected" in the game interface if it disappears from your units' view.
The game won't allow setting area targets that are a little too low for your gunners to see.
Split squads that have special names display their team names correctly, e.g. "Havoc 1 / A Team".
Target orders given to a double-clicked HQ (which selects its formation) do not apply to reinforcements in that formation that have not yet arrived.
In turn-based play, there is no longer a problem with dismounting from a UAZ and immediately plotting a move into a building.
The target cursor shows "Reverse Slope Target" instead of "Reverse Slope".
"Hint text" is not shown when there is a priority message (like reinforcement arrival) so they don't overwrite.
3D Graphics
Faster frame rates in large battles.
New blown-out building wall models.
Updates to models: BRDM-2, BRDM-2 (AT5), BMP-3, AAV-7, AAVC-7, M1A1 Abrams USMC, and M16 rifle.
When walls of different types abut, the sides render correctly.
Foxholes are no longer darkened, so they won't give away infantry positions.
Columns of smoke look correct in internet/LAN games.
Distant dirt and gravel roads display correctly when using Better or Best 3D Texture Quality option.
Light from moonrise appears more gradually.
Landmark text is more readable when it's positioned below the distant mountains but above the edge of the map.
TO&E
New Syrian Mech Airborne Infantry Battalion formation.
Updates to Syrian Airborne Rifle Squad, Marine Fire Control Team, and a few US artillery formation names.
Marine sniper teams carry more sniper-rifle ammo.
Syrian forward observers have binoculars.
M4A1 rifle renamed to M4.
Quick Battles
Syrian forces always have a forward observer if artillery is available.
Troop Quality parameter has a greater effect on force size: low-quality forces are larger than before, and high-quality are smaller.
If a map was mistakenly designed with "duplicate" Occupy-Terrain objectives for each force, a Quick Battle won't import two copies of the objectives.
Miscellaneous
Smoother internet play.
Fixed a bug that caused some newer sound cards not to use enough sound channels.
The effect of experience on spotting ability is increased.
It's slightly less easy to spot enemies who have just fired their weapons, especially antitank launchers.
Scenarios with big maps load faster.
Surrender does not necessarily lead to total defeat. The scores for Terrain Touch, Terrain Destroy, and all Unit objectives are preserved.
IEDs can be detonated by nearby explosions.
Pre-battle Intel "?" icons don't disappear if the associated units are eliminated while not spotted.
AT-10, AT-11, and AT-12 missiles have a 100m minimum range.
Elite mode allows friendly fire in dark conditions.
Trees are tougher to destroy, especially palm trees.
Corrected some rare problems with LOS/LOF and buildings.
Marine Assault (aka SMAW) squad shows an antitank floating icon.

New in Combat Mission: Shock Force Patch 1.10 (Dec 23, 2008)

COMBAT
Improved calculations for small-arms penetration of buildings,including "shatter gap" for high-speed bullets.
Stryker MGS is more willing to fire main gun (even though it doesn't carry a lot of ammo).
Area fire at buildings has fewer "stray" shots.
Troops will automatically cancel area target after they blow a sizeable hole in a wall.
Small tweaks to bomb crater size (slightly decreased) and effects vs. buildings (slightly increased).
Area fire at a wall area targets the wall itself more than the surroundings.
Balconies and roofs offer slightly increased protection.
Suppressed troops show more self-preservation behavior, especially in buildings.
Troops react faster to the cancellation of area fire targets.
Flavor objects disappear if a very large explosion occurs nearby.
Soldiers with low experience and/or low motivation are more likely to rout away. Rout symbols (the ! mark) also last longer.
Corrected a rare problem that allowed projectiles to hit a vehicle and explode, but continue traveling forward.
VIEDs cannot explode a second time if hit by additional fire.
The explosive power used by a Blast Move is increased (so enemies are more likely to take hits).
Corrected a problem where aiming a weapon at a vehicle at very short range could cause the shooter's weapon to "wave around" for a few moments before firing.
Soft-skinned vehicles are a little sturdier versus small-arms fire.
MOVEMENT
When reaching a final waypoint, Team B of a squad will usually position itself to the side or rear of Team A.
In internet play, the client player can mount troops during the setup phase and it works properly.
Fixed a T-72 "stuck in wall" bug.
A Hide command attached to a Hunt move works properly.
Corrected some issues with troops inside buildings moving around too much.
Fixed a problem where infantry sometimes wouldn't go into a building through a breached wall.
If you give a team/squad embark orders toward a vehicle in a different setup zone, it will work correctly.
Fixed an embarking problem where some soldiers in the team wouldn't get on board the vehicle.
Corrected a pathing problem around high walls with a 45-degree bend.
GRAPHICS
Compatible with Matrox TripleHead2Go, enabling the simultaneous use of three monitors providing wide-screen 3840 x 1024 resolution even if the computer only supports a single display output.
Battle maps with many walls have increased frame rate.
Alt-K hotkey to show/hide smoke graphics.
Walls are visually destroyed correctly in playback.
Tab-locking the camera to a unit does a better job angling the camera to make sure the unit begins in view.
Enemy casualties will not cause the building they are in to become translucent.
Terrain objective labels don't dim when "?" icons are on the screen.
Stryker driver hatch model does not open too far.
T-72 main gun model does not skew horizontally.
Casualties on board a vehicle are not displayed poking through the vehicle's sides.
Flames are correctly placed on post-explosion vehicle IEDs.
Raised the minimum animation threshold for soldiers so there are no more "scarecrows" even if if the scenario is very large.
Corrected a bug where a missile icon would appear in a vehicle's special equipment list for a moment before being fired.
ARTILLERY AND AIR SUPPORT
Aerial rockets are used less frequently versus building targets.
Artillery and air strikes targeting a building that collapses will cancel automatically.
The small red/yellow/green icon shown on each unit in the Support Roster window that shows the quality of the connection to the spotting unit, displays properly.
The provisional delivery time initially displayed for an artillery mission while you are in the process of creating it, is now based on a standard mission, not an emergency one.
TERRAIN OBJECTIVES
On the end-game screen, the status of a terrain objective worth zero points is displayed (previously it was skipped).
The presence of "stealthy" troops does not block the enemy from receiving points for terrain objectives.
SPOTTING & LINE OF SIGHT (LOS)
LOS through two or more floors within the same building is blocked.
It is slightly easier to see over low walls from a kneeling position.
Trees block LOS more, especially tree types A and E.
Corrected a problem where some evening overcast situations would be treated as "too dark" for spotting.
More dust is kicked up when a wall is breached.
TAC AI
TacAI regards .50cal MG as a greater threat to light armor like the BMP than previously.
TacAI slightly increases affinity for using HEAT and thermobaric rounds versus infantry in buildings, and slightly decreases affinity for using HEAT versus infantry not in buildings.
VEHICLE DEFENSIVE AI
Vehicles will not retreat in response to threats they have been ordered to fire upon, or whom they are spotting for artillery or air strikes.
Reacts to grenade attacks.
Less likely to pop additional smoke if there is already smoke in the direction the vehicle wants.
Will not engage when the vehicle is embarking/disembarking passengers, nor will it be triggered by nonpenetrating hits received when the vehicle is moving.
Retreat distances are slightly shorter.
DATA
BTR-60 has improved turn radius.
BMP-2 30mm cannon holds 500 rounds.
M1127 RV Stryker, M1131 FSV Stryker, M7A3 BFIST Bradley, and M707 Humvee have a laser designator that improves efficiency for on-board artillery/air-strike spotting teams.
PG-7V rocket diameter is corrected to 85mm.
PG-7VR explosive content is reduced.
ATI COMPATIBILITY MODE
Fixed a problem where you could "find" hidden enemies by pointing the mouse at them.
Improved mouse-cursor precision near vehicles.
Clicks on waypoints inside buildings register better.
MISC
Internet games require less data transfer which should correct various problems with large scenarios (this also shrinks PBEM files).
PBEM files are checked in advance for data integrity and the user is warned if the file appears damaged (this only works with PBEM files created with v1.08 or later).
Quick Battle computer-player does a better job setting up its units, especially putting them into buildings.
Fixed a few crash bugs.
"Adequate" supply level is sufficient to give a vehicle a full ammo load for its own weapons.
Fixed a "falling off the roof/balcony" bug.
A saved quick-battle shows correct information on the load-game screen.
Adjusted dawn and dusk start times for quick battles.
Corrected a bug where a soldier might start playback holding the wrong weapon if he switched weapons during the action.
Scream sounds from casualties are quieter at a distance.
Fixed some pathfinding problems that resulted from scenarios with walls "covering" building doors.
When a crew re-mounts a vehicle, their target orders are cleared, including orders to pop smoke.
Fixed the unlimited vehicle smoke bug in turn-based games.
Troops don't say "enemy spotted" when spotting destroyed enemies.
Camera tab-lock (padlock) on an enemy unit is now lost when the unit is no longer spotted.