[RERomine]

The "God's view" pretty much sums it up. If you forget about the smoke/artillery aspect of things for a bit, units several clicks from contact with the enemy still "know" exactly where they are as long as other friendly units have contact. Doesn't matter if they are buried deep in the jungle are not. Every unit effectively has very detailed topographic maps, with GPS tracking systems. This allows units not in contact with the enemy to effectively maneuver against those enemy units as long as other friendly units can see them.

For game purposes, radios only relate to rallying suppression. Yes, radios could be used to direct and control maneuvers, but in the game not all units have radios. That still doesn't stop the player from maneuvering against "known" enemy positions. Maps, well for units lucky enough to have them wouldn't be anywhere near the detail of what we have today.

Smoke as displayed by the game, I consider more of a combination of things rather than just "smoke". Some of these things exist for only a fraction of a second. Others endure for a longer period of time. Muzzle flash is one. Anyone ever seen a big gun fire at night? It lights up the whole country side. It's not hard to figure out where the firing unit is there. How about the sound of the gun firing? That can be heard a considerable distance also, assuming it's not lost in the din of the ongoing battle. Assuming several units could hear the enemy gun/mortar firing, triangulation would give you a fair idea where the firing unit is located. Enough for a firing solution? Maybe, maybe not. And there is the smoke and dust that I've mentioned before in this thread.

As pointed out, it is a game. Expecting perfect realism out of it is unrealistic. There are lots of unrealistic aspects in the game. There is the afore mentioned integrated unit GPS aspect. Here's another. A rifle squad and a marksman are in the same hex, firing the same type of weapon at the same target, yet we can tell that the marksman is not just another member of the squad. How about a squad riding a tank that gets peppered by a machine gun and doesn't get automatically cut down to half strength? Anyone see "Saving Private Ryan" when they were swarming on the immobilized Tiger when the 20mm Flak gun opened up? I know it was just a movie, but that's about what would happen. I'm sure there are more things, but I think my point is made. Why dwell on one aspect of the game that isn't completely realistic when there are others equally unrealistic?

The point of all this is that the game is not going to be perfectly realistic. It's not going to happen. Not with something this complex. Personally, I believe this is an outstanding game. The more important question, "Is the game playable?" Yes!!! Very much so. I have mentioned things that I felt have put either the AI or player at a disadvantage. It is more important that the playing field is level rather than whether or not mortar in a jungle actually creates smoke. Since the same mortar would create smoke for the player and AI alike, the playing field is level in that aspect.