Wages of War: The Business of Battle

Started by TheFjordFox, October 23, 2021, 08:56:31 AM

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TheFjordFox

Have you had the joyful experience of growing up in the 90s? Or even being a grown-up in the 90s?

Have you then also had the not entirely timeless experience of playing Wages of War: Business of Battle, made by Random Games, and published by New World Computing? If yes - what an awesome experience we share! If no - what were you even doing with your life back then?? Establishing a family??? Busy not even being born yet!?!?!?!? Pffff...

This game, although dated by today's standards, and not really aged all that well, was (and still is, in my opinion) a true gem of a game! I shudder at saying it's XCOM-like, or Jagged Alliance-like. It's in the same genre, but it certainly stands on it's own feet! I remember coming over to a friend's place one day, and he had somehow managed to acquire a pirated copy of this game. And we played it. So. Damn. Much. He gave me a copy of it, but over the years I lost it - but not my wish to play the game! So, when I found it in a working condition after some googling, as it is now abandonware, I just had to get into it again! Playing it on a modern computer has it's issues, but nothing game-breaking.

So, have you been able to experience this, like me, when it was fresh and new, before it's mechanics got dated?

If not, I have a few videos out of it on youtube, and I intend to play through the entire campaign and upload an episode of each of the 16 total missions it has to offer. I've been trying to find some videos over the years of it on youtube myself, but there has never really been any out there. There was for the longest time just a one minute clip of some gameplay, and a video of the intro of the game. There's been some video uploads from an American guy about a year ago, but... and I'm not trying to bash him or anything - the quality of those videos are not the best (probably mine aren't either). In videos of the game, he has the TV running in the background at all times, and even plays other games in the same videos!

No! I couldn't take it! I had to make some videos of a proper playthrough myself! And hopefully I have been able to do so in a way that respects the game. Youtube was lacking content on this game, and I will now provide it! Certainly someone can come along and do better - and I encourage anyone to do so!

Here is the first couple of videos I've got out - more will start appearing rapidly. Heck, by the time you read this, I might have already finished the playthrough!






Let me know; did I respectfully present the game? Do you have any stories from the game yourself that you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about them from someone that might share my fascination for this beauty of a game!

Well, that's all I've got for now. Have a good day, folks!
I'm just another random.

Jarhead0331

I had it, but my memories are not nearly as favorable as yours. I remember feeling that JA was a far superior game. I'll still look forward to watching your play through.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


ArizonaTank

Where is this game available? Not seeing it on Steam or GOG.
Johannes "Honus" Wagner
"The Flying Dutchman"
Shortstop: Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-1917
Rated as the 2nd most valuable player of all time by Bill James.

Gusington

I was 25 in 1999, loved and followed digital gaming then, but could not afford a PC yet. But I don't recall ever hearing of this game. The graphics, at least, seem to hold up very well. As AT says above, I can't find it anywhere. Is it just not available for modern machines?



слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Silent Disapproval Robot

I remember picking it up when it was first released.  I had a game on my Atari 1040 called Sabre Team that I really enjoyed.  I think the devs were involved in Wages of War also made Sabre Team so I picked it up.  I recall being somewhat underwhelmed by Wages of War but still enjoying it enough to finish it.  I vaguely recall a mission taking part in a mineshaft and how much trouble that gave me. 

Gusington

'Somewhat Underwhelmed Robot' has a good ring to it.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

TheFjordFox

#6
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 23, 2021, 10:13:04 PM
I remember picking it up when it was first released.  I had a game on my Atari 1040 called Sabre Team that I really enjoyed.  I think the devs were involved in Wages of War also made Sabre Team so I picked it up.  I recall being somewhat underwhelmed by Wages of War but still enjoying it enough to finish it.  I vaguely recall a mission taking part in a mineshaft and how much trouble that gave me.

Ah! Yes! The third mission! I have an episode out of that mission at the moment, and if you watch it, you will see that I share your frustrations on that specific mission!  ;D  It's the LOS part of it, right? Navigating through that cramped space, when you can't see anything until you step deep into a room, and even then, the walls obstruct your vision of the narrow hallways and it's annoying to move your mercenaries around. Does that sound familiar? It's an unfortunate mission design, but luckily it is an isolated incident. Crack on past it, and the game will be a lot more playable - 15/16 missions will not annoy you tremendously in this way.

To the ones of you wondering where you can find the game today - that's the thing - for years I was not able to. Recently it has appeared and disappeared again on several sites. Finding the game in a serviceable condition is half the battle! There's pleas on the GOG forums for them to add it to their game roster, but alas, so far they have not. If you dig a bit on google, you should be able to find a working version of it, but it's not as simple as clicking the first search result that pops up, I'm afraid.

Now! I do want other people to be able to experience the game, so I've done some digging myself, once again, and it seems the link I used a year or so ago no long functions. I have however been able to procure a few links where you MIGHT be able to download it. I say might, because I can not guarantee it's gonna work, or even that it is not going to be some sort of scam. I will post these links below, but I take no responsibility for the actual content of the downloaded files you might end up with.

*snip

One of these might do it for you! But also, they might not. What I will say is that the game originally was at around 50MB - if you have the original CD. However, the folder that I have the game in, takes up a whooping 462MB - so a size around ten times it's supposed size might not be a scam, and could be a functional copy of the game. It certainly does work for me. I assume some magic has had to be done to the game to allow it to run on Windows 10, and hence the overall size of it is tremendously increased.

Now; I do have the game on my computer, and if you provide a way for me to do so, I could upload/send my working version of it for/to you. I do wish for other people to be able to play it, so if you want me to do this, let me know, and we can probably find a way to make it happen - if you don't wanna take the chance at either of the links that I provided, which I cannot guarantee authenticity/functionality of.

I will also say that I am happy that so many of you have experiences with this game, as I felt that it's kinda niche. In this day and age it certainly is, but even in the 90s it probably was to a certain degree.
I'm just another random.

Jarhead0331

There seems to be some question whether this game is abandonware or not. The site Myabandonware.com seems to suggest that it is not.

If this is the case, I would prefer you not distribute it on our site. We have a policy about that.

Sorry to be a Debbie downer!
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


TheFjordFox

#8
Oh, roger that!

I would like to respond to that by saying that yes, I see that one of the first links on google, which is probably one of the more popular ones does indeed state that. However, on several other abandonware sites (in fact every one that I could find except for the one you are referring to), it seems to be abandonware. I'm not sure why it wouldn't be, as any company involved with making the game has long since been dissolved.

This is stated on myabandonware;

"Buy Wages of War: The Business of Battle
Wages of War: The Business of Battle is available for a small price on the following websites (to which there are a total of zero links), and is no longer abandonware. GOG.com provides the best release and does not include DRM, please buy from them! You can read our online store guide ."

But, this is simply not true. GOG certainly does not have it for sale, and I've been looking quite frequently for it over the years, and never seen it there. If you want to purchase this game today, as far as I know, and I've been doing a lot of digging over the years, you need to find a physical copy on e-bay/amazon. To my knowledge, it is abandonware, and not available for purchase - but if someone could prove me wrong on this, I would absolutely love for them to do so, and see this game for sale anywhere! I think, and this is my opinion, that myabandonware just aren't updated on the game, as it is quite niche, and they do have, as they say, over 17000 games they handle.

I will however respect your wishes and not personally distribute the game to other members of the forum. I hope the links I posted can remain up, for people to make a decision for themselves.

EDIT: I see there is a link on myabandonware to one site, ziggurat-something, that is supposed to sell it. It however does not. And this is being commented on over there as well. My two cents is that myabandonware must have messed up and posted the claim that this game is being sold on GOG on the wrong game they offer. It simply has never been the case that this game has been for sale on GOG, unfortunately. I would love if that was true, I'd buy it myself in a heartbeat!
I'm just another random.

Pete Dero

I don't think that if a game is not available online for sale as a download this automatically makes it abandonware. 


If you don't mind spending $60 there are unused copies for sale : https://www.ebay.com/itm/303346109441?epid=54347657&hash=item46a0d64c01:g:k2QAAOSwCL9dvZ~N

If you can play the game in French it is only $16 : https://www.ebay.com/itm/303917515743?hash=item46c2e543df:g:-4EAAOSwQndgQOAs


All copies (new & pre-owned) : https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313&_nkw=Wages+of+War+The+Business+of+Battle&_sacat=0

Jarhead0331

#10
Quote from: TheFjordFox on October 23, 2021, 11:03:38 PM
Oh, roger that!

I would like to respond to that by saying that yes, I see that one of the first links on google, which is probably one of the more popular ones does indeed state that. However, on several other abandonware sites (in fact every one that I could find except for the one you are referring to), it seems to be abandonware. I'm not sure why it wouldn't be, as any company involved with making the game has long since been dissolved.

This is stated on myabandonware;

"Buy Wages of War: The Business of Battle
Wages of War: The Business of Battle is available for a small price on the following websites (to which there are a total of zero links), and is no longer abandonware. GOG.com provides the best release and does not include DRM, please buy from them! You can read our online store guide ."

But, this is simply not true. GOG certainly does not have it for sale, and I've been looking quite frequently for it over the years, and never seen it there. If you want to purchase this game today, as far as I know, and I've been doing a lot of digging over the years, you need to find a physical copy on e-bay/amazon. To my knowledge, it is abandonware, and not available for purchase - but if someone could prove me wrong on this, I would absolutely love for them to do so, and see this game for sale anywhere! I think, and this is my opinion, that myabandonware just aren't updated on the game, as it is quite niche, and they do have, as they say, over 17000 games they handle.

I will however respect your wishes and not personally distribute the game to other members of the forum. I hope the links I posted can remain up, for people to make a decision for themselves.

EDIT: I see there is a link on myabandonware to one site, ziggurat-something, that is supposed to sell it. It however does not. And this is being commented on over there as well. My two cents is that myabandonware must have messed up and posted the claim that this game is being sold on GOG on the wrong game they offer. It simply has never been the case that this game has been for sale on GOG, unfortunately. I would love if that was true, I'd buy it myself in a heartbeat!

Sorry, dude. This game is not abandonware.

Wages of War was acquired by 3DO when it purchased publisher, New World Computing. Ziggurat Interactive then purchased 3DOs entire catalog in 2020, which includes Wages of War. Ziggurat is releasing these games in waves on steam and gog.

https://twitter.com/toadsanime/status/1254815146771394560

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-04-27-ziggurat-interactive-acquires-3do-game-company-portfolio

I must remove your links for liability reasons.  C:-) No hard feelings, bro. PM me with any concerns.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


TheFjordFox

#11
No, no, don't worry! No hard feelings at all! I'm just glad you removed them, so that I didn't have to do it myself  :))

What's right is right, and I was then wrong in assuming it was abandonware! My bad! But; you did educate me a bit more on the game and it's history there, which I greatly appreciate. :)

On another note - I will now contact Ziggurat games and plea for them to release this game for sale!
I'm just another random.

Jarhead0331

Quote from: TheFjordFox on October 24, 2021, 04:14:48 AM
No, no, don't worry! No hard feelings at all! I'm just glad you removed them, so that I didn't have to do it myself  :))

What's right is right, and I was then wrong in assuming it was abandonware! My bad! But; you did educate me a bit more on the game and it's history there, which I greatly appreciate. :)

The very good news is that Wages of War will probably be available and optimized for modern systems in the very near future.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


TheFjordFox

The edit of my post happened seconds after you posted this, but yes indeed, I really hope it does! And I will contact them with some screenshots from various forums I've seen interest for it, and other bits and pieces of information I can scrape together, and hopefully convince them to get to doing just that!
I'm just another random.

FlickJax

Was a great game, enjoyed it a lot back then