Pacific General (http://www.gog.com/game/pacific_general) and Fantasy General (http://www.gog.com/game/fantasy_general) have been released DRM-free on GOG.com! These two PC games were part of the classic 5-Star General series (http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/5-star-general-series) by SSI.
Quote from: Greybriar on May 05, 2015, 09:08:54 AM
Pacific General (http://www.gog.com/game/pacific_general) and Fantasy General (http://www.gog.com/game/fantasy_general) have been released DRM-free on GOG.com! These two PC games were part of the classic 5-Star General series (http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/5-star-general-series) by SSI.
Fantasy General was an excellent wargame. It should hold up pretty well since it is turn-based.
Nice! I'll pick up both. :)
Holy Crap! I'm in......
The update of the Fantasy General engine to Fantasy Wars / Elven Legacy is better in almost every way, but I'll still grab this because it's Fantasy General. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
The only aggressively annoying thing about FantGen was its silly and probably late attempt to balance the game by heavily penalizing the player who doesn't at least sort-of-evenly research all the tech paths.
Its magic system is ridiculous, too, but not actively pernicious for the most part -- just mostly ignore magic, like the game would prefer, and you'll be fine. ;) Put points into researching heavy cav as soon as possible, and the game will throw ungodly strong units at you, until you relent and create a balanced tech progression like all other Panzer General games automatically do by campaign design (including FG/EL by the way), and like this one should have done in hindsight.
I still have my big box of the original Fantasy General. So I can use the original documentation. I liked the game so much I never got rid of it - even though I could not play it without a ton of aggravation.
With stuff like AOW2/3 and Warlock 1 & 2 out there, I don't think I would ever go back to playing Fantasy General. ???
FantGen isn't for the same purpose at all as modern MoM games.
More specifically, it wasn't for the same purpose at all as the original Master of Magic. ;) Which was released at about the same time.
It's literally like saying that with stuff like AoW2/3 and Warlock 1 & 2 out there, I just don't think I could ever go back to playing Panzer General (or Panzer Corps if you prefer). That could be true, I guess, but it's like comparing apples to cans of Mountain Dew. There are some trivial similarities, even a surprisingly large number of trivial similarities on examination, but they aren't really comparable.
Modern (sort-of-modern) FantGen gameplay in an AAR here at Grogheads (linking to the start of the actual mission work, for convenience, not the plot): http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=12285.msg320109#msg320109
FantGen is like that. But with much older 2-D gfx. And a vastly much better soundtrack. :smitten: :smitten: (I still listen to that music on a regular basis.)
Fantasy General was IMHO the best of the 5-Star games. There are a lot of unit types. Terrain had a big impact. Magic added another level to the game. And you had a research element. It is a very engaging, high-end, beer & pretzels game.
My problem is that with the age of the paper, I cannot read my old manual without getting sick. I'm going to have to print off a copy of the PDF that came with the GOG purchase. Rats.
Well, THIS is interesting :
QuotePacific General and Fantasy General are being published by GOG.com. We are happy to release these titles not on behalf of another party, but by acting as the sole publisher for the very first time!
I wonder if they will eventually have Star General, based on David Drake's the Fleet, and the rest of the SSI stuff such as Luftwaffe Commander and Age of Rifles, or even clean-up versions of the Great Naval Battles series.
Quote from: Staggerwing on May 06, 2015, 05:25:29 AM
I wonder if they will eventually have Star General, based on David Drake's the Fleet, and the rest of the SSI stuff such as Luftwaffe Commander and Age of Rifles, or even clean-up versions of the Great Naval Battles series.
And Soldiers at War. You forgot to mention Soldiers at War! :o
Did someone say, "SSI"? Gold Box Series, Gold Box Series, Gold Box Series, and of course.... The Series of the Golden Container.
Moar time sinks, please, GOG! :)
Quote from: bbmike on May 06, 2015, 05:32:56 AM
Quote from: Staggerwing on May 06, 2015, 05:25:29 AM
I wonder if they will eventually have Star General, based on David Drake's the Fleet, and the rest of the SSI stuff such as Luftwaffe Commander and Age of Rifles, or even clean-up versions of the Great Naval Battles series.
And Soldiers at War. You forgot to mention Soldiers at War! :o
I would rather have the newer version of
Soldiers at War:
Squad Leader. It had far more stuff, controllable vehicle weapons, optional randomized missions to interspersed in the multiple campaigns featuring multiple nationalities. Better graphics. Better everything. SL got criticized because it wasn't a port of the tabletop game, but it's a heavily improved
SaW that turned out pretty well.
I also requested
WH40K: Chaos Gate in the GOG request list, which was an earlier iteration of the engine IIRC. Was a bit buggy here & there but great stuff. The kind of 40K PC game they NEED to make these days.
Quote from: Nefaro on May 06, 2015, 11:40:14 AM
I would rather have the newer version of Soldiers at War: Squad Leader. It had far more stuff, controllable vehicle weapons, optional randomized missions to interspersed in the multiple campaigns featuring multiple nationalities. Better graphics. Better everything. SL got criticized because it wasn't a port of the tabletop game, but it's a heavily improved SaW that turned out pretty well.
I also requested WH40K: Chaos Gate in the GOG request list, which was an earlier iteration of the engine IIRC. Was a bit buggy here & there but great stuff. The kind of 40K PC game they NEED to make these days.
I've never played
Soldiers at War:
Squad Leader. :o
Quote from: bbmike on May 06, 2015, 01:27:00 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on May 06, 2015, 11:40:14 AM
I would rather have the newer version of Soldiers at War: Squad Leader. It had far more stuff, controllable vehicle weapons, optional randomized missions to interspersed in the multiple campaigns featuring multiple nationalities. Better graphics. Better everything. SL got criticized because it wasn't a port of the tabletop game, but it's a heavily improved SaW that turned out pretty well.
I also requested WH40K: Chaos Gate in the GOG request list, which was an earlier iteration of the engine IIRC. Was a bit buggy here & there but great stuff. The kind of 40K PC game they NEED to make these days.
I've never played Soldiers at War: Squad Leader. :o
It's just named Squad Leader (http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/avalon-hills-squad-leader). ;D
The sequel to
Soldiers At War.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobygames.com%2Fimages%2Fshots%2Fl%2F10858-avalon-hill-s-squad-leader-windows-screenshot-trial-by-fire.jpg&hash=4e6a6d10f83b5def1bbe5bcad5ef414e780418ce)
Quote from: Arctic Blast on May 06, 2015, 12:57:06 AM
Well, THIS is interesting :
QuotePacific General and Fantasy General are being published by GOG.com. We are happy to release these titles not on behalf of another party, but by acting as the sole publisher for the very first time!
:o :o :o :o :o :o
Huh. That would explain the pretty high-end original art commissioned for their release.
Quote from: Nefaro on May 06, 2015, 04:46:30 PM
It's just named Squad Leader (http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/avalon-hills-squad-leader). ;D
The sequel to Soldiers At War.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobygames.com%2Fimages%2Fshots%2Fl%2F10858-avalon-hill-s-squad-leader-windows-screenshot-trial-by-fire.jpg&hash=4e6a6d10f83b5def1bbe5bcad5ef414e780418ce)
I never knew there was a sequel to SaW. I MUST play it! :D
Quote from: bbmike on May 06, 2015, 05:20:00 PM
I never knew there was a sequel to SaW. I MUST play it! :D
Many people didn't know it was that. I was surprised SaW got such great reviews but this one didn't, despite being an upgraded version of same with more replayability & features.
I actually loaded
SL up a number of years ago. But it needed some processor capping because when I tried to scroll the map view, it moved at super speeds and I couldn't put the view where I wanted. My processor was so much faster than the game originally required, and it was running the game at ludicrous speed. Was rather frustrating. Needs some GOG emulation treatment for such things.
I've played Fantasy General for the last 2 days. It works very well and is still quite fun. The only issue has been a fast mouse scroll on large maps - but if you click on the mini-map where you want to go the problem is controlled. So it is still a lot of fun - for $5.99.
The pdf of the manual printed very well. I cannot read my original manual (which I still have) due to paper deterioration over 19 years which triggers my allergies.
So one more "big box" computer game is getting donated or sold for more shelf space.
Fantasy General gave me one hell of a beating back in the day. A game I'm not ashamed to say I lost to. I remember it being surprisingly deep.