GOG.com has got their mitts on The Close Combat Series!
https://www.gog.com/news/release_close_combat_series
A Bridge Too Far
Russian Front
Battle of the Bulge
and even has Gateway to Caen and Panthers in the Fog
Prices are pretty decent as they are on sale as well. :)
Damn
$45 for the whole lot!!
Supposedly compatible in Windows 7, 8 & 10 so anybody who tries them please let us know.
Great games, but I have always used one of these games - Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far - as an example of how not to end a game. (I use KOTOR as the example of how TO end a game, with the hero and other characters being feted with speeches about their great deeds in a very well-done scene.)
While I loved the game, CC:ABTF is a brutally difficult game that, no two ways about it, is going to require lots of save and reloads if you are going to make it all the way through. It is rarely easy, and as the campaign goes on it gets harder and harder, with a back-breaking final mission. It's a damned long campaign, too, so to recap: many, many hours of very difficult scenarios if you are to get the full victory as the Allies in the campaign, but I stuck with it to the end, no telling how many reloads, even as it passed beyond "fun" into "grueling task" over the last couple of scenarios.
At the end, when you complete the final victory condition in the final scenario, a little box that says "game over" pops up for about 2 seconds and then you are immediately dumped back to the start screen without a save.
:tickedoff: :knuppel2: :buck2:
No close combat 1 :( ?
Believe it or not. I really enjoyed close combat 1 back in high school. The sounds especially were some of the best I had ever heard.
Where the hell is the new 3D version anyway?
Quote from: Destraex on February 06, 2018, 05:16:26 PM
No close combat 1 :( ?
Believe it or not. I really enjoyed close combat 1 back in high school. The sounds especially were some of the best I had ever heard.
Where the hell is the new 3D version anyway?
No CC 1 or 5. Apparently, GoG had trouble with the coding and could not make them win 7, 8 and 10 compatible. They are supposedly working on them though and will release in the future.
Weird. They have some of the newer releases, like Panthers in the Fog and Gateway to Caen, but... I guess they can't really provide the updated Matrix'd versions of ABTF (i.e. Last Stand Arnhem) and TRF (i.e. Cross of Iron).
What's throwing me I suppose, is that PantherFog is an update of Wach Am Rhein, but apparently not a Matrix remake-update.
Bridge too far still has the best campaign in my books.
I tinkered with A Bridge Too Far last night. Its certainly still enjoyable, but of course, it has definitely lost some of the magic...and at 1024x768 on a 42" 4k monitor, it looks pretty rough.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on February 07, 2018, 10:22:39 AM
I tinkered with A Bridge Too Far last night. Its certainly still enjoyable, but of course, it has definitely lost some of the magic...and at 1024x768 on a 42" 4k monitor, it looks pretty rough.
I didn't pull the trigger for exactly this reason. Mine's 27" but I figure it would be stretched a bit. Still I'm sure I'll get it eventually.
I don't think I played CC2 but it sounds interesting.
These game were quite the click-fest back in the day. Are they improved any since then?
Quote from: Sir Slash on February 07, 2018, 11:28:31 AM
These game were quite the click-fest back in the day. Are they improved any since then?
Click-fest? Really? I never thought that at all. The game was very reasonably paced with units taking considerable time to carry out their orders, particularly if stressed, suppressed, panicking or suffering from exhaustion or low morale. I actually think at the time, these games were the antithesis of the traditional RTS "click-fest".
Quote from: jomni on February 06, 2018, 07:40:28 PM
Bridge too far still has the best campaign in my books.
I agree, at least of the games in the series I played. What I find amazing about it is that the
Close Combat series (http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/close-combat-series) began over 20 years ago! I played a lot of the early
Close Combat games (I & II) and later purchased III & IV, but never got around to playing them much.
Shoot...as much as I liked these, I would rather have some old QQP games. Conquered Kingdoms, The Lost Admiral, and the Perfect General.
Quote from: DennisS on February 07, 2018, 11:48:51 AM
Shoot...as much as I liked these, I would rather have some old QQP games. Conquered Kingdoms, The Lost Admiral, and the Perfect General.
I agree with you 100%! O0
Quote from: Sir Slash on February 07, 2018, 11:28:31 AM
These game were quite the click-fest back in the day. Are they improved any since then?
No, they're just the same pausible-order real-time wego that they've always been. ;)
(Maybe multiplayer is more clickfesty? -- I never played that so I don't know if players can pause the action for orders.)
I played the demo for the Russia themed one and there was a little action followed by a lot of action all at once and if you didn't move your units fast they would be scraps and bodies. I remember having to click a lot to keep up. That's what kept me from buying but that was a long time ago when I was still a 'clicking noob'.
In CC3 the Stalingrad maps (especially the one centered on the Tractor Factory) were huge pains in the rear to play as the Germans. Easily the most challenging maps out of all of them except maybe for the Berlin one(s).
Stalingrad sounds very familiar to me. That could have been the one from the demo I played.
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 07, 2018, 12:06:23 PM
Quote from: Sir Slash on February 07, 2018, 11:28:31 AM
These game were quite the click-fest back in the day. Are they improved any since then?
No, they're just the same pausible-order real-time wego that they've always been. ;)
(Maybe multiplayer is more clickfesty? -- I never played that so I don't know if players can pause the action for orders.)
Been awhile since I played any of them, but I don't remember them having a pause function in which you could issue orders. Am I just remembering wrong? Thanks.
To be fair I haven't played any of them in at least 10 years, although I picked up at least one of the newer iterations on sale last Christmas. So I might be wish-fulfillment misremembering.... ???
I think someone talks about it in our review for Panthers in the Fog. When I get a link I'll post it back here.
Quote from: Rayfer on February 07, 2018, 02:50:36 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 07, 2018, 12:06:23 PM
Quote from: Sir Slash on February 07, 2018, 11:28:31 AM
These game were quite the click-fest back in the day. Are they improved any since then?
No, they're just the same pausible-order real-time wego that they've always been. ;)
(Maybe multiplayer is more clickfesty? -- I never played that so I don't know if players can pause the action for orders.)
Been awhile since I played any of them, but I don't remember them having a pause function in which you could issue orders. Am I just remembering wrong? Thanks.
In CC2 pressing the option button does pause the game but you can't do anything other than change the options. So useful for a comfort break but not as a means to issue orders etc. However, in the options you can change the game speed between slow, medium and fast. With the slow setting you get plenty of time to issue new orders to all of your units as the action changes.
Thank you for that info. Clears up a lot for me. O0
Is CC3 worth getting now or is it too dated?
Just buy it.
Quote from: Gusington on February 08, 2018, 08:51:01 AM
Is CC3 worth getting now or is it too dated?
I honestly don't know why someone would get that instead of the Matrix update Cross of Iron. (More mods for the old one that somehow didn't get ported over into CroI? Somewhat less expensive?)
Cross of Iron is solid?
Solid-ish? It's still a Close Combat game after all, and only the first one that they updated.
Hmm...
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 08, 2018, 09:30:03 AM
Quote from: Gusington on February 08, 2018, 08:51:01 AM
Is CC3 worth getting now or is it too dated?
I honestly don't know why someone would get that instead of the Matrix update Cross of Iron. (More mods for the old one that somehow didn't get ported over into CroI? Somewhat less expensive?)
Somewhat less expensive = one tenth of the price... I can see why someone would get it.
I like the fact that Matrix update older games, but I honestly don't think it justifies a 10x price hike for what seem to be some pathfinding tweaks & fixing the odd bug.
CC3, the game that started my internet gaming life. :smitten:
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on February 10, 2018, 03:02:28 PM
CC3, the game that started my internet gaming life. :smitten:
Was it Panthers in the Fog that ended it?
How well do the newest of the CC bunch -- Gateway to Caen and Panthers in the Fog -- hold up these days? I'm someone who generally can't enjoy outdated games, no matter how terrific they were back in the day -- hence GOG.com is a site I almost never visit. Do Gateway and Panthers feel like games that were developed in the 90s?
Somehow, I've never played this series. Maybe I've just been waiting for The Bloody First to come out before diving in, but who knows when or if that will see the light of day.
My biggest gripe with PiTF and GtC is that the AI seem to have gotten worse since CC:V.
It's at the point where the AI cannot mount an offensive, and usually just ends up scattered across the map.
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on February 10, 2018, 03:02:28 PM
CC3, the game that started my internet gaming life. :smitten:
For me, it was CC2 on the Microsoft Zone, then on to Fighter Ace! Of course, around then started the Steel Panthers PBEMing.
I spent WAY too much time playing CC3 to death back in the day. Loved that I could rename the squads/units and carry them from battle to battle. It was great fun going from 1941 to 1945, upgrading as you go along, getting new units, watching old ones die miserably on the steppes or in some nameless tractor factory...
One thing I didn't much like was doing so well initially that you get to assault the Kremlin. If you win, well, that pretty much means you get to capture Moscow, which seems to be a turning point in the war. Maybe not, though. I could see how things turn against Germany and they lose Moscow and eventually things take a different course.
I haven't even looked at the Matrix version - maybe they have something more ahistorical there?
Having just purchased my first PC, CC3 and Panzer Elite were my first games. Coming from cardboard counters late 70s, to playing CC Russian Front against human opponents at the then MS Gaming Zone- holy shit what a blast! Sweaty palms and heart-thumping action as my opponent fires smoke and assaults my position on a hill, gaming heaven. Now I yearn to pull out my old ASL rules binder. Board games, dice, and IFT charts, keep calling me.
Quote from: BanzaiCat on February 11, 2018, 11:44:28 AM
I spent WAY too much time playing CC3 to death back in the day. Loved that I could rename the squads/units and carry them from battle to battle. It was great fun going from 1941 to 1945, upgrading as you go along, getting new units, watching old ones die miserably on the steppes or in some nameless tractor factory...
One thing I didn't much like was doing so well initially that you get to assault the Kremlin. If you win, well, that pretty much means you get to capture Moscow, which seems to be a turning point in the war. Maybe not, though. I could see how things turn against Germany and they lose Moscow and eventually things take a different course.
I haven't even looked at the Matrix version - maybe they have something more ahistorical there?
Play WITE and you'll feel the same. The Russians just won't quit even if you take their cities.
I was happy to see the originals being released. I still have a copy of the version they did for the marines as a training tool around here somewhere??? I always thought the Russian front game was the best!!
Quote from: sandman2575 on February 10, 2018, 03:39:29 PM
How well do the newest of the CC bunch -- Gateway to Caen and Panthers in the Fog -- hold up these days? I'm someone who generally can't enjoy outdated games, no matter how terrific they were back in the day -- hence GOG.com is a site I almost never visit. Do Gateway and Panthers feel like games that were developed in the 90s?
For me they didn't hold up at all. I loved CC back in the day, CC3 (Eastern Front) was probably the high point. The Battle of the Bulge title that came after had a tedious campaign model where you played back and forth over the same maps right where the action was most crucial, to the point it got boring to play rapidly.
I just find it tedious now, because the units move slowly and the LOS is not intuitive. Particularly for different levels - it's hard to figure out hull down positions, what can see what up at elevation. A true 3D display would make things interesting, but they tried twice to use the engine for that - GI Combat, and Eric Young's Squad Assault - and they were a mixed bag.
Combat Mission probably still delivers the best bang for the buck at this scale, though there are some newer titles getting a lot of discussion in the wargaming groups on Facebook that look promising.
Quote from: sandman2575 on February 10, 2018, 03:39:29 PM
Somehow, I've never played this series. Maybe I've just been waiting for The Bloody First to come out before diving in, but who knows when or if that will see the light of day.
I see on the Matrix site that this attempt at a 3-D version was promised in 2014. I'd love to see it personally, but that kind of delay seems problematic...
So I should look in to Cross of Iron instead of CC3?
Remember Panzer Genera 3D, think i still have the disk in the cellar.
Quote from: Tuna on February 14, 2018, 03:50:27 PM
Remember Panzer Genera 3D, think i still have the disk in the cellar.
I still have my copy. Somehow it was never as much fun as PG II.
Quote from: mirth on February 14, 2018, 04:03:04 PM
Quote from: Tuna on February 14, 2018, 03:50:27 PM
Remember Panzer Genera 3D, think i still have the disk in the cellar.
I still have my copy. Somehow it was never as much fun as PG II.
No, but my kids liked it when they were younger.
So did I way back in the '90's on my very first Big Boy computer with a 32 in. monitor about the size of a Volkswagen. :bd:
I'm probably the only one that liked Panzer General 3D Assault. I have it on GOG.
Quote from: BanzaiCat on February 16, 2018, 02:28:43 PM
I'm probably the only one that liked Panzer General 3D Assault. I have it on GOG.
I liked it. It just never really captured the same magic that PGII did for me. PGII was one of the first wargames I played when I got back into the hobby after a 10-12 year break. I absolutely loved that game. Played the hell out of it back in the day (a time when you still went to a game shop with shelves of PC games that included offerings from Talonsoft or the Jane's series).
Yes, I'm old.
Quote from: BanzaiCat on February 16, 2018, 02:28:43 PM
I'm probably the only one that liked Panzer General 3D Assault. I have it on GOG.
There's nothing wrong with that. Different strokes for different folks (check my sig). I own the retail boxed edition of it as well as the DRM-Free digital version at GOG.com but I like
Panzer General II better.
And, yes, I am also old.
Nice to know. I know I played the original PG on a PlayStation (from the Hollywood Video I managed, not permanently), but I don't recall playing PGII.
Quote from: BanzaiCat on February 16, 2018, 02:44:52 PM
I know I played the original PG on a PlayStation (from the Hollywood Video I managed, not permanently)
You're old too! :P
I played all three. The original I played on my all-too-soon extinct 3DO. That was back when King Tut was still sucking Momma Tut's tit.
Quote from: mirth on February 16, 2018, 02:47:39 PM
Quote from: BanzaiCat on February 16, 2018, 02:44:52 PM
I know I played the original PG on a PlayStation (from the Hollywood Video I managed, not permanently)
You're old too! :P
(https://sayingimages.com/wp-content/uploads/nicolas-cage-oh-really-meme.jpg)
Really. Really old.
You're not too far behind, whippersnapper.
Easy there old-timer. Don't work yourself into a vexation ;)
Fie and pox upon you, sir!
That sounds like vexation, pops!
I'm always vexated. :buck2: