HPS just released Jena 1.04 and Austerlitz 1.02 updates.
Both updates can be located here:
http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/updates/up_NapBats/up_NapBat.asp (http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/updates/up_NapBats/up_NapBat.asp)
Just a question about ordering the digital download versions (in light of an issue I just had):
I've been having a helluva time getting the checkout at the HPS site to work properly, with two different browsers. My last attempt worked but I never got sent to any download link for my digital download version of Punic Wars, but was still charged and emailed a receipt (without any links). I did send you guys a ticket with my order details so you can send me a d/l link to the software once you get to it.
But I also forgot to ask - was it supposed to forward me to a web page with a download link, after being charged? I mean.. you don't email those manually, right? My web browser just hung with the loading indicator running perpetually and it never sent me to a confirmation web page (left it going for about 6-7 minutes and nada). The charge obviously went through but the page never advanced to confirmation. I also got an SQL error the day before, too, and this all seems to have happened during the card services part (just a heads-up).
Elisa fixed me up first thing in the AM, so I'm good to go. 8)
I would really love to see both of these as DD. The only reason I haven't bought them is because I'd have to order them on CD, which I'd rather not do.
I did grab Musket & Pike - Renaissance Friday and have been playing it all weekend. Great game!
This ancient warfare one is quite nice. Especially like the WEGO system - don't think I've ever played an ancients wargame with WEGO, it's the way they should be done.
I've been thinking very seriously of getting those as well. I tend to prefer WEGO systems, and I definitely like the era covered. Of course, I'm ending up with a huge stack of HPS and Tiller games and end up spending more time waffling about what to play than I do actually playing.
Definitely.
There's one not-so-good thing about the Ancient Warfare games, however. The battle replay can be rather quirky on newer Windows versions (I'm guessing that's the reason along with modern video drivers). Sometimes the replay will just freeze and give me a black screen while I can hear the sounds running just fine as the turn plays out. Sometimes it'll show everything just fine for a few turns, but at some point I won't see a turn's action (just hear it ???). So that tends to make me do some weird stuff before hitting the "End Turn" button, as if it might help eliminate those occasional black-outs.
The scenarios can be quite large, and the 3D view gets rather laggish on those which is unfortunate since I like the pixel art - it looks a helluva lot better than the Tiller games. But I end up running it in 2D since it kinda bogs down. So yeah, it's a bit of a dog in the '3D' graphics department. I suppose the old Tiller engine has been pushed to the limits in that regard, with this series. There just aren't enough ancients wargames around for my taste - especially tactical ones that (mostly) work on modern OSes.
I've been playing the first battle of Bagradas (1st Punic War) today. The AI seems to be rather capable of bloodying my noob butt, too.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi45.tinypic.com%2F1zzs11i.png&hash=79a8b86d4ea810db3628157378b14e415e7d2b3c)
To avoid the black out screen problem on Ancient Warfare - do not press any key or the mouse during the action phase as the action phase is totally controlled by the computer and sending an input disrupts the programme sequence.
Another tip - You can speed up the action phase by going to the menu and Options - Fast Computer Processing or you can progress straight through the action phase in seconds by pressing the menu and Options - No Replay.
Any other questions or problems just drop a line here
Quote from: Leonadis on February 11, 2013, 10:36:42 AM
To avoid the black out screen problem on Ancient Warfare - do not press any key or the mouse during the action phase as the action phase is totally controlled by the computer and sending an input disrupts the programme sequence.
Another tip - You can speed up the action phase by going to the menu and Options - Fast Computer Processing or you can progress straight through the action phase in seconds by pressing the menu and Options - No Replay.
Any other questions or problems just drop a line here
Thanks.
I've learned those tips via trial & error. If I click the mouse during the replay, the game will outright crash. But I've still received the black screen on the odd occasion, despite not pressing anything when it runs. I'm a little wary of having a hex hot-spotted that gets moved through or having my mouse pointer on the screen but dunno if that makes a difference.
I've also turned on Fast Movement, Fast Computer Processing, and raised the combat resolution delay to Fast. This has helped move the action along quite nicely during playback but still allows me to get an idea on how the movement is flowing. Thanks for the suggestion.
Is the '3D' mode graphics sluggishness due to engine limitations? I'm getting it on both AMD and Nvidia graphics, although the Nvidia one seems to be just slightly better at it. It looks very cool but I've ended up playing the medium-sized and larger scenarios in 2D only (and there has been fewer black screens on it too).
Graphically it does look much better than the Tiller games, even the newer ones. I always play those in 2D because the 3D maps just look so bad.
I'm interested that the AI is good enough to give you a good fight. I'm enjoying the Renaissance game, but unless the game is really one sided the AI doesn't seem any tougher than in the Tiller Napoleonics games. Here's me destroying the French rear guard and capturing their baggage at Fornovo:
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi47.tinypic.com%2F2ekrm3c.png&hash=b5b29d23784a9087d128120f341843c831d428ee)
It's been awhile since I played any good Roman tactical games. I think the last one I spent time on was Field of Glory, which isn't bad, but a bit more abstract than the usual HPS game. Thanks for the recommendation!
I've been eyeballing that Musket and Pike game, but the graphics look terrible.
How does this game compare to HPS Campaign Gettysburg? I have quite a few HPS games, but I also have a lot of trouble getting into them for some reason. I want to game the Musket and Pike era and there just don't seem to be many choices besides HPS.
I don't think the AI in the Ancient Warfare series is much better than the Tiller games. It may enjoy a bit of an advantage due to troops being locked into melee once it's reached, and all "firing" of ranged weapons happening behind the scenes. That said, it does generally keep it's lines in good order and can still dish out some pain.
I was a bit impressed with the way the AI attacked my Roman army in the Bagradas scenario - first with all his big skirmisher & cavalry screen, doing quite a number on my own skirmishers and forcing me to fight with (and extend the lines of) my legion. It focused the war elephant attack right into my center, and has been brutally punishing my thin line of Hastati there. And then it smashed the first of a few lines of infantry into my own, so my center is just about to break despite my finally pushing through on the left. So it's a race to see if my breakthrough can pummel the rest of the Greek Mercenaries & Carthaginian Citizen Spearmen who are following up before my center collapses and those damned elephants go rampaging into my flanks & rear.
In short, the AI has been giving me a contest despite my advantage in current victory points (due to mainly being able to pin their hordes of light infantry skirmishers against one another, at one point, with my legions). While Field of Glory plays out more quickly and is a fun game, this one is larger and feels like it has more detail. Oh - and WEGO!
Dear Nefaro - Is the '3D' mode graphics sluggishness due to engine limitations? - Ancient Warfare games
Basically the answer is - the more powerful your graphics card and processor the less sluggish is the 3D view. However, for large maps it is better to jump to the battlefield location you want using the jump map facility (same as Tiller games) rather than scrolling all the way as the 3D map is very large with thousands of pixels to scroll through.
Quote from: Toonces on February 12, 2013, 12:26:50 AM
I've been eyeballing that Musket and Pike game, but the graphics look terrible.
Note that the graphics in that screenshot are actually modded graphics. I'm using a modded map and counter set by Philippe, who frequents this forum. It's based off of his mods for the Tiller Napoleonic games and makes the 2D map look much better, IMO. The 3D view in any of the Tiller games is just unworkable for me.
Quote from: Toonces on February 12, 2013, 12:26:50 AMHow does this game compare to HPS Campaign Gettysburg? I have quite a few HPS games, but I also have a lot of trouble getting into them for some reason. I want to game the Musket and Pike era and there just don't seem to be many choices besides HPS.
The game engine is very similar, though there are a number of changes to the underlying rules to better reflect warfare of the era. It's pretty common in the battles covered by this game to have armies composed of multiple nationalities on a single side, for example. Combined arms tactics are very important, and cavalry is still a pretty dominant arm. One thing I like about this game over the larger Napoleonic and ACW games is that the battles tend to be smaller and a lot more manageable, but still large enough for maneuver to be a factor.
All in all it scratches the pike and shot itch for me...which is good, since you're right, there pretty much isn't anything else out there. I have a feeling it isn't one of Tiller's bigger sellers and might not see a follow-up for a long time. That's too bad, because I'd love to see this engine applied to the 30 Years War and English Civil War.
Quote from: Leonadis on February 12, 2013, 04:18:59 AM
Dear Nefaro - Is the '3D' mode graphics sluggishness due to engine limitations? - Ancient Warfare games
Basically the answer is - the more powerful your graphics card and processor the less sluggish is the 3D view. However, for large maps it is better to jump to the battlefield location you want using the jump map facility (same as Tiller games) rather than scrolling all the way as the 3D map is very large with thousands of pixels to scroll through.
That strikes me as odd since the engine was made to be playing on Windows 98.
Perhaps I'll try setting it to run on only one processor core, or some such. Seems like there is something holding it back, as I even notice a slight bit of sluggishness in 2D mode too (in larger battles). I would think that ye olde quad core 3Ghz Phenom could keep up better. The main thing about it is when I click on a unit, I sometimes have to wait a couple seconds for the Unit Info Window to fully pop up, and the text in it to fill out. Or a depressed order button to take effect, or depress, having some delay.
It's not a huge amount, so it's not anything game breaking. *shrug* It just make selecting and issuing orders in 3D mode, on mid-to-large scenarios, rather plodding. So it's on to 2D mode, generally. :-\
I noticed a significant improvement when I upgraded my PC but if you are already on the latest version there is little else you can do but keep to 2D as you suggested. :(