Great Battles: Collector's edition on GOG

Bismarck · May 02, 2013, 09:00:39 AM

Quote from: Anguille on May 02, 2013, 12:49:39 AM
Quote from: GJK on May 01, 2013, 09:32:51 PM
Quote from: Anguille on May 01, 2013, 05:56:07 PM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on May 01, 2013, 05:26:28 PM
Tempted...just not sure I could get over the graphics.....

It's really not that bad...there are a couple of videos on youtube you might want to check.

Ranks with Field of Glory graphics.

My youtube google-fu is weak, can you post some links?

Here's a couple:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omxc8aJaiqY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ripJJdTBOx0

Cheers

ComradeP · May 02, 2013, 01:43:09 PM

I don't think it's fair to compare the series to R:TW. R:TW has a real time combat system, for starters and when unmodded has only limited historical accuracy. You also don't have any leader failure, which to me is one of the interesting aspects of the series: you never know when a leader will activate. The leader advantage that Caesar can employ is also nice (not sure if it's in all titles, it's been a while since I played Alexander, the only one in the series that I have a boxed copy of, and I don't have Hannibal in my collection).

One reviewer on GoG thinks it's rock, paper, scissors, but it is more complex than that. I was way too young, about 10 or so, when I got Alexander, but I still really enjoy the series. More than I enjoyed vanilla R:TW, for that matter. I haven't played any of the newer Slitherine Antiquity titles.

Staggerwing · May 02, 2013, 09:01:48 PM

Hey!
Comrade, you've been scarce lately. What's up in Arnhem?

Nefaro · May 02, 2013, 09:42:10 PM

Quote from: ComradeP on May 02, 2013, 01:43:09 PM

One reviewer on GoG thinks it's rock, paper, scissors, but it is more complex than that.

Yeah, that made me wonder if the guy knew which game he was talking about. Haha!

Boggit · May 03, 2013, 05:05:16 AM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on April 30, 2013, 03:02:42 PM
I too loved this series...however, I have my concerns. How does the game hold up? i know its turn-based and not real time, but with games like Rome Total War, etc., is it still really worth playing?

Apples and Oranges. I haven't got this on my hard drive ATM, but have the original disks somewhere around.

Back when I was playing it, I recall it being turn based and dominated by command initiatives - a bit like tabletop DBM. I liked it and it plays very differently to Total War. Perhaps being turn based, you'd find it more deliberate and slower paced.

If I had to choose a computer game that is broadly similar, I'd suggest one of HPS' Ancient games by Paul Bruffell - although his games are much more complex in execution and detail than Great Battles.

My concern would be Windows 7/8 compatibility. IIRC the game was a fun one.

JasonPratt · May 03, 2013, 07:19:51 AM

GoG tests their games on modern systems before (re)releasing; I saw it rated for Win7/8. (Also for Win 7. ;D )

DoctorQuest · May 03, 2013, 10:45:06 AM

The only issue I have had under Win 7 is the slightly annoying issue of the "center on leader" function not working. This creates a little more work to find the active leader but he does wave his flag/standard to help you find him. Otherwise the game was written to use your desktop resolution so it will take advantage of wide screens and higher resolutions. The gog install was flawless and I've encountered no other issues beyond the known "centering" problem.

DoctorQuest · May 03, 2013, 11:16:18 AM

Here is a link to a site dedicated to GB. Since the GBCE scenario editor is included with the GOG package you can install user written scenarios.

The site has not been updated in a while but has a decent amount of information.

http://www.ianm1.plus.com/index.html

Grim.Reaper · May 03, 2013, 05:53:00 PM

Bought it...graphics not as bad as I thought...however, have had a number of system crashes. Hopefully, just initial bad luck.

Philippe · May 04, 2013, 12:07:29 PM

Quote from: DoctorQuest on May 03, 2013, 11:16:18 AM
Here is a link to a site dedicated to GB. Since the GBCE scenario editor is included with the GOG package you can install user written scenarios.

The site has not been updated in a while but has a decent amount of information.

http://www.ianm1.plus.com/index.html

After a casual inspection I haven't managed to locate the editor yet, but some of the scenarios on that site look really interesting.

Bismarck · May 04, 2013, 12:42:36 PM

One must request the editor from the site DoctorQuest indicated.

DoctorQuest · May 04, 2013, 01:35:42 PM

^No. Sorry. I should have been clearer. It is in the GBCE\Data folder in whatever install folder you used for the GOG GB install. GOG just does not build a shortcut to it. The executable is scenario editor.exe.

Place any scenarios you create or download into the GBCE\Data folder. They can be played by running the GBCE.EXE in the GBCE folder

Grim.Reaper · May 04, 2013, 04:13:14 PM

I am probably just being an idiot, I see the various scenarios discussed on this site, but can't figure out how to actually download them Anybody?

Grim.Reaper · May 04, 2013, 04:26:15 PM

Nevermind, figured it out:)

Philippe · May 04, 2013, 07:32:05 PM

Ok. I found the scenario editor, and I've downloaded a couple of scenarios.

Now I'm not sure what to do with them.

Specifically, I'm not sure where to put them before I unpack them, I'm not sure where they should go after I unpack them, and I'm not sure what to give commands to play them. And I'm not even sure why they need to be unpacked, though I'll take it on faith.

Which game do they go in, and do I play them from one of the games or do I play them from the editor (that can't be right).

Any insight would be appreciated.