Strategic Command: World War I

[Gusington]

Thanks Nef

[bobarossa]

Also, some games have an "advance to sound of the guns" feature.  Corps within an army will move to support a nearby corps if it gets into battle.  Can't remember all the nuances of that feature anymore.  I do think you have to set it somewhere, maybe in the army HQ container or maybe in each corps.

[Tanaka]

Yes nice write ups guys. My biggest beef with Ageod games is playing whack a mole with all of the single units running around...

[Nefaro]

Thanks Nef

'Taint nuthin muh man!  :bd:

Also, some games have an "advance to sound of the guns" feature.  Corps within an army will move to support a nearby corps if it gets into battle.  Can't remember all the nuances of that feature anymore.  I do think you have to set it somewhere, maybe in the army HQ container or maybe in each corps.

I think only a few of them had that.  Once again, ACW being an example.  Pretty sure it would be set to do that by default so I rarely messed with it unless trying some extra sneaky shiht.  In AGE games as large as ACW, I can see why they included it.  Sure, it's historically appropriate, but the tricky strategery part of the series is figuring out how to force the battle you want, where you want it.  On a map with many zones to be moved through during a WEGO turn, the uncertainty of the meeting engagements can still lead to larger battles if you keep the Corps next to it's parent Army.  Like casting a wide net.

Yes nice write ups guys. My biggest beef with Ageod games is playing whack a mole with all of the single units running around...

Definitely a pain in the ass, those tiny armies roaming around and being a nuisance.  Some titles have less of it than others.  Having to send out your own small units with high Patrol values to catch raiders all the time is just extra busy work.  Again, I think Alea Jacta Est has less of that issue due to fewer small-sized units with high Evasion ratings compared to other titles.  Also don't think the AI can handle chasing them down well if the player gives it a taste of it's own witchery and does the excessive raids into AI territory. 

I'd be playing the AGE games more often nowadays if it weren't for the issue of steadily expanding screen resolutions making many older game engines' text so tiny since they weren't made to scale upward.  I'm not even blind like most old wargamer farts and still find it a bit frustrating.

[W8taminute]

I fired this game up the other day.  I have the Matrix version so no need to log into Steam to run it.  Started a new game after patching in the latest update and that darn thing keeps crashing on me.  I believe it might have to do with a graphic mod I downloaded ages ago when I first got the game but haven't checked it out yet.

Anyone experiencing crashes?  Mine was some sort of "failure to find asset" crash that is definitely repeatable and reproducible. 

[Tanaka]

I fired this game up the other day.  I have the Matrix version so no need to log into Steam to run it.  Started a new game after patching in the latest update and that darn thing keeps crashing on me.  I believe it might have to do with a graphic mod I downloaded ages ago when I first got the game but haven't checked it out yet.

Anyone experiencing crashes?  Mine was some sort of "failure to find asset" crash that is definitely repeatable and reproducible.

Yes it is your mod for sure. Just uninstall the mod and reinstall it but if that does not work contact the devs Bill and Hubert on the forums they are always quick to help out...

[Boggit]

Lovely looking mod! :bd: Any chance you'll stick it on the Steam workshop?

[Tanaka]

Lovely looking mod! :bd: Any chance you'll stick it on the Steam workshop?

Huh? What mod are you talking about?

[ArizonaTank]

BTW, the official "Blue Max" mod is a pretty hefty rework of the unit graphics, screens and sounds...very, very, nicely done. Gives the game a much more historical feel. I highly recommend it. Added bonus is that since it is an "official" mod, it should not have compatibility issues as the core game is patched.

Blue Max is pretty hassle-free if messing with traditional fan mods is not your thing. Blue Max is easy to turn on / off from the Mods button on settings section from the main menu.

[Tanaka]

BTW, the official "Blue Max" mod is a pretty hefty rework of the unit graphics, screens and sounds...very, very, nicely done. Gives the game a much more historical feel. I highly recommend it. Added bonus is that since it is an "official" mod, it should not have compatibility issues as the core game is patched.

Blue Max is pretty hassle-free if messing with traditional fan mods is not your thing. Blue Max is easy to turn on / off from the Mods button on settings section from the main menu.

Yep maybe that is what he is referring to...

[Dammit Carl!]

In true Grog fashion, I had forgotten that I had this game -  :P.  Thanks for the heads-up with the mod, though, so hopefully I'll remember to use it as well.

[bobarossa]

In true Grog fashion, I had forgotten that I had this game -  :P.  Thanks for the heads-up with the mod, though, so hopefully I'll remember to use it as well.

edit: wrong thread!

[Boggit]

Lovely looking mod! :bd: Any chance you'll stick it on the Steam workshop?

Huh? What mod are you talking about?

Iron X's... ???

[ArizonaTank]

Hm, most accurate WW1 game... (I'll see if AzTank agrees with estimates).

....

Matrix's other first WW1 game, World War One Gold (which was briefly sold as WW1: Centennial on Steam and Gamersgate by another publisher trying to revitalize and fix the game), could conceivably be the best WW1 experience per se as long as you don't care much about the naval side and reduce the air to properly minor support (at the strategic scale). It will drive you insane with its picky details, and it's kind of broken in places, which thematically fits!  :bd: But no one can fault its ambition in principle, to take a monster WW1 board game and try to fit it into a pseudo-AGE-engine computer game design. It's as beautiful as a fairy queen on a steady diet of absinthe. Matrix supplanted it with a more properly Ageod-based WW1 game a few years ago, To End All Wars, about which I have no experience (and because of which they forced the Centennial game to cease sales and development.  :'( Understandably, from their perspective, though the legal questions involved seemed sketchy.) It's my favorite WW1 strategic game, and I kind of hate even trying to play it, so I can't recommend it exactly. But damn it's.... damnable!  :dreamer:

...

+1  I agree, I think To End All Wars is the best WWI grand strategy computer game out there in terms of "realism". It's older brother, WWI CE is not bad either, but as you said, frustrating in places.

BTW, WWI CE should get honorable mention for its inclusion of period music. There were over 85 songs, many of them recorded during the war. Some of them rarer stuff like Italian, Russian and Serbian songs. They were conveniently placed in a separate folder, in MP3 files. I made a CD and I used to listen to them on my way to work...great stuff. If you have CE and never cracked it open...I highly recommend it.

Another game we forgot to mention; Muzzy Lane released "Making History The First World War" in March of last year. I have it, but it seems pretty much an upgrade of their "MH Great War" that was released about seven years ago. I have a love / hate thing with the whole MH series...so I can't really recommend it.

Still having said all of that...Strategic Command: World War I is probably the easiest to play, while still modeling the war at a high level pretty well.

[Tanaka]

Lovely looking mod! :bd: Any chance you'll stick it on the Steam workshop?

Huh? What mod are you talking about?

Iron X's... ???

The Blue Max mod? It comes with the game now. Just activate it in the options/mods section...