Re: Finally a kriegsspiel on the PC? Gettysburg: Scourge of War review

[Martin]

so when the battle does come about ive read it will be sandbox which is good what sides will we most likely play confederate or union?

Assuming we all play against the AI, perhaps we should take a vote on it?

[Pete Maidhof]

so when the battle does come about ive read it will be sandbox which is good what sides will we most likely play confederate or union?

Assuming we all play against the AI, perhaps we should take a vote on it?

No preference, my family had no dog in this fight.

[Tim Carne]

Well another volunteer here. I have played the demo and it looks good.

Another game to be aware of - HistWar les Grognards. It is napoleonic and was released a couple of years ago. There have been a number of patches and this is now a challenging game. The "Grognard" level comes with Fog of War and limited information. This can do multiplayer over the net and the forum has reports from some games posted. I believe there have been 10+ player games.

There is a demo but be aware this is now behind the patched game in terms of functionality, interface etc.

[Martin]

Well another volunteer here. I have played the demo and it looks good.

Another game to be aware of - HistWar les Grognards. It is napoleonic and was released a couple of years ago. There have been a number of patches and this is now a challenging game. The "Grognard" level comes with Fog of War and limited information. This can do multiplayer over the net and the forum has reports from some games posted. I believe there have been 10+ player games.

There is a demo but be aware this is now behind the patched game in terms of functionality, interface etc.

Splendid Tim. That makes 11 of us now, I think. Can you send me your email address please, and I'll add you to the list?

I've been wondering about HistWar les Grognards myself. I tried the demo some months ago and thought it had potential but was lacking a little je-ne-sais-quoi. But have since heard from others that the patches have improved it, so you are not alone. I would certainly consider buying the full version, and suspect others would too. Can you direct us to some recent reviews please?

Martin

[Martin]

Have now received advice that there is no difference in game performance whether we use the Nobsoft game lobby to host the game, or one of our PCs, so that's one technical issue resolved.

Initial impressions from the game manual suggests it is less hassle to go the latter route, which is certainly the one we've used for our 3-player games previously, but if anyone sees things differently, let's hear from you.

Martin

[Tim Carne]

Martin (et al).

The most recent one I am aware of is here. http://www.armchairgeneral.com/histwar-les-grognards-pc-game-review.htm

The focus is on the general gameplay rather that the network play capabilities. It is also several patches behind the latest.

There is also a forum which you can link to from the retail site. As a member I have full access and I believe there is a form of guest access from which you might set some flavour of the enthusiasm for the game by reading the various threads.

http://www.histwar.com/

There is a significant AI element to the gameplay to allow the player as commander to concentrate on the higher level. Limited awareness becomes available through the options menu.

[Martin]

Many thanks Tim. I'll have a look at the Histwar links.

And best of luck to Mike. Hope tomorrow's session with the US Army majors goes well.

Martin

[Streetgang6]

Many thanks Tim. I'll have a look at the Histwar links.

And best of luck to Mike. Hope tomorrow's session with the US Army majors goes well.

Martin

Thanks Martin! I'm setting up the maps and pieces now. I can't wait!

Mike

[Martin]

Here is where things are with the proposed multiplayer game.......

(a) 11 or 12 have now expressed interest, which is a very healthy number, but really anyone who wants to play will be very welcome, so please get in touch if you are hanging back. Given that designer Norb said in response to my review that the solid multi-player game player-count is 10, it seems sensible to initially limit the number of participants to that. In practice, not everyone is likely to be able to make any particular game, so I doubt that will be a problem.

(b) Have installed Teamspeak3 (which is free) as our new in-game communication tool, and will test it with Pete Maidhoff in next few days. Pete - please let me know when would be convenient. Given the time difference, would sometime this weekend suit you?

(c) Am getting a brief tutorial on Hamachi tomorrow from my youngest. This creates a virtual LAN for us to play on, is what we have used in our previous small games, and seems to work well. Players will therefore need to download & install this too (it’s also free).

(d) Am working on a guide to hosting & joining multiplayer games, as we don't think the one in the manual is as clear as it might be. Will include something on Teamspeak & Hamachi too, so it's all there in one place. Essentially there is a bit of set-up work for players to do once only, but after that it’s just a few mouse clicks to host or join any game.

(e) Rather than go for a big game from the word go, and possibly fall flat on our face, we think it makes sense to try one or two small ones first, for just 2 or 3 players first, and thoroughly test communications etc. Will be looking to do that perhaps the week after next.

(f) If all the above goes well, it may still be possible to try a large game on a weekend in mid-December. Sunday 18th has been suggested. I am not promising this however, as we want it to go smoothly, and believe it’s worth taking some time & trouble to ensure that happens.

Any questions, or anything I appear to have forgotten?

Martin

[Pete Maidhof]

Team Speak 3 Test...how is early Saturday moring for me, early afternoon for you? After that I will be out of pocket for the week traveling on business. If that works, pick a time and I'll try to match it GMT-5.

Pete Maidhof(-f)

[Martin]

Whoops, sorry Pete

I'll email you to agree a time (and avoid any further public embarrassment).

Martin

[hammurabi70]

I am watching this with a great deal of interest.

[Martin]

We potentially need to use 3 applications to run an on-line multiplayer game. These are the game itself, a communications programme so we can talk if we meet-up on the battlefield (rather than using the normal courier system which comes with the game), and also a LAN emulator so we all can play over a virtual LAN. Any of these could potentially give rise to technical issues, but we now have volunteers for each to field FAQs:

1. Gettysburg: Scourge of War. That's me folks.

2. TeamSpeak 3 comms programme. Pete Maidhof. See new topic at http://forum.kriegsspiel.org.uk/t206-gettysburg-scourge-of-war-team-speak-3#1221 for more details.

3. Hamachi LAN emulator. David James

My thanks to Pete & David for agreeing to act as our leads on TeamSpeak & Hamachi respectively. They have both used their respective applications before, but both will be researching them in more detail next week, so if anyone does have any questions for them, it may be an idea to wait until next weekend.

In a test today, Pete and I experienced some delay in getting TeamSpeak to work, The solution turned-out to be quite straightforward, once you knew it! We imagine though, that others may find similar problems the first time they try to use any of 1. - 3. Having a 'go-to' person should help, but Pete & I were coming around to the view that, rather than running one big game initially, it might be better to run several small ones, to iron out any problems relating to individual player's kit or configuration. Then, once we go for a big game, we will at least know that everyone has Hamachi installed correctly, has a microphone that works (and is enabled for TeamSpeak) etc, and other stuff we have probably not thought about yet.

Martin

[henridecat]

I am not sure why you need this teamspeak thing, is it audio?

I use skype chat for the online multi player game Travian, it is basically a text chat utllity & works for me, good thing is you keep the history. Great to organise attacks, strrategy & stuff.

What are the minimum requirements for this game, I have a relatively old PC, but I wll replace it soon, so I may stretch to a machine that will handle this game.

TIA Rich

[Martin]

I am not sure why you need this teamspeak thing, is it audio?

I use skype chat for the online multi player game Travian, it is basically a text chat utllity & works for me, good thing is you keep the history. Great to organise attacks, strrategy & stuff.

What are the minimum requirements for this game, I have a relatively old PC, but I wll replace it soon, so I may stretch to a machine that will handle this game.

TIA Rich

Hi Rich

We could play without TeamSpeak, using the game’s courier system to communicate even when players meet-up on the battlefield. OTOH it's more convenient to have a conversation, it's more authentic if you are in the same place, and using the courier system (even with instant receipt) does not work so well if more than 2 of you are involved in the discussion.

We used Skype for our previous 3-player games, but have not found a way of just using in when folks meet up. We don't want the whole the team hearing every conversation for example, although I can imagine that's just what you do want playing Travian. TeamSpeak 3 has been recommended by players in the US, and it supposedly allows us to have these private conversations, and we think even allows concurrent separate conversations by groups of team members in separate parts of the battlefield, which may occasionally happen. All that said, we (or more accurately Pete) are still investigating what it can do. If it does not suffice, we are certainly open to alternatives.

I’m honestly not sure what the minimum spec is. It’s been designed so you can vary the graphic settings for older computers, by reducing uniform details & variation, reducing amounts of vegetation etc. Avoiding army-level engagements will also help. And we will probably start fairly small with our multiplayer games, as we are feeling our way. I would expect all our early ones to be at division or corps level, so that should help.

To get the best out of a new pc, I would recommend one with a separate graphics card.

Martin