jtgorman@cs.arizona.edu (J. Taggart Gorman) (04/06/91)
In article <1991Apr4.225837.7179@midway.uchicago.edu> jm13@quads.uchicago.edu (Kermit T. Frog) writes: >Which brings us to our next point: What is REALLY good, no bugs, preferably >sports-oriented or war-oriented, that I should get as a replacement? I've >heard a lot about Harpoon, but I don't like the fact that people have mentioned >bugs and that you have to keep buying battlesets. One game I have gotten >recently and I think is really good (if you like golf) is Jack Nicklaus' >Greatest Holes of Major Championship Golf. I've enjoyed it immensely and will >keep going back to it (and maybe even buy other courses). I do, as a rule, >trust the net's opinion on these things, and I want to get a REALLY GOOD GAME! > Okay, you say that you don't like the fact that you have to buy additional battlesets for Harpoon, but you say that you _would_ but an additional course disk for Golf. First, the scenario disks are only $23 with shipping from Mac's Place. Second, and even a better reason, is that the additional battlesets come with 16 new scenarios (at least NACV does, haven't saved up for the Med yet!) which can be played from both "sides", ie. NATO or Soviet. And there are 6 boolean flags you set at the beginning of each game that can make it totally different from the last time you played. Since you don't have the game, I'll list those settings : Possible Nuclear Release (can be overridden in the game) Realistic Weather Realistic Maintenance (ie, weapons breakdown) Snorkling Subs (makes diesel subs easier to find) Start with Full Ordinance Auto Formation Air Cover (computer assigns planes and such to CAP, etc) So this means that the basic games, which has 12 scenarios, has 144 different games (actually 24, since the settings above don't affect the game _that_ much) and the NACV (North Atlantic ConVoy) module has 192 (actually 32) different games. That's alot! I have had NACV for a month and still haven't played all the scenarios from all the angles. I spend to much time sinking the carriers of the capitalist alliance! :) As for all these comments about the game dying all the time, I must say that on my Si with 5megs of memory, I have had Harpoon die once! That has to be a record. What I did was increase the memory allocated to the APPL to 1000K. The game froze alot more often on my Plus though. I think it was to do with the complexity of the scenario, and not the game, for simple scenarios with a few ships run without a hitch, but monsterous games with 30 or more subs, each as an independent unit really tax the computer and cause it to choke. As for the game itsself, sure there are some bugs, but there is _NO_ substitution for it. Nothing compares or even comes close to Harpoon. It's my favorite game. Where else can a CSc major lead the Red Banner Northern Fleet to a decisive victory over the forces of capitalism? No, I don't own stock in 360 or work for them, I just _love_ punching holes in the US Navy! | J. Taggart Gorman Jr. | "I'm a no rust build up man myself." | | -Christian Slater | jtgorman@caslon.cs.arizona.edu | in 'Heathers'
jm13@quads.uchicago.edu (Kermit T. Frog) (04/06/91)
In article <1339@caslon.cs.arizona.edu> jtgorman@cs.arizona.edu (J. Taggart Gorman) writes: >In article <1991Apr4.225837.7179@midway.uchicago.edu> jm13@quads.uchicago.edu (Kermit T. Frog) writes: >> > Okay, you say that you don't like the fact that you have to buy additional >battlesets for Harpoon, but you say that you _would_ but an additional course >disk for Golf. OK, I realized the inconsistency of this when I typed it, but what I meant was that I would buy additional sets (of courses, battles, etc.) of any game that I would a) STAY interested in, and b) had no bugs. One of the things that really impressed me about Golf was that it has _no_ bugs. If I am paying 40-50 dollars, I want to get something with no bugs. > First, the scenario disks are only $23 with shipping from Mac's Place. Where, or what, exactly IS Mac's Place? I've heard a lot about it, but could someone get more specific? (Useful comments about complexity and diversity of scenarios deleted to save bandwidth) > As for all these comments about the game dying all the time, I must say that >on my Si with 5megs of memory, I have had Harpoon die once! That has to be >a record. What I did was increase the memory allocated to the APPL to 1000K. Did this alleviate the problem, or were there other annoying bugs still in existence? >The game froze alot more often on my Plus though. I think it was to do with >the complexity of the scenario, and not the game, for simple scenarios with a >few ships run without a hitch, but monsterous games with 30 or more subs, each >as an independent unit really tax the computer and cause it to choke. Don't get me wrong -- Harpoon seems like a really cool game, and your recommendation may just tip the balance in its favor -- but I just get infuriated when I pay twice as much for commercial products with bugs as shareware products without them. The guys at the computer store are eying me warily when I walk in now, because I return stuff every so often. Now, when I return Vette!, I want to get something that I will enjoy a LOT and will not frustrate me with its inconsistencies. Also, to clear up another point, Vette! has no bugs that I can see -- I'm just tired of it after two days. Not worth the money, IMHO. > >| J. Taggart Gorman Jr. | "I'm a no rust build up man myself." >| | -Christian Slater >| jtgorman@caslon.cs.arizona.edu | in 'Heathers' Thanks for the input -- I appreciate it and other input like it. (hint, hint -- anyone else out there have any suggestions?) -- Paid for by the Committee to elect the Boston Bruins as the 1991 Stanley Cup Champions. Sponsored by the Committee to elect the St. Louis Blues as the 1991 Campbell Conference Champions.