Demo issue

[Nikolaj]

Hi there

I've been eyeballing Histwar: Les Grognards for a long time. I actually downloaded the demo once before, but never really got around to playing it.

Anyway, after playing the first tutorial, I was eager to proceed to some actual combat, but for some reason the second tutorial is in French. Am I doing something wrong, or was this tutorial never translated? Has it been translated in the full game?

[AJ]

I don't know about the 2nd Tuto being in French but I think a new Demo is coming soon. Histwar has come a long way in the last 18 months and the current Demo's does not reflect that. Clans are involved in MP Campaigns and the Forum members are in the middle of an MP Grand Tournament
 

[Nikolaj]

Thanks for the reply. I'm glad to hear you say that it's come a long way, since some decidedly weird stuff happened in my game.

I think I'll probably end up taking a leap of faith on this one, considering all the good stuff I've been hearing about it. How many scenarios does it come with? I believe I read 10 somewhere, but has any new ones been added with any of the patches?

[JMM]

Hi,

About the tutorial #2.. My mistake; I put a French file text into the English folder.
I am uploading a new demo with the good file.

Here the right file text you can download before installing into the folder /langage/HW/English.

Sorry 
Enjoy

JMM

[Nikolaj]

Thanks a lot. It works!

[AJ]

I think I'll probably end up taking a leap of faith on this one, considering all the good stuff I've been hearing about it. How many scenarios does it come with? I believe I read 10 somewhere, but has any new ones been added with any of the patches?

The Modding teams have come up with the Waterloo Campaign and the Peninsula Campaign, both are excellent!!!!! Individuals have added many other scenarios as well.  There are Sound, Terrain. Smoke. Explosions, Flags and Uniform Mods as well.  I have used the JSGME program to install all my Mods except Waterloo Campaign, which is an integrated Mod. JSGME is a program that allows you to Enable/Disable Mods, handy when applying a patch, you will find a walkthrough on JSGME here: http://www.histwar.org/forum/index.php/topic,5244.0.html

All the Scenarios and Mods as well as Official Patches can be found in the Depot above (the tab between Blog and Chat)
It's not really a "Leap of Faith" anymore, with the exception of the odd minor bug, which all games have,  HLG is without doubt the premiere Napoleonic Battle Simulator, there is NOTHING that comes anywhere near it.

Also, if you like fighting Live Multiplayer Battles, at NBC we fight 2 or 3 per week as well as PBEM Battles.  We are about to start our 4th Campaign for MP, "Generals at War" or GAW4.  The Campaign has it's own " How it Works" Web Page for  info only. http://www.webjam.com/nbc_gaw/mtm_starting_positions and you can join in at our NBC Website http://napbc.freeforums.org/index.php
Scroll down to the Sub Forum "LG Generals at War (GAW4) Campaign Forum"

[thilio]

It's not really a "Leap of Faith" anymore, with the exception of the odd minor bug, which all games have,  HLG is without doubt the premiere Napoleonic Battle Simulator, there is NOTHING that comes anywhere near it.

Well said

[Nikolaj]

Thanks a lot, AJ. There's definitely a lot of interesting information in your post, and as soon as I have the time to play it, I'll be buying the game. I've come to the conclusion that it would probably be in my be interest to postpone the purchase untill after my exams, though. They start tomorrow.

Just out of interest, does anyone know how this game compares to Scourge of War: Gettysburg? I've been playing that one, and I love it, and H:LG looks similar in a lot of ways.

[Franciscus]

Thanks a lot, AJ. There's definitely a lot of interesting information in your post, and as soon as I have the time to play it, I'll be buying the game. I've come to the conclusion that it would probably be in my be interest to postpone the purchase untill after my exams, though. They start tomorrow.

Just out of interest, does anyone know how this game compares to Scourge of War: Gettysburg? I've been playing that one, and I love it, and H:LG looks similar in a lot of ways.

I also have Scourge of War, but I have not played it much. They are both great games, and both deal with realistic tactics in XIX century warfare. But there are differences.
Maybe the biggest one is the "feel" of the game. In Histwar you ARE the Commander in chief. You make the battle plan, you give orders to your Corps Commanders and you follow the battle, managing reserves, giving new orders ( that may not get obeyed), etc. You can micromanage each regiment, but that's not the "spirit" of the game.
In SOW, on the other hand, micromanaging is more "natural". You can also play Army commander, but I never managed playing only with orders to the Corps/divisions without micromanagement. That's also why it's "easy" to manage a whole Napoleonic battle in HW and why at least to me it's difficult to manage SOW above division size scenarios.
There are other differences:
- In HW You cannot (yet...) play as Corps/Division commander. This is planned, though.
- Graphics and the envionment are slightly better in SOW. Fences have uses, for example, while in HW the battlefield is more "abstracted". For intance, couriers exist but are not graphically represented in the map.
- You can choose betwenn 2  GUIs in HW. The newest one is, IMHO, the better, and more intuitive than the one from SOW.
- Units are much more (unrealistic so, IMHO) responsive in SOW than HW. I am talking about lying down, wheeling, etc, things that are, again, more "abstracted" in HW
- In HW you play a battle, that usually last only a day, and you have no linked scenarios.
- The AI in HW is not scripted like in SOW, which has advantages and disadvantages. In HW the AI does not follow (yet...) a historic battle plan (a bit like a sandbox, but with historical maps and OOBs), but this gives more variety to solo game. And the AI is pretty good  
...

All in all, they are probably the best XIX century battle "simulators". HW is a work of love of it's creator, JMM, that gives incredible support, and tries to answer all and each question in the forums.

I advise you to try the new demo, but I think you will not regret buying this gem. Unfortunately, Games like this are very rare.


Regards

[Nikolaj]

Thanks a lot for the reply.

I hope you don't mind me asking, but would you happen to be the same Franciscus who's on the Ageod forums? Just curious, since I recognise the name.

I'm glad to hear that it's easier to manage than SOW. I'm having trouble above division size, too. I've been trying to play using only couriers, and I think the courier system needs some more polish and a few more options, before it's really feasible.

Anyway, it sounds really good. I've managed to squeeze in a bit of time with the demo, and even though some weird stuff seemed to happen, I enjoyed it a lot. Did you say that there's a new demo out? I'd love to try an updated version.

Also, I'm considering getting the napoleon edition. The price difference is steep, but after my exams are over, I think I deserve to be spoiled. I'm just wondering what exactly the operational sheets are?

[AJ]

The new Demo is on the way, the old one is totally unpatched and there have been a LOT of patches, so it doesn't represant the stability and advances made.

[Darsh]

For me the great advantage of HW, it's is multiplayer! 

[Franciscus]

@Nicolaj:

Yes, I am the Franciscus from Ageod, too  .

Regarding the demo, JMM said recently that the demo was already updated, but I have not checked it.

As to weird stuff, sometimes "strange" things may be due to the difference between what we would like to see our units do and what in reality they are capable of doing, like in reality. But of course, bugs exist, like in every game.

Regarding couriers, let me say that it is feasible and enjoyable to play locked in the Army commander view in HW, a thing that I did not manage to do in SOW.

@Darsh: SOW also has multiplayer, apparently very good.

Regards

[Nikolaj]

I guess the internet is a small place, when it comes to computer wargames.

I checked the readme, and it seems that it is indeed the latest version. To be honest, the weird stuff I mentioned could be working as intended, as I still haven't had much time to really try out the demo.

What happened was that one of my regiments (under the control of an ai general) started shooting at an enemy regiment, then they charged. The enemy routed, but stayed in place. My own regiment also stayed in place, right in front of the enemy regiment, without shooting or fighting, although the tooltip said that the regiment was in combat. They stayed like that for almost half an hour, the enemy routing, then rallying, then routing again.

However, I must say that I'm very impressed by the way that my ai general commanded the troops. He formed some nice lines, and they actually kept a good formation while attacking. That's a pretty rare sight in SOW.

[Franciscus]

Bugs exist, of course. JMM is extremely responsive and attentive to our reports. Very much like our beloved Pocus, in the "old" Ageod days. The amazing thing is that JMM works all alone !

If you think you found a bug, you should report it. Probably the best way is through a specific channel created by JMM, via Redmine (http://comandplay.coda-cola.net/projects/hw-public). You register, create a new "activity", describe the problem, and, the most important, attach a sav file, and state when (in battle time) and where (in the map) you spotted a bug. Rest assured JMM will take notice.

Regards