Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

SPWaW is a tactical squad-level World War II game on single platoon or up to an entire battalion through Europe and the Pacific (1939 to 1945).

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sinner
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by sinner »

I'd love to purchase SPWaW with increased resolution, Windows 7 enabled (or Linux enabled or Mac OSX enabled).

Right now, it's not the easiest thing to get it running. And still, after all those many years, there's people playing it!

The Old Lady is not matched by any other wargame in the amount of fun she provides.

Please, oh please! [&o][&o][&o]
Sinner from the Prairy<br />"Thalassa! Thalassa!"
morge4
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by morge4 »

I too dearly love this grand old game! Any help to make it a grand new game would be wonderful! The game deserves an uplift to make it a bit more compatible with the new OS's.
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Major_Mess
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RE: Matrix / Slitherene - Opportunity Knocks

Post by Major_Mess »

ORIGINAL: Sotamies Riitaoja

I see that you have problems with the artillery screen in SPWAW. I have mine working fine with the cpu core affinity set at #2. The problem is that the game does not know what to do with todays multi core processors.

I have attached the fix I am using so you can try it out if you want to.

basicaly you extract the files in "Steel Panters World at War" main game folder where mech.exe is and start the game from "_Run_SPWAW_Win7.CMD". The fix also contains Aqrit's ddrawrapper that should correct the colors on windows 7/vista.

Let me know if it works for you.


Dude, did you write this cmd file?
Or is this NCrawlers work?

Either way, whoever created this is a God among wargamers.


Problem solved, bug fixed.

Further dialogue with Slitherene forthcoming.




cheers


MM
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wodin
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RE: Matrix / Slitherene - Opportunity Knocks

Post by wodin »

A reboot of Steel Panthers really is the only game I'm truly waiting for. We need a monster tactical game. The recent tactical wargames are either boardgame conversions which means they are very abstract by nature or it's 3D i.e Combat Mission X2 and Graviteam tactics (both amazing games). We need a proper top down either WEGO or turn based in depth, uber detailed monster tactical wargame. A game that models things in great detail from weather to individual solider moral, from close combat to vehicle component damage. One which does alot but isn't a click fest and has good command and control movement mechanics. Would model leaders down to squad level. Would model off map arty in detail including things like modifiers due to weather\atmospherics. Model radio comms historically. Multi level buildings including sewers. Fortifications like trench networks and dug outs. Realistic ballistics model. Include all types of Inf so we can have paratroops or Serbian ski troops etc etc. Model resupply and reinforcements. Bridge building by pioneers (including different types of bridge). Have a good camo system and have things like Japanese spider traps aswell as underground tunnel systems. A decent air aspect with pilot skill and strafing tactics\STUKA dive bombing (Stuka have a moral hit aswell). Things like concussion modeled so troops could be killed by concussion due to close proximity. Detailed SOP settings from squad to individual weapon settings (that way you can give the squads lmg different SOPD's to the riflemen.

Orders will be carried out aswell as that units leader can. SO you set the SOP's. Then give your units their orders for the battle. Once under way if you want to change the order for a unit and they have a radio you can get the order to them quickly, however if they don't you have to send a messenger so takes time. So alot of the planning will be done before you hit start and after that you'll be adjusting on the fly with command delays and relying on your Officers and nco's.

Have a decent rpg aspect when it comes to your troops so you feel attached.

Give the player lots of decisions yet at the same time not to complicated to play.
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mkr8683
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RE: Matrix / Slitherene - Opportunity Knocks

Post by mkr8683 »

Wodin, I think I just creamed myself [X(]

Your post is like a Steel Panthers erotic novel.

Please get yourself hired by Matrix/Slitherine [:)]
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TerribleIvan
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RE: Matrix / Slitherene - Opportunity Knocks

Post by TerribleIvan »

i second mkr8683's opinion, Wodin's post is better than gunporn (tankporn?) [:D]

i'll also gladly pay a hundred bucks for an updated version, or support kickstarter crowdfunding if one is ever set up for SPWAW
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Major_Mess
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RE: Matrix / Slitherene - Opportunity Knocks

Post by Major_Mess »

Mr. McNeil.

Bumping this post to ask if there has been any movement at your end concerning this game? Its been over a month since I broached this topic.

Or, Is your one and only post on this thread your position on this subject?
The final word.





Silly naive me, I really honestly thought that you (Matrix/Slitherine) would be chuffed with the knowledge that an old game in your catalogue was again "relevant".
Especially one with such a recognisable name and tradition in the very business you earn a living from.

Yet, by doing nothing you (Matrix/Slitherine) are wilfully allowing SPWaW to just "die on the vine" due to the apparently total lack of interest and support.
I say this because anyone that has even a scintilla of interest in the PC wargaming genre would recognise that the scenario before us is wrong, and that this situation can and should be rectified.

But I'm beginning to realise that you are not that class of individual, and tragically Matrix is not that type of Gaming Company anymore.

I understand it now.
It's entirely a business decision. Why would you want to expend any time or energy on an old game that you're already giving away for free?
That's Crazy Talk!

Nope, you and your partner are just a pair of businessmen that make money off of people that like PC Wargames.
That's it, nothing else matters.

And that's Sad.

My initial belief that you would have to be considered a DUMB person, and by extension your firm a DUMB company if you didn't at least investigate SPWaW's new found life was wrong on my part, and a bit mean spirited.
I apologise.
I won't call you DUMB.

I now don't believe that you should to be laughed at, or that Matrix/Slitherine shows the signs of a bumbling operation that only scores own-goals.
No Way, I won't speak of it!


No Sir, In my eyes the conduct shown is simply Shameful.[:-]

[:)]
However, in spite of that I am still willing to work with you because well, business is business. Right?
I have a proposition that you might find beneficial to you, and to a lesser degree to the rest of us.

PM me if you are at all interested. What have you got to lose?


As Always,
Respectably Yours

Major Mess
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forgorin
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RE: Matrix / Slitherene - Opportunity Knocks

Post by forgorin »

I like both Matrix and Slitherine.
How about Slitherine makes a new Steel Panthers from scratch and Matrix can sell it?
Slitherine is doing a good job of the Panzer Corp game so obviously they are good at turning golden oldies into modern good games.
Stress is the confusion created when ones own mind over rides the bodies desire to choke the living shit out of some asshole who really deserves it!
GeneralClausewitz
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by GeneralClausewitz »

I realize I'm arriving a bit late to this conversation, however it's an important topic to me so I hope you forgive my tardiness. First and foremost, I would like to state that I would absolutely pay top dollar for a remake of SPWAW. While I play a great many games, I ALWAYS find myself returning to SPWAW. It is absolutely unsurpassed in its ability to realistically portray combat during World War II. Literally any conflict that took place during that War can be recreated quite accurately in SPWAW. It's a true gem of a game, and still holds my attention decades after it was first released. I will add, however, that any remake of the game must be done correctly. So many reboots of older games recently have used the name of the previous game, but for reasons that I cannot fathom, they discard the things that made the original so great. I hope this would not be the case for any SPWAW remake. In fact, I would only be interested in a remake if it improved upon, rather than changed, the original mechanics of the game. The following are some ways that I believe it could do that:

1. DO NOT TINKER TOO MUCH WITH THE CORE MECHANICS! As I've already stated, SPWAW is already a great game and the mechanics are sound. As the saying goes, if it's not broke, don't fix it.

2. FOCUS ON IMPROVING GRAPHICS! For all the reasons to remake SPWAW, this one stands head and shoulders above the rest. If only one thing is done to the game, it should be this. While I think the graphics have aged marvelously, it would certainly not hurt to spruce them up, and allow higher resolutions.

3. ADD MORE OPTIONS! I believe this would be the safest way to bring in new content without offending fans of the game. The original SPWAW does a great job of providing options for you to alter the game to your liking, but also allows you to forgo those options if you choose. Any additional content should be created in this manner, so that a purist can enjoy the original game they loved so much, while those who like additional features can enjoy them as well.

4. SOME IDEAS FOR NEW OPTIONS! When playing SPWAW, there are times where I wish the game would allow greater depth on certain issues. Listed below are those options that appeal to me (but in no shape or form is my list exhaustive; merely a jumping off point).

-Add corpses to the game. One of my favorite things after fighting a tough battle in SPWAW is to survey the map and marvel at the destruction the battle has caused. Destroyed tanks litter the battlefield, a smoky haze hangs over the field, houses and buildings reduced to rubble, fires rage in forests and cities. However there is one thing missing, and that is the human cost. While I might be accused of being bloodthirsty, I believe that the lack of corpses makes it difficult to pinpoint where the heaviest infantry fighting occurred, and censors the cost of war. Just as knocked out tanks leave burning wreckage, soldiers that have been killed should also be displayed.

-Add a medic/hospital system. While some might argue this is outside the scope of SPWAW, I disagree. Medics were present on the frontlines, and omitting them fails to do justice to those that actually performed this grisly task. Including medics/ambulances would add even more depth to a game that already has noteworthy amounts of it. While medics should obviously not be able to magically heal soldiers, it would make sense that their presence would convert soldiers that might have died into soldiers that were critically wounded, and the critically wounded could be converted into walking wounded, and walking wounded could be allowed to immediately return to the fighting. If a medic is present near a unit that has suffered casualties, it should be able to convert a fraction of those wounded into a lesser degree of wounding. Additionally the medic should give a morale boost to units that have taken casualties. Finally, medics should be able to allow a percentage of wounded veteran soldiers to return to their units if a campaign is being played.

-Add more RPG elements! By RPG elements I do not mean paladins and orcs and magic, but rather anything that makes your digital soldiers feel more human. More than anything else, this is the one thing I feel that the original SPWAW somewhat fails to deliver. While you can name your unit commanders and have your units gain experience during a campaign, the RPG elements available in the original SPWAW pretty much ends there. The result is that a player can be fairly wreckless with the lives of their digital soldiers, and not suffer any emotional cost when they are wounded or killed. By bringing the individual soldiers under your command to life, it can do a much better job of simulating the the hesitancy a commander should feel when sending their soldiers into harm's way. Imagine having a veteran and blooded squad of soldiers that are very experienced, but are not utilized as much because the player does not wish to risk losing them. It would be a very welcome and neat mechanic. Additionally, imagine getting the following messages during battle or in between battles during campaigns:

"Lieutenant Jennings has received a Distinguished Service Cross! +10 to morale!" (or whatever increase to stats makes sense)

"Private Smith has received a dear John letter! -10 to morale!"

"Sergeant Johnson has been killed in action! His squad is enraged and will fight viciously for the remainder of the battle, but will also refuse to take prisoners!"

"Private Mason has been killed in action! His best friend Private Allen suffers a nervous breakdown, and is escorted off the battlefield!"


Naturally these are just examples, however I think the game would benefit greatly from increasing the human element. How neat would it be to see your highly-decorated squad safely survive the war? How gut-wrenching would it be to see them slaughtered days before the end of the war?

-Add historically accurate medals to the game. I love seeing my soldiers accumulate decorations in those few games that provide it (Close Combat is an almost perfect example of it being done well). It's just really neat to see your soldiers become hardened veterans. However historical accuracy is very important. Sometimes wargames include medals, but make it very clear they did not bother taking the fifteen minutes necessary to properly research them and award them in a way that makes sense. I'll use American medals as an example since those are the ones I am most familiar with. If your soldiers are shot at during a battle, they should be awarded a Combat Infantry Badge. Any soldier that is wounded in battle should be awarded a Purple Heart. For decorations like the Medal of Honor, [Distinguished Service/Navy] Cross, Silver Star, or Bronze Star, there should be a formula for determining if it happens, along with some degree of chance included. A variety of factors should be included in the formula, including things like how much enemy fire a unit took, how many casualties they took/inflicted, how many objectives they secured, and how much terrain they covered (among other things). If a squad took fire from artillery, tanks, machine guns, and infantry, inflicted 20 casualties upon the enemy, and had half of their squad killed in a battle, the formula would take all these things into account, as well as roll a few virtual dice, and them come up with a result. Maybe a General was watching, and all survivors were awarded Silver Stars. Or no one noticed and so no one is awarded anything. Or the game calculates that one member of the squad has earned a DSC (maybe even allowing you to choose the soldier it is awarded to). This would be my dream system. :)

Anyways, I've rambled long enough. In short, I would love to see SPWAW get remade, and would absolutely be willing to pay for a good remake. Thanks for listening! :)
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mkr8683
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by mkr8683 »

My god, hrethgar, are you and Wodin collaborating on a SP:WaW erotic novel? Enough, I can't take it anymore! [:D]

By the way, Major, did you happen to receive any word from Matrix or Slitherine?
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Major_Mess
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by Major_Mess »

ORIGINAL: mkr8683
By the way, Major, did you happen to receive any word from Matrix or Slitherine?

Negative, sad to say.
No further correspondence since Messrs. McNeil and Rutins replied on May 19th.
ORIGINAL: mkr8683
My god, hrethgar, are you and Wodin collaborating on a SP:WaW erotic novel? Enough, I can't take it anymore! [:D]


Yeah .... there's some sweet, sweet wargamer porn being created right there. To bad that it's apparently not reaching the proper audience.



Fighting the good fight.

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mkr8683
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by mkr8683 »

I think all these posts do is make us feel good about ourselves for a little while, and then it's back to square one, and we all sound like petulant whiners. A vicious circle.

Do we deserve an upgraded SP:WaW? I think we do, especially when we'd all be willing to drop cash on it.

I've been given very vague, ambiguous answers to the question from Slitherine staff (no one at Matrix even bothers answering).

We should probably just give it up.


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sami heimola
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by sami heimola »

But we can even create little "pressure" about upgrading SPWAW, can't we[:'(]?
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rwenstrup
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by rwenstrup »

With the flood of 'greenlight' and 'kickstarter' games out there it is amazing to me that a game with as much popularity as Steel Panthers has never been updated. Considering that the free release of Steel Panthers was the reason Matrix Games was propelled into the lead wargamers website it makes it even more extraordinary.

In my past I was a business manager for a major electronics firm. In our time we became the leading supplier for our key product. The reason for our success was that we continued to improve upon our core product when others changed to the 'newer' and 'popular' product concepts. By listening to our customers, and prioritizing our development efforts based upon their input, we ended up being the most successful company in our area.

Why Matrix Games has not acted on the demand for an upgraded Steel Panthers mystifies me. This is clearly one of the most demanded games ... and there are a number of programmers who need work. Why not do a Matrix 'Kickstart' and let the gaming community fund the development? If there is not enough money...then you know the endless comments in the forum asking for an update is only a few fanatics...

If there is no intention to update the game it would probably be a good idea to make a clear announcement and be done with it...as sad as that would be...

Matrix Games has been a great company...I for one hope they continue to be...
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KG Erwin
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by KG Erwin »

Part of the problem might be in who actually owns the game code? I really have no idea. Every update since version 8.403 has been done by the fans themselves.

I still believe that the game needs to be rewritten from the ground up. Sorry to rain on anyone's parade, but the game code IS about 11 years old, right? I don't even know if Michael Wood or any of the other programmers even retained a copy of it.
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Falcon1
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by Falcon1 »

oops wrong thread :)
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mkr8683
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RE: Matrix / Slitherine - Opportunity Knocks

Post by mkr8683 »

This is probably how Matrix/Slitherine view us -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyI6gtG-fLQ
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Alby
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RE: Matrix / Slitherene - Opportunity Knocks

Post by Alby »

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

Guys this game was developed a long time ago and for older operating system. It is still a great game and we still have a lot of people happy to pay the price. However we are not in a position to update the old code to bring it to newer operating systems as its more work than creating a full new game because the code base is sol old and patched.

That's not to say Steel Panthers is a dead end, but that we don't have any plans to do a OS upgrade for the old version.

It is also not a game you can just throw any developers at to do a remake. To make a real Steel Panthers game you need a real Steel Panthers team and there are not many of those available.

I bet Mike Wood could do it, at least get it to where the colors load right and that artillery 'BUG" is gone
That would do wonders just doing that.
Plus, the team is out here, many of us worked on this game for years on our own time

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mkr8683
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RE: Matrix / Slitherene - Opportunity Knocks

Post by mkr8683 »

Sounds like little more than a patch. But even that would be welcome.
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Major_Mess
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RE: Matrix / Slitherene - Opportunity Knocks

Post by Major_Mess »

Guys,

We gotta work with what we have.
As I see it, there are two issues here that have crippled this game. (technical issues my cynical friends [:)], let's not look elsewhere right this moment, OK? Lots of time for that to be discussed later)

1. XP is EOL and Win 7 makes it go all goofy.
2. She don't like multi-core processors.

IMHO, trying to get this game to work on a Win 7 box is a waste of time and effort. I know it can be done, there are workarounds, sorta, but ...

However ... Windows 8.1, along with an itty-bitty .cmd file = [8D]
NO Arty Screen issues.
Colors as they should be.

Everything works.

Now .... if only there was an updated Enhanced version (loaded with ENH Scenarios and Campaigns annnnnd lots more Maps and Tools and even more) available for download.









News to follow soon.



Soon to be Retired, with loooooooooooooooooooots of time on my hands.

Yours truly

MM


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