Next War 1979 - Expanded (Beta 1.0) play testers needed

[Zovs]

Could you explain or show

Graphics by Cabido add an nice touch

?

[mussey]

ORIGINAL: Zovs

Could you explain or show

Graphics by Cabido add an nice touch

?

While much of the unit symbols remain the the same (NATO style), I adopted some of Cabido's unit symbols like the WP border gd towers, and MP's. His work also inspired me to do some of my own artwork like my naval missile ships, etc.

Here's his post: tm.asp?m=4568853

[Zovs]

Got it thanks. I am still an old NATO board war gamer at heart and never like figurative counters except ships and planes.

[Hellen_slith]

ORIGINAL: cathar1244

Might be useful to have the computer play itself with the -original- Next War scenario to see if CTDs occur.

I've been playing the original Next War (both Tension and Sudden versions) since ACOW, both PBEM and hot seat, probably at least four dozen times, maybe even 100 times to various points. Played it maybe five or six times through in TOAW4. I can't remember ever having that CTD issue happen in the original.

Anyway, here is how to reproduce in Expanded: move naval a lot, move air a lot, embark / debark some Marines for naval transport (not necessary, but seems to "help"), fly some helos around (w/ or w/o troops aboard), then scroll around the map, moving ground units, and sooner or later, it WILL ctd. It is a time sink making it do, but it do. I get the feel that it has something to do with that old hitch in the map movement that used to be in ver. 1.1 of TOAW4, the one that was fixed? Can't remember the details of that. Anyway,

It can do CTD both during NATO movement and Pact movement, just seeming randomly. But it do. That ain't gonna keep me from playing it, though!! Just have to remember: save those formation movements and just save save save every 10 or 15 minutes. Better that than losing 45 minutes.

Looking forward to it!

[Hellen_slith]

ORIGINAL: Hellen_slith

ORIGINAL: cathar1244

Might be useful to have the computer play itself with the -original- Next War scenario to see if CTDs occur.

I've been playing the original Next War (both Tension and Sudden versions) since ACOW, both PBEM and hot seat, probably at least four dozen times, maybe even 100 times to various points. Played it maybe five or six times through in TOAW4. I can't remember ever having that CTD issue happen in the original.

I must have extremely Bad Karma, b/c today, after about 90 minutes of move / combat / move, I was on my last round of combat in Turn 8 as Pact, in my and Larry's email game of the original "Tension" scene, and during the combat resolution phase, the game froze and then CTD.

90 minutes of my life, GONE. Three successive rounds of movement and combat ... GONE. Over 900 NATO aircraft NOT DESTROYED again. Dozens of Pact air sorties set with loving care to various ranges ... GONE.

This issue is a TOTAL scene killer, man. After almost 20 years of playing this scene (ACOW came out in 2000, I bought it immediately JUST TO PLAY THIS SCENE), and never a CTD, but it finally happened.

FIDDLESTICKS!!! [:@]

So, there you go. It happens. TARNATION [:@]
[:@][:@][:@]

[larryfulkerson]

I'm sorry that happened to you Damon my friend. Just join the club I guess....I lost an hour's worth of work about two weeks ago. I've been saving my game often ever since and so far it hasn't CTD'd again.

[Zovs]

That is bad, but for what is worse is when your editing a scenario and if you forgot (or get too eager when creating/designing) and you run up a couple of hours and it CTD all that work is really really gone, poof!

Learned the hard way to make numerous back ups and saves.

[Hellen_slith]

Me on June 28th. I seriously forgot what day it was today. Spent HOURS trying to remember whether it Thursday, or Friday. It is Friday today, right? These bursitis cigarettes are making me loopy. But the knee feels GREAT!!!

[bootlegger267]

One more M60A2 Company...B/4/64Ar 3rd Bde 3ID...Aschaffenburg...

My unit...80-83. Transitioned to M60A1 Rise Passives in mid-late 1980. Then to M1's in the winter of 82.

Bootlegger267

[r6kunz]

ORIGINAL: Zovs

Got it thanks. I am still an old NATO board war gamer at heart and never like figurative counters except ships and planes.

Ditto

[Hellen_slith]

Do we have any hope of seeing a revised Beta in the near future? Eager to see it. In the meantime, I've got a Win7 machine I am using now for TOAW ... going to test out the mid-turn CTD issues we encountered. I just have a suspicion that it is a TOAW<>Win10 issue, so I will see if I can still recreate it using this totally Win7 machine.

[pz501]

Do we have any hope of seeing a revised Beta in the near future? Eager to see it.

I hope this project hasn't been abandoned also. Too much research and design effort has gone into it for it not to be completed. If it is, from everything I've seen the fault won't be with the designer or dedicated playtesters like you or Larry, but with TOAW IV itself. I have a suspicion that it may be problems with the editor that is causing the crashes, but nothing concrete to base that on.

Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to just have issued that final patch for TOAW III incorporating the expanded map size, event, and unit list capabilities and then calling it a day? Anything else could have been worked into a whole new design. TOAW III is/was more stable, that's for sure.

[Hellen_slith]

Just a hunch, but I think it is something with TOAW <> Win10 and/or Win7 compatibility mode under Win10.

I haven't tried to recreate it yet in a pure Win7 environment, but will try it soon. Our (my and Larry) original Next War effort also suffered from the CTD, which I had never seen in the original version. I was running under compatibility mode then, and it crashed just like the Expanded would.

But so far using a real Win7 machine, I haven't had the crash (at least not playing the original Next War) ... fingers crossed, maybe my saying that will make it happen LoL ...

[Hellen_slith]

I guess this one has been 86'd?

Maybe next year?

[Hellen_slith]

Maybe we'll see the expanded version for TOAWV?

Is the project simply abandoned? I had high hopes for this one ...