SSG games on Steam

[bazjak]

If its a dead game as you say then no sales are being made (could be said about a lot of games no just this one)
Discount the game by a certain amount and then people my see a bargain and bye said game
That way money will be raised for whoever it has to go to rather than nothing at all
I refer yet again to the dead forum
Surely that alone must say something

[DonCzirr]

I would buy "otherwise dead wargames" (with no changes to the AI / gameplay) at full price from Slitherine if they were just adjusted to work to my screen resolution (recent OS versions) and work well with Alt Tabbing.

I've seen that many of them like Eagle Day / Bombing the Reich / War Plan Orange etc have a lot of content - so I would not feel cheated (same with SSG games).

But with my work schedule, I have little time to tweak ini files, directx settings and reg keys to get things to functional (but still perhaps ugly / small).

I do enough of that at work to support angry users. [;)]

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

A 35 dollar hardcover is a nice product. But 10k hardcovers at 35 bucks while nice sounding, might not actually happen unless you are already a sought-after author. Most girls are lucky to sell paperbacks. Most girls are lucky to even sell paperbacks. Odds are a girl is lucky to sell anything at all other than self-published digital downloads. If one of my books sells 1000 1.99 downloads, I just made 2k And some days, that's all ya get.

Hardcover version cost more than digital one. In here Finland a hardcover full colour BattleTech game rule book can cost up to 50 € while PDF version sells for measly $15 or so. And as one player sums it up:

Heck, most laptops weigh less than TacOps

I expect much of this to apply to video games as well.

Much as we hate to admit it, but wargame publishers are NOT mainstream. Not even close.

If they were, we would complain about the games even more than now.

Telling the guys here to sell you a 40 dollar game 5 years later for 15, is the same as telling them to drop dead as a whole.
I won't lie, I'll use a sale when possible.

Last December I bought first 5 Heroes of Might & Magic with all their DLC for around 10 € total. From Good Old Games. Today I played second of them for one more turn.

ORIGINAL: DonCzirr

But with my work schedule, I have little time to tweak ini files, directx settings and reg keys to get things to functional (but still perhaps ugly / small).

Someone else may have done that already and made it available on Internet. SPWAW has got a number of fan made solutions for wrong colours in Win7 and artillery screen problems in multicore processors.

[DonCzirr]

ORIGINAL: Kuokkanen

ORIGINAL: DonCzirr

But with my work schedule, I have little time to tweak ini files, directx settings and reg keys to get things to functional (but still perhaps ugly / small).

Someone else may have done that already and made it available on Internet. SPWAW has got a number of fan made solutions for wrong colours in Win7 and artillery screen problems in multicore processors.

I've seen this at times - and it's great when it works.

But many times it just leads to running from forum to forum - trying various user offered tweaks.

I'd rather shell out the money to avoid the hassle - and enjoy my game time instead of schlepping around hoping to finally get a working game.

This would address Slitherine's issue from the other thread too - about coming up with new AIs from Programmer / Dev hybrids.

The old quality for a niche crowd is out there buried in aged engines.

For my taste, I'd be more interested (for a portion of their games) in them tracking down source codes, getting the required rights and revitalizing these old classics rather than struggling to find new competent wargaming Devs.

(I believe this happened quite successfully with TOAW IV?)

[Grim.Reaper]

ORIGINAL: bazjak

Would be interesting to know when the last few sales of this game were

During last year's Christmas sale, Battlefront, Battle in Italy, Battle in Normandy, Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets, and Korsun Pocket were all $9.99. I assume they will be the same in this year's sale, certainly seems like a decent price if you like these games.

[bazjak]

Thank you for that answer
But looking at the inactivity on the forum (B in I)couldn't have been many people who took the offer up
And it's still full price today
Like I side before if you got one sale at £10 surly that's better than nothing at all

[Grim.Reaper]

ORIGINAL: bazjak

Thank you for that answer
But looking at the inactivity on the forum (B in I)couldn't have been many people who took the offer up
And it's still full price today
Like I side before if you got one sale at £10 surly that's better than nothing at all

i have no idea on how many games are sold, only matrix knows. but i think you overestimate how many people participate in forums, especially older games even if they own it. typically people that post are folks that have issues with it or they are extreme fans. on an older game, less likely to do that but doesn’t necessarily mean not being bought or played.

so even after the big christmas sale at the price you suggested didn’t even increase forum activity so think that has little to do with it.

i can only assume that matrix feels they still are selling well enough to warrant the price, only they know the price point.

[Okayrun3254]

Those are great games. I own all of them, except for the space game. I also bought the new one Desert War, which is on Steam and Has excellent future possibilities. I am currently playing a fun PBEM scenario in this system. Hopefully the wargaming community supports this solid game, so we see ongoing enhancements and a eastern front game.

[zakblood]

Desert War

isn't on steam, do you mean Order of Battle Sandstorm by any chance? as that is on steam[:'(]

[Okayrun3254]

Oh yeah, I got steam mixed up with the PBEM server set up for Desert War. [:)]

[RFalvo69]

Hardcover books are great, but... fact is, digital copies are cheaper, and today you can load hundreds of them on a tablet.

I'm currently running a long adventure for the Call of Cthulhu RPG - and I have everything I need on my tablet. Even notes, pictures and text fragments for the players to see when they met them, more notes and ideas on another app... The old piles of books are now on the shelf, enjoying a deserved retirement. I do love my collection (Dungeons & Dragons too, from the Basic "Red Box" to 3/3.5E) - I'm only trying to remember when it was the last time I actually opened a book.

And while I still do play wargames on the table, the instructions, if available in digital form, are on the tablet. My OCS games' manuals are all on my iPad Pro. Even here I don't think that I ever opened an actual manual even if I have the physical box. This is how things are now, and I don't thing they are bound to change back...

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: RFalvo69

Hardcover books are great, but... fact is, digital copies are cheaper, and today you can load hundreds of them on a tablet.

If you ever attend to larger RPG events with hundreds of visitors or more, I recommend you to bring some books on the table to show them off to passing people. I have done that.

"Yes darling, I served in the Navy for eight years. I was a cook..."
"Oh dad... so you were a God-damned cook?"

(My 10 years old daughter after watching "The Hunt for Red October")

Watch Under Siege movies with her [;)]

[RFalvo69]

ORIGINAL: Kuokkanen

ORIGINAL: RFalvo69

Hardcover books are great, but... fact is, digital copies are cheaper, and today you can load hundreds of them on a tablet.

If you ever attend to larger RPG events with hundreds of visitors or more, I recommend you to bring some books on the table to show them off to passing people. I have done that.

I used to bring my daughters at the "Comics & Games Fair" in Lucca (the biggest in Europe), and to run a D&D scenario for the crowd. That was ten years+ from now, and books were mandatory. Now I only play CoC with my friends, my last time in Lucca was in 2008. Good times!

"Yes darling, I served in the Navy for eight years. I was a cook..."
"Oh dad... so you were a God-damned cook?"

(My 10 years old daughter after watching "The Hunt for Red October")

Watch Under Siege movies with her [;)]

My daughter is now 19 years old, going for 20 this late June... and I never thought once of that [X(]

[IckieStickie]

[quote]ORIGINAL: Rosseau

Why the heck, not? Battles in Italy, Battlefront and Kharkov DoD work nicely under Win10, and Italy still has a wealth of scenarios on SSG's site.

I'm an old-timer, but am enjoying these games more than a lot of "current" wargames, and the AI has been matched by very few in recent years. Otherwise, the games will just continue to languish on Matrix's site. Worst case, a nice sale to generate revenue?

Same here Rosseau,Throughout 2019 i managed to purchase all SSG games i could find on Matrix.I too cant get enough of these wargames right now why is this?Because im playing these as much as todays releases if not more.
And to see these games on Steam well that would be the icing on the cake.Steamkey to Heaven!.

[IckieStickie]

ORIGINAL: Rosseau

Yes, too bad. The unit counters still look pretty good to me at 1024x768 [;)]

I agree too this is one of the reasons i love this series is the detail and all the units and its correct insignia etc

[Red2112]

I think it has to do with mainstream sales on Steam, GOG etc.

We just had a massive holiday sale on Steam, now there´s this Lunar sale going on too (finishes today). GOG has sales every week, and so on and so on...

A new game comes out on Steam as in a triple A title, and if you wait a month or two, it will most likely be on sale at 50% off. After that, it will go on sale every two months or so. It has become the trend for the past years, and only the fan boys/girls, or YT creators buy on day of realese. Aside from that, there is so many games to choose from now days, they might not be wargames, but if you play them or not is your problem. There in stock and make the bulk of marketing.

In other words, folks are used to sales now days, in the digital realm.

Classiscs never die, for the most part, that´s one of the reasons they are classics (wine does get more expensive with age). Go hunt for a new copy of VG´s Six Fleet, most likely you will pay circa $100 for it. Metallica´s Master of Puppets, be it CD or FLAK, no less then $20, and again, so on, and so on...

The biggest problem as mentioned here, is if it´s gonna work or not on your PC. But collectors, as in vehicles can pay, or not, big cash for spares, so it´s a bit of a double edge knife thing going on here. Like, get a 486 machine or DOSBOX,

Surely there´s argument for awhile [:D]

Red

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[sPzAbt653]

It looks like Matrix has gathered all these titles here, as follows:

Korsun Pocket [includes TAO]
Korsun Pocket: Across the Dnepr
Battles in Normandy
Battles in Italy
Battlefront
Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets
Across the Dnepr 2

Does one need to buy them all to get them all, or are there some inclusions/carryovers?

It appears that development and support ended some years ago, does anyone know if the rights to continue development can be had?

[IckieStickie]

@Red2112,may i ask you a quick question mate?.I notice your using win 10,ive yet to make the jump from the Gamers OS Win7!and im nervous to say the least as i have most if not all those SSG games Decisive Battles etc up to the last one Across the Dneiper,also many many more games that seem to work great on win7,early Talonsoft stuff also early John Tiller etc,all the Original CC games and Hidden+Dangerous sabre sq. you know the likes,some or most of these are known not too work on win x10 but what do i know really as i dont have that OS yet.How are you getting on with winx10 and your old school wargames mind me asking thanks in advance..Ickie

[IckieStickie]

@sPzAbt653 All those SSG titles youve listed above are all i can find,im pretty sure there arent any more from SSG at least done in this series same mechanics etc same system.You can see from the first one Korsun which is excellent dont let the age put you off,you can see the change as they go along untill i think they get it right by the time ATD2 is made which is an add-on to Kharkov.(So many people are mentioning these old(well not to old to me )wargames lately especially in my Steam group "Fans of John Tiller Software"So they must have got something right eh?The gameplay for one as the graphics wont win any awards but goes to show a great wargame just doesnt need amazing in your face 3d gfx!.Im finding myself playing more and more of these and im even thinking of buying a 2nd hand old desktop with win xp on it just for a certain selection of wargames i have here also.There must be something missing from TODAYS wargames?.I would love to see more of SSG and the likes i really would,im gutted ive basically just come across these Aussies,better late than never i guess.More and more also i find myself searching out for untouched wargames with Original insignia/icons too,heh im a 70's schoolkid "Commando Comics" Battle and War Pic Lib.anything Fleetway.I would love to see a NEW Store that specialises in this?Matrix/Slith come close but still...im left wanting.
PS>sPzAbt653 Your Profile Icon is really really nice and well done now that's my KIND of gaming Icon right there!.Perfect to me that is just right.I would give my weeks wages for a game that consists of Tiles just like that!.Yes im sure its similar to Talonsofts Art of war 3? something like that?but i have the game and i cant find any scenario that has those amazing tiles IF you made it yourself Grats to a well done job.

[IckieStickie]

Its funny like as there are NO SSG titles to my knowledge OR John Tiller Titles for sale on Steam but i still went ahead and created the Group anyways for matches etc and the likes and it was well worth it Some great wargamers
all under one ROOF some are known here your ALL Welcome!