Matrix Games Forums

after i extract all files,which do i click on?The only one that looks like a set-up icon says"PAC".i click to open everything goes black,cant do anything!i have to ctrl+alt+del to terminate application.Ive gotten every "Steel Panthers game there is by the same process!?I never played"Pacific War"+ "War in Russia" for my collection(are there any othrs in the classic style(free)SPWAW I'm missing out on, ANYONE ?-HELP ME PLEASE.I'm a rookie at downloading,setting up files after downloading them,but i'm learning!jon.fairfield@sympatico.ca

Bad news: the website is in error. The Version 3.2 download is not, repeat not, complete. You need to find the Pacific War 3.0 download (which is about 6 MB in size) and install that first. Version 3.2 is an update, whose files are meant to over-write the original install.

So where would one find 3.0? Help is appreciated....

My thoughts exactly,tmr!Is there any other free classics like this one ,or similar style?Also the games can't require a degree in computer sciences/programming!

I wish there was more free ones like this... if anyone DOES know of any though, please, by all means... dont be stingy and tell us all [;)]

Hmmm... there are various 'classics' that are available on the various 'abandonedware' sites... like Underdogs and there are others.

One that I got that would be interesting IMO... Clash of Steel... strategic level WW2... would be interesting as a multi-player game. I had bought the original, Storm Across Europe many years ago and... it was a loser with area movement and the like but... according to the review of CoS that I read... the designer came back and got it right the second time around. Army sized units (some corps), hex map, naval, and production and even some diplomacy.... would be interesting if it all comes off. Set up as a three player game but can be played with two or more than three. Doesn't have secure PBEM so there would have to be some trust involved (hmmm... from my experience not sure that would work). Would be open to a game of this (I would be a newbie of course) if others were interested... worth giving it a try and with each turn representing two months, you might actually finish a game <g>.

Another game out there.... Western Front... which is GG's game on the western front in WW2 using essentially the same game system as WiR. I purchased this game many years ago and really got my money's worth. Easier to play than WiR because you can start out with the Italian scenario and it is not HUGE <g>... and can get into the game without a major undertaking. Yeah, would be nice to see this one re-released with the early campains (Poland, France '40, DAK, etc) and updated for Windows, etc.

(Yeah, DLed the abandonware zip because.... my old copy is on 5.25 and my last 5.25 drive.. died on me... was desparate re all my old games until I found the abandonedware sites.)

There are others... if you like GG... Carrier Strike is out there and... all of GG's games are good <g>. There is also Dragoon: The complete battles of Frederick the Great which is interesting and.... another case when you can probably finish a game (I have with Horse and Musket which is essentially the same game).

There are also various ACW games (one of them ACW3, looks real good for a strategic level game), The V for Victory games all in one package, etc.

Yeah... most of these do not have secure PBEM so.... ya gotta watch what is going on as there ARE cheaters out there, unfortunately.

I use DOSBox with almost all of these game that I have.

DiT

Hmmm.... I DLed the 3.2 version and it installed and worked OK for me without anything else.

Hmmm... I did have an abandonware version that I had gotten.... but that is installed in a different folder.... yeah.... the DL I got here... did not have a manual with it so I use the old one from the abandonware site.. all the aircraft values are WAY down level but it is better than nothing.

DiT

P.S. Oh... it is possible the 3.2 version did NOT work at all... until I brought it up in DosBox.... that is the way it goes with many of these games.

P.S.2 Here's my DosBox CMD file if anyone is interested:

cd \Program Files\DOSBox-0.65
dosbox.exe -c "MOUNT C C:\WARGAMES" -c "config -set cpu cycles=10000" -c "C:" -c "CD GGPW_3.2" -c "PAC" -c "EXIT"

I just downloaded version 3.2, unzipped it and it ran fine( a bit fast ). It is all there. I didn't have to use dosbox or anything.

Hmmm...... just cause I mentioned this.... I happenned to check Underdogs and the abandonware game... Clash of Steel... is not there (for unknown reasons).

I got mine from a place called mosw.com.... where you pay 4 bucks for a month of downloads... and it has just about everything abandoned and..... is not S L O W like Underdogs.

Also... sheesh... I had forgotten about this but.... there was the first game, Storm Across Europe (which was a loser IMO) and then the same designer then did (also for SSI), Clash of Steel.... but when they originally released this.... bug city... did not do a good job play testing. So.... they then fixed the bugs and re-released as Clash of Steel: Future Edition (one reviewer said it should have been subtitled as 'Finished Edition').. and this is the one I have. With this edition, as a marketing ploy, they added 100 years to the dates (???)... with the German invasion of Poland taking place in September... of 2039. I wipped up the exe file in a hex editor and changed the dates back to what they should be.

Sheesh.... you would think... strategic level WW2.. would be a popular wargame topic... and in today's INet world... playable PBEM with the two month turns and thus a game running 26 turns or so at the most... and not a simplistic game... you got land, naval, production, technology, and even some diplomacy.... so you got a lot more to do each turn and that makes for a better PBEM game than a game where you have a lot of turns but not that much to do each turn.

But... they sure bounced this one around a lot before finally getting it right.. and maybe it was before it's time.... was before the INet and PBEM world but it fits in well now.

Whatever... if anyone gets interested in PBEM CoS... just let me know (I have not played it much but am definately interested in what I have seen with it so far.. about all you could ask for in strategic level WW2 that is a bit less involved than GGs games).

DiT

Hmmm... just thought I also mention this because I brought up the subject of Clash of Steel and..... I had been wondering what GG's WaW: A World Divided was all about and... talking about Storm Across Europe and then Clash of Steel.... well... it finally hit me what WaW is all about.

The entire WW2 not just the European theatre but... sheesh... area movement and I prefer the hex based, army level (with some corps), of CoS. Still..... Grigsby's games are always good with the historical accuracy and detail.

Yeah... would be nice of they came out with a new release of WaW that had the hex based movement and combat.... kinda like SAE ultimately ended up as CoS.

Whatever.... I can still mess with CoS if I want the European theatre with the hex based movement and combat.

Will have to consider WaW.

DiT

P.S. OK, for those of you who asked if there were any other free games out there.... hehe... did any of you try any of those that I recommended??