Hard Version of the Game Manual?

[bearcat]

Hi, I bought the boxed version of Alexander the Great and other than the disk and package no manuel or paperwork was with the disk? Is this correct that you get a disk and box and no hard manual or papperwork map key # etc? Thanks. Bearcat

[Hertston]

I don't think any new Matrix product comes with a paper manual any more - was HttR the last of the breed ? "Physical shipment" just means a copy of the game on disk - and I think the only reason they do that is to support those who don't have connections fast or reliable enough to download half a gig plus.

I think most of us remember fondly the days of full manuals (like some of those 300 page epics that came with flightsims - sigh... ), maps and other goodies, but they are expensive - particularly for smaller scale publishers like Matrix, and their replacement by .pdf only keeps their costs down, and our purchase price down.

The good news is with Alex it's hardly a problem - after ten minutes play you won't need it.

[SkyElf]

Yes, no game box, no printed manual for the game Alexander The Great. The Gates of Troy has no cd to recover game just a download! I did buy this game for it's title, since I'm a big Alexander The Great fan. Still wonder about historical actuate part for battles like Thebes, Gracius, etc. Been a while since I done any reading on him, but I do recall that the Macedonian Army had at least 2,000 Cretan archers from Crete, unkown number of slingers from Rhodes as mercenaries from his father Philip time, and the Cretan archers were thought to be the best in the world! [:-]

Most other companies still have printed manuals, at a lower price then what I payed for this game. I picked up ROME TOTAL WAR for a lot less than what I payed for Alexander The Great!! I received printed manual and a nice fold out map on one side and a tech tree on the other? The BATTLE for MIDDLE-EARTH has a manual also! I will have to think on buying another game from them, after I play the game some more. [8D]

[Erik Rutins]

Hello,

All of our games are available both as digital downloads and as physical boxed copies. The current boxed copies on our newer (post-retail) titles are full color printed DVD Boxes with full color printed CDs inside. However, while some of our older boxed games include printed manuals, the new games come with manuals in the installation (in Adobe PDF format, which is compatible across pretty much all computers and operating systems). An "e-book" format is included which has full graphics and is indexed, bookmarked etc. for easy access on the computer (you can keep it open and Alt-Tab between it and the game while playing) and a print format with fewer graphics for lower ink usage if you'd like to print it.

A few of our manuals are available through our Kinko's Doc Center, we're working to get the others available through another service for our customers who want a professionally printed manual at a lower price than the local copy store would charge. We are aiming to provide as much flexibility and choice as possible in how you get your game from us, but putting some of these changes into place takes time. Right now, the primary one left to do is expanding the manual options.

Regards,

- Erik

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: SkyElf

Most other companies still have printed manuals, at a lower price then what I payed for this game. I picked up ROME TOTAL WAR for a lot less than what I payed for Alexander The Great!! I received printed manual and a nice fold out map on one side and a tech tree on the other? The BATTLE for MIDDLE-EARTH has a manual also! I will have to think on buying another game from them, after I play the game some more.

The general opinion here is that Matrix produce quality products in genres that few other publishers (and none of the big ones) support at all. How many wargames (I don't include R:TW in that catagory, although it is a very good strategy game) do EA, Activision or Ubisoft publish ?

By their very nature, "genre" games sell far fewer copies than widely popular titles like BfME or R:TW. Fewer copies means its harder to make a profit, and most Matrix buyers accept that (while we like printed manuals too), we can live without them it that means keeping Matrix in business. I doubt TS:A sold 1% of the copies of either of those games... or ever could. It's a wargame (albeit a "lite" one), not an RTS or FPS, which are the big sellers.

It's up to you, really. Innovative games (or "classic" wargames) without the bells and whistles or the same thing we've seen a hundred times before with all the trimmings (BfME..cough). As you say, judge on the quality of the games and how much you enjoy them.

[SkyElf]

Sorry, but Gates of Troy did not have an option to buy the CD for the game which I would have! The game looks very Interesting except you have no control once battle starts. Like Legion which I had picked up at a store a while ago. [&:] Yes I read the game manual from the pdf file. No problem with that except I read it from my computer screen instead of a hard copy. I known I can print the file and I might do that yet.

I was just giving my two cents worth, and I buy my games from reading reviews, or the topic is something I'm interested in. I saw no reviews of Gates of Troy or Alexander The Great. I did download the demo of Alexander The Great which I tried several times and thought that I might risk my money on the game. I do not have access to all my books which a few where biographies of Alexander The Great to check on game accuracy. Although I know over time the real truth can be changed to fit what the author would like to say. I remember that one book stated that Alexander The Great was repulsed at the river Granicus, and he crossed over the next day and won the battle. [8D]

[Erik Rutins]

SkyElf,

ORIGINAL: SkyElf
Sorry, but Gates of Troy did not have an option to buy the CD for the game which I would have! The game looks very Interesting except you have no control once battle starts. Like Legion which I had picked up at a store a while ago. [&:] Yes I read the game manual from the pdf file. No problem with that except I read it from my computer screen instead of a hard copy. I known I can print the file and I might do that yet.

When we release a new game, the digital download only option is the first one available as it generally takes two weeks for production to get enough stock for us to enable the physical product options. The physical version of Gates Of Troy became available almost exactly two weeks after release and we did announce when the initial release was made that there would be a later physical option. I understand that for new customers, this can be confusing and we're always trying to make the store and our operations more clear.

I was just giving my two cents worth, and I buy my games from reading reviews, or the topic is something I'm interested in. I saw no reviews of Gates of Troy or Alexander The Great. I did download the demo of Alexander The Great which I tried several times and thought that I might risk my money on the game. I do not have access to all my books which a few where biographies of Alexander The Great to check on game accuracy. Although I know over time the real truth can be changed to fit what the author would like to say. I remember that one book stated that Alexander The Great was repulsed at the river Granicus, and he crossed over the next day and won the battle. [8D]

There are links to Gates Of Troy reviews in the Gates Of Troy forum and also on the Slitherine site for Gates Of Troy. Alexander the Great just received its first review, an 89% (!) in PC Gamer, which will be in the February 2005 issue and has just showed up on www.gamerankings.com. In general, our developers and other customers would be happy to discuss any questions you may have on the accuracyy of any of our historical titles.

Regards,

- Erik