Naval Combat Pack and Fleet Command

[Mau]

Hi,

I would llike to know if anybody got the the Naval Combat Pack and tried Fleet Command with a very ''modern computer'' and Windows XP Interface.
I want to know if this great game still have the screen flickering with Windows XP?

Thank you very much!

[Sea Demon]

It's not available until August 1.

[LuftWolf]

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...t=95140&page=2

Originally Posted by Jamie

Hey guys,

The biggest change to 688 and FC is that we had to remove the Jane's information from them and use a common unclassified source. The license to use the Jane's data for these games died with EA, and so in order to avoid unnecessary litigation, we had to modify art, remove the data, and change the TextDLLs to make sure it was "Jane-free". We tried to contact Jane's legal department and license it for this pack's release (which would have cheaper, probably) but were unable to make any progress there.

Since we had to change the codebase for the Jane's removal, we did attempt to update the rendering engines and sound playback to be more XP compatible. Fleet Command was primarily designed for 3dFX cards (it uses an old renderer based off of EA's World War II Fighters called J3) and although there was a DirectX renderer it was not as fast or as stable. We have tried to update the DirectX renderer as best as we possibly can to make it compatible with DirectX9 and Windows XP. Sub Command was given a hardware cursor support which helps alleviate the flickering some were seeing in modern machines. Suprisingly, since 688 uses common Windows GDI graphics calls and simplified DirectX support, it needed the least amount of changes (it works great in XP ).

None of these changes are major, and the business plan was not to "re-invent" these games but rather to consolidate them and to include another excellent Sonalysts product "A Century of Silent Service".

The bundle is not for everyone, and we understand that. But for $19.99 (including the DVD) we think it's a really compelling value.

Thanks!

[Mau]

Yes thanks Luftwolf,

I knew they did some work on the DirectX and Windows like they are saying, but they don't seem to say that it is actually work for sure.

That is why I was asking
I am hoping.

Do not worry even if it works I will not put DW on the side!!

[goldorak]

I just hope it isn't protected with starforce.

[Jamie]

Originally Posted by goldorak

I just hope it isn't protected with starforce.

Copy protection is a losing battle... I doubt we'll ever employ any CP scheme again unless it is totally unobtrusive for the user (which Starforce certainly is NOT).

[LuftWolf]

Originally Posted by Jamie

Copy protection is a losing battle... I doubt we'll ever employ any CP scheme again unless it is totally unobtrusive for the user (which Starforce certainly is NOT).

You guys continue to kick total ass (despite what the haters say, myself sometimes included).

I, for one, will never buy a starforce encrypted product, and if Vista turns out to be as bad as everyone says, I'm going to go to Mac.

Cheers,
David

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by LuftWolf

if Vista turns out to be as bad as everyone says, I'm going to go to Mac.

Cheers,
David

But then you wouldn't be able to enjoy those kick ass naval simulations from SCS
And who would mod for DW if you went on the mac. ? :rotfl:

[LuftWolf]

I'm actually hoping that Microsoft manages to completely tank PC gaming in favor of its Xbox platform and Mac desides to take up the mantle as the gaming alternative...

If the developement costs of developing games on a Mac were kept low enough (which it should be because its all single source hardware), then there could a shift of the niche gaming market from PCs to Mac's, with the Consoles and what's left of the MS-platform PC gaming market on one side sharing multiplatform titles, and Mac games by small developers like sims and such on the other side.

It's probably not going to happen, if only because it doesn't seem like gaming is on the list at Mac and I'm sure MS is always going to be involved in my life in some way.

I really don't know much about these Mac things... I go to college and its all about 3dfx and PII, and I leave college and nows its all about iTunes and Xbox.

God, what happened to the world?

Cheers,
David

[Wim Libaers]

Some of the smaller developers already work to support multiple platforms. For example, Dropteam (futuristic armor combat sim) was released with support for Windows (98 to 2003), Linux and Mac OS-X. They're using SDL combined with OpenGL, which makes portability much easier than when using DirectX directly.

[Mau]

so Jamie,

can you tell us if the test after the changes on FC and the DirectX were conclusive and there were no flickering happening on a XP platform??

Thank you
Hopefully the answer is yes!