Jun 26 2008, 10:32 PM
QUOTE(Baronic @ Apr 11 2008, 07:42 PM)
Free strategy games WORTH PLAYING on your pocket pc
WARCRAFT 2
Without a doubt, Stratagus, a port of Warcraft 2 for pocket pc, and the best part is, its totally free! I've played the game rather thoroughly, and the requirements for the games is pretty low. Installation was a since, since it was a simple Copy and Paste folder installation.
Gameplay, its terrific, in some ways better than Age of Empires, which i will review in due time. However, as its a port, and your pda does not have a mouse, u may need some getting used to, since you can't right click or left click. Problem is solved by choosing the order for your units directly, such as "move" or "attack move". I usually use attack move for my units since it may well be too late for some of my units if i get ambushed if i had to manually order them to stop moving, and choose the attack button. Clicking "Attack" and targeting the ground makes your units move to a spot and attack any enemies on the way. Also, i was able to play a skirmish game with EIGHT players! (me and 7 computers) with no lag or problems at all on my HTC Tytn2!
Graphics, compared to other strategy games out there, you could say its a little on the cartoony side as you can see from the screenshot.
Campaigns have all been properly ported with good english, and correct narrative.
Sounds and Music, do not appear to slow down gameplay, or require a faster processor speed. It does however require more ram.
ISSUES:
* PDAs with no qwerty keyboard may have problems saving / loading a game, since you can't type in your save game's name, but i believe the latest port now assigns one button on your pda to a letter, so you can at least save the game, although it may just be a jumble of letters. If you still can't save a game, you can copy and paste a save game file from a friend who has one, into your pda, and use that file for your save games
* The WARCRAFT 2 version, as seen in the youtube video in the previous blog post, may not work with some devices. (I tried and failed with my HTC P3600i), but do not fear, the original files from nop's (the porter) site should work well.
* You should have a minimum of 20mb or ram to attempt to play the game, and if you still can't, try deactivating sound.
* If your pda today screen is landscape not portrait when you start the game, the game screen gets screwed up.
Requirements:
I'd say 400Mhz would be optimum (if you have less, you probably may not be able to play a 8 players skirmish game without some lag), and about 20mb of ram.
Warcraft 2 version downloads (download the appropriate one for your PDA, VGA or QVGA)
Stratagus version downloads (both games are the same, but the Warcraft 2 version may not work for some PDAs)
Stratagus version downloads (both games are the same, but the warcraft 2 version may not work for some PDAs): [code][/code]
The porter's website has two versions, QVGA and VGA, though i believe the game is called Stratagus instead of Warcraft. But its definitely one and the same.
WARRING STATES
An old and often overlooked game, Warring Nations is a free pocket pc game, that many gamers simply do not know about!
The game takes place in China (woot hurrah how many games can boast that!) during 464 to 222BC, and you are a ruler of a state in China. The objective in the game is to defeat all the other rules and become the overlord (emperor!) of China!
Gameplay: Is simply enough, but for the lazy noobs who will probably read the manual and e mail me with "HOW THE HELL DO U PLAY THIS GAME?!" questions, i'll try to explain as briefly as possible.
1. Choose your character.
2. Choose your state.
3. On the top of your screen (see screenshot 1) you can see the morale of your troops, the number or scholars (researchers) and the number of soldiers, plus the amount of money you have.
4. You can recruit additional soldiers, scholars, as well as choose to spend money on increasing morale, in addition to choosing what to research.
5. Attack, by clicking on enemy territory. (beware of morale, even with numerical superiority you can lose when your troops dessert you (low morale)).
6. Be careful of terrain, crossing rivers, mountains, or walls gives the defender a defence bonus. Hah, and you thought it was all just artsy decoration.
7. The last button on the right bottom of the screen is to end turn.
Replayability: Is where this game truly shines, and for a free game, truly kicks its commercial counterparts Medieval Heroes and Warring Nations in the ass. Unlike the other games, this free game is so damn addictive because of its random events! Eg. Invasion of sudden tribes from the corner of the screen, flooding, earthquakes, rebellion, and, (whoa!) the emergence of new factions!!
Bottomline: If you loved the PC game Rome Total War, and want something that has immense replayability, if your love strategy games but you don't have the stomach to play real time games like Warcraft 2, Warring States is definitely the game for you. It could well possibly be the best turn based strategy game EVER!!! (i find myself playing this one more than its commercial counterparts)
Requirements: Rockbottom, basically any pda should be able to play it!!
You'll have to download and install this first!
The game file
The link to the Microsoft website for Warring States is not working. What is that link to anyway?WARCRAFT 2
Without a doubt, Stratagus, a port of Warcraft 2 for pocket pc, and the best part is, its totally free! I've played the game rather thoroughly, and the requirements for the games is pretty low. Installation was a since, since it was a simple Copy and Paste folder installation.
Gameplay, its terrific, in some ways better than Age of Empires, which i will review in due time. However, as its a port, and your pda does not have a mouse, u may need some getting used to, since you can't right click or left click. Problem is solved by choosing the order for your units directly, such as "move" or "attack move". I usually use attack move for my units since it may well be too late for some of my units if i get ambushed if i had to manually order them to stop moving, and choose the attack button. Clicking "Attack" and targeting the ground makes your units move to a spot and attack any enemies on the way. Also, i was able to play a skirmish game with EIGHT players! (me and 7 computers) with no lag or problems at all on my HTC Tytn2!
Graphics, compared to other strategy games out there, you could say its a little on the cartoony side as you can see from the screenshot.
Campaigns have all been properly ported with good english, and correct narrative.
Sounds and Music, do not appear to slow down gameplay, or require a faster processor speed. It does however require more ram.
ISSUES:
* PDAs with no qwerty keyboard may have problems saving / loading a game, since you can't type in your save game's name, but i believe the latest port now assigns one button on your pda to a letter, so you can at least save the game, although it may just be a jumble of letters. If you still can't save a game, you can copy and paste a save game file from a friend who has one, into your pda, and use that file for your save games
* The WARCRAFT 2 version, as seen in the youtube video in the previous blog post, may not work with some devices. (I tried and failed with my HTC P3600i), but do not fear, the original files from nop's (the porter) site should work well.
* You should have a minimum of 20mb or ram to attempt to play the game, and if you still can't, try deactivating sound.
* If your pda today screen is landscape not portrait when you start the game, the game screen gets screwed up.
Requirements:
I'd say 400Mhz would be optimum (if you have less, you probably may not be able to play a 8 players skirmish game without some lag), and about 20mb of ram.
Warcraft 2 version downloads (download the appropriate one for your PDA, VGA or QVGA)
Stratagus version downloads (both games are the same, but the Warcraft 2 version may not work for some PDAs)
Stratagus version downloads (both games are the same, but the warcraft 2 version may not work for some PDAs): [code][/code]
The porter's website has two versions, QVGA and VGA, though i believe the game is called Stratagus instead of Warcraft. But its definitely one and the same.
WARRING STATES
An old and often overlooked game, Warring Nations is a free pocket pc game, that many gamers simply do not know about!
The game takes place in China (woot hurrah how many games can boast that!) during 464 to 222BC, and you are a ruler of a state in China. The objective in the game is to defeat all the other rules and become the overlord (emperor!) of China!
Gameplay: Is simply enough, but for the lazy noobs who will probably read the manual and e mail me with "HOW THE HELL DO U PLAY THIS GAME?!" questions, i'll try to explain as briefly as possible.
1. Choose your character.
2. Choose your state.
3. On the top of your screen (see screenshot 1) you can see the morale of your troops, the number or scholars (researchers) and the number of soldiers, plus the amount of money you have.
4. You can recruit additional soldiers, scholars, as well as choose to spend money on increasing morale, in addition to choosing what to research.
5. Attack, by clicking on enemy territory. (beware of morale, even with numerical superiority you can lose when your troops dessert you (low morale)).
6. Be careful of terrain, crossing rivers, mountains, or walls gives the defender a defence bonus. Hah, and you thought it was all just artsy decoration.
7. The last button on the right bottom of the screen is to end turn.
Replayability: Is where this game truly shines, and for a free game, truly kicks its commercial counterparts Medieval Heroes and Warring Nations in the ass. Unlike the other games, this free game is so damn addictive because of its random events! Eg. Invasion of sudden tribes from the corner of the screen, flooding, earthquakes, rebellion, and, (whoa!) the emergence of new factions!!
Bottomline: If you loved the PC game Rome Total War, and want something that has immense replayability, if your love strategy games but you don't have the stomach to play real time games like Warcraft 2, Warring States is definitely the game for you. It could well possibly be the best turn based strategy game EVER!!! (i find myself playing this one more than its commercial counterparts)
Requirements: Rockbottom, basically any pda should be able to play it!!
You'll have to download and install this first!
The game file
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