NorbSoftDev Announces Waterloo!!!

[Saddletank]

That's good new Jim, thanks.

For me, I had actually very little interest in or knowledge of the ACW 2 years ago, some, but not much. The enjoyment I've had from this game, especially MP play completely opened up my interest in a war that I didn't think would hold much appeal to me.

The Nap mod for SoW opened up more playing opportunities, especially when a segment of the community pleaded with Norb to open up certain restricted files to allow the mod to be used in MP - and he did. Since then in our Nap mod MP games we've sometimes had new players join and go buy and install Antietam or Chancellorsville add-ons while we were waiting in the lobby to begin a game just so they could join us online. This is the kind of customer loyalty you can get if you're a developer who listens to their customers.

Remember too that a whole bunch of people whose first interest isn't the ACW have been supportive of Norb and the team simply because they've produced a fine product, arguably the best pre-WW2 historical RTS to be had anywhere. Surely that kind of work deserves your support even if they're not making a game right now that is focused on your favourite conflict.

As MTG said up the page a bit there's definitely going to be ACW mods and battles released by the community soon after Waterloo is released. In fact given the hints in the podcast it looks like Norb and his team may not be focussed on producing more map packs/battle packs at all after Waterloo, but appear to be giving that work to their customers in the community. This suggests they may plan to work on something else and maybe that could be a campaign engine?

This new change of direction is very exciting, no matter what war or battle their focus is on.

[Ingles of the 57th]

Hi Saddletank.

Thanks for the input. I didn’t get to see the podcast principally because of a couple of 60 hour powerouts since Christmas in rural Zimbabwe. My having seen the reports on world weather on TV, I guess perhaps a few others around the globe missed out too ! I just tried to get info retrospectively but it required me to log in on various social network facilities, most of which I had scarcely heard of ……… so I gave up.

Your summary was indeed very useful and I thank you for taking the time and effort to assist.

I made my post straight off the cuff after my initial shock and I was of course wrong about the Waterloo OOB and the Prussians. I had this confused with Borodino which I believe did of necessity did have a restricted OOB.

I am a little puzzled by the initial reaction of some folks. SOWGB is not going to be zapped remotely by Norb on everyone’s computer come the new engine. It will still be there to run for the foreseeable future (with John’s fine maps) provided provision can be made to cover registration for the occasional reload. It has by now sufficient content to survive stand-alone.

For comparison, I still run TC2M about as often as SOWGB after all these years and still find it as fresh as ever. It did prove possible to port over the OOB’s from TC2M to SOWGB but not the maps. Maps were always the sticking point and the promised liberalisation of map production would be a great leap for mankind.

From the recent forums, it is clear that generation and transformation of sprites has in the past been anything but straightforward. I hope the new sprite design will not make things even more difficult for the gifted and willing amateur. New maps will soon lead to a demand for the appropriate sprites to go with them. I still foster hopes of Clive’s India, the Boer war and the Palestine campaign of WW1. And of course the American war of Liberation.

I guess it is too much to hope that a 64-bit version might eventually be forthcoming ?

My best wishes to Norb and the team for a speedy and successful outcome to this brave venture. My life here would be somewhat bland without their past successes.

Geoff Laver
Late of Her Britannic Majesty’s 57th Regiment of Foot.

[Marching Thru Georgia]

Ingles of the 57th wrote:

I guess it is too much to hope that a 64-bit version might eventually be forthcoming ?

That can be done by changing a single option in the compiler.

[Davinci]

I still say that this is a good business-decision on the part of Norb and team , after-all NSD is a business.

There appears to be a vast market for Napoleon type games, and who can program the AI like Norb.

Besides, I think that the SOW game can still provide years of game-play, modding, and map-making!

davinci

[RDBoles]

Well it seems to me to be a great choice. 18 months is a long time. I hope in the interim that modders will continue to make maps and oob's for the present SOW games. The western theater has hardly been touched. I'm making reference to the major battlefields. My hopes are that every two or three months, a new map will be made. This would give us seven to ten battlefields in 18 months. This would keep me busy and not lose hope for SOW to keep moving forward with sustained interest. I will also get cracking on reading up on the Napoleonic wars. I have read a few books in the past about Napoleon but not like the 1650 books I have acquired and read about the Civil War. 450 books are on my Nook that were published before 1923, which were free. So now Napoleon here I come. I wonder how many books I can buy and read in 18 months. Seems like a crash course with so short a time. Thank you Norb and team, for all the great years of fun and learning.
BZ26V
RDBoles

[Little Powell]

I hope in the interim that modders will continue to make mapss

Yeah the map modders have been quite for a while, except for Garnier of course.

Someone needs to kick start them or something. Make some maps!

[Davinci]

I hope in the interim that modders will continue to make mapss

Yeah the map modders have been quiet for a while, except for Garnier of course.

Someone needs to kick start them or something. Make some maps!

Hmm, I think that this is the perfect time for a few dozen more user's to start making their own maps.

It really isn't as hard as it seems, and there is plenty of help available to those that wish to learn.

Personally, if the map isn't extremely large, I doubt that I would ever want to play on them.

davinci

[Croce]

The choice of NSD , I find , very brave !
It is true that everyone has their own tastes , so some may not like the way intrappresa by NSD.
We need to make some points : Gettysburg, Antietam and Chancellorsville , have always had their improvement in every aspect. The various mods were all up to the original . All this happened thanks to the design of a system that already , since its inception , had foreseen the possibility of inserting the mod.
The NSD has created its system of registration of the mod ( looking at, then , to fans ) among the easiest I've ever seen.
Some players were expecting Shiloh , Chickamauga , or some other battle , but no, you change the continent. It arrives at Waterloo, with the battle that marked the time (at least for Europe) : before Waterloo, after Waterloo ( the industrial revolution, etc. ) .
The NSD will make the improvements I'm sure of it , because it has always done.
we should not despair if , for some time, you change the battlefield.
What matters are the new enhancements announced.
The campaign of Waterloo ( nicknamed in Europe "the 100 Days") is very intense battles, and each of them has had the effect of Waterloo. The Battle of Waterloo, is a gem of tactics , where only fate had its last word. Designing the Campaign of Waterloo, or just the "only" battle of Waterloo , it is very difficult .
I am attaching two pictures, for you to imagine what you ( we ) expect.
NSD continues on the road started , it is the right one.

[Trapper]

Wow this is fantastic news :cheer: I just watched the youtube interview and I must say I was stunned by the announcement. I never saw this one coming :woohoo: I was amazed by those screens, so detailed. It's great to see such a talented development team taking on this battle. Waterloo with the same level of detail as Gettysburg received is a dream come true for me.

[tc27]

Personally while I love these games there is only so much of lines of grey and blue troops firing at each other in the woods that I find interesting...IMO its a great move to explore a different era.

Who needs Pickets charge when you have D'Erlons grand assualt?

Can anything on the ACW battlefield compare to the spectacle of massed cavalry charges at Waterloo, the bloody defense of Plaicenoit or the final desperate assault of the Imperial Guard in the twilight?


Telling me I am getting all of this at 1/4 scale with 50,000 men - I cant wait!!