Lord_Valentai
25 Sep 06, 22:55
This is a brief thing I thought up in the car. I've been a Talonsift, BG player for 10 years now, loved them, but now I have switched over to HPS, I love them more.
When I realised this, I decided to try and find out just why it was so.
What Talonsoft Did Better:
- The music (grated I only have 2 HPS games). This isn't a huge one, as even I usually turn it off after an hour, but I thought the HPS music for Peninsula in particular was fairly poor. Not hugely relevant.
- Graphics: This is the biggest difference, but in many ways, it's a win for HPS (see below). But the bitmaps created by Talonsoft are incredible and detailed, but are a pain to edit, that is very much the sad truth. But the units themselves, and even the icons look nicer. So much so I only play HPS on 2d normal view now. I wish personally there were icons like the Talonsoft ones with the non-military symbols...but what can you do, nothin.
- Videos: I never used them as they slowed the game down too much, but some people like them, and HPS quite rightly didn't go to unnecessary trouble over them.
So what you see here is, basically, the frills. The music, graphics and videos are not actually very important in a wargame, but it is what Talonsoft did better.
What HPS did better:
- The Unit Scale: Let's face it, the 25 man incriments were ahistorical, and stopped there being anything other than bloodbaths. Like Blackburn's ford had less than one hundred casualties, but each time I played ended up with over 1200 aside. It also means that small units are utterly useless, especially at Antietam, where one volley wipes them out, and they have a mere 1/12 chance of doing damage normally. HPS trumps the deck here, the unit scale is more authentic, and it stops nonsense like the time I played Chickamauga against the PC; Lost 250 men, inflicted 24,000 (!?). I have screenshots to prove it. That wouldn't happen in HPS!
- Strategic Options: The options are much more rewarding. Talonsoft games concentrated on the tactics, not the strategy. So at Gettysburg, there was no option to go around, because you hit a map edge, same at 2nd Manassas and Borodino. The campaign game is also great stuff, especially with casualties tying over. That means you play for SOME result rather than just winning.
- Scenarios: Talonsoft games were lucky if they had 30, HPS Peninsula has well over 100, others have much more. Variety is good!
- Familiarity: I have tried many strategy games, and the HPS ones are just enough like the Talonsoft ones so I felt utterly comfortable playing it. I prefer playing with phases rather than turns, but I might change. At least the game GIVES you that option!
BTW, do you find in big battles the casualties to be different between Talonsoft and HPS? Do lots of 1s, 5s and 10s add up to the 25 man incriments of the Talonsoft games?
Cheers, any comments are welcome.
When I realised this, I decided to try and find out just why it was so.
What Talonsoft Did Better:
- The music (grated I only have 2 HPS games). This isn't a huge one, as even I usually turn it off after an hour, but I thought the HPS music for Peninsula in particular was fairly poor. Not hugely relevant.
- Graphics: This is the biggest difference, but in many ways, it's a win for HPS (see below). But the bitmaps created by Talonsoft are incredible and detailed, but are a pain to edit, that is very much the sad truth. But the units themselves, and even the icons look nicer. So much so I only play HPS on 2d normal view now. I wish personally there were icons like the Talonsoft ones with the non-military symbols...but what can you do, nothin.
- Videos: I never used them as they slowed the game down too much, but some people like them, and HPS quite rightly didn't go to unnecessary trouble over them.
So what you see here is, basically, the frills. The music, graphics and videos are not actually very important in a wargame, but it is what Talonsoft did better.
What HPS did better:
- The Unit Scale: Let's face it, the 25 man incriments were ahistorical, and stopped there being anything other than bloodbaths. Like Blackburn's ford had less than one hundred casualties, but each time I played ended up with over 1200 aside. It also means that small units are utterly useless, especially at Antietam, where one volley wipes them out, and they have a mere 1/12 chance of doing damage normally. HPS trumps the deck here, the unit scale is more authentic, and it stops nonsense like the time I played Chickamauga against the PC; Lost 250 men, inflicted 24,000 (!?). I have screenshots to prove it. That wouldn't happen in HPS!
- Strategic Options: The options are much more rewarding. Talonsoft games concentrated on the tactics, not the strategy. So at Gettysburg, there was no option to go around, because you hit a map edge, same at 2nd Manassas and Borodino. The campaign game is also great stuff, especially with casualties tying over. That means you play for SOME result rather than just winning.
- Scenarios: Talonsoft games were lucky if they had 30, HPS Peninsula has well over 100, others have much more. Variety is good!
- Familiarity: I have tried many strategy games, and the HPS ones are just enough like the Talonsoft ones so I felt utterly comfortable playing it. I prefer playing with phases rather than turns, but I might change. At least the game GIVES you that option!
BTW, do you find in big battles the casualties to be different between Talonsoft and HPS? Do lots of 1s, 5s and 10s add up to the 25 man incriments of the Talonsoft games?
Cheers, any comments are welcome.