Poor Joe

[Poor Old Spike]

I've been playing all the different versions of Harpoon on and off for the past 15 years and it must be one of the most bug-infested games in the history of PC wargaming, the bugs actually seem to be increasing instead of decreasing with every new patch and upgrade!
As a press reviewer I recently told Matrix that H3ANW is so buggy and unplayable that I can't even review it, and that they should withdraw it from sale until it's fixed because at the moment the game is a disgrace and is harming Matrix's good reputation, but Matrix replied saying the game still has a dedicated following of fans.
It's the ordinary Joe wargamer I feel sorry for who spends his cash on what he hopes is a decent game of modern naval warfare, only to find he's wasted his cash on a complete mess.
Maybe H3's following of hardcore fans are in part responsible for keeping the game alive, so perhaps they themselves should issue an ultimatum to Matrix- "Fix it once and for all or we ditch it"

[Herman Hum]

Maybe H3's following of hardcore fans are in part responsible for keeping the game alive, so perhaps they themselves should issue an ultimatum to Matrix- "Fix it once and for all or we ditch it"

When it comes to bugs, everyone has their personal level of tolerance. There were some folks who were totally incensed with:

Battleset window (http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/showpost.php?p=339830&postcount=9)

When viewing the Battleset loading window, it is not possible to view the orders for individual scenarios. The scenario is automatically loaded if it is selected instead of pausing to allow the player to view the orders first.

while other users were content to work around it. It's not unlike intrusive DRM schemes; some will allow for it while others will never purchase software employing Starforce. Everyone is free to choose for themselves.

Some old Harpoon players have done as you suggested and simply withdrawn from any and all Harpoon activity. Other players tinker with ANW, while some jump in wholeheartedly. It's a free country and everyone can contribute or not contribute as they like.

However, no one is criticizing you on your stance, either. You wish to take a hard stance and that is helpful, IMO. But I don't think it fair to criticize other folks for doing exercising their own choice to participate or not.

[rkoelbach]

Hello,

I've been playing all the different versions of Harpoon on and off for the past 15 years and it must be one of the most bug-infested games in the history of PC wargaming, the bugs actually seem to be increasing instead of decreasing with every new patch and upgrade!
As a press reviewer I recently told Matrix that H3ANW is so buggy and unplayable that I can't even review it, and that they should withdraw it from sale until it's fixed because at the moment the game is a disgrace and is harming Matrix's good reputation, but Matrix replied saying the game still has a dedicated following of fans.
It's the ordinary Joe wargamer I feel sorry for who spends his cash on what he hopes is a decent game of modern naval warfare, only to find he's wasted his cash on a complete mess.
Maybe H3's following of hardcore fans are in part responsible for keeping the game alive, so perhaps they themselves should issue an ultimatum to Matrix- "Fix it once and for all or we ditch it"

I´ve been playing all versions of Computer Harpoon since 1991 and I have written a lot of scens for Harpoon Classic, Harpoon 2, Harpoon 3 and Harpoon 3 ANW. All of them had their problems and bugs, yes. With ANW = Harpoon 3.7 and upwards, there came many changes in game behaviour which can be object to critiques and a lot of bugs, which should be criticized and removed. The guys are working hard to get the game back in the track.

But ANW is definitely playable and many guys enjoy it; just look at all this MP AARs posted in this forum. For the time being: Show me a better naval warfare simulation.


Regards,
Ralf

[Poor Old Spike]

I've not completely abandoned H3ANW, i'll keep an eye on it and play a scen once in a while, but every time a bug surfaces it wrecks my confidence and trust in the game and I have to go sulk for a month or two til I get over it..

[Guus Flater]

I've not completely abandoned H3ANW, i'll keep an eye on it and play a scen once in a while, but every time a bug surfaces it wrecks my confidence and trust in the game and I have to go sulk for a month or two til I get over it..

You are [I am affraid] not the only one.......:upset:

[thewood]

I've not completely abandoned H3ANW, i'll keep an eye on it and play a scen once in a while, but every time a bug surfaces it wrecks my confidence and trust in the game and I have to go sulk for a month or two til I get over it..

This is exactly my status on H3ANW. I own every edition and for the last year or two, I have been waiting for the bugs to be fixed. It seems to me, as a harpoon layman, it is quite a mess. The bickering in the community and attitude of some of the developers doesn't help.

[eds]

This is exactly my status on H3ANW. I own every edition and for the last year or two, I have been waiting for the bugs to be fixed. It seems to me, as a harpoon layman, it is quite a mess. The bickering in the community and attitude of some of the developers doesn't help.

I totally agree with you.

[Poor Old Spike]

Incidentally what's you guys opinion of the other Harpoon (Larry Bond's Harpoon Commanders Edition) or whatever it's called now?
It's been around longer than the H2/H3 series and I owned several of the earlier versions but sadly I hear its just as bugged as H3 so no change there..

[Herman Hum]

Incidentally what's you guys opinion of the other Harpoon (Larry Bond's Harpoon Commanders Edition) or whatever it's called now?
It's been around longer than the H2/H3 series and I owned several of the earlier versions but sadly I hear its just as bugged as H3 so no change there..

That's not what I hear, but your mileage may vary. You can check out the current list of * Known Harpoon Classic Issues (http://www.harplonkhq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16) and decide for yourself. The folks who provide technical support for the game have their own system and you can check their's out, too:

Bug Tracker (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?autocom=bugtracker)

Defect Tracking (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?showforum=46)

Sure, there are about 40 or so defects, but, IMO, most of them are relatively minor or have an imperfect (temporary, I hope) work-around solution already available. In fact, there was a community general meeting this past weekend and we were asked to come up with a Top 10 List of bugs for the next patch and we really couldn't get past 4-5 that had real urgency. You can check out the log of that chat:

HC IRC Chat May 24th (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?showtopic=2856&view=getnewpost)

and decide for yourself. Unfortunately, no demo of HCE is currently available so you are unable to try it and find out for yourself.

[CV32]

Incidentally what's you guys opinion of the other Harpoon (Larry Bond's Harpoon Commanders Edition) or whatever it's called now? It's been around longer than the H2/H3 series and I owned several of the earlier versions but sadly I hear its just as bugged as H3 so no change there..

First I've heard of that rumour, and imho, it has no basis. Where did you hear it?

[rkoelbach]

Hello,

Incidentally what's you guys opinion of the other Harpoon (Larry Bond's Harpoon Commanders Edition) or whatever it's called now?
It's been around longer than the H2/H3 series and I owned several of the earlier versions but sadly I hear its just as bugged as H3 so no change there..

That´s definitely not true. While ANW has a lot of problems (but still is playable) HCE is the best HC version ever. It runs smoothly, is easy to handle and has a real nasty AI who does his job - no chance here to run away because the AI goes nuts or detects its pacifist soul - he´ll kill you!

Ralf

[Poor Old Spike]

I've just asked Matrix to let me have HCE for review so i'll check it out for myself.
Incidentally, which game has a bigger fanbase, the LBond series or H3 series?

[Herman Hum]

When the original Harpoon Classic (H97) was released, it was said to have sold 100,000 copies, IIRC. I don't know how many of them are still around or have come back to it. My estimate would be that there are about the same number of players who enjoy the two versions of the game.

[Poor Old Spike]

Okay I just got Harpoon Commanders Edition today (and updated to latest 2008.24 version), but already a few glitches are showing, that's a *#!!@#* great start!
I shall post asking for advice around the HCE forums, specifically-

1 - why are the lat/long lines missing from the top quarter of the map? It's nothing to do with the north pole because they're also missing no matter what part of the world I'm in and at all zoom levels.
I've tried all the listed resolution settings but the glitch stays put.

2 - some of the important text in my staff message boxes is cut off by the box border but isn't the box expandable to take it in?
Again I've tried all the resos without success.

3 - is there any way to slow down the dramatic missile launch and incoming animations? blink and you miss them..

[Herman Hum]

2 - some of the important text in my staff message boxes is cut off by the box border but isn't the box expandable to take it in?
Again I've tried all the resos without success.

3 - is there any way to slow down the dramatic missile launch and incoming animations? blink and you miss them..

These are the ones I can answer:

2 - grab the utility from File - HCE Clear Game Options Registry Settings (http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?showtopic=2321) and run it. It should solve your truncated windows problem.

3 - As a user, there is no way to slow them down.