21 replies to this topic

[John_dublin18]

I used various versions some years ago, finishing on Classic and W98. One of the problems was non re-sizable windows; ridiculously small on a large screen (1600x1200, or better). (Current hardware is twin core Athlon running XP.)

So far as I can tell the main difference between the two versions is single user v multi-user. I expect mainly single user, but for the small price difference multi-user would be nice if there were no penalties or 'gotchas'.

Is there any compelling reason to choose one or the other?

Can old battlesets and scenarios be updated for use with either version?; or does one merely download new versions?

Am I right in thinking that there still seems to be a problem with H3 not fully utilizing screen resolutions available under XP?

Thanks for advice.

John

[TonyE]

HCE - Harpoon: Commander's Edition formerly known as HCCE (Harpoon Classic: Commander's Edition) is the continued development of the Harpoon 1 line of computer games such as your previous HC experience.

H3/ANW is the continued development of Harpoon 2 line of computer games.

HCE will run scenarios from the earlier HC iterations. HCE and ANW scenarios are mutually exclusive, you cannot run a HCE/HC scenario in ANW and you can't run H2/3/ANW scenarios in HCE.

HCE does have sizeable windows but 1600x1200 is getting near the limits again (the maps we use are 1024 pixels across so anything past that width for an individual map window isn't possible at present). In other words, it won't choke on higher resolutions but past 2052 pixels screen width you wouldn't get much benefit to a higher resolution.

ANW doesn't have much trouble with XP screen resolutions, if you keep to certain ratios of width to height you are fine, there is no longer a limit of 1280x1024, nor are you forced to play in full screen.

MP is the only strictly compelling reason to choose ANW over HCE. Otherwise it comes down to what you enjoy. Both games continue to be developed.

[Herman]

So far as I can tell the main difference between the two versions is single user v multi-user. I expect mainly single user, but for the small price difference multi-user would be nice if there were no penalties or 'gotchas'.

MP is the only strictly compelling reason to choose ANW over HCE. Otherwise it comes down to what you enjoy. Both games continue to be developed.

I'll respectfully disagree with this proposition. Both games are similar in play, but there are some significant differences, notwithstanding the MP capability in ANW.

The best way to answer this question to your own satisfaction is to just run the quick demos. The ANW demo is here:

http://computerharpo..._Demo_39410.exe

You seem to already know how HC runs, so it will be a good contrast for you to see. Also, if you want to try out an MP session, just let it be known and it can be arranged after you finish the ANW Demo.

[John_dublin18]

Thanks Tony. Some food for thought.

John

[John_dublin18]

I found the old CD. It is Winharp for w3.1 (Installer showed version 1.5x, Xp reports 3.2.3 from 1996).

Is there a way to get this running under xp?

Thanks,

John

[TonyE]

Have you tried it yet? It runs fine for me on XP though I didn't do an install from CD (I had a previously installed copy that I moved to XP). Maybe you can tell us what problems you are having with the installer?

[John_dublin18]

Re-installed. Version 1.55b.

Starts ok, select giuk, scenario 1.0, nato, nukes off, windows come up (ABS, two ships, speed 0, 6 degrees).

'General Protection Fault in module WINHARP.EXE at 0001:018D.
Choose close. WINHARP will close'

And it closes!!

Also WSCENEDT produces the same GPF at the same location.

HCSysinfo runs, stops at Failed to get data for RomFontPointers and fails to produce a report.

John

[John_dublin18]

Downloading demo at present.

Thanks, Herman.

[John_dublin18]

Is there a similar demo for HCE?

Thanks,

John.

[TonyE]

Is there a similar demo for HCE?

Not yet, that's what we're focusing on at present.

[CV32]

Is there a similar demo for HCE?

Not yet, that's what we're focusing on at present.

And which is taking a lot of our energies.

[Jason]

ill chime in on this....hang on to your hats...

anw vs hce well it really isnt about competing against each other product wise but hce is a tried and true way of playing harpoon on the puter. It is the "legacy"

ANW, when it works, is simply the best way to play, but for me needs some things patched up before i can start playing it again, but that is all talked about on other posts and in various other places.

[TonyE]

ill chime in on this....hang on to your hats...

It is with great trepidation that I approved your post. Take it easy guys, that was at least straddling the line, if not a few nm over it!

[Jason]

ill chime in on this....hang on to your hats...

It is with great trepidation that I approved your post. Take it easy guys, that was at least straddling the line, if not a few nm over it!

First off let me say it was not my intent to insult anyone. the original post asked for a comparison between hce and anw, which, in my few words tried to sum up my experience with the two sims.

[jugasa77]

MP is the only strictly compelling reason to choose ANW over HCE. Otherwise it comes down to what you enjoy. Both games continue to be developed.

I want to buy Harpoon ANW although I already own HCE. There are different scenarios to play and it seems that ANW is more complex, which I like very much. I think that it is very difficult to write and package a "very-good-manual" and there are some guides you can download in the web. This is good because I like reading manuals very much. As HCE is based on Harpoon3 paper rules, and I own Harpoon4-MTNW, I want to know...

if Harpoon ANW is based on H4 paper rules?