I'm a long-time player of HCE, but I never explored ANW because I ran into operating problems from day 1. At the time, I posted them to the Matrix support desk, but they didn't have even one suggestion. So I'll re-post here what I posted there:

 

 

Problem 1, This happens in both version 3.10 and 3.63.

If the game window is centered, or on the right half, of my desktop, the cursor disappears when I move it over the contents of the window. It will reappear on the other side of the window if I keep moving the mouse. Also, it does work over the blue bar at the top of the window, so I can move the window around on the desktop.

If I move the window to the far left of the desktop so the left edges of each are flush with each other, the cursor works within the window, Could this be related to the fact that the desktop is a widescreen (16:9) format?

Problem 2:

In version 3.10, the box at the top of the window to either maximize or resize the window is grayed out and not working. (The minimize and close window functions work).

In version 3.63, the box at the top of the window to either maximize or resize the window works to a degree, but maximizing it only fills about 1/3 of the available screen. I cannot enlarge the window to take up any more of the desktop.

 

I haven't run into this specific problem, so my advice may or may not be helpful...

 

What I found is that 3.11 (the upgrade from 3.10) works better than 3.10. More stable, etc. And, at least on my system, both 3.11 and 3.10 were more stable than 3.63.

 

I also found that sometimes, I had to click both the Play Harpoon launcher application AND the scenario editor or the game, just once each time, like switching back and forth between them, to get them to work.

 

I don't know if this will help; I hope it does. Try downloading the 3.11 update (it's free) and see what happens?

 

I hope this helps.

 

Mark

What about versions 3.6.3 and 3.9.4? Those are the ones bundled by Matrix into the the anniversary issue.

 

A bit of good news to start. I went into the H3 config options, and was able to get the mouse operating normally in versions 3.10.0 and 3.9.4 by unchecking the "Run Windowed" box among the Sound and Video options. Ver 3.6.3 remains entirely unplayable as the mouse doesn't work. But now it doesn't work differently that it used to not work. With the new config, now the mouse appears normal as I scroll it from my desktop over the game window. But when I make any selection within the window, the mouse disappears and nothing is selected.

 

But it seems I have two out of 3 versions working, though in neither case can I re-size the window, which is something of a drag.

 

 

So, are these 3 different game engines? Is there any reason to keep all three?

Since 3.6.3 seems not to work at all for me, what is the downside to dumping it? Should I salvage Battelsets or scenarios out of the directory that can be used in one of the other versions?

Interesting about the video options...I have almost the opposite problem; if I don't run the game in Windowed version, it looks absolutely hideous and I can't always see the cursor. Weird! I've got it set on Windowed Mode with the 1024x768 box clicked on, if that makes any difference. I think if you set it up with some custom window size instead of using one of the pre-set options maybe it gets a little fussy, but I honestly don't know.

 

I never use 3.6.3 myself anymore. I suspect there are some subtle differences between the various game engines, but I never noticed anything that really jumped out at me. And I think most of the standard scenarios have already been rebuilt to use with ANW 3.11. So I don't think you'll lose anything by just switching to 3.11.

 

Again, you may want to update to 3.11 and see if that makes any difference. It seems like they fixed some of the game engine issues with that update.

 

I hope this helps. Do anyone else have any ideas?

 

Mark

... I've got it set on Windowed Mode with the 1024x768 box clicked on, if that makes any difference. ...

I don't even have that choice. If I have "Run in Windowed Mode" checked, my only two choices are 640x480 or 800x600. The other two options are greyed out and can't be selected, which is weird because my computer is pretty new and has a better resolution than even the highest res option.

Yeah, the highest option (1280 x 1024) is grayed out on mine, although I am pretty sure my computer could handle that resolution. Does it matter which option is checked in Windowed mode (or if you just use a custom setting with the sliders)?

 

Sorry I'm not more help on this. I'm afraid my solution to a lot of technical problems is along the lines of "just try every option until you find one that works and then forget what you did so the next time you have to do it all over again."

 

On the other hand, you said you were able to get 3.10 working normally? In that case, it may be moot point. I would just use 3.10 (and update to 3.11) and go from there.

You are not supposed to be able to resize the main H3/ANW window, the size is set as you've found via the Launchers that you've found. The sliders in windowed mode will allow you to choose just about any resolution (though with some you'll find some map distortion).

 

As Mark says, definitely update to 3.11 and see where you stand at that point.

 

3.6.3 is mainly around to allow people to play older scenarios (notably DB2000 from the HHQ folks). All of the new action on this site is for 3.11 as Mark has demonstrated with his many scenarios.

Update which version? There are 3.

 

And no one but me has yet mentioned ver 3.9.4. Is that the idiot cousin game kept chained in the basement?

The update is for Harpoon 3.10 (Advanced Naval Warfare). Here are the links...

 

http://www.matrixgames.com/news/996/Harpoon.-.Ultimate.Edition.Gets.Improvements.and.Fixes.in.New.Update

http://www.matrixgames.com/products/392/downloads/

 

As for 3.9.4, I've never used it; I think it was just the version released after 3.6.3 but before ANW. 3.11 (ANW) is, I think, the only version being supported now.

Can you use the scenarios written for 3.6.3 and/or 3.9.4 in 3.11?

 

Is there any reason to keep the other versions at all, other than for some obscure "historical record" rationale that I have no interest in?

I'm not sure you can move scenarios from one version of the game to another. I think there is a way to rebuild them, but I think it's more complicated than just the standard rebuild you use when a database is updated. The standard scenarios (global conflicts, etc.) have all been rebuilt for 3.11, but I'm not sure about the ones designed by fans. That might be the main reason for keeping all the different versions. Sorry I can't be more help here; I really don't know.

You could rebuild scenarios from the older versions though like Mark says, to do it right takes a large amount of time. You only keep 3.6.3 if you want to play any 3.6.3 specific scenarios and databases. 3.9.4 you keep if you want to play multiplayer, 3.11 is less stable for multiplayer. Your chances of finding anyone here who will actually play MP is right near zero so you probably don't need to keep that either.