The Third World War 1989

[AnthonyBoscia]

Warsaw Pact tanks got an offensive bonus which makes them tougher on the attack. The AI proclivity to blitz with damaged units on the attack parallels Soviet doctrine of continuing the offensive regardless of casualties until relieved or rendered hors de combat. NATO airpower was the great bogeyman in Soviet planning, which they regarded as the greatest threat to conducting a successful offensive. Because of the Civ III limits, the preferred method of countering NATO airpower by relentless assault against the MOBs is not possible. Best bet in game is to overrun them and stack air defense units in large piles to increase the chance of shooting down stealth-attack aircraft. Beyond that, all unit abilities can be altered in the biq as you choose, or movement after paradropping can be enabled, in which case the game becomes a cakewalk for the Warsaw Pact. Unit availability can also be modded in the biq.

 

[Lionic]

It is turn 19 and I can now say that Soviets got much stronger. Fighting takes place around Spanish border and the Soviet Union still advances in a large tank formation which is largely composed of units that were there in the beginning of a scenario--including lots of T-64's. During the previous games from stabilised somewhere around Paris with all prewar tank formations gone by then.

 

[Lionic]

Tony, what is People's Republic of the Rhine is based on? Why isn't it just a reunification of Germany under the "rightful" East German banner?

 

[AnthonyBoscia]

It is based on conjecture. I find it unthinkable that the Soviet Union would allow reunification, even if it did dominate both halves. A united Germany would be the dominant economic and industrial powerhouse of Europe, as it indeed has become since 1991. Such a construct would be anathema to Soviet leadership. The marshals of 1989 remembered well what happened in 1941 from their own experience. Best to have two Germanies, both in competition with one another. And of course the Federal Republic would be ransacked and its industry shipped east as compensation for the enormous economic strain that such a war would place on the Soviet bloc. Divide et impera.

As far as the name, it is pure fantasy on my part. I would guess the Soviet leadership would want a socialist West Germany to have its power base far from Berlin (with Hamburg as middle ground) and Cologne or nearby seems logical enough.

 

[Rathvilly]

Hi, was just testing the new version as France using Flintlock. Just wondering if the config file for the scenario is correct re city razing. Started a game and after 10 turns noticed all of West Germany had been demolished. Started afresh and changed the settings, just not sure if you intended this? Really enjoying this version - much tougher - about 20 turns in ...

 

[AnthonyBoscia]

Rathvilly, thanks for posting that. I created a new zip file and uploaded it. Definitely not intended. Something went wrong with the config file at the 11th hour and I thought something like this might pop up. It is correct now and for those of you who have downloaded the mod already, it's a simple change in the config from false to true for no-raze.

Let me know how it goes for France. If you made it 20 turns, I think the worst is over for you. I played as Spain and got completely overrun. I had actually deleted the French reserve units during development but added them back in because half the country was empty. I never did find a satisfactory way for France to win by space race, though.

 

[Rathvilly]

Ha - well I only lasted another four turns - ran out of defenders, and had no offensive punch left to hit enemy stacks (stealthed away I think), cities started falling so I retired! Commenced another game without flintlock and after another gruelling 25 or so turns was able to hit back - now helped by Spain and later Italy. The big difference is that I still had some offence left - could shift from city to city. Was on track to reclaiming the west when the game crashed on turn 58 - not sure why (just a 'conquests has encountered a problem'), possibly a unit problem somewhere? Anyway - this version is really good, turn times fast, and the Warsaw Pact really packs a punch. Will try again with flintlock as it makes the game way more dynamic (maybe I'll pick someone further away from the 'action'). Bother games were Major-General level, though this probably doesn't make too much of a difference.

 

[Airutec]

Has anyone had a problem when trying to save this scenario while playing version 31? For some reason I get a failed to save notification every time I try to save this scenario which generates a 16+ mb save file that is corrupted. The weird thing is that it only happens with this scenario.

 

[r16]

it somehow triggers something in the .exe files and stuff . Being a known paranoid around here ı would stoop low enough to suggest it is all the accuracy and stuff put in it so that it is taken to be a real war thing ... and thus the authorities should be warned .

over the years some players have also reported their automated save files have grown too large . When ı manually save an average game start , it might be 100 or 200kb . The autosave will be 3000kb , near the end of the game they would be 7000 in contrast to 500 or 600 manually .

 

[Glutius Max]

Actually, for me, this new scenario file works. That happened to me every time playing the old version. I used to only be able to play one session but saving it would always fail. I've only played ten turns so far, but that's 9 turns more than I used to so far, and my save files still work. That might change as more and more units and buildings are built. I think the creator of this mod reduced some of the bulkiness to reduce the risk of the save file corruption, as that was what caused that problem.

 

[Airutec]

Actually, for me, this new scenario file works. That happened to me every time playing the old version. I used to only be able to play one session but saving it would always fail. I've only played ten turns so far, but that's 9 turns more than I used to so far, and my save files still work. That might change as more and more units and buildings are built. I think the creator of this mod reduced some of the bulkiness to reduce the risk of the save file corruption, as that was what caused that problem.

Interesting as I recall having the opposite problem... The really old version I have is on a hard drive that doesn't work anymore :/

it somehow triggers something in the .exe files and stuff . Being a known paranoid around here ı would stoop low enough to suggest it is all the accuracy and stuff put in it so that it is taken to be a real war thing ... and thus the authorities should be warned .

over the years some players have also reported their automated save files have grown too large . When ı manually save an average game start , it might be 100 or 200kb . The autosave will be 3000kb , near the end of the game they would be 7000 in contrast to 500 or 600 manually .

Was there any way to fix it? Maybe I'll go and remove some of the units/sides and see if that does anything

 

[AnthonyBoscia]

The best solution is to use CXE to run the game, if you're not already. The failed save is due to the size of the game, specifically the amount of unique unit animations. This goes all the way back to early development before the mod was ever posted online, where the addition of unit graphics caused the two possible memory issues: failure to load or failure to save. CXE not only adds features, it also improves the efficiency of the game by reducing poor or redundant AI logic. I haven't had a crash since I started using it. There's a link to CXE on the first post of this thread for whomever else is reading.

 

[r16]

as the scenario designer says . ı have nothing else to offer at the moment .

 

[Airutec]

CXE seems to have fixed the problem.

 

[Seymen]

Has anyone had a problem when trying to save this scenario while playing version 31? For some reason I get a failed to save notification every time I try to save this scenario which generates a 16+ mb save file that is corrupted. The weird thing is that it only happens with this scenario.

YES! I cannot save it for the love of God! There is just no way! Such a great scenario and it is so frustrating not being able to save it. What may have I done wrong?

 

[AnthonyBoscia]

Next time this gets updated, I'll probably put a message up front recommending CXE. I hate seeing players get their playthroughs wrecked by this memory issue.