The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (Full Version)

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Daniele -> The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 1:45:48 PM)

First published in 1998, this legendary series of operational wargames has seen six releases, including the latest Operational Art of War III, released to the wargaming audience in 2006. Now, as we conclude The Operational Art of War III, we are also taking a new step to continue the series into the future. Publisher Matrix Games and the TOAW Development Team have been working behind the scenes for nearly two years to take this landmark brand to new heights.

First, a long-promised update… with development for The Operational Art of War once again in full swing, many months of development both past and present have allowed us to complete the final update for The Operational Art of War III, version 3.4.1.9! This update allows us to bring the TOAW community a parting gift for TOAW III, including a feature enhancement, quite a few bug fixes and new and revised scenarios, while also laying the groundwork for a new release, The Operational Art of War IV.

The Operational Art of War IV started as an update intended to be TOAW III version 3.5, but when we were able to re-start full development on the series, it allowed us to do much more in the way of significant improvements than we had originally considered and it kept growing until it became a full release plan. As a result, we’ve invested the time and resources to continue the series while also continuing support for TOAW III and the TOAW community in the form of this update. As many bug fixes as possible, basically anything that was not too tightly intertwined with new features and code, were removed from the Operational Art of War IV process and are included in this 3.4.1.9 release.

The Operational Art of War IV is scheduled to release late this year and includes a complete graphics and interface overhaul, major new gameplay and design features such as full naval combat modelling, improved supply handling, numerous increases to scenario parameters to better support large scenarios, and integrated PBEM++. It also includes tweaks and improvements to the underlying mechanics based upon player feedback that are sure to bring TOAW’s proven gameplay to a new level. The many improvements in Operational Art of War IV are also aimed at growing the community by making TOAW more accessible for a new generation of wargamers.

The Operational Art of War IV will fully support modern computer hardware and operating systems. This will make it more user-friendly and able to scale to higher resolutions, especially in terms of font and button size. It reorganizes and adds functionality to many very useful screens and dialogs to make them more informative and easier to use. Once released, TOAW IV will continue to be supported for some time, hopefully leading to many more updates and improvements. TOAW IV will be the new base point for the TOAW series and future updates will be based on this new release.

For a complete list of changes for the 3.4.1.9 update, check here

You can download the patch here

Get more information about TOAW III from its official product page.

To discuss TOAW IV please go to its new Coming Soon forum here



fogger -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 1:47:17 PM)

Am I the first to start the download?



Oberst_Klink -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 1:48:13 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: fogger

Am I the first to start the download?

And me 2ns, alter Australier!

Klink, Oberst



fogger -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 2:03:26 PM)

Thank you Matrix Games, Ralph and all the people on the development team. I look forward to TOAW 4.



larryfulkerson -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 2:13:13 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: fogger
Thank you Matrix Games, Ralph and all the people on the development team. I look forward to TOAW 4.

You're quite welcome. I've been having a blast testing it.



zakblood -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 2:33:35 PM)

TOAW 4 [&o][&o][&o]



BigDuke66 -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 4:14:06 PM)

Well I'm happy or let's say relieved that we finally get the long awaited patch, but what I don't get is why after the lessons of the past we don't get an extensive Open Beta to make sure that the patch is flawless, especially if this is a final patch with no more support.
Let's pray to the gods of war that they are with us!!!



Meyer1 -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 4:34:09 PM)

Wow. Didn't see that coming.

Thanks for the nice surprise.



Meyer1 -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 4:45:36 PM)

So, how many here knew this beforehand? [sm=00001746.gif]



josant -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 5:03:02 PM)

Thanks for all the job.



BigDuke66 -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 6:52:05 PM)

Is that change log complete?
I just wonder because FitE2 was said to be testing under the patch in development but afaik it needed some limits in the game shifted like max units etc. and I don't see this in the change log.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 7:29:23 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: BigDuke66

Is that change log complete?
I just wonder because FitE2 was said to be testing under the patch in development but afaik it needed some limits in the game shifted like max units etc. and I don't see this in the change log.


Yes, it's complete. FITE2 was testing what at the time was called 3.5. That has morphed into TOAW IV. We intentionally named this patch 3.4.1 to avoid confusion with that.



VegasOZ -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 7:38:43 PM)

I just tried to Update TOAW III from the game menu and it failed. The message mentioned a failure of a .zip file and one other error.

I am now trying to download the patch directly and apply it externally.



VegasOZ -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 8:00:35 PM)

The external download of the patch installed and now my game is working apparently normally with the new patch.

Thank you.



SMK-at-work -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 9:55:39 PM)

slobber slobber whine grovel.....

[:D][:D][:D]



davidofga -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 11:06:10 PM)

program will not run under windows 8.1 after update. Worked fine before update. Any ideas?



larryfulkerson -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 11:07:54 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: davidofga
program will not run under windows 8.1 after update. Worked fine before update. Any ideas?

I would suggest posting your symptoms in the "help wanted / needed" section. Bob can solve any problem.



Meyer1 -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 11:32:35 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay


quote:

ORIGINAL: BigDuke66

Is that change log complete?
I just wonder because FitE2 was said to be testing under the patch in development but afaik it needed some limits in the game shifted like max units etc. and I don't see this in the change log.


Yes, it's complete. FITE2 was testing what at the time was called 3.5. That has morphed into TOAW IV. We intentionally named this patch 3.4.1 to avoid confusion with that.


"We"? Are you part of the development team now? Who else?



Lobster -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/7/2015 11:33:07 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Daniele

The Operational Art of War IV is scheduled to release late this year


Is this written in stone or in wet concrete?



Curtis Lemay -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 1:15:05 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Lobster


quote:

ORIGINAL: Daniele

The Operational Art of War IV is scheduled to release late this year


Is this written in stone or in wet concrete?


The key word is "scheduled". And there's a lot left to do. But Ralph is highly motivated to meet it since there's an obvious benefit to a Christmas period launch.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 1:19:03 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Meyer1

quote:

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay


quote:

ORIGINAL: BigDuke66

Is that change log complete?
I just wonder because FitE2 was said to be testing under the patch in development but afaik it needed some limits in the game shifted like max units etc. and I don't see this in the change log.


Yes, it's complete. FITE2 was testing what at the time was called 3.5. That has morphed into TOAW IV. We intentionally named this patch 3.4.1 to avoid confusion with that.


"We"? Are you part of the development team now? Who else?


I am. I'm sure that if I try to list everyone in it I'll miss someone and there's a long list of members that have dropped out of sight. So, it's kind of amorphous. Erik & Ralph, obviously. Then the testers include Larry and Steve - among many others.



Meyer1 -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 1:20:34 AM)

Thanks Bob, good to know.



Lobster -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 2:01:56 AM)

Let me see if I understand this correctly. We were going to get a nice patch with some great improvements for free (would have gladly paid $10). Now we are only getting a few bug fixes and one or two improvements. Then around Xmas (good marketing idea) we are getting 'TOAWIV' which is mostly the patch we were originally supposed to get. And, this is merely an assumption, based on Matrix pricing, we will have to pay $30 to $40 bucks for our used to be patch. Does that fairly cover it?



Meyer1 -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 2:06:10 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lobster

Let me see if I understand this correctly. We were going to get a nice patch with some great improvements for free (would have gladly paid $10). Now we are only getting a few bug fixes and one or two improvements. Then around Xmas (good marketing idea) we are getting 'TOAWIV' which is mostly the patch we were originally supposed to get. And, this is merely an assumption, based on Matrix pricing, we will have to pay $30 to $40 bucks for our used to be patch. Does that fairly cover it?



Well, looks like we are getting something more than a patch, don't know how much. I would expect at least some interface overhaul, very needed IMHO. I don't think that was scheduled for 3.5. Nor a new naval combat model.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 2:50:05 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Lobster

Let me see if I understand this correctly. We were going to get a nice patch with some great improvements for free (would have gladly paid $10). Now we are only getting a few bug fixes and one or two improvements. Then around Xmas (good marketing idea) we are getting 'TOAWIV' which is mostly the patch we were originally supposed to get. And, this is merely an assumption, based on Matrix pricing, we will have to pay $30 to $40 bucks for our used to be patch. Does that fairly cover it?


Yes. Though I don't know anything about pricing. I would only point out that TOAW III came out about the same time as WitP. How long has WitP:AE been out? TOAW III has had enough free updates. Ralph has worked long and hard on this. He deserves to be rewarded for it.



larryfulkerson -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 3:13:37 AM)

quote:

Ralph has worked long and hard on this. He deserves to be rewarded for it.

I concur on the long and hard part. I think he should be rewarded at least this one time or he may move on to
greener pastures. Then we'd have to break in another excellent programmer. Do you have
any idea how difficult that could be? Best we pay Ralph and like it, I say.



Lobster -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 4:00:05 AM)

Like I said, I would have been more than happy to pay $10 for the patch. Same price companies like Battlefront charge for their upgrades to their games. It's a fair price and should have been applied to all of the patch upgrades. I'm just hoping this isn't priced as a new game for $30 or $40 when it was supposed to be a patch/upgrade. I also never said anything negative about Ralph. I know he's worked hard. How anyone could assume I thought otherwise is a head scratcher since I never implied anything of the sort. [sm=terms.gif]



BigDuke66 -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 4:20:05 AM)

Surely Ralph deserves it but the "disappointment" should be easy to understand by anyone, first a lot players & designers have left the game and the community shrunk what is no wonder as it was left without fixes to serious problem for 4,5 years that went so far that unofficial fixes went alive, and all the while there was talk about something behind the curtain that should have been so damned pretty as the hottest chick on this planet.
Now this rather "average" babe comes out and declares that a real hot chick will show up shortly and that it looks similar but somehow better, but that you have to pay again to get back into the Titty Twister 2.0.
I doubt that this works out as only the grognards will come back as they have never really been away, and they will be happy enough to get a chick at all no matter how "average" she is as they are simply are to old & horny to wait for any "scheduled" chick.

From a marketing point of view it's a disaster, the shrunk community is surely not the best for future endeavors, if fixes would have been released years back it would have kept the ball rolling and TOAWIV could have taken up the momentum, now it seems TOAW IV must restart from scratch and that will not be easy for such a game as it's not 2006 anymore.

Anyhow I'm glad TOAWIII is playable again and I'm looking forward to finally play some scenarios that I had too long postponed.



secadegas -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 8:58:44 AM)


quote:


I'm glad TOAWIII is playable again and I'm looking forward to finally play some scenarios that I had too long postponed.



This myth of TOAW 3.4 unplayability is as resilient as it is absolutely wrong.

Just because some people took the option not to play 3.4 version or/and its fix it doesn't mean other people didn' play or design a lot taking great fun from it over the last couple of years.

Now, thanks to the efforts of the same team that is the responsible for keeping this game alive, we have a new patch and a promise of a new version in a near future and that's hardly bad news.








sPzAbt653 -> RE: The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel! (7/8/2015 11:08:12 AM)

quote:

... doesn't mean other people didn' play or design a lot taking great fun from it over the last couple of years.


Cheers to that, I haven't lost any precious TOAW time over the past few years due to what some haters trumped up into 'unplayability'.

quote:

we have a new patch and a promise of a new version in a near future and that's hardly bad news.


If anyone is disappointed in the new patch, just forget about it and focus on the bolded part. Reread Daniele's post and let it sink in. I'll recap - TOAW IV !! And a commitment to deliver within a few months from now. Not 'soon', but an actual time frame. How friggin' exciting is that ??

And thanks to Ralph, Bob, Erik and Matrix for making all this possible. [&o]



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