Well…I’ve been saying it for years and years and now I finally have something to show for it – albeit not much to show.
I’ve created a rough working beta of Hutsell’s classic VGA Civil War Strategy compiled as a Windows application. You can download it using the link below:
Civil War Strategy Game 1.58 BETA
I’ve included a bunch of notes below, but I’ll try and offer a brief summary of what this means for now and what it means for the future:
- My goal is simply (initially) to port the games to Windows and to expand, optimize, and reorganize the code.
- The first will allow individuals to quickly play the games on Windows without using DOSBox, the second is in preparation for an even larger undertaking once the application has been fully and successfully ported to QB64 and native Windows compilation – the creation of new written from the ground up games.
- I could use help beta testing the game. Please give it a try and let me know if you run into anything that doesn’t work correctly. This is the first beta, so I expect there to be a number of issues…more hands to the shovel, the easier the task.
- I’m doing this in my spare time (which isn’t much). I hope to release a new beta release once a week at least…even if it contains only the most minor changes. A lot of that will depend on how much feedback I receive providing insight into issue areas.
What’s Changed:
- Runs as a native Windows application, no more necessity for DOSBox.
- Removed mentions of DOS.
- Removed links to 32-bit batch files that won’t work with 64-bit Windows.
- Removed old extraneous files.
Known Bugs:
- Music at beginning of game doesn’t play correctly.
- You cannot save games.
Technical Notes:
- The code has been compiled in QB64.
- This removes the file length issues previously present in QuickBasic 4.5 and PDS 7.1, allowing for the consolidation of all code into one code file.
- Minor code changes were made throughout – some removal of duplicate code between files, change of code to operate correctly within QB64, and so on.
- Significant work has gone into (though not completed) expanding code using more verbose and clear techniques and to standardize code operations.
I love Civil War Strategy. I’m a Unix/Linux Systems Administrator and have a small web/dev shop on the side. I’d love to test and see if I can help with porting in anyway. Thanks and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays.
Looks like you have quite a lot to show for your work — already looks like a solid basis for the ground-up game you probably have in mind. Always have been a fan of CWS and still run it now and then under DOSBox.
Only items I noted: (1) the graphics display mixed-up colors) at the 2nd & subsequent turn starts, correctable with F3; and (2) the program sometimes responds only to the Enter key when the prompt “Press any key to continue” appears. Probably easiest to just change the prompt — I imagine you’re going to put mouse support in there at some point anyway.
Thanks for the great work & best wishes for the year ahead!
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Please help!
I’ve downloaded all the files for the windows version of Civil War Strategy, BUT I can figure out how to get it started. I noticed there is no “.exe” file, which is usually where I start. How do I get the game to run?
Your help is profoundly appreciated!
Respectfully,
Jim
WOW! I just had to reinstall XP and wanted to load CWS. I purchased this a long time ago from Mr. Hutsell and thought that it was worth every penny. Unfortunatlly I cannot find the disc
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Just got this from you sita and am really excited that you will port to Windows. After I get that running I will sure try the beta!
Thanks for having this available!
Carl