Panzer General
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| Panzer General | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | |
| Publisher(s) | Strategic Simulations |
| Release date(s) | 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Turn-based strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player or two player via hotseat or PBEM |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS |
| Input | Mouse and keyboard |
Panzer General is a World War II computer wargame published by Strategic Simulations in 1994.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Panzer General is turn-based, set on operational level hex maps. A player can play any lone scenario from either Axis or Allied side and choose a computer or human opponent. In campaign mode, the player plays a German general against the Allied computer.
The basic design of the game shares some commonality with the popular Squad Leader board game series, with a wide variety of units available and displayed as profiles.
Panzer General is an operational-level game (mid-sized between strategic and tactical) and units approximate battalions (the largest Tiger tank organization), although unit size and map scale are elastic between scenarios. While the names and information for the units are reasonably accurate, the scenarios are only approximations of historical situations.
Its novel feature was to link individual scenarios into a campaign that spans World War II from 1939 to 1945. Units are able to gain experience and become stronger and where success in one battle would award the player prestige to upgrade units, acquire additional units, and select a better scenario for the next battle.
In 1996, Panzer General won the Origins Award for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1995. It and its sequels spawned a loyal following of players who have revived online head-to-head play and have added many new units, features, and over 2,500 scenarios to play. New ideas still in development over a decade after its initial release (see external links).
[edit] Gameplay
Panzer General has 38 scenarios based on real or fictive battles from WWII. The player can engage in a single battle or a campaign mode.
In Campaign mode, a series of battles is played to successfully lead the campaign to victory. There is one long campaign as German and there are five places where start:
- Poland (1939); from Poland, through Norway and West 1940 with the possibility of an amphibious landing in Britain.
- North Africa (1941); from North Africa to Middle East.
- Barbarossa (1941); from the initial crossing of the Soviet border to Moscow.
- Husky (1943); from Allies landing on Sicily to the end of the war.
- Kharkov (1943); from the Soviet spring offensive to the end of the war.
The objective is the same in any mode: Defeat the enemy by either destroying all of its units or taking every valuable position – a flag highlighted in yellow. The mission must be completed within the number of turns allowed per scenario. There are two types of victories: Major and Minor. A Major victory means the mission has been completed as fast as possible. In Campaign mode, a Major victory gives a chance of a change history.
If the player fails a mission, the campaign usually ends or takes the player along a different campaign branch.
[edit] Sequels
[edit] Allied General
Allied General (1995) allows the player to play any of 4 campaigns (Soviet, US, or two British) as an Allied general against the Axis computer. Individual scenarios still can be played from either side. Some players have argued that Allied General has an improved AI and more realistic unit selections.
Whereas the first Panzer General was made in DOS and can still be played in DOSbox, Allied General was made for Windows with pop-up data boxes for convenience. Allied General and "Panzer General for Windows" (an update to the DOS version) use the now-familiar pop-up interface and (not noticeable to the typical user) share an underlying file system that is different from the original Panzer General for DOS.
A new version was made for players who do not like the Allied General windows pop-up interface. It is based on Allied General for DOS, with the features of the interface from classic Panzer General for DOS and thus called Allied Panzer General. It includes all scenarios and campaigns from the original Allied General, with corrected bugs. It is available from Pepa's page (see external links.)
[edit] Pacific General
Pacific General introduced different graphics, naval features, and Japan.
[edit] Panzer General II
In 1997, Panzer General II (titled Panzer General IIID in Germany) upgraded the interface to use an overlay of photorealistic terrain, and to display units facing in different directions, resulting in a much improved appearance. In the April 2000 issue of PC Gamer, it was voted the 44th best computer game of all time.
Despite it's dated graphics (by today's standards), the gameplay mechanics and field HQ interface still have significant merit and popularity even a decade after release.
A gradual move away from turn-based games towards the Real-time strategy style of play have not diminished Panzer General 2's status within the genre.
[edit] Panzer General 3D
True 3D came in with the 1999 release of Panzer General 3D Assault; the units were small 3D models, and the view could be a perspective view over the battlefield.
Panzer General III: Scorched Earth was released in 2000, with better graphics and a redesigned interface.
SSI also produced the games Pacific General, Star General, Fantasy General in the series of five star general using the same engine and general design, but with different themes.
[edit] PBEM and online play
Originally, players played alone on a local computer or with another player in person on a local computer. Allied General provided a Play by Email (PBEM) system. MPlayer software allowed online play until Gamespy shut it down in 2001. As of JUNE 2006, panzergeneral1.com at panzergeneral1.com provides the MPlayer software to allow 2-8 player, head-to-head, online play of PG I via livve.com which is a Mplayer clone.
[edit] External links
(Ordered by versions of PG)
- panzergeneral1.com - Play PG1 ONLINE via Livve.com
- Herr General - Scenarios and editing tools for PG and AG
- Pepa's Panzer General center - debugged files for PG and AG, AG for DOS, custom scenarios and campaigns, media, Panzer General medal for sale
- PG Fanatics - Custom campaigns for PG
- The Wargamer: Five Star General Series
- Allied General Workshop - Strategy and player mods for PG and AG
- Rip's Panzer General Page - Includes 2-player campaigns
- PG2 und People's General Wiki
- The Generals Guild PBEM Club - Here we play ladder games Panzer General 2 by email.
- Panzer General III: Scorched Earth homepage
- JP's Panzers - Forums for all incarnations
- Panzer General series at MobyGames
- Panzer General for Windows 95 download (not free)
- LGeneral - open source Linux game that is similar to Panzer General and uses its scenario data
