Military Madness reviews & comments from when it was new (1989-1990)

[Necromancer]

I'm 99% sure though it only operates on 12bit code.

16 bit internal registers and 10 bit instructions, I believe.  Didn't you love the little clicky wheel thingy (sorry for the technical jargon)?  People call Apple innovative; they're wrong.

Trying to classify sound by "bits" is a ridiculous concept.

Agreed; bit rate - yes, bits - no.

[MissaFX]

I'm 99% sure though it only operates on 12bit code.

16 bit internal registers and 10 bit instructions, I believe.  Didn't you love the little clicky wheel thingy (sorry for the technical jargon)?  People call Apple innovative; they're wrong.

Trying to classify sound by "bits" is a ridiculous concept.

Agreed; bit rate - yes, bits - no.

It could be 10bit as well.  I just seem to remember the number 12.

[handygrafx]

Or, have even more fun by hunting down the incredibly rare Sharp X68000 version-- It might be easier to find the ROM and an emulator for that, though.  I used to have the ROM but lost it when my old HDD died a sad death.

Unfortunately, you'd probably have more luck tracking down a physical copy of the X68000 version.

Is the ROM that hard to find?   I found it 3-4 years ago without a huge amount of effort.

[Black Tiger]

Or, have even more fun by hunting down the incredibly rare Sharp X68000 version-- It might be easier to find the ROM and an emulator for that, though.  I used to have the ROM but lost it when my old HDD died a sad death.

Unfortunately, you'd probably have more luck tracking down a physical copy of the X68000 version.

Is the ROM that hard to find?   I found it 3-4 years ago without a huge amount of effort.

Yeah, I actually did put some real effort into looking for it for a while, but am also not the savviest internet surfer.

I know that Stevek666 who runs the ultimate Military Madness site wasn't able to track it down either.

If you still have it or know where to find it, could you please point us in the right direction(discretely ).

[handygrafx]

If I do find the Nectaris X68000 ROM again I will most certainly find a way of telling you how to get it.... If not I'll just send it to you myself.   It's possible the first and only time I found it was on IRC (there are IRC channels dedicated to d/ling roms).

edit:  I found it!

email sent.

omg that was funny! I found the it  in less than 5 minutes of searching, even easier than last time. 
Last time took HOURS and HOURS, lol!

Ooooohhh man I've forgotten, the music seems even more improved over the PCE/TG16 original
than the Win95 port is.

BTW I'm using WinX68k HighSpeed v0.95.

[spenoza]

YEah, you just need to host this sucker 

Or, if someone wants to, they could translate the Windows version.

[handygrafx]

YEah, you just need to host this sucker 

Or, if someone wants to, they could translate the Windows version.

They could. Although thankfully Nectaris is completely playable without translation. There's really no text that's needed to be understood, provided one is already familiar with the game of course.

What *does* need translating however, is Neo Nectaris on SCD.  It's got cutscenes and things about the units I don't understand. English translated is badly needed.

[esteban]

Ha! This thread explains the emails I recently received , thanks for the info, handygrafx.

The Freeware Windows version is really nice because you can use a MOUSE!

Have any of you folks tried the German Nectaris? A friend in Germany actually bought the game for me years ago but teases me by sending pictures of it on a bookshelf in his apartment. He'll be visiting in a few weeks, I should ask him to bring it!

One of the developers of the German game actually contacted me a few years ago, as did one of the sprite / map artists. I asked them a bunch of questions and got some neat information.

YEah, you just need to host this sucker 

Or, if someone wants to, they could translate the Windows version.

They could. Although thankfully Nectaris is completely playable without translation. There's really no text that's needed to be understood, provided one is already familiar with the game of course.

What *does* need translating however, is Neo Nectaris on SCD.  It's got cutscenes and things about the units I don't understand. English translated is badly needed.

Years ago I asked a few folks to translate the cinema scenes from Neo Nectaris. I don't think they made any significant progress, though, and I can't remember any details.

There were a bunch of things I wanted to add to the website but I lost when my old laptop died (I tried rescuing the hardddrive, but fire damaged it). One person was trying to figure out the formula (for battles) used in MM, and they had worked out a lot of things.  Plus, my discussions with the German folks who I mentioned earlier. Oh well.

[handygrafx]

Ha! This thread explains the emails I recently received , thanks for the info, handygrafx.

Yep!  You're welcome.  If that Neo Nectaris article is too blurry let me know, I'll try to get you a better pic.

The Freeware Windows version is really nice because you can use a MOUSE!

Yeah I LOVE that feature.  I like being able to use the mouse in the Windows and X68000 versions. I also like sitting across the room, wireless, using the Wii Remote to play the Virtual Console emulation of TG16 MM.

Have any of you folks tried the German Nectaris? A friend in Germany actually bought the game for me years ago but teases me by sending pictures of it on a bookshelf in his apartment. He'll be visiting in a few weeks, I should ask him to bring it!

Thanks to your outstanding website I learned of the existance of German Nectaris, but no I have not played it yet.
Looks REALLY interesting though.  My lack of understanding of how to run DOS properly is an obstacle for me. Perhaps one day I might get around to learning, so I can learn to play this European take on the Japanese masterpiece, heh.

One of the developers of the German game actually contacted me a few years ago, as did one of the sprite / map artists. I asked them a bunch of questions and got some neat information.

So cool!   What do you think of the gameplay of the German Nectaris ?
 I gotta to re-read that segment of your website too.

Years ago I asked a few folks to translate the cinema scenes from Neo Nectaris. I don't think they made any significant progress, though, and I can't remember any details.

There were a bunch of things I wanted to add to the website but I lost when my old laptop died (I tried rescuing the hardddrive, but fire damaged it). One person was trying to figure out the formula (for battles) used in MM, and they had worked out a lot of things.  Plus, my discussions with the German folks who I mentioned earlier. Oh well.

Arghh! Man that must have been heartbreaking :/   

The Nectaris/MM formula seems so unique.    There really are no games like it from what I've seen & played.   Even the games that are closest, like the Battle Isle and Advance Wars games, still don't feel anything like Hudson's masterpiece. 

I'm dying for a new Nectaris game created for  DS, Wii or both.   The PS1 version was so disappointing.   In 2006 there was word of a new PSP Nectaris, but that never happened.  R-Type Tactics did though. I heard it's not that great, but not terrible either.   

[handygrafx]

confusing stuff below - I can't keep these games or series straight.....


Didn't Hudson work on an N64 game in the Wars (Famicom Wars / Nintendo Wars ) series that never came out?   
'64Wars' I think it was.  Part of the long-running Daisenryaku  series that actually pre-dates
Nectaris by at least a year.     edit: Boy did I screw that one up.  The two series are not related AFAIK. 
Daisenryaku dates back to at least 1986 on one of the Japanese computers (MSX or MSX2), and Famicom Wars came out in 1988. 

64Wars
   




edit:  yes indeed it was being developed by Hudson, not Intelligent Systems.
Found a bunch of screens 
http://gilgalegrouik.free.fr/index.php?level=album&id=1 
I've never seen more than two samll screen before.



There was also, another unreleased, turn-based strategy game for N64, Ultimate War(s), which may or may not have been related to the Daisenryaku series (edit: it was)
http://ign64.ign.com/objects/013/013209.html   
The 3D battles look somewhat better than those of PS1 Nectaris.   
I think Ultimate Wars may have been better than the more recent Daisenryaku game for Xbox.


It's kinda confusing, at least for me. The Daisenryaku games is a huge series spanning 2 decades and many platforms-- Weren't they sometimes called Wars also?  Then the Wars (edit: Nintendo Wars) series that includes Advance Wars.   Man I'm not clear on where those two unreleased N64 games fit.    From what I've researched (and  im still all confused, lol)  it seems 64Wars was a game that was part of the Nintendo Wars series AND the Daisenryaku series.
(maybe the Nintendo Daisenryaku games ARE Nintendo Wars games, someone help me lol )


I was not really thrilled with Daisenryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics on Xbox.  I didn't really spend enough time with it, to be fair.   I'm not that knowledgeable on the games of this massive series. That said,  I did own & finish Iron Storm on Saturn (good game but not as addictive as Nectaris...nothing is!) and I've tried some of the SFC & MD games.


edit: So the closest game on  MegaDrive to Nectaris/MM would not be Herzog Zwei (a radically different early RTS effort)  but Super Daisenryaku (1989?) and/or Advanced Daisenryaku (1991).   Neither of them are as fast or fun as Nectaris, yet perhaps they do have more depth.

Please excuse this MESS of a post, what a disaster.     I've tried to edit it as best as I can (not good). 

[m1savage]

Daisenryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics on Xbox is freakin awesome. I just need an extra two or three hundred free hours a week someday so I can fully get into it. 

Military Madness still remains as one of my favorite TG16 games. Hall of fame material for sure.

[handygrafx]

Daisenryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics on Xbox is freakin awesome. I just need an extra two or three hundred free hours a week someday so I can fully get into it. 

I too wish I had the time to really get into that one, and the 50 million other Daisenryaku games.

[esteban]

Daisenryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics on Xbox is freakin awesome. I just need an extra two or three hundred free hours a week someday so I can fully get into it. 

I too wish I had the time to really get into that one, and the 50 million other Daisenryaku games.

Ha! I know. I bought a GBA Daisenryaku years ago with the hopes that I could play it whilst commuting. Well, that plan would have worked, if it weren't for the horrible screen on the GBA (this is before the backlit screens were introduced). I still haven't invested in a new GBA, but when I do...

[esteban]

confusing stuff below - I can't keep these games or series straight.....

Please excuse this MESS of a post, what a disaster.     I've tried to edit it as best as I can (not good). 

No problem! I remember trying to figure this out a few years ago. As I understood it, Famicom Wars was started by some non-Hudson development group, then published by Nintendo. Of course, considering how close Hudson and Nintendo were in the early days of the Famicom, there is a chance that there is some "connection" (i.e. personnel) or outright "borrowing of ideas" between the Famicom Wars and Nectaris.

Officially, though, we have to think of Nectaris and FW as having separate, distinct lineages.

I have the Famicom Wars Guide Book (color cover, but I can't remember if the pages are b/w or color).

It is confusing...  Battle Isle totally borrowed from Nectaris, I'd love to hear about how the developers were playing Nectaris! That would be awesome .

[handygrafx]

confusing stuff below - I can't keep these games or series straight.....

Please excuse this MESS of a post, what a disaster.     I've tried to edit it as best as I can (not good). 

No problem! I remember trying to figure this out a few years ago. As I understood it, Famicom Wars was started by some non-Hudson development group, then published by Nintendo.

Indeed, Famicom Wars (part of the Nintendo Wars series) was developed by Intelligent Systems, and Advance Wars is a subset of this series.

Of course, considering how close Hudson and Nintendo were in the early days of the Famicom, there is a chance that there is some "connection" (i.e. personnel) or outright "borrowing of ideas" between the Famicom Wars and Nectaris.

Officially, though, we have to think of Nectaris and FW as having separate, distinct lineages.[/

Yup, it seems so.  The never-released 64Wars for Nintendo 64 was being developed by Hudson even though it's part of the Nintendo Wars series (Hudson developed the GameBoy Wars games) and may have connections to the Daisenryaku series also.

Ultimate War, the other canceled Nintendo 64 game, is part of the Daisenryaku series.  It was being developed by Seta instead of SystemSoft, the creator of  Daisenryaku.

Interestingly as we know, SystemSoft is the developer who ported Nectaris to the X68000 and NEC PC 9800. 

The lines between these 3 series seem to blur with the unreleased 64Wars
1.) Intelligent Systems/Nintendo franchise (confirmed)
2.) developed by Hudson, creator of Nectaris (confirmed)
3.) possible connection to Daisenryaku (not confirmed)