Hello All!
Today is a happy day for me. My work on the initial release of PG Forever, my PG/AG remake is finished. Woohoo!
It took me 2 years to go all the way from the first working prototype to the finished game, and if I knew how much time the project would take, I would probably never start it. 
This release does not mean that the game is already perfect and there will be no future development. However, I feel that by now it is stable and bug-free enough to finish my neverending alpha/beta marathon and encourage people to play it just for fun. In fact, I think that PGF is already superior to both PGDOS and PGWin, and also to AG, in many ways. But of course, my opinion could be biased, so I asked other players on the forum to write their opinions about PGF (thx guys!). Here are a few quotes.
Andreh wrote:Coming back to PG after more than a decade it was a big mess. versions, updates, DosBox, Vista. PGF solved all this, not to mention online gaming.
And the new AI makes me feel i cant even play checkers.
Allied General Workshop wrote:PGF brings PG into the 21st Century. PGF plays PG, AG, and custom campaigns on modern Windows systems (XP and later) with improved AI and UI, new options, and abilities to add custom efiles and icons.
Sake wrote:The '94 title PG has become a classic today and for good reasons. It featured a complex campaign with pretty realistic scenarios. There were literally hundreds of units and a very detailed combat system that provided alot of diversity without being too complicated. And yet there were things that could be improved. PGF does just that. It transfers the old classic into a new era making it run smoothly under modern windows systems and supporting larger resolutions. Additionally there are lots of convenience improvements (a superiorly arranged user interface, a detailed combat analysis and appropriate terrain highlighting just to name a few) and an enhanced AI. Especially the latter guarantees a more rewarding gameplay, since the difficulty is now a result of well-considered tactical decisions and not of a cheating computer opponent.
But enough of marketing. I encourage all the fans of PG/AG to try PGF, and see for themselves if they agree with us or not.
Your feedback is always very much welcome!Note: From now on, this topic will become the official topic of PG Forever project. I suggest to make it sticky (or announcement) and unsticky all the other PGF-related topics. If you are interested in the future development of PGF, please subscribe to this topic.
Overview
The goal of PG Forever project is to preserve game mechanics and characteristic look-and-feel of the classic Panzer General, and improve all the other areas of the game: compatibility with modern hardware and Windows versions, UI, usability, multiplayer, AI and customizability of all game aspects.
Veteran players will feel themselves at home with PGF, because it is a very faithful remake. Even the most obscure game rules were carefully researched and preserved to make sure the gameplay is as close as it gets to the original. 99% of the time you will see no difference at all. At the same time, you can enjoy all the new features and benefits provided by the remake.
Here is what PGF looks like now (here and below, click the thumbnail to see the big image).
You can download it here:
http://pgforever.info/PGForever102.zip
To play it:
- Unpack the archive
- Run PGForever.exe
That's it. You already know enough to play the game.
But if you want to learn more about it, please read on.Features
To help you understand better what PGF is and how it compares to PG/AG, here is a quick overview of the game features.
Improved UI and usability
- Big tactical map.
PGF can use all available screen estate to show the tactical map. You can scale PGF window across multiple monitors (if you have them), or, if this is not enough, switch the game to fullscreen mode. In this case all controls will be hidden, and the tacmap will occupy the entire screen. Fullscreen mode is toggled using F key.
- Informative main screen.
The main game screen now includes tacmap, minimap, prestige, weather, forecast and all the most important stats of units. No need to switch to different views to get this information.
- Clear indication of possible moves and attacks.
Possible moves are now indicated with green, and possible attacks - in red. While moving your units, you always see the unspotted area. This will help to plan your moves better.
- One-click mount+move.
You can now see directly on the tacmap where the unit can go on its own, and where - using its organic transport. The latter hexes are highlighted with yellow. Clicking any of these hexes will perform an instant mount+move. You can also mount/unmount your units manually, as in the original game, if you prefer.
- One-click disembark.
When your moving sea/air transports, you will have all possible disembark hexes highlighted with yellow. Clicking any of these will immediately disembark the unit. You can also use Embark/Disembark button - it is useful when you can move and disembark to the same hex (as is the case with paratroopers).
- Informative tooltips.
Game buttons now provide some useful information to the player.
- Improved strategic map.
Strategic map is now generated as a scaled-down version of tactical map, and so is much nicer and easier to read.
- Unit panel.
You can now work with the list of your units - just open the unit panel. In campaigns, deployment is much easier too, because you can instantly jump to the required unit from reserve without leaving the main screen.
- Sleep one turn/always
You can now easily exclude a unit from "Next Unit" sequence - just use "Sleep one turn" (Z) or "Sleep always" (Shift+Z) commands. This is especially useful for garrison units. Selecting the unit manually returns it to "Next Unit" sequence.
- Improved "New equipment available" screen.
You can now see all stats of the new units and jump between them at will.
- Improved Purchase screen.
Purchase screen now shows much more units at a time, and allows to scroll the list easily using the scroll bar or mouse wheel.
Combat log and Extended combat prediction
When playing PG, I often wondered about combats outcomes. PG FAQ had some hints about this, but many things were missing. After I researched all PG game formulas for PGF, I've come up with an idea to demistify PG combat game mechanics for all the other players as well. This is how the Combat Log feature came into existence.
Combat log can be invoked after any combat using L key.
The log contains all the details about the combat, including effective initiative, attack and defense, defensive fire, rugged defense chance, actual dice rolls used to resolve the combat, and even all the special attacks of level bombers.
You can invoke a similar dialog before a combat as well. This feature is called "Extended combat prediction". Use Ctrl+click on the enemy to invoke it (the crosshair will change to blue, indicating that the attack is safe). Of course, the game will not show you the actual dice rolls, but all the other information will be there.
Replay
Another interesting new feature in PGF, not preset in original games, is game replays. After finishing an interesting battle, you can save the game log to disk.
Later, you can replay and watch the saved log much like a movie, or share it with other players over the Internet. Using the replays is the ultimate method of sharing gaming experience, and it can be a nice complement to AARs as well.
New AI
Many strategic games claim that they have an absolutely great, smart and intelligent AI. I will not claim anything like that. I'll tell what the PGF AI really is.
The new AI in PGF:
- Never cheats.
- Plays better than in the original game. At least it appears to be a general concensus among the playtesters.
- Supports 3 different levels of play (basic, intermediate and advanced). The AI does not get any material bonuses on higher levels, it just plays stronger.
Basic level is similar to the AI in PG and is recommended to novice players. Veteran players will prefer advanced level. And for maximum challenge you can still use prestige/experience controls before the game starts (as in the original game).
Here is an overview of the PGF's AI from a veteran PG player Dean Skallerud aka dks (thx Dean!).
What you get is PG that has a better AI that can surprise you.
Example: playing a 39 camp at 0+0 advanced and at Barbarossa.
The atg at Volkovysk took a shot at my PzIVD then blocked my PzIIIHs from attacking the 12.2cm gun. I almost destroyed it during the prior turn. This is a typical defense of the AI. Shootting then moving to a better defensive position. This is rare with the old PG.
The infantry at Pinsk does not stay in the city if the airfield is threatened there. It moved to block an easy drop of my para. The old PG I used to just drop my infantry in these type of airfields but no more or very very rarely is this an option now.
If you have played the old PG Warsaw scn you can easily take the airfield at Siedice not anymore playing PGF.
PGF puts the blitz back in the game. If you give the AI any indication that your going to take the next VH in line of your advance....look out....it will build verything it can muster to stop you. ADs, ATGs, Arts and tanks and infantry too. Blitzing means blitzing if I want the major wins.
What I really enjoy is the AI is not overly concerned about building planes! Just enough to off balance and uses ADs that drive me crazy trying to get the easy win of VHs when it backs them up with 155sIt double teams with ADs and Arts. One needs to experience the loss of a core fighter to really feel this.
What I've been doing is relying more on recon now especially the use of the BF110s at 5 spotting to find the easiest pickings now. My point is that recon is more important playing PGF I believe due to what the AI can do to you if it catches you being sloppy.
To make a long story short....if PG is your thing....your going to fall in love again and many many thanks to Rudankort! We can customize again to our hearts content real soon too!
Probably the best thing about the new AI is that it isn't static. I have already released 3 or 4 major updates to the AI (not mentioning minor tweaks and bug fixes), and each new version played stronger than the previous one. In the future the AI will continue to evolve. I'm always open to discussion of various AI aspects in the PGF AI thread.
Online multiplayer
PGF allows you to play PG with your friends online. You can play both single scenarios and campaigns this way, and you can also save the game in the process and resume it later.
For more information on PGF online multiplayer, please refer to this topic:
http://www.panzercentral.com/forum/view ... hp?t=42843
Side-by-side games
PGF is not really a single game, but a game package where many games can be installed side-by-side and share the same game engine and files. By default, PGF already includes 4 games: Panzer General, Allied General, Kaiser General and K.u.k. General. The last two games are experimental and may not work perfectly yet, but you can already try them and report the issues here on the forum.
I hope that in the future more games will be converted or created from scratch for PGF, and it will be possible to browse, download and install such games directly from PGF.
Customizability
Customizability in PGF is not perfect yet, but it already provides much more flexibility than any of the past SSI's games (including PG2 and PG3) ever had. Here is a rough list of things you can mod/customize.
- UI
Appearance and layout of all game screens is defined using images and HTML files. By editing HTML, you can not only change the appearence of UI elements (size, color, font etc.) at will, but you can also reposition the elemnts to create a completely new layout. Thus, you can mimick the UI of PGDOS or PGWin. In the future I plan to include several UI layouts on PGF, so that any user can choose a layout he likes best.
- Campaigns
This aspect was particularly difficult (or even impossible) to modify in the original games. Now you can control all aspects of your campaigns (possible outcomes, victory conditions, campaign tree etc.) by editing a few simple tables in MS Excel.
- Briefings
Campaign briefings are now stored in plain text files and can be easily edited using Notepad or any other text editor. Unlike the original game, you can now use HTML tags to format text in briefings, add tables, images etc. You can also allow the user to choose campaign path by simply adding a few hyperlinks to your briefings.
- Equipment table
Working with equipment table is very easy now - it's just a big table editable in MS Excel. All the power of Excel is at you service - you can modify unit stats, copy units, sort them, find/replace text and more.
- Scenarios
Scenarios are also plain text files editable in Excel. Many things which were hard-coded in the original game are now editable in game scenarios: new unit experience, per-turn prestige allotments, bonuses for capturing flags, max unit experience, max unit strength, move order (Axis or Allies move first), victory conditions, purchasable unit classes etc.
- Graphics
All game objects - unit icons, terrain tiles, flags etc. - are now stored in plain bmp files and can be easily modified using a graphics editor of your choice (MS Paint, Photoshop etc.).
- No hard-coded limits
There are no more artificial limits coded in the game. Map size, equipment table size, number of scenarios and campaigns etc. are only limited by available memory, and on modern PCs it can hold A LOT.
If you are interested in modding PGF, check out PGForever Modding Guide.txt document in doc subfolder. I'll also post new information to the PGF modding thread.
PGDOS convertor
PGF can be used to quickly convert a PGDOS-based custom game to PGF format. To do this, just run PGF using this command line:
- Code: Select all
PGForever.exe /convert /game <game_folder>
Where <game_folder> is a subfolder inside PGF main folder where converted files will be placed. PGF will prompt you for the location of PGDOS game (you need to specify PG root folder, not DAT folder inside it) and then perform the conversion. To play the newly-converted game, you can issue this command:
- Code: Select all
PGForever.exe /game <game_folder>
Alternativaly, you can place a game thumbnail in <game_folder> (see pg or ag folder for an example), and PGF will display it in game selection dialog.
FAQ
In this section I'll answer some FAQs about the game.
General questions
[Q] What are the system requirements?
[A] PGF runs under Windows 2000 or later. Windows 9x and NT are not supported. There are no specific hardware requirements, any PC able to run the OS it should be able to run PGF as well.
[Q] What about other platforms? Linux, Mac?
[A] There is no official version of PGF for any platforms other than Windows. However, you may have some luck using emulation (like Wine). Allied General Workshop has started a useful thread discussing various problems with running PGF on diferent platforms. Check it out if you are not running PGF under Windows: http://www.panzercentral.com/forum/view ... hp?t=44882
[Q] How much does it cost?
[A] PGF is freeware and will remain so in the future.
[Q] Are there any features from the original PG missing in PGF?
[A] Yes. There are a few features from the original game which are not implemented in PGF. Some of them may be added later, but I consider them low priority. Here is a rough list:
- PBEM mode
- Splash screens, movies and animations before scenarios
- In-game combat animations
- View terrain mode
- Dossiers
[Q] I have found a bug! How do I report it?
[A] Please refer to the "Reporting issues" section below
[Q] I like PGF! How else can I help?
[A] You can help by spreading the word. The more players we have, the more issues we'll detect and fix, thus making the game better and better all the time. If you have a blog or a web site, consider posting some information about PGF there. This will help a lot.
Also, you can help by converting an existing campaign for PGF, or by designing a new scenario or even a new campaign.
[Q] Is this legal?
[A] The legal status of my remake is similar to status of most other remakes out there. I don't have an official permission from Ubisoft to copy their game, and I doubt I could obtain such a permission. So, de jure my work is illegal.
De facto, PG is an old game, which is available as a free download from many large abandonware websites (e. g. http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/258/P ... neral.html). I don't see how providing a remake of the game which is already available for free can damage the company which originally produced it. However, if Ubisoft thinks otherwise and contacts me regarding this, I'll be happy to discuss this matter with them and try to find a solution which will suit everyone.
Questions about gameplay
[Q] What hot keys can I use in PGF?
[A] Full list of hot keys is available in the game itself. Jusk open the system menu (button with a floppy disk drive icon) and choose "Show Hot Keys".
[Q] I wants to see unit's flag, suppression, kills, battle honours or some other info not available on the main screen. How can I do that?
[A] Alt+click the unit, and you will get all the details shown in a separate dialog.
[Q] How to rename a unit?
[A] Select the unit and press Alt+N to invoke the rename dialog.
[Q] I need to quickly check the flag of a city, but it is obscured by a unit's strength label. What can I do?
[A] Press and hold Space key to temporarily hide all strength labels on the tacmap.
[Q] How can I distinguish units which have already moved?
[A] PGF supports 2 ways of indicating moved/unmoved units: blinking dots (as in PGDOS) and grayed strength labels. Any of these methods (or even both simultaneously) can be activated via sysmenu->Settings.
[Q] In the original game I could hover the cursor over a port/airfield to see the number of available sea/air transports. How can I do the same in PGF?
[A] Just hover the mouse over the Embar/Disembar button, and you will see the number of transports in a tooltip.
[Q] When I go to the main menu, my current game is lost. Why is that?
[A] The reason is that you don't really need to go to the main menu unless you want to terminate the current game and start a new one. All commands related to the current game (including Save Game etc.) are available from the sysmenu. You don't need to go to the main menu to invoke them.
[Q] In some scenarios (Poland, Sidi Baranni) strategic map is not available. Why is that?
[A] If the tactical map fits completely on the screen, strategic map is not available.
[Q] My AD refuses to shoot planes. What's the problem?
[A] The most common reason is a bad weather (rain or snow). You can check the current weather in the top-right part of the main screen. If the weather is good, check AD's ammo, it should have at least 1 point in order to shoot. If you think that the problem is something else, please report it to me.
[Q] My planes keep running out of fuel. Any hint?
[A] When moving a plane, you will see some hexes marked with a read border. These are dangerous hexes, you don't have enough fuel to return to base from there (unless you capture an airfield nearby). Pay attention to this signal, and you should be ok.
[Q] In combat log I can see dice rolls for kills and suppression, but the total number of suppression is bigger. Why is that?
[A] Each kill also gives you half-point of suppression which gets added to the sum.
[Q] In combat log I can see that the die roll modifier is -10, but still there are dice rolls of 20 in the log. Does the game show dice rolls before applying the modifier?
[A] No, the dice rolls are shown with the modifier already applied. However, the game does not apply the modifier when it rolls 1 or 20. This means that a weak unit always has a small chance to inflict some damage to a much stronger opponent, and also a small chance to escape total destruction from opponent's (counter)attack.
[Q] I want to know more about the internal game mechanics. Where can I find information?
[A] Check the doc subfolder in PGF's folder. There are some useful documents there, in particular Panzer General FAQ.txt has a lot of info. There are a few errors there as wel though. In addition, I recommend to check out this topic: http://www.panzercentral.com/forum/view ... hp?t=41443
[Q] Can PGF load saved games from PG/AG?
[A] No.
[Q] Is there a saved game editor available?
[A] None at the moment.
[Q] How can I cheat?
[A] Please refer to the PGForever Cheat Codes.txt file in doc subfolder.
Reporting issues
Please report all the issues you encounter with the game in this topic, or file them directly to the PGF bugtracker:
- Go to https://pgforever.fogbugz.com/
- Click "New Case" link
- Enter bug title and description, and specify other data (area, version you are using, you computer)
- You can attach some file(s) to your bug report using "Attach file" link
- Click OK.
If you prefer, you can also write me an email. My email address is:
rudankort@rsdn.ru
A good bug report consists of three things:
- Steps to do
- Observed behaviour
- Expected result
If the game crashes, please send me a saved game illustrating the problem. If you do not save frequently, use an autosaved game. It is saved at the begining of each turn. Same is true for AI-related problems. At the begining of the AI's turn the game will be autosaved, and you the AI crashes, freezes or behaves stupidly, you can send this autosaved file to me for investigation.
If a good saved game is not available, consider sending a game log or a screenshot instead. And in any case, please complement your bug report with the log.txt file from the game's Log subfolder. This file is overwriten every time the game is started, so please don't restart the game before sending this file to me.
The future
When you need to deliver a finished product, there are so many different things you need to care about that every single aspect of it does not get enough of your attention. That is the reason why modding is so wide-spread (not only software, but also hardware, cars etc.). So, after PGF 1.0 I hope to switch to a "modder mode", and work more calmly on some specific game aspects. In particular, I plan to work on the following areas:
- Better AI
You can never get a perfect AI - it is something you can always improve some more. In the future I want to make the AI not only more challenging, bit also an opponent which more interesting and fun to play than now. Of course, the computer will never become intelligent in the sense we put into this word, but there are a lot of things which CAN be improved.
- Better online multiplayer
There are a lot of things yet to be desired with the current multiplayer.
First, you have to find opponents outside the game, and this may be quite difficult. In the future I'm thinking about notifying all the users playing the AI that an online game is available, so that they could postpone the current AI game and join a human opponent instead. Building a stronger community around the game is also a must.
Second, we need to support more users playing the same scenario. Currently this number is 2, and this leaves a lot to be desired. In the future we can have multiple sides, multiples players per side, and the option to mix AI and human players. Also, I'm thinking about adding observers who are not playing the game, but watching other people play.
Finally, it might be an interesting direction to explore campaigns where each player has a core.
- Editors and more customizability
While many aspects of the game can already be edited in Notepad, Excel or Paint, it is not an optimal way to edit maps and scenarios. Entering hex coordinates, tile images and terrain types manually is a nighmare. We need a WYSIWYG editor for that!
Besides editors, I will work on moving more and more of hard-coded stuff from the game engine to external files. Thus, I plan to move all terrain types, unit classes, weather zones, movement types and tables, target types etc. to data files where it will be easy to edit them or add more entities. In perspective I'm thinking of using some script language (like Lua or Python) to code all game rules and formulas. Then it will be possible to change them at will without modifying the game EXE.
Thanks to everybody who helped to test and improve PG Forever!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Crongratulations and THANK YOU for bringing us this fantastic Christmas gift!! 
