Jagged Alliance

[El_Cid]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagged_Alliance

I can't believe it's taken me this long to start to play these games! I love all things tbs and for some reason this just passed me by, although i had heard of it, but never got around to try it........untill a few days ago.

I got a copy(of the first game) of amazon over xmas and decided to give this old classic game a go. Wow. Totaly blows all recent console games away imho - in fact it's all i've been playing since i installed it.

It's very very addictive, like all great games are - and is yet another game that shows that great graphics dont make a game great.

It's tough.....addictive......and kind of classy in that great classic game tradition.

Anyway i thought i'd share the love of tbs

Maybe some of you havent played it yet either? And for those that have please feel free to share your stories.

I'll start - I had a guy throw a grenade at my guys(how were all clusterd together mending wounds and getting shot to hell!) - i thought "S**t! well thats the end of that".

The turn went by and the grenade just lay on the floor.......i thought maybe its like Xcom and it could have a delay? but decided to pick it up and Ivan(the cool russian dude), who was at half health, chucked it in the middle of the four thugs that had been kicking my ass.

Boom! three thugs dead and the tide of the battle changed - all down to some muppet not pulling out the pin when he threw it!!!

Most awesome, and the voices are cool - i laugh at the 'bill gates' dude!

[Main_Brain]

I have a copy of the Second One. Pure Gold =)

There are also some excellent Mods (at least for the second one) which move the Game to a completely other Region. Eastern Bloc Suburbia instead of Arulco Jungle for example.

Have Fun, the Jagged Alliance Series is truly classic.
Too many Memories

[DrSpike]

Yeah it's a great game - quite steep learning curve though.

[CapTVK]

I like JA2 more, more hardware and characters to play with even if most of them suck they´re good for a laugh (check out the bio for "unnecessary ruthless")...There are some good mods for it as well and with the source released it might stay with us for a long time.

PS: a loaded FN-FAL will get you out of almost any situation.

[Kinjiru]

So the wiki article linked implies that with the version of JA2 available on Steam, you cannot use any mods. Can anyone verify this?

[FrostyBoy]

I loved playing the original on the Amiga. Great game!

[El_Cid]

Yeah after i've completed the first game i'll be on the look out for the non steam(I heard it has an issue with mods also) JA2 Gold version.

I had heard the wildfire patch is a bit extreme though?

Oh and i agree with the steep learning curve of JA1 - still i think i've worked out you can't expect to do missions everyday, sometimes you have to rest up and let your gaurds consolidate your territory gains.

Man i just had Hurl run out on me - it was on day 6/start of day7 and at the end of day 6 Fidel said some nasty stuff to Hurl(like he was a cry baby etc) - then the next day i was informed Hurl had run away. The worst bit was he had been carrying $150,000 that i had found on a hard fought mission! Gah!!

I had been quite happy with Hurl as a cheap medic uptill that point - now i don't think i can trust him.

The worst bit was i had saved over two days missions - so i'm going to have to go back 2 days(oh the pain of redoing those nasty missions!) and get the money all over again.

Any suggestions on who is trustworthy enough to carry the cash - and how do i get it into my main funds?

I'm still not breaking even yet - i have to keep raising the wages(now at $40 per day) as every other day it seems some gaurds run away!

And i seem to suffer from only having crap guns(the starting pea shooters) - the 9mm beretta/browning + colt .45 seem to jam very often(even when in good condition)!! Is this normal?

It would be really great if you had an X-com like 'black market' to buy and sell your items on.

Still a most excellent game(much better than Gears of War/Oblivion etc)

[El_Cid]

Well i gave the $150,000 to another guy to look after - and the next time i got into the inventory screen(after ending the day) it had gone(but unlike Hurl the guy didnt run off) - my funds remained the same.

So what use is the 'hard cash' you find during missions, and is it possible to keep it to add to your ventures funds?

[Standup]

Played JA 1 many years ago and still have JA2. I did enjoy them although not as much as Xcom.

I think my main complaint is the sometimes random seeming line of sight and how the enemy can take out my rifle armed sniper lying on a roof on the other side of the map. With a pistol and I can't see him or target him.

I'd always assumed it wouldn't work on XP so i don't think i've installed it in the last couple of years.

Are you running XP?

[El_Cid]

no, i'm using my 'old games' computer - so i got all the cool sound/music too

I agree on the line of sight thing - it's very much guess work when trying to use trees as cover or shoot through them. I think the tactical combat side of Xcom did it much better - the sight cursor would let you know if you had a clear shot or not.

Still i'm finding it all just as good an overall game experience as Xcom - and i'm starting to get the good weapons.

Oh how do you lie down? I can crouch(bot not fire from crouched) - but didnt know i could lie down? maybe that was in JA2?

[Main_Brain]

You could Crouch/climb Roofs in JA2. Never played the First Part.

There was also an Black Market for Weapons (several actually), and you could easily transfer Money to your Ingame bank account

[Standup]

no, i'm using my 'old games' computer - so i got all the cool sound/music too

ah - I had to finally get rid of mine. Sold to a colleague for £40 - I'm wishing now that i'd sold them a newer XP box so I could retro game in ease.

According to the maual in JA2 the command for crouch is C and P for prone(strangely enough) when your merc is moving. JA1 was so long ago I can't even remember if you could do this.

[El_Cid]

JA2 sounds like a great game - i look forward to playing it.....when i've completed JA1......so it might be a while

This game is nails - even on easy setting!!!!

[Main_Brain]

I remember the command (in JA2) to switch the Status (standing,crouch,prone) was PageUp/PageDown? Maybe you could try that.

[El_Cid]

No alas - i think it must only be a JA2 function. Still the good news is that i think i've turned a corner - i might be in a position for the first time since game start to make money rather than see it filter away.

I'm on Day 11(wow it's taken about a week!), and with my second tree sap proccesing plant up and running i saw my first profits($400 approx). It was a good feeling as i've had to replay quite a few days just to get to this stage. Still i've also just had three of my mercs go up a level, so i suspect the next day will see me in the red again.

I like the way the map represents a 'battle front'. It adds a nice tactical element to the game as you have to choose which territory to take next and make sure it is connected to the rest of your land. It's frustrating, but also cool, when the enemy takes back some land you had won.
That ebb+flow of the battle front adds quite a bit to the difficulty+fun. Holding your gains can mean the diference between success+failure.