Twilight 2000 computer game

[boogiedowndonovan]

Normally I wouldn't talk about this game as it was less than satisfactory IMHO. But did anyone download the Colonel upgrade? What was in it?

thanks
-bdd

[LBraden]

I think I can honestly say this

"There was a T2K computer game?"

[Legbreaker]

There certainly was.... http://www.old-games.com/download/5648/twilight-2000

[Fusilier]

Guys, I don't think he's asking about the computer game here. He's asking about the expansion to the computer game... as in has anyone who played the game also played the upgrade.

[pmulcahy11b]

I can sum up the game and the expansion with a few words: Don't, just don't buy them. And I just thought of this, they might not even run on modern computers.

[ShadoWarrior]

Most old (DOS) games will run on modern comps using DOSBOX. Whether you'll be happy with the really crappy old graphics is another story.

[Legbreaker]

The link above contains the expansion and, even if it's crap compared to anything made post 1982, it's FREE!!!

[pmulcahy11b]

There are a few other things to think about. Vehicles can't fire at or even see infantry on the ground. Those same infantry can see and fire at vehicles. You can be scotched by someone with a Tankbreaker on the ground that you had no hope of seeing, let alone killing. If you're in an armored vehicle, you can't even pop your head out of the hatch to look around. If you're riding in the back of the truck, you see nothing but terrain and any other vehicles that might be out there -- even if the enemy infantry are surrounding the truck. And again, they can kill you, even though you don't have any chance of killing them or even seeing them. If you're in the back of a truck and see an enemy vehicle, you can't shoot at it anyway, unless you get out of the truck. (HMMWVs with mounted TOWs appear to be the only exception, though again you can't see dismounted infantry when you're in the HMMWV).

This is probably the biggest reason I foisted off the whole thing, T-Shirt and all (If you bought the Colonel from Microprose, you got a T-Shirt as well) on Half-Price Books.

[Legbreaker]

Agreed, the game interface was a bit on the bad side of dodgy, but you can see all the V2.0 rules hard at work in there too.
And what do you expect from a game of only a couple of megabytes of coding?

[Sanjuro]

How does the character generation system compare to the "real" game?

[Legbreaker]

The mechanics are exactly the same as 2.0 although there are a few small issues. For example, if you take a Pilot carreer early on, and later your Agility drops below the military Pilot prerequiste due to age, you can't continue character generation when war breaks out. I can't remember if you simply don't get the war term or if you just have to abandon the process entirely.
I have used the computer game to generate paper character sheets (I think there's even an option to print them directly from the game).

[waiting4something]

somethings that I noticed about the computer game that are different then the role playing game is.....

elite forces do not get a +1 on their iniative

most skills in the game are useless, stuff like swimming, scuba, pilot, combat engineer etc, etc... lol

you can carry a M2HB in one hand and a Mark 19 in the other

vehicles are worthless and will get you killed

grenade launchers are the best weapon in the game

you can carry any thing you want in your pack like a crate of supplies

education, intelliengence, charisma are worthless

A good nights sleep with some r and r heals bullet wounds nicely. Even if your brains are pretty much blown out.

The best course of action is create team memebers with Marine Sniper and Army Special Forces careers. Put all the points into str, con, and agl. Give everyone a foreign language or two. Arm everyone with a Mark 19 and a machinegun. When facing tanks go at them on foot using buildings to sneak up on them. The game is so flawed you have to prey apoun it's faults to win.

[waiting4something]

Oh I forgot to mention geiger counters don't work so you will get some radioactive poisoning here and there.

If you try to assault the town the Baron is located at, the game just ends with you being tied to a post in front of a firing squad.

I never knew there was a expansion game until I passed this game back in 2005. So I never had a shot at getting one. The only reason I played this game in 2005 was to beat something I gave up on in my childhood. Beating this terrible game was like a chapter that needed to be closed forever.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by waiting4something

elite forces do not get a +1 on their iniative

Never noticed that...

Originally Posted by waiting4something

most skills in the game are useless, stuff like swimming, scuba, pilot, combat engineer etc, etc... lol

True, but I believe it's mentioned in the manual those skills are there for those who are creating characters for tabletop play.

Originally Posted by waiting4something

you can carry a M2HB in one hand and a Mark 19 in the other

Where's the problem with that?

Originally Posted by waiting4something

vehicles are worthless and will get you killed

Yes, the vehicle combat interface is very dodgy. But what do you expect from a game that's now 20 years old?

Originally Posted by waiting4something

grenade launchers are the best weapon in the game

As they damn well should be too! Anything that has an area effect and can take down an enemy just by getting close to them is something everyone should aspire to carry. My only gripe (besides being able to carry and fire one handed) about the AGS and Mk-19 in the game is that you can only fire them one round at a time and not in bursts!

Originally Posted by waiting4something

you can carry any thing you want in your pack like a crate of supplies

Some of the crates require a truck. If you don't ave a driver with high skill, you chew through the fuel and therefore some of the missions cannot be completed. Those supplies which can be carried on the character only have a listed weight of 10kgs (22 lbs) so I don't see any major issue there.

Originally Posted by waiting4something

education, intelliengence, charisma are worthless

Not quite. In 2.0, a low stat meant it cost twice as much to increase the skill above the level of the controlling stat. In the game however, yes, there's not a lot of use.

Originally Posted by waiting4something

A good nights sleep with some r and r heals bullet wounds nicely. Even if your brains are pretty much blown out.

Which can't be had in the field. MUST send the badly wounded character back to base or risk interuption and further injury. Medical skill will however help...

Originally Posted by waiting4something

The best course of action is create team memebers with Marine Sniper and Army Special Forces careers. Put all the points into str, con, and agl. Give everyone a foreign language or two. Arm everyone with a Mark 19 and a machinegun. When facing tanks go at them on foot using buildings to sneak up on them.

Same can be said for table top play. In fact, I've lost count of the number of characters in different game systems (not just T2K) which players create using just that formula or a variation of it.

[waiting4something]

Actually all crates of supplies can be carried in your pack. There is a trick or flaw in the game. Stand on top of the crate and then simply move it into your carry items inventory. This works trust me it's the only way I ever delivered supplies. Taking trucks gets your ass blown up. Although while I like grenade launchers too. I can't see how they would trump a bullet to the head, unless a direct hit. You can heal wounded in the field sometimes it takes a week or so, but yeah the air in Poland must be magical. I always made zombie troops that where made to take a lot of hits, so I did this a lot. "Retreat" "never", Why? Because we are damn near inmortal. The game sucked, and the only reason I played it was because it was Twighlight 2000. I can't believe I payed 60 dollars for that p.o.s. when it first came out in the early 90's. Good thing my dad copied it to his computer so I could take it back and get my money back also.

[waiting4something]

the only none combat skills that where ever used was
medical- to cured the sick and wounded villagers
interrogation- to find town spies- which you just shoot anyway, lol
languages- which you need to talk to people to get info from. Of course it be nice to know what your contact speaks before traveling to hell and back to find out nobody in your party speaks French.
tracking and foraging- maybe, but you really don't need to eat anyway.
I think that was about it. It's simply build a team of universal soldiers and keep killing until there is nobody left. Except for maybe the Baron, or the Colonel......

[waiting4something]

Oh one more cut on the game. I always found it stupid that if the leader of your group was killed the game was over. I mean what is the rest of the team? Drones? I guess it's only right you make everyone solid as a rock and dumb as a brick. The team I won the game with was pornstars from the 1990's. I even Ron Jeremy and John Wayne Bobbit in the team. Nina Hartley was CO.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by waiting4something

Although while I like grenade launchers too. I can't see how they would trump a bullet to the head, unless a direct hit.

The beauty of grenade launchers, and this applies to the table top as well, is that they are a an area effect weapon. Even if the target is missed by shrapnel, if they're still within the concussion radius, they take damage and possibly suffer a) a loss of their next action and b) a reduction of initiative. Both of these effects are VERY important when they're actively trying to kill you!
Another advantage is you can potentially take out multiple targets with just one shot. This is impossible with a rifle or machinegun.

I found that short of a grenade launcher, the best weapon was the M249 due to it's decent Recoil stat, range and large(ish) mag capacity. Unfortunately the game doesn't allow for the use of belts though, and even worse is the inability to scavenge ammo from weapons without actually having to take the entire weapon with you.

All in all the game play was crap, however the mechanics of the table top game are almost all in there. For something with less code than about ten seconds of video, it's not that bad though. Compared to today, or even what was available in the mid 90's, yes, it is rubbish.

[Adm.Lee]

Sounds as bad as the Space:1889 game that came out at the same time. My first batch of characters starved to death in the first room of the museum-- I couldn't figure out the door from the graphics!

The second party got lost in their airship, trying to find Egypt-- it wasn't south of Europe, if you didn't have a map.

I quit playing after that.

[Legbreaker]

I'd say that if you look at it purely as a bit of a V2.0 rules tutorial, it's worth spending an hour or two on, just to see how the mechanics are supposed to work. From memory, you can even see the individual die rolls if you select that option.

[boogiedowndonovan]

so no one besides Paul downloaded the Colonel's upgrade?

[Legbreaker]

Done it, and hate to admit it, but playing now. It's even crappier than I remembered, but also soooo addictive!
From what I can see, the "upgrade" simply adds some "litter" to the battlefield - a few bricks, the odd bottle and other general rubbish. All in all rather disappointing.

[guncrazy]

Im playing right now..Into the 12th mission. LOL yeah the game is crappy but it is addicting, and sadly its the ONLY twilight 2000 I have ever played. And I did not know the pc game doubled as a table top character generator! Make sense now theres so many useless skills, and even a space for contacts which are never found in the game.

[bobcat]

its actually the only computer char gen i've found. been wanting to make one myself but codeing is not my strongest skill.

[guncrazy]

Sadly I cannot get the game to print the character sheets. Probably something to do with dosbox.

[Legbreaker]

Perhaps taking a screen shot and printing that? Better than writing it out by hand...

[guncrazy]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Perhaps taking a screen shot and printing that? Better than writing it out by hand...

Maybe but I suspect the printout is different than the on screen view. Ill figure it out....If needs be ill hook up my old 486 and do it the hard way lol...Im up to mission 41 by the way.