Remember GNBNA ?

[terminator]

Hiya Guys
I'm sure some of you Veteran Campaigners, out there, have come across the ancestor of Fighting Steel: 'Great Naval Battles North Atlantic'.
In the dim and distant past, I remember reading a (then) 'rave' article about it in a pc mag, and in spite of not being 'into' pc's at the time, saw it on the shelves of a pc games shop at about: £39.99 ! :eek:
The thing is, a couple of years ago, I saw a copy on a car boot sale for a quid ! :D and having always been both fascinated and appalled by Hood's sudden and tragic loss, quickly whipped a coin out.
Now then, what did I actually get for my money, you may well ask.
Well inside, (the original box) was a CD. It has a black label, and bears the logo: KIXX
and is labelled: Great Naval Battles North Atlantic.
To my surprise, there was no floppy disc at all. :confused:
(I thought that all pc games of the period, contained one or two(?)
Plus there are two booklets from KIXX. One is a list of their other pc games, and the other is a User's Manual for GNBNA.
The strange thing is, there is absolutely no mention of pc: min specification or computer 'language', marked either on the box, or contained within the booklets.
I've already visited the only GNBNA website available, and even that is 'economical', when it comes to the full information about this game, and also it appears to have closed down, with regards to contacting the author. I see 386 CPU's mentioned and long obsolete graphics and soundcards.
I'm pretty sure the computer 'language' this game will be written in is: MSDOS
When I insert the CD, the file 'headings' are visible, but of course the program will not: Run.
Perhaps someone can help me here ?
1) Is it possible (using say: DOSBox) to 'fool' this CD into thinking that it is not actually running on a 'spanking new' pc, but an archaic 'steam-powered' one ?
2) Or, Is it neccessary, to actually have to scrape around the junkpiles and physically build a 'Retro-PC' in order to run it ?
If so can anyone suggest components to look out for which they know will definately work ?
3) If there used to be a floppy disc,in the box: What was on it ? Can I get a copy ?
Seeing as this game is nowadays rarer than 'hen's teeth' to get hold of, any help would be very much appreciated. :D

Cheers for now
terminator

[Glossza]

Heres the site how to play it in dosbox:

http://www.dosbox.com/information.php?page=0

click the window that says dosbox tutorial

These are very old programs. The first one in the series, the one you are talking about, has a high ranking. You should be able to play the game with the cd you have by following the dosbox instructions. The one old game that I like playing on my XP computer is Tsushima Strait which is actually a Commodore c64 program. Yes I can play c64 programs on my XP computer! This is a great beer and pretzel game, but not much more. Same for some of the old dos games mentioned above. If you want better games that run in xp or learn more , go to the link below.

Goto www.nws-online.net (http://www.nws-online.net) to get a feel about the different simulations that are available.
The games here are updated versions of some of the older games that have been around for years.

[keschofield]

I fondly remember GBNA. The series was a competitor to FS not an ancestor. For my tastes they were better than FS. I have the whole series but haven't tried to install and play them for several years now. Must be because of my work with NWS or something. :D

[COlPrice2002]

I nought the complete box set some year's ago - my favourite is the GNB 4 & 5 (WWII European fleets + WWI).

The cd was written for MSDOS (or PCDOS) - basically I believe that any dos operating system should work.(see below).

To install the game, you locate the "install.bat" file and double click it (i.e. run the file).
That extracts the archived files onto your c:\ drive.
It requres extended memory, so your version of dos has tothe right drivers and have > 640 k RAM and suitable memory drivers (default is probably ok) - the installer does do a system check first!

It i also rather fussy about sound cards - try a simple sound blaster 16

It's unlikely to run under XP directly (Mine didn't) - you'll need to use something like dosbox and customise it carefully.
The original actually suggested that you create a dos (floppy) boot disc with the memory configuration set up. In other words, re-boot the computer specially for this game.

The settings for GNB 2, then 3,4,5 were different, so you could not set up 1 disc for all of them (IIRC 3,4,5 can run using the same settings).

As far as I remember, the program may need to be slowed down on a modern PC - too much computing power - and you'll need the PC to be able to use 16 colour mode (WOW!).

Now you have interested me, I may dig out the old CD & see what happens...


Colin

[COlPrice2002]

OK,

Dosbox runs it ok on my Win Xp machine.....

You will need a copy of the manual (it should be extracted from the archive) - you'll need it for the copy protection (type in the nth word on pxxx).

Enjoy,

Colin

[terminator]

Thanks very much, Guys, for the 'links', and for the rest of the detailed info.
I may have to get in touch with you again, Colin.
When you said: '(type in the nth word on pxxx)'. My brain went into Homer (Simpson) mode ! :confused: DOH !
However, from what you say, if I dig out the 'crappiest' pc stuff in my junkbox, I may be able to 'throw' something together.
I have for instance an old socket 'A' m/b with built in graphics (no AGP slot).
Also a Pentium II m/b (with a couple of those black 'pre PCI' slots), an Addonics soundcard (if that will be any use), and a Voodoo 3Dfx Graphics Card (if it's still in working order).
I'm pretty sure if I juggle some sticks of SDRAM about, I can get as low as about 128 MB ! :rolleyes:
Anyway, glad to hear I've made you have a 'rummage' around, and go 'retro'. LOL
Cheers for now
terminator :D

[COlPrice2002]

Hi,

No need to drag out you box of bits! - use DOSBOX on your current PC (there's a version for Windows and one for Mac)

The install process took me about 20 minutes on this PC (Athlon 3000+, nVidia 6600 GT, Fortissimo sound card).

That includes downloading DOSBOX, setting it up according to the tutorial and installing GNB...

The copy protection is a pain on this version - You select the scenario and an on-screen box pops up. It prompts like :- "page 164", "heading ships", "seventh word", + empty space.

You look up page 164 in the pdf manual, heading "ships", count the seventh word in the text and type it in.

If you're right, the program runs - if not, it terminates.
You will need to have the command keys printed out - they're not obvious....

The later programs require the CD to be in the CD drive for copy protection....

I must admit that the graphics are nowhere near those of Fighting Steel - nor the later versions! SSI changed the interface quite rapidly..

Chhers,

Colin

[terminator]

Downloaded DOSBox but when I open it, instead of the 'C' prompt appearing: C:\>
I'm getting: Z:\> :eek:

Plus how do you get a 'pdf Manual' :confused:

'You look up page 164 in the pdf manual, heading "ships", count the seventh word in the text and type it in.'


The only Manual I have is the approx 20 page printed one and I can't find any links to anything on the net.
(Sorry for being so dense !) :o

Cheers
terminator

[Warship NWS]

Dosbox has instructions in TXT format for how to "mount" a virtual hard drive. You need to read them to understand how Dosbox works.

Also, if your looking for a CD edition of GNB let me know which one and I will get pricing for you. We do take special orders for older titles. Contact me directly at nws-online@nws-online.net Thanks.

[terminator]

SUCCESS ! :D
After creating a new file (in my 'D' drive partition), called: GAMES, when I received the: Z:\> prompt (after clicking on: DOSBox), I typed in : mount C D:\GAMES
This was then recognised, by DOS as a legal 'command'.
If I want to play it now, I just have to open to all the GNBNA files, and just click on the one with the small cogwheel symbol, (actually labelled GNBNA) and it eventually boots to the start menu.
To save a bit of time, I've created a desktop shortcut of this symbol.
(It might not be the 'accepted' way of doing it, but Hey ! It Works !). :D

Having played out a couple of 'actions' now, I can honestly say that purely from a visual point of view, I much prefer: Fighting Steel, but then I have to remind myself that I am after all dealing with a game running on a much older O/S.
Having said that I think GNBNA succeeds admirably (scuse the pun), for it's day, and is certainly a slightly different slant on achieving the same result as F/S.
Thanks for all the help guys, (and for the offer, Christopher). :cool:
Cheers
terminator

[Warship NWS]

Some policy notes,

a) Posting of locations to illegaly download software on our forums is not permitted.
b) Posting of competing websites that run online stores is also not permitted.

Please refrain from posting such information on our forums as they do not help to fund our operations here at NWS and gamers should always look for legal options to acquire software and not go down dark alleys of the internet to do so. We can also special order rare or hard to find games if requested.

If there are any questions please contact me directly at nws-online@nws-online.net

Thank you.

[Mike Malanaphy]

SUCCESS ! :D
After creating a new file (in my 'D' drive partition), called: GAMES, when I received the: Z:\> prompt (after clicking on: DOSBox), I typed in : mount C D:\GAMES
This was then recognised, by DOS as a legal 'command'.
If I want to play it now, I just have to open to all the GNBNA files, and just click on the one with the small cogwheel symbol, (actually labelled GNBNA) and it eventually boots to the start menu.
To save a bit of time, I've created a desktop shortcut of this symbol.
(It might not be the 'accepted' way of doing it, but Hey ! It Works !). :D

Having played out a couple of 'actions' now, I can honestly say that purely from a visual point of view, I much prefer: Fighting Steel, but then I have to remind myself that I am after all dealing with a game running on a much older O/S.
Having said that I think GNBNA succeeds admirably (scuse the pun), for it's day, and is certainly a slightly different slant on achieving the same result as F/S.
Thanks for all the help guys, (and for the offer, Christopher). :cool:
Cheers
terminator

Hi Guys,

I'm not a tech guy, so I find it easier to keep my old games on my first Pentium to play them. I fondly remember GNBA especially the campaign mode where you had to manage and refit yopur ships, drove home home how difficult the British had it when the Kriegsmarine had the initative. The follow ons were rather disappointing as enemy formations usually disentegrated into a circling gaggle.

[madmel57]

My copies are both on cd's, and I have both GNBNA but also GNBP, and I reloaded one of my computers, (which I got from a computer recycling bin), with windows95, and to my amazment, it does run. An excellent set of games.
Mad Mel