Warlords II frequently asked questions list:


(Last updated 30th Apr 1996)

The questions answered in this FAQ are:

  1. What is it?
  2. Where can I get Warlords-related material on the Internet?
    1. What scenarios are available?
    2. What utilities and patches are available?
    3. What Mac utilities and patches are available?
  3. Do I need the Scenario Builder to use the scenarios?

    Adding and editing scenarios

  4. How can I edit random maps?
  5. I've got a scenario off the 'net - how do I add it?
  6. How do I copy graphics between army (or city) sets?
  7. How do I edit shield sets?

    Questions about playing the game

  8. Why do all the enemy warlords ALWAYS declare war on me?
  9. How do I pick up bags left behind by dead heroes?
  10. I got rewarded for finishing a Quest to find an item, but where'd it go?
  11. How do I make the game more challenging?

    Troubleshooting

  12. I can't get addscen to add this scenario - what's wrong?
  13. I have problems with the sound on - what's going on?
  14. Where do I get patches?
  15. Where can I get a patch to take me to version 1.02?
  16. What's SSG's email address?

    Questions about Warlords II Deluxe

  17. What's happening with Warlords 2 Deluxe?
  18. What's in Warlords 2 Deluxe?
  19. Are the computer players better? What about movement?
  20. Can you convert scenarios from Warlords II to Warlords II Deluxe?
  21. Does network play work over the Internet? Between PC and Mac?

    Questions on Warlords II for the Mac

  22. What's going on with the patches?
  23. When's the CD coming out?
  24. When's Deluxe for the Mac coming out?
Credits 
This FAQ consists mostly of IBM-related information, but Mac information 
is now being included. Information useful to Mac owners is in questions 
1, 2, 8 to 11, 14, 16, and 21 to 24. This really needs a lot more 
information on Deluxe and the Mac put in, since that's where all the 
interesting things have happened.  If you want more information added, 
just send it to me. If you think there is a burning question that should 
be addressed, send it to me. (G.Barnett@unsw.edu.au)





1. What is it?


Warlords is essentially a strategy game, with (in its original form)
some fantasy elements. The emphasis is on combat, though economics,
diplomacy, and exploration figure into it as well. The basic aim is 
to conquer at least half the cities on the map (unless you are
really bloodthirsty and don't accept surrenders). Up to 8 players
- human or computer - can participate. More than 3 humans can get a
bit slow, unless you have several machines, and play multiple games
simultaneously, moving from machine to machine.

Each side (human or computer) begins with one "hero" with one army and
one city. Heroes may be of either sex. Cities can produce armies. Each 
city has a different production and income, and you take more cities by 
combat. The hero can also explore ruins, where there might be items 
(after overcoming any guardians), sages (who reveal the locations of 
other items, or maps of areas, or reward you with gifts), or monsters 
willing to become allies. Heroes can also go to temples to be blessed 
or receive quests. Quests may be rewarded with special allies.  Armies
can also be blessed at temples (blessing affects combat strength).

The default scenario is fantasy-based: Dragons, Wizards, elves, and 
so on. The cities mostly look like castles. However, many kinds of 
scenarios are possible. There exist tank battles, pirate scenarios, 
even a battle in the mud for a pig-farm (between pigs of course). 
Each scenario is playable many times - I played the original 
Warlords I scenario dozens of times.

One of Warlords' best features is the quality of the computer players -
at their most intelligent levels of play, they are reasonably difficult
opponents. If they become too easy, you can issue a challenge (so they
concentrate their efforts against you more than at each other). 
If you are a really super player, you can give the computer some extra 
advantages.

It has a random map feature which extends playability enormously -
the random maps are very good indeed - most give an excellent game.
However, the rivers have interesting properties, apparently running
uphill at times, happily cutting right through mountain ranges, and
sometimes even right across a continent. (Rivers should generally 
flow from high places - like mountains - down to the coast. Maybe
I'm fussy.)

The scenario builder (Warscen) allows you to make new scenarios 
(new maps, armies, cities, shields, boats, items, ruin guardians 
and so on). This extends the playability of the original game further,
as well as being fun in itself.






2. Where can I get Warlords-related material on the Internet?


The best site for information about Warlords (both the Mac and PC 
platforms) is Bob Heeter's "Warlords II players home page" (address 
below). If you want to know something and it's not in the FAQ, it's 
probably on his site somewhere. Bob's site doesn't carry scenarios or 
much in the way of utilities, but it does have lots of links to places 
that do. 

Which brings me to Matt Schikore's web page. This is the most up to 
date site as far as scenarios, patches and utilities go, both for the 
PC and the Mac. 

There are a number of sites with Deluxe Scenarios; try Paul Field's site 
first.

John Rosenquist's ftp site (lupan) and web page are extensive.
I  haven't been able to get onto either in a while; they may have
gone away.

Of course, there's also SSG's own web page. Get it right from the 
horse's mouth.

These and many other addresses follow - 


    

  1. SSG:
http://www.ssg.com.au/
Information about SSG's products, screenshots from Warlords II Deluxe, 
ordering information for Warlords II Deluxe, links to lots of Warlords II 
information on the web.


  2. Warlords II Player's home page: 
http://www.heeter.net/w2home.html
Bob Heeter took over Eugene Lee's Warlords page, but it is now far 
more extensive than Eugene's page was. Bob has put lots of interesting 
information up. It is a site you'll want to visit regularly, as it is 
always being updated. He has lots of information and resources not 
available at other places:

Lots of News, info, reviews, and links to other information.
Especially handy documentation includes:
 "Rules of Engagement" by David Prucha and Randy Skold
 Bob Heeter's Advanced Tactical Ideas
 Elam Birnbaum's Outline of Combat Bonuses
 Battle Probability Analysis by Bob Heeter (and me)
 Suggestions on creating scenarios, and lots more...
Bob's had a hand in almost everything that appears on his site. 
This is one of my favourite sites on the Web. If you have a question 
about Warlords II, you'll probably find the answer here.


  3. Matt's page:
http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~schikore/Warlords2/
Matt Schikore has an extensive site, with just about every scenario I've 
heard of, and many utilities and patches for the PC and the Mac. The 
scenario list gives information on the scenarios that come with Warlords
as well.


  4. Paul Field's page:
http://www.inlink.com:80/~bedbug/warlords/
This is devoted to Deluxe material, and has lots of useful information
and tips as well.


  5. Lupan anonymous ftp site:
lupan.byu.edu: /site/ibmstuff/Games/Warlords_II
The Warlords II stuff on lupan has been faithfully maintained for a long 
time by John Rosenquist (rose@bert.cs.byu.edu), and John deserves hearty 
thanks for his work in making available and keeping it going.
(the stuff on lupan is available on the web as well: http://lupan.byu.edu)
(Is this still there?)
Last checked: Late '95


  6. http://sparky.cis.smu.edu/war/
J.M. Christian Smith's Warlords II web archive. Many scenarios and utilities.
Last checked: Late '95


  7. Other sites 
http://www.teleport.com/~stiltman/warlords.html   has 3 scenarios,
and a nifty review of Warlords II. The descriptions of the scenarios 
looked pretty good, but I haven't actually had time to play them yet.
Last Checked: June '95

ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/av/avatarx/faqs/warlord2.zip is a zipped
version of the latest FAQ. It appears to be taken straight off the
group comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic, but it may have come from
one of the other sites instead.
Last Checked: July '95

ftp://ftp.inf.tu-dresden.de/pub/ms-dos/games/patches reputedly
has the 1.02 patch (war102a.zip) and a patch for the AWE32
(This is now also on Matt Schikore's site).
Last Checked: Never


  8. Other Mac-related sites

      

    • http://www.einet.net/galaxy/Leisure-and-Recreation
   /Games/chris-loggins/Gaming.html  (won't all fit on one line)
has a review, and tells you where to get the Mac demo version.


    • http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive/Abstracts
    /game/com/warlords-ii-104s (sorry, that won't either) 
has the Mac demo version.

    



Of course, another way to get lots of nice scenarios is to buy
the scenario builder, since it comes with about two dozen. Even
better, get Deluxe. It has 60 scenarios (not counting the tutorial
scenario).






    

  1. What scenarios are available?
    

There are now too many to list - around 100 scenarios between the 
different incarnations, I think.
 
First ports of call should be Matt Schikore's web page, 
or Paul Fields' site.

I know Compuserve and AOL had some scenarios, many of which were 
later uploaded to wuarchive and lupan, but I know of at least a 
couple that don't seem to have made it to the Internet. If anyone 
has scenarios (not from SSG's commercial releases) not on this list, 
could they put them up? 

(On Compuserve, Warlords 2 scenarios are in GAMERS forum in Library 3: 
 there are lots of scenarios and utilities. We have most of them, but
 it can't hurt to look.)

    



  2. What utilities and patches are available?
    

Matt Schikore's page has all of these. 

Name       Note    Description
showarmy           army set info
showscen           scenario info
sortscen     1     sorts scenario list
w2bonus            change max. stack bonus
w2com              combat calculator
w2copy             copy army & city pics
w2order      2     fixes fight order
warld2ed           edit city & production
war102a            patch: v1.02 to v1.02a 
wl2p1-11           patch: v1.02a to v1.11
wl2awe32           sound fix for awe32

Explanation of notes:
(1) sortscen is useful if you don't have the scenario builder.
(2) the current version is in a file called w2ord13.zip


    



  3. What Mac utilities and patches are available?
    

On Matt Schikore's web site:

IceArmies:        modified army set 
                  (There are now several available - see Bob's Heeter's site)
w2com:            combat calculator
WarCorrespondent: army set & item editor
Patches

Always check Bob Heeter's site for up-to-date Mac information and links.



    



    3. Do I need the Scenario Builder to use the scenarios?
    

No. All you need is the 1.11 patch. If you have the Scenario Builder,
you don't need the patch. You may also need the 1.02 patch if your
version number is lower than 1.02a.


    


    Adding and editing scenarios
    



    4. How can I edit random maps?
    


      

    1. Without a utility:
Let's say I want to create a random scenario called "Sample":
(Any other name would do - but no more than *7* characters)


        

      1. Run WARSCEN. Load STAMP (say). Save As Sample. Quit.
(Any other scenario should do instead of STAMP.)


      2. Run WARLORD2. Choose Random Map, and select desired options - 
even a different terrain set. You can exit as soon as you get to 
choose who is Human etc, but you will probably want to look at 
the map first. Go ahead and look. If you don't like it - generate 
another one. It doesn't matter whether you leave everyone as Human 
or not at this stage. Quit. You don't need to save the game.


      3. At the DOS prompt: 
   From the Warlord2 subdirectory type:
      COPY .\RANDOM\RANDOM.* .\SAMPLE\SAMPLE.*

(I'm sure you can figure out the corresponding commands from other 
directories.)


      4. Run WARSCEN. The "Sample" scenario now appears. Load it. 
It is now the random map. When you save, the information on 
the number of cities and ruins should be updated. Note that 
a different terrain set may look a bit odd when you first 
load it - just move around a bit and it should look OK. Change 
what you like, and remember to save often.

That's it! One edited random scenario. Take care - it is possible 
to cause problems, but you can always reinstall WARLORDS in the 
worst case.

      


    2. Quick method:
 
Get hold of the W2ORDER utility (version 1.2 or higher -
Version 1.3 is available at lupan, Matt Schikore's web page 
and wuarchive).

Use, for example,

w2order /r /o Sample

to make a copy of the random scenario called Sample, with the extra
benefit that the army fight order is the same as the order of the
armies in the Edit Armies display, rather than the slightly jumbled
order you can get from a random scenario.

    


    



    5. I've got a scenario off the 'net - how do I add it?
    

If you have the Scenario Builder, or you're running Version 1.1, 
just copy the .szp file to the Warlords II directory. If you have
a .zip file you'll have to unzip it first. Then type ADDSCEN filename.

If there is a text file with the .szp file, it doesn't hurt to copy
it down into the scenario directory (Warlords ignores files it doesn't
know about).


    




    6. How do I copy graphics between army (or city) sets?
    

You need to get the utility w2copy.

Available at http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~schikore/warlords2.html

If you run it without arguments it tells you how it works.

I think there's a doc file in the .zip as well.

Note that as of right now, there is no way to copy between city sets
in Deluxe unless you have a PCX-friendly paint program.


    



    7. How do I edit shield sets?
    

The short answer is that you don't in Warlords II. In Deluxe,
you need a paint program that handles PCX properly. There are
a largish number of these.


    


    Questions about playing the game
    



    8. Why do all the enemy warlords always declare war on me?
    

You are doing one of five things:


      

    1. using "I am the greatest" to make them all warlords. This automatically
makes everyone declare war after a few turns (it never hurts to
read the manual). If you want to make them all warlords _without_
declaring "I am the greatest", but are lazy, click "I am the greatest"
twice.


    2. being nasty, like attacking everyone, especially sides you're at
peace with; razing cities; or similar nastiness - you know if you're 
doing this because you'll be down at "running dog" on the diplomacy 
rating.


    3. having lots of spare money appears to make you a target


    4. winning


    5. offering peace to the enemy especially if they are the aggressor - 
    they don't like a wimp; it's not as bad as razing or treachery, but
    worse than declaring war or neutrality (one sword).


    


    



    9. How do I pick up bags left behind by dead heroes?
    

On the PC: you just stand on it, and press "," to bring up the hero's
list of items (or use the menu item that does "Inspect Heroes"), then 
select "Take it" for the items on the ground (Yellow items are on the
ground, and the green ones are being carried).

On the Mac: pretty much the same, except that the keyboard command 
is "Command-Shift-H" (or just pull down the Heroes menu and select 
"Inspect Heroes"). Then you have to highlight the items listed as 
being "On the Ground", and push the up-arrow button.


    



    10. I got rewarded for finishing a Quest to find an item, but where'd it go?
    

It's gone. The point of the quest is that the item goes to whoever 
gave you the quest. Why would they reward you for keeping it? I can just
see it now:

Robed Priest of Gnorr: "Well, mighty hero, you say you have completed 
the quest to search for that holy relic stolen from us long ago, the 
sceptre of Gnorr. We are mightily pleased to have it returned, and 
great reward will come to you who brought it to us. Pray place it 
in the holy tabernacle."

Hero: "No, I think I'd like to lug it through the mud for the next few
years, and maybe you'll be lucky and I won't get killed or anything. 
One day I might even bring it back."

Robed Priest of Gnorr: "Oh, sure, no problem. Here's a big pile of gold 
for your trouble. Would you like to loot our other holy relics, or
should we just give them to the next wandering con-artist who asks 
for them?"


    




    11. How do I make the game more challenging?
    

Some quick and easy things to try:
   -  Set the computer players to use characters.  The characters are 
      generally more aggressive than the generic warlord.
   -  Always play on "I am the Greatest."  In this mode, the computer
      players will all declare war on you around turn 8 or 9.
   -  Turn "Hidden Map" OFF.  It disadvantages the computer players more
      than you, as the computer players will spend much of their time 
      trying to figure out the map.
   -  Turn ON the "Intense Combat" option. This makes some scenarios
      harder.
   -  Go to the configuration dialog and set the computer players to
      "Enhanced."  This will add a +2 combat bonus to their armies.
   -  Turn Razing OFF (if you have version 1.11).  Razing makes the game
      too easy.
   -  Avoid pillaging/sacking enemy cities unless on a quest.
   -  Play honorably -- don't attack an undefended neighbor city if you're
      at peace with them.
   -  If you have the scenario editor, create and use an army set with
      many fast flying units.  This opens up the game a lot more.
   -  If the game is still too easy, play without heroes.  Kill off your 
      hero early, and refuse all new heroes.

Here are a couple of approaches that are slightly more effort, but 
generally quite effective, as well as giving fine levels of control
over difficulty:

Method (i): 
This is what I did in Warlords 1. Start all sides as human. Make many 
moves for all sides, but keeping one side weak. Make all but the weak 
side computer players. Save the game. This becomes the "scenario".
In one game, I had the Sirians sit in their city and do nothing (except 
take a second hero when it was offered), even turning production off 
after two units had been produced; and meanwhile had Lord Bane take 
each other capital, but no other cities. Then I saved. 
It was a deadly game.

In similar fashion, any start set-up can be created. This allows you to 
tailor numbers and locations of units. If you want to re-fight Waterloo, 
but give Napoleon a dragon unit, you could pretty much do it this way.

Method(ii): 
This is what I do with Warlords 2, not because it is better, but because 
it's faster - Make a random map. Turn it into a scenario. Pick the worst 
located capital for the human player, or make one worse. If necessary add 
some roads or even cities near the other capitals, to get them off to
a good start.

Then, whenever I play that scenario, all the computer players get off to 
a flying start, while I'm wandering over to my first city. By the time I 
have 2 cities, they all have 3 or 4 _and_ they've explored some ruins.
I made one small map game like this where I had to play it a few times
before I could survive more than 20 or 30 turns.

(Method (i) works in WL2, I just haven't used it.)



    



    Troubleshooting
    



    12. I can't get ADDSCEN to add this scenario - what's wrong?
    
 
If you used ftp, check that you downloaded the scenario with binary 
mode on. Secondly, it may be that you have one of the scenarios that 
came via Compuserve, in which case you may find you need to rename the 
.szp file before it will install.
 
For example, to install the scenario hobson.szp, you need to name it
"HOBSON'.SZP", because Hobson' is the name of the scenario (Hobson's 
choice), but Compuserve won't allow a filename of that length. 
 
(A better approach if you want to put a scenario up on Compuserve is to 
put the .szp with a doc file into a .zip, and calling that a shorter 
name, but not everyone realises that).


    



    13. I have problems with the sound on, what's going on?
    

If it hangs when you turn sound on it's likely you haven't got enough
memory. Make sure you have around 600K free (more is better). Memmaker
will help a lot.

Make sure you are up to date as far as patches go (V1.11).

Also, you might try the following:
   - Use 8-bit DMA instead of 16.
   - Try setting sound to the 8-bit Soundblaster mode.
   - If all else fails, simply turn the sound OFF.

You can also contact SSG. If you contact SSG about a problem like this,
tell them exactly what version you are running, and all the details about
your computer, video, sound card, etc, how much free memory you have,
whether you have EMS on, etc etc.


    



    14. Where do I get patches?
    

Matt Schikore's web page have them for both Mac and PC.
(Bob Heeter's site lists other sources for the Mac patches).
John Rosenquist's lupan ftp site has the PC patches.
Addresses and more information in Q2.


    



    15. Where can I get a patch to take me to version 1.02?
    

You have to contact SSG for an upgrade.


    



    16. What's SSG's email address?
    

SSG has a new email address: gwhiley@ssg.com.au
(This will go to Gregor Whiley of SSG)

The addresses in the manual should still work, though:

Compuserve: 72662,3471
Genie: SSG
AppleLink: AUST0161

The old Internet address has probably gone by now: gwhiley@extro.ucc.su.oz.au


    



    Questions about Warlords II Deluxe
    



    17. What's happening with Warlords 2 Deluxe?
    

It has been available for some time now. SSG's web site has 
ordering information. 


    



    18. What's in Warlords 2 Deluxe?
    

Here's the information available from SSG:



           Warlords II Deluxe
    

Warlords II Deluxe features an upgraded version of Warlords II, 
with enhancements such as network play, an improved Warlords II 
Scenario Builder, plus thirty brand new scenarios, all on CD-ROM. 
The total value of this package is $160.00, if purchased separately.

Warlords II was created due to overwhelming demand from players of 
the original Warlords Game. The Warlords II Scenario Builder was 
likewise released because warlords fans demanded the ability to create 
their own scenarios. Warlords II Deluxe is the product of user's 
desires for a networkable version of Warlords II.

To Create Warlords II Deluxe, with all its enhancements and network 
features, the entire program had to be rewritten. SSG also took the 
opportunity to make a number of improvements to the Warlords II 
Scenario Builder, and to redo all scenarios in 256 colour SVGA graphics.

New Features include:

      

    • Support for network, E-Mail, modem and null-modem play.

    • Improvements to Warlords II game options.

    • Improved movement system and faster game play.

    • Much requested Undo function for movement.

    • New 256 colour SVGA graphics for all senarios.

    • Enhancements to Warlords II Scenario Builder to make scenario 
creation easier.

    • 30 brand new scenarios with many different army and city sets.

    • New underground scenarios and terrain types.

    • New music score.

    • Improved computer routines.

    • New painting tools for Warlords II Scenario Builder.

    • Conveniently presented on CD-ROM.

    • Special upgrade offer for existing Warlords II owners.

    

Warlords II Deluxe requires a 386 or better CPU (486 recommended) with 
4mb of RAM, 2 Mb of Expanded RAM free, hard disk, CD-ROM drive, SVGA 
graphics, mouse, and supports Ad-Lib, Sound Blaster Family including 
AWE 32, Pro Audio Spectrum, Gravis Ultrasound, Windows Sound System, 
Roland MT-32, and Roland Sound Canvas.


    



    19. Are the computer players better? What about movement?
    

As given in the information above, these are both improved.
Computer players are noticeably more aggressive. You can rely on 
the movement algorithm more, so you don't have to "micro-manage" 
the movement as much.

If you were already beating the game easily, you won't find it
suddenly thrashing you - it just plays a bit better.


    



    20. Can you convert scenarios from Warlords II to Warlords II Deluxe?
    

This is available in the most recent patch. See SSG's web site.


    



    21. Does network play work over the Internet? Between PC and Mac?
    

No. Network play only works on a PC network. You can use e-mail over
the Internet. 


    



    Questions on Warlords II for the Mac
    



    22. What's going on with the patches?
    

There were a number of buggy patches released.
There are new patches out now that should solve
all the problems. There's more information at 
Bob Heeter's web site.


    



    23. When's the CD coming out?
    

It will probably be in the stores by the time you see this,
or very soon after.



    



    24. When's Deluxe for the Mac coming out?
    

Last news I saw was "Soon."  SSG's page should have more up to date info.



    

    

Credits

Thanks go to:

Matt Schikore for initially HTML-ising the FAQ.

Bob Heeter for Question 9.

Gary Makin of SSG for numerous suggestions and pointers.

Fred Hamilton for Question 8, items (iii) and (iv), and 
Corey Wofford for item (v).

Steven Han for letting me steal stuff from his own Warlords FAQ, 
especially a lot of Question 11, and the "other things to try"
in Question 13.


    

 End of the FAQ

Glen Barnett (comments to g.barnett@unsw.edu.au)