Talk:Syndicate Wars

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Book of Cataclysm[edit]

Anyone feel like slapping these quotes on a wikiquote page? Joffeloff 15:50, 24 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You can do it if you want. :) --Larsinio 16:16, 24 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
My goodness, it seems someone already did. I'm gonna add one of those fancy wikiquote links to this article. It's wierd that there wasn't one already. :S Joffeloff 19:02, 24 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Splendid, thanks -- never seen the full list of them before. Moppet 09:43, 26 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yea I put them up a while back, i got them from this site BotC but its no longer up. Merek. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.105.196.53 (talk) 03:21, 3 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Modern playability[edit]

I cut the "playing the game on modern computer" section added originally by 80.104.156.9. This is an encyclopedia article, not a howto guide. The basic fact that it can still be played is notable, but I don't feel this is the place to describe the procedure. I've summarized the fact in a sentence under Trivia and referenced VDMSound and DOSBox from there. Moppet 08:35, 7 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Reuse of Game Engine in Dungeon Keeper[edit]

84.65.12.81 added this to the Trivia section entry on reuse of the game engine for Dungeon Keeper: "- Untrue, The Syndicate wars engine was written from scratch by Michael Diskett, at the same time as Glenn Corpes wrote the dungeon keeper engine (which started life as the Magic carpet engine). Dungeon Keeper and Syndicate wars did share the same low level software polygon rasteriser."

I'm moving it here because it's commentary rather than article text the way it's worded, and does not cite a source. The original, which predates the de-stubbing of the article, didn't have any citations either, but replacing it with another unverifiable statement isn't an improvement.

That being said, it's certainly plausible, so if it can be verified and worded properly, it can well be put back. Moppet 06:27, 14 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It is questionable whether this can be treated as reuse. The games share:

  • utility libraries, ie file management loading and sprite formats; 8bpp RLE transparency compression is identical
  • pathfinding, a bit - in Dungeon Keeper it is severely evolved, but parts of the code are oddly familiar
  • 3D sound sampling, similar world-to-volume conversion and the same sound library (MSS)
  • rasterization, lights computations, shadow casting, drawing sprites in 3D world
  • one array of in-game objects (Things), where each has position, class, type and per-class attributes

But some elements are completely different:

  • Menus. Completely different implementation, much more advanced in Syndicate Wars
  • 3D scene composition, draw list handling - very advanced in Syndicate Wars, simplified in Dungeon Keeper
  • 3D objects support - in Dungeon Keeper everything is just a box, Syndicate Wars has 3D models of cars and buildings

I'd say it can qualify as reuse, but I also think I'm only stating an opinion, not a fact.

188.124.185.68 (talk) 22:52, 23 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Sound and Music[edit]

This article doesn't yet have a section on the music or sound in the game, which does bear some mention. I haven't tried yet because I suck at describing music, and because most sources I can find to cite make hardly any reference to it (video game music in general never seems to get as much attention as it deserves -- "creates an air of tension and foreboding" is about as far as it goes.)

What details I have (my own recollection, mostly, not backed with citations): I think the nearest genre, at least for two of the three tracks, would be gothic industrial. The composer was Russell Shaw, (still in the game industry; there's an interview with him somewhere on the web done shortly after the release of Fable, on which he was the lead composer). There were, as I say, three selectable tracks; they shipped on the game CD as regular audio tracks and played via CD controls, presumably taking CDDA transit load off the main CPU. As with Syndicate, the normal background music was swapped for a short loop of faster-paced, (tracked?) PCM "tension music" when opposing agents approached. I think Syndicate's music was tracked, not pre-composed; SW's was definitely pre-composed with synthesizers.

I disagree with you above about it's musics genre. I would call it Ambient with influences of Dark Ambient and Ambient Industrial. But not Gothic, even though Dark Ambient and Ambient Industrial are often associated with Gothic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.64.113.133 (talk) 23:34, 26 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Use of the CD-based audio was probably an excellent choice given the soundcards of the time, but I do recall it causing some interface stalls and audio skips when looping or transitioning in/out. Each ~10-minute track loops for the entire duration of the level; the track is selectable, but only at the map/mission screen. Moppet 20:48, 23 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I note the insertion of another composer (Adrian Moore). This needs checking. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Adrianmoorecomposer (talk • contribs) 10:19, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Freeware?!?[edit]

A certain individual has recently claimed on Abandonia forums that Syndicate Wars has been released as freeware.

While German Wikipedia and several other places indeed support that notion, all fail to provide any proof of that being the case.

Therefore, I'd like to ask if anyone is aware of some sort of document/citation/announcement/whatever that might have been the source of these claims or is that all just some sort of wild rumor?

Thank you very much for any and all help on the matter. --The Fifth Horseman 13:08, 4 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This is totally untrue as can be seen on the actual Abandonia website. It says "no download" on the page, as it is protected by ESA. - CaptChadd 08:58 28 January 2012 (GMT)

Source[edit]

Multiple Resources Available on Fan Site[edit]

Hi all. Just to mention that this fan site has a lot of different resources on it, including digital copies of the Syndicate Wars manual and official guide, which could be useful for research: [1] If anyone's able to host a rotated & joined-together version of the guide (which is currently split into 7 different PDF parts), that would be greatly appreciated, as it would make referencing much easier. IAmTheNeil (talk) 16:17, 26 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Reassessment[edit]

I've removed the reassessment tag from this article. It's not B class. There are some quite bad issues, one of which is WP:REFBOMB in a few sections, several sections need a re-order, and the use of quotes are quite obnoxious. People and concepts are just inserted into the article in certain sections. Overall the article needs a good copyedit before potential B class. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 15:23, 15 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

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