I have had nothing but great feelings about Vassal since I first started using it. But now I’m not happy. The whole reason I use Vassal is for playing my old AH games solitaire. Now when I try to open my old saved game turns that were in the old modules I get a message that wants me to commit to a side before I open it. I don’t know what’s supposed to happen if I click on Observer but I like to play both sides as I am playing solo. You should have included a Solitaire option. Some of your modules have it. Then the new map (which is attractive) comes up but all the old moves I made where it showed the hexes I had moved into were simply not there. Hex tracking was of primary importance to me. Also the old module doesn’t show up any more since on the insistence of a rare opponent I downloaded the new module because he thought it looked prettier. I liked the old module very much along with its hex tracking. I don’t mind things looking prettier but not at the expense of functionality. Are you doing similar things with the other old games? I hope not because I will not be excited about Vassal in the future and it may even preclude my participation in the future. What’s worse is that none of my saved games can be brought back any more. the map comes up but my unit positions and the records of all past moves are gone! I liked the original artwork and loved the old games as they were. If you must make a change do so with a separate module. Don’t mess with with the old games and systems. If you change things so they are the same but function better but otherwise don’t change anything just because of the look. The old ones were working fine. So can I get the old module back? and will it work the same as it did? I want to finish my saved games but now I can’t!!
Formerly Very Happy with Vassal but now…
Not happy,
Joe Barrette
Hi Joe,
First off, which specific Afrika Korps module are you referring to? There are current 5 different modules in the library
Of these, only Afrika Korps Classic Avalon Hill and Afrika Korps are actively maintained, while the other three seem dormant.
Please also refer to How to report problems to help us help you. Thanks.
Saves (.vsav) made by one particular module (the original module) and particular module version is not compatible
- with other modules of the same game
- with newer versions of the original module if the module implementation has changed.
- You may have some luck with the Piece Refresher if you use a later version of the original module
It sounds a little like you are using a save generated by one implementation of Afrika Korps with another implementation of the game. That will never work.
The meaning of the player <observer> varies somewhat.
- In some modules, the
<observer>player is all-seeing, meaning it can see all other players “private” information. - In other modules, the
<observer>can only see what is public to all players.
In the first case, the <observer> player is really the same as a solitaire player (that’s how it works in Afrika Korps). In the latter case (as in Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific) the <observer> player is really an on-looker with no privileges.
What do you mean by “Hex tracking”? Do you mean movement trails?
I think perhaps there’s a bit of a misunderstanding on how modules and saves works, but it is hard to tell without more information. Please report
- Which specific (including version number) module did you use to make your older saves?
- That is, if you open the old module and select Help→About Module, what does it say at the bottom?
- If you do not have the old module you made the saves with, then perhaps post your save to some shared storage (Google Drive, f.ex.) and then someone will be able to figure it out.
- Which specific (including version number) module are you currently using and have trouble opening the older saves with?
- Do the same as above.
- Which version of Vassal are you using?
See also How to report problems. That will help us help you.
Yours,
Christian
Thank you for clarifying. I’m running vassal 3.6.15. I didn’t realize that my old saved games would automatically be transferred to the new module and I was not able to make sense of them. Now I see the difference. I have separated the two different versions of the game into two different files on my computer and somehow I can get the old Wargames Academy modules which I prefer, to open up my old games without too much trickery. I never understood the difference between versions. As long as I was able to save games and have them come back up for future play was all I was concerned with. I never noticed till now that there was a difference. I was greatly releived to get the old classic version back up and running where it had movement tracking and could rememberr my old moves and listed my old comments in the bar above the map that records those things like moves and die rolls. So now, if I want to play one of my old saved games I have to go to my newly created file “Old AK” and Click on AFK 2.3.1 and pull up a saved game from that file. Conversely when I must play the people who like “Oh Shiney” new stuff then I must go to my “AK New” file and pull up the versions file and open new CHC file 1.1. I just don’t understand why there are so many versions! I don’t know which one I started with as they all look the same.
Christian
I have not yet tried the piece refresher as I’m happy playing the old version yet. I’m a little confused by it. But I am old. It’s easy to confuse us. Although I think I understand what you mean. I’m hoping you will keep the original AH version going as I prefer it.
I don’t know about the Afrika Korps module but I remember the Midway module would only allow the japanese player to access Japanese map locations and movements and then the US player could only access His maps and movements. I found that Observer didn’t work as I thought it would. But that is a different case but it gave me the overall impression that the Observer option wouldn’t allow me to do much in that capacity.
I’ll save that for another discussion as my plate is full right now just getting my brain around these changes I must make.
Hex tracking where the hexes moved to were identified in the text bar that records die rolls and comments etc.
Thank you for all your help Christian. I think I have things sorted out so that I can call up my old games and play them the way I used to. I probably don’t understand everything but I now know I can seek your advice on other issues. I’m old and still don’t understand how to work everything on my computer but Vassal has been a Godsend to me as I collected all those games in the 70’s and beyond promising myself to play them when I had time. Now I am retired and I have time. Vassal allows me to not have a board game cluttering up the rapidly disappearing horizontal space in my household. I don’t have to finish a game when I start it. I can take weeks to finish it and the cat doesn’t disturb the counters. I apologize for not understanding as there is so much detail and us seniors can be easily confused by too much input. Thanks again for your help and the great access you are providing to the gaming world. I’ll contact you again if I have other issues or misunderstandings but today you have cleared up a lot regarding module versions.
Regards,
Joe Barrette
Hi Joe,
No worries.
You should be able to load many different implementations (or projects, as opposed to different version of the same implementation) into your Vassal Library.
The five different projects I listed in the previous response are what I call different implementations of the game Afrika Korps.
The Wargame Acadamy implementation of Afrika Korps is, as far as I can tell, not maintained anymore (the last update was done by @Brent_Easton to allow the module to load in Vassal 3.6+).
Different version (or releases) of the same implementation (or project) comes about when a developer/maintainer decides to make some change to the module. For example, release 2.3.1 of the Wargame Acadamy implementation of Afrika Korps fixed the issues relating to loading the module in Vassal 3.6+.
Without getting too technical, there are certain changes one can do to a module that makes the new module release incompatible with older saves and logs. Ideally module developers would increment the minor (of not major) release number in such cases.
There can be many different reasons for different implementations (or projects) of the same game. For Afrika Korps, here’s a short summary of the differences
- Afrika Korps uses a redesigned map and counters.
- It has some additional markers for marking automatic victory, and so on.
- It does not assign grid coordinates to hexes, and thus moves are not reported in hex coordinates.
- It has Orders of Battle for each faction.
- Afrika Korps Classic Avalon Hill is based on a ZunTzu gamebox.
- This has markers for combat odds, automatic victory, Rommel’s trail, etc.
- The graphics is a somewhat polished version of the original Avalon Hill graphics.
- It does not have a concept of players.
- It has a full track with reinforcements placed along it.
- Under the hood it uses custom Java code to label the hex grid.
- Afrika Korps is imported from an Aide de Champ gamebox.
- It has piece property tables
- piece flags for attacking and defending
- a full turn track with reinforcements along it, and so on.
- Under the hood, it does not use a hex grid, but “regions”, which can be a little funny at times.
- Afrika Korps is the one you already know and love.
- It has markers for combat, automatic victory, etc.
- It uses close to the original graphics
- Has Orders of Battle for each faction.
- It has no concept of players.
- Under the hood it uses custom Java code to label the hex grid.
- Afrika Korps is by me
and is based on my Print’n’Play version of the game.
- Uses entirely new graphics (comes in two variants - colourful and ol’school)
- Includes the rules in the Help menu (rewritten and restructured with more illustrations)
- A tutorial
- Automations (optional)
- Automatic odds calculations - including terrain etc. - and markers
- Automatic battle resolution and markers
- Automated actions on turn and phase change (use the turn tracker)
- isolation semi-automatically handled
- Reminders for player actions
- Automatic victory markers ()
- Under the hood it uses custom Java code to label the hex grid.
In summary, if you want a “board and counters” implementation, then Frank’s Afrika Korps Classic Avalon Hill is probably a good choice. If you want a bit more bells and whistles, for example to have module calculate combat odds and so on, then Afrika Korps by me could be more suitable. Some people like KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!), others prefer Kraftwerk (AUTObahn).
As you can see, there can be many different reasons for different implementations of the same game. e.g.,
- different preferences for graphics
- different levels of automations
- imports from other PBEM software
- …
That tools is somewhat of an advanced feature, and is probably mostly meant for module developers.
I have nothing to do with the Wargame Acadamy implementation, and I’m afraid that it isn’t maintained anymore. The closest thing is Frank’s implementation which is maintained (I helped out a bit, but all credit goes to Frank ).
The section of the user interface you are referring to is typically called the chat log or simply chat. So what you mean by “hex” tracking is the messages in the chat that goes something like
unit a moves H15 -> G14
Place hoovers (vacuum cleaners for those over the pond) around your table - usually scares the living daylight out or cats - at least it does to mine
Don’t. Just try to give as much information as you can - even if you think it may not be relevant - that really helps to pinpoint any problems.
Yours,
Christian