Jagged Alliance 2 - how to play it in 2014?

[roshan]

Just started my first game of Jagged Alliance 2 yesterday, installed the GOG version. The game in the state it comes in is virtually unplayable though. In terms of interface, handling, etc, it seems to be much worse than even other RPG's of it's time, including Fallout. I think the interface probably just requires some getting used to and experimenting, but:

1. The super low resolution is pretty much a dealbreaker. In Fallout, it's bearable, but here the view is more zoomed in and you control a party, which makes it much more annoying.

2. The game has some scrolling issues, when I scroll the screen to the left or right, it moves really really quickly, but when I try to scroll up or down, the screen moves very slowly.

3. The animations as opposed to Fallout are very clunky and not fluid at all.

TLDR: I need a resolution mod for this game. Also if you can recommend a fanmade patch that doesn't alter content. I don't think I want to play with 1.13 in my first run through the game. Also if you can recommend any game settings, early game mercs, or builds for the custom character.

 

[Machine]

1.13 is your only option afaik.

 

[Cosmo]

1.13 is your only option afaik.

Link.

 

[Whisky]

Yeah, just download 1.13. Vanilla is great and everything, but with all the things you don't like about it, you might as well just mod it.

Regardless, just keep playing. I had trouble with the whole micromanaging a party thing for a long time, but with persistence I not only got used to it, but grew to enjoy it. It's still a bit slow when you have a lot of mercs, but it pulls through.

 

[Nuclear Explosion]

Use Stracciatella. It has High Resolution support. I played though the game recently with it in high resolution and had no problems. It also doesn't alter any content or change anything.

 

[Berekän]

inbefore "what is this doing in RPG Discussion"

 

[Modron]

It's here for the same reason roguelikes are too.

 

[SoupNazi]

you could stop being a moron

JA2 is one of the easiest old games to get into when it comes to basic UI and shit

 

[visions]

Get a crt for playing old games. Screens that can properly display a variety of resolutions full screen vs screens that can only display one without making you want to go on a killing spree, progress my ass.

Forget 9/11, native resolution is the single most horrible thing that happened in the 00's.

Spoiler

Yes I know lcds were around before the 00's but that's when they became nearly universal, ie annoying

 

[Wizfall]

To change resolution i only know 1.13 but i'm quite sure other mods can do it.

I only started playing JA 2 2/3 years ago and i still play it times to times.
I started directly playing 1.13, never tried vanilla and got no big issues.
Even if you want the vanilla experience 1.13 is quite good, you should be careful to select OCTH (old chance to hit, 1.13 has NCTH by default), disable DCA (Drassen counter attack) and disable ambush.
With these 3 changes you will get the vanilla experience but in high resolution with nice convenient stuff/features added (but that did not change the gameplay)
You should easily see which mercs are good to begin with, it's obvious as mercs are very imbalanced.
For your IMP, Night Ops trait is awesome.

Also UI is good but i agree the micro management can take a lot of time, it's not uninteresting for the most part (except for gestion of clips which is horrible) but at the start (especially for replay) it's really painful at least to me.

 

[Snufkin]

For your IMP i recomend auto weapon expert and psycho trait. It is not super powerfull in the begining but when you get strong weapons you will be able to kill 2 heavy armored oponents in one turn because your bursts will load full lead into bodies of your enemies. Lot of people recomend to use fn-fal single shots to the head, but it often wont grant you 2 kills per turn lategame. There is also one awesome trick with psycho trait that i discovered. When you use your autorifle and have scope in it and shot to the head with maximum acurracy using (right clicks) from very long range, psycho trait switches you into burst sometimes and you get FULL bonus to hit from scope that you would not get when using normal burst mode. This is very awesome and lets you burst to the head from very long range..

 

[J_C]

Even if you want the vanilla experience 1.13 is quite good, you should be careful to select OCTH (old chance to hit, 1.13 has NCTH by default), disable DCA (Drassen counter attack) and disable ambush.
With these 3 changes you will get the vanilla experience but in high resolution with nice convenient stuff/features added (but that did not change the gameplay)

Man I was looking for this for a long time. I wanted to try 1.13, but never new what to do to get a vanilla experience. Maximum Brofist.

 

[m_s0]

If you want the vanilla experience go play vanilla. With all the changes 1.13 introduces it just won't give you that, even if you comply the above.

If it's about the resolution, just find the earliest version of 1.13 and use that.

 

[Average Manatee]

1.13 is your only option afaik.

Link.

Really old. Use the SCI here: http://www.bears-pit.com/board/ubbt...epri_s_Builds_and_Packages_Ge.html#Post311288

It's technically unstable, but the "stable" version was still pretty damn unstable nonetheless and you'll miss out on tons of nice stuff.

Also UI is good but i agree the micro management can take a lot of time, it's not uninteresting for the most part (except for gestion of clips which is horrible) but at the start (especially for replay) it's really painful at least to me.

Main thing to do is get a list of keyboard commands and look through them once in a while. There are tons of things that greatly speed up on basic UI tasks.

For your IMP i recomend auto weapon expert and psycho trait. It is not super powerfull in the begining but when you get strong weapons you will be able to kill 2 heavy armored oponents in one turn because your bursts will load full lead into bodies of your enemies. Lot of people recomend to use fn-fal single shots to the head, but it often wont grant you 2 kills per turn lategame. There is also one awesome trick with psycho trait that i discovered. When you use your autorifle and have scope in it and shot to the head with maximum acurracy using (right clicks) from very long range, psycho trait switches you into burst sometimes and you get FULL bonus to hit from scope that you would not get when using normal burst mode. This is very awesome and lets you burst to the head from very long range..

1.13 allows aimed burst shots as a normal action. Also Psycho was nerfed and doesn't give accuracy bonuses any more.

 

[m_s0]

There's a new stable version coming out in a few days, supposedly.

 

[J_C]

If you want the vanilla experience go play vanilla. With all the changes 1.13 introduces it just won't give you that, even if you comply the above.

If it's about the resolution, just find the earliest version of 1.13 and use that.

Yeah I know, and I really only want the resolution fix. But it is not easy to find such an old version of 1.13.

 

[JohnTheRevelator]

you could stop being a moron

JA2 is one of the easiest old games to get into when it comes to basic UI and shit

Sorry but this. I'm not sure what you find so complicated about interface. Also before jumping straight to all these new features and guns in 1.13 I'd play vanilla at least once.

For mercs recommendations: definitely get your own customized IMP (look through your mails), other than that cheap mercs with high wisdom are always nice since they improve quickly.

 

[whatevername]

my first run through the game. Also if you can recommend any game settings, early game mercs, or builds for the custom character.

Start with just 1 night-ops IMP on INSANE difficulty, no mercs.

 

[m_s0]

If you want the vanilla experience go play vanilla. With all the changes 1.13 introduces it just won't give you that, even if you comply the above.

If it's about the resolution, just find the earliest version of 1.13 and use that.

Yeah I know, and I really only want the resolution fix. But it is not easy to find such an old version of 1.13.

What are you talking about? Everything is archived:
http://kermi.pp.fi/JA_2/v1.13_Releases/Official/English/

 

[J_C]

Oh...

 

[Severian Silk]

you could stop being a moron

JA2 is one of the easiest old games to get into when it comes to basic UI and shit

Sorry but this. I'm not sure what you find so complicated about interface. Also before jumping straight to all these new features and guns in 1.13 I'd play vanilla at least once.

For mercs recommendations: definitely get your own customized IMP (look through your mails), other than that cheap mercs with high wisdom are always nice since they improve quickly.

I agree. There is nothing wrong with the UI. In fact, JA2 has one of the most streamlined and efficient UIs of any game ever. Also, I agree, start with the vanilla to get a grasp of the basics.

 

[SCO]

Use Stracciatella.It has High Resolution support.I played though the game recently with it in high resolution and had no problems.It also doesn't alter any content or change anything.

https://bitbucket.org/gennady/ja2-stracciatella/downloads

(but it's not true that it doesn't change anything. For instance, i think the guy that originally worked on it had the 'Gold' version code, so it has the bordel 'blackout' disabled and defective crows, even if you start with the normal JA2 datafiles. I think that a mod to renable those is planed though).
Much better than the platform dependent clusterfuck of 1.13 though.

 

[roshan]

Alright, thanks for the Straciatella thing, I think I'll give it a try.

How do I assign traits to my character? Is that a 1.13 thing? There doesn't seem to be any way to customize traits or even view them anywhere in the interface. All I get when I do the IMP thing is a personality quiz?

 

[whatevername]

If you get a quiz you'll get traits based on your answers. If you have 1.13 you pick phobias like fear of swimming, special skills like light machine guns/etc, another set of skills like night-ops/etc, stats like hp/strength/marksmanship.

Also 800x600 stretched to 1920x1080 looks pretty good.

 

[spectre]

You don't assign them manually, it's a 1.13 thing. Choose the right answers in the quiz to get them.
Some don't assign any, some only assign personality traits, but each answer is associated with just one.
It's possible to figure this out with little trial and error. You want a knfing expert? Look for the ones that say knives, cutting, and the like. Want electronics, look for the ones that mention computers, gadgets etc.
Or just look it up here:
http://web.textfiles.com/ezines/EUROHACKER/ISSUE1/a09.html