>build a spreadsheet simulator>call it a game
>>12805591Just like my jarpigs.
wait, this is not a whaling game?
Actually it's Oddwarg Animal RPG
>>12805587>dad spends all his time in his study "playing video games" according to my mom>wonder what he could be playing for years>finally manage to find where he hides the key to his study>unlock it while he's at work one day>go onto laptop>nothing but folders, pdf's and jpeg files scattered over the desktop>one game icon>"Harpoon">oh man, I wonder what this could be>it's fucking Microsoft Excel
>>12806169Harpoon is based on a tabletop simulation game that has a rule book as thick as a phone book. It was created for the naval academy.
Retards complaining about muh spreadsheets and muh gwaphics are why we don't get good games anymore
>>12805587>>12806204Just installed. Dang, looks like the devs put a ton of effort into it back in the day.How does it play exactly? Is it like XCOM, kinda?
>>12806248You need the manual. It's an autistically designed naval simulator portraying several possible wartime scenarios back in the cold war plus a future scenario.
>>12806279Lord have Mercy you weren't joking about it being a phonebook: https://ia801901.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/28/items/retrokit-manuals/pc/pc-original.zip&file=Harpoon%20%28en%29.pdf
>>12805616It is.
If you actually want to play this game properly you need a period Combat Fleets Of The World also published by the US Naval Academy. I finally tracked one down, it was expensive. I'm not even entirely sure if civilians are supposed to have it, the front page is specially printed for some navy guy who owned the book.The game is easier to deal with. The full tabletop game is incredibly complicated, video game version automates much of it out but the core game is the same.
>>12806317Which year edition? I have the '87 version in PDF which might be slightly out of date considering the game came out in 1990 for Windows.
>>128063292008 or something, it seems to be mostly up to date when I see ships and look 'em up.
>>12805587Is this a game/sim you can 'win'?
>>12805587the DOS version looks less intimidating
>>12807443it has different battle scenarios for you to playof course the goal is to win
>>12807683Yeah but you know with how some of these Sim games are more toy sandboxes with no clearly defined ending than actual games that come up with a 'YOU ARE WINNER HAHA THE END' notifications.Does this end or will I be battling a forever war like Alpha Centauri?
>>12805587I see there's a few of these (Harpoon Classic for DOS and Win 3.1, Harpoon '97, Harpoon II, etc).Is there a specific version I should check out first?
>>12807712the game doesn't have a campaignyou select a scenario and get your victory conditions (sink 3 Soviet submarines or something) if your units get wiped out instead you lose ofc
>>12807717the original dos game is the most comfy one
>>12807717>>12807768Mac version is the best looking one. They all play identically.
>>12807768>>12807794Ah, sweet.
>>12807712>Does this end or will I be battling a forever war like Alpha Centauri?If you're talking about the Sid Meier's game that one definitely has win conditions.
