Syndicate Wars

[Tom Henrik]

Feel free to comment and discuss this game here. Also, if you have any useful tips or tricks don't hesitate to share them with the others! Thanks!


Review (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/374)

[dishwasherlove]

I absolutely love this game, nothing like a bit of destruction to make your day. The review screenshots are in low-res mode (you can tell by the weapon icons). You can get into high res (640x680!) by pressing F9, or one of those keys... but as the reviewer mentions you need a beastly computer with dos box. Another alternative would be using mo'slo, it seems to be stable under windows just runs way too fast

[Lobster]

I bought this game when it had just come out, and I'm afraid I must disagree with the reviewer. At the time, 3D graphics of any tangible sort had just started making an appearance, and along with another Bullfrog game, Dungeon Keeper, Syndicate Wars featured a rotatable map that has since become somewhat standard in games of the sort. Along with the lighting effects and "deformable" terrain (hey, blowing up textures and knocking down buildings was impressive back then!), I found Syndicate Wars to be rather mindblowing. I love this game, and I doubt I've clocked more hours on any game since (though Nippon Ichi's PS2 TRPGs Disgaea and Phantom Brave may change that!).

The original CD included three tracks of subdued but rather nice techno that really added to the atmosphere as well.

[PrejudiceSucks]

Ugh I hate this game. I was thinking that it would be like the original Syndicate, but better, but this actually feels to me like -

Syndicate : Lame Foray Into Action Genre

Maybe it's just me, but I have really fallen out of love with Synidicate now. The interface sucked, the gameplay was very repetitive, only the idea of the game was any good. Unfortunately this is a major problem of Bullfrog's up until Dungeon Keeper 2, which was great, as is Startopia (ex-bullfrog) and also Urban Chaos (yep, it's Mucky Foot again).

[xoopx]

one of the bigger disappointments. i was overjoyed when it was released, and tried the demo on playstation. VERY POOR compared to the original syndicate.
they 'lets put the sequel in 3d' thing didnt work for a lot of things in the early 3d on pc/playstation 1 era. another example is 'fade to black' which came after 'flashback'.

[TaloN]

i dont like this at all.

the orginal is so much better and ...creepier in my opionion. This just seems like a wierd sci-fi rampage. :S

[Stormrider]

This game is nice and bad in my opinion. Nice because the Action is good and simple and its fun to research new things and upgrade your Cyborgs with it. Bad because it´s not a worthy Syndicate sequel and very hard in later Levels.

I would give it a 3.

[PrejudiceSucks]

Yeah, 3 seems about right. Maybe 2 and a half. Another thing that irritated me about this game was how dark it was and how large the buildings were.

If I can't see my own troops in the dark without rotating, then how the hell am I supposed to discern friend from foe?

[mouse31e]

Originally posted by Lobster@Dec 26 2004, 04:45 AM
I bought this game when it had just come out, and I'm afraid I must disagree with the reviewer. At the time, 3D graphics of any tangible sort had just started making an appearance, and along with another Bullfrog game, Dungeon Keeper, Syndicate Wars featured a rotatable map that has since become somewhat standard in games of the sort.
The difference is that Dungeon Keeper looked better. I just feel that given the quality of the graphics in the original Syndicate, the graphics in this should have been much better.

The review screenshots are in low-res mode (you can tell by the weapon icons). You can get into high res (640x680!) by pressing F9, or one of those keys...

Yeah, sorry about that. It took too long to play the game in 640x480 and I didn't know there was a key to switch between the two modes.

[UberDave]

Nooooooooooooo! I'm staying with family at the mo and I won't be able to try this for a few days! I rember that the PS version sucked but i'm definetly gonna try athis on my PC when I get back. I'll let ya know what I think then.

Peace out and merry christmas an all that Jazz :bye:

[xoopx]

Originally posted by UberDave@Dec 27 2004, 04:35 PM
Nooooooooooooo! I'm staying with family at the mo and I won't be able to try this for a few days! I rember that the PS version sucked but i'm definetly gonna try athis on my PC when I get back. I'll let ya know what I think then.

there goes a guy who's heading for a disappointment!
i wouldnt waste the bandwidth to try the pc version, its the same as the psx one. its from the days when a psx was better than most p.c's anyway

[Mulky]

This game rocks! It builds upon the original by adding extra features, such as playing as the syndiacte or the zealots, robbing banks for funds, roaming hoards of "de-chipped" people protesting and causing havoc, destroyable buildings plus a load of other rockin' things. And the weapons! Satalite rain is so effing cool! There is nothing like laying waste to an entire city with giant honking laser beams from space. The feel of the game is different to the original, and although the graphics where impressive in its day, they do look a bit shabby by todays standards. Overall though, I really think this is a worthy sequel to a classic game.

:bleh: :rifle: :D :sniper: :w00t: :cheers:

[Lobster]

If there's one major difference between the PC and PSX version, it's the control. This game is FAR better with a mouse and keyboard than it is with a controller of any sort, no matter how comfortable.

And disappointment? It's free. If you're disappointed, just delete it.

[goblins]

it was a very good game at the time no doubt about it - the sequels where ok. That said the PSX version was if it had have had better controls would have been better than the PC version but alas in trems of controls the PC version comes up trumps

[UberDave]

I'm never disapointed with free stuff!

I don't want to get off topic too much but I always prefer controls on a PC. It's all about mouse 'n' keyboard for FPS, TPS, RTS, PAC, etc. The only time I prefer a 'jpypad' is for racing games or platformers or emulators I guess but i've got a Gravis Exterminator which I prefer to any console controller going. Ok rant over, I guess its just cause I suck at halo on the xbox.

A new syndicate game would be awesome at the moment, I think they could really pull off what they were aiming for in syndicate wars. Or maybe they should just wait for the next generation of consoles and pc platforms. PS3 is gonna be running at 2 Terraflops!!!!!!!

Ok I'll shut up now :tomato:

[X]

Could not get this game to work. gave me 6 "file errors". Any clue? all in \data i think

[ultranewbie]

How does the PC version of the came compare to the Playstation one? When I played that a few years ago I remember the graphics being really good..

[TaloN]

a Syndicate 3 would be amazing in this day and age.

Can you imagine how dark and creepy you could make the plot, the grpahics, the sounds, the effects.

if they ever make a syndicate 3 they better make it fooking awesome.

[ultranewbie]

ooOOOoo..

it's like heaps of old school games. you just think, 'damn wouldn't this be cool if all the graphics and sound were cool'

the problem with that, is that for some reason good graphics and playability have lead to a lot of games with less gameplay, storyline and depth. not so much a problm with PC gaming as much as console gaming, but it's still somewhat of an issue.

with a game like syndicate, it could totally be pulled off. mainly because of the storyline. hopefully it doesn't become too much like your 'ratchet + clank' type game, with tons of overpowered weapons and silly comp enemies. that said, i still love ratchet + clack. anyway. syndicate needs to be evil, really evil.

[berkie1234]

Ratchet and clank series is too easy.1 day to beat number1.same for 2 and 3. :angry:

[Guildrum]

Loved Syndicate, but never got around to playing Syndicate Wars. I was looking forward to it, but unfortunnately I can't get it to run. I'm running Win XP, and I get some kind of virtual runtime error, but the DOS window goes full-screen before I can make out what it is, and then my system locks.

[Viking]

Viking did not like playstation version. But Viking download this one anyway, and afterawhile, Viking began to enjoy this game. Viking however, cannot get sound to work. This makes Viking very sad. It says XMIDI sound hardware not found. Very strange. If you have ideas, tell the Viking and he will be pleased! Viking enjoy blowing stuff up. Game would be better with axes though. :Titan:

[soul of lazar]

How do you get it to work on XP HELP ME :wall:
Syndicate is a cool game :ok:

[athcnv]

Originally posted by PrejudiceSucks@Dec 27 2004, 08:58 AM
Yeah, 3 seems about right. Maybe 2 and a half. Another thing that irritated me about this game was how dark it was and how large the buildings were.

If I can't see my own troops in the dark without rotating, then how the hell am I supposed to discern friend from foe?
I actually own this game - the manual was a bit weird and contained a lot of errors and omitted a lot of information!

Actually, somewhere in the options, an option called "deep radar" can be activated, whereupon buildings in the way become opaque, see through blocks.

Yup, the game is incredibly hard.

[Egg]

This game was pretty cool for it's time but I don't think it quite got to what the producers were aiming for, and didn't meet my expectations on a few counts.

I guess I had trouble without a manual as well, but the interface was a bit iffy(hard to switch/drop weapons, coordinate the team when separated, etc). Some of the sounds were also a bit weird - esp the minigun sound effect, which sounded like a sort of dull hum (compare to the mechanical roar of Syndicate miniguns).

I also found that the last 3 missions were obscenely difficult ("Let's hijack the space elevator and pinch the space station shuttle - it'll be easy!" - yeah, right), and a lot of the really interseting tech wasn't available til really late, when you're more interested in packing a plasma lance than defying the space time continuum with the disguising credit card, the displacertron, or stasis field generator.

On the plus side, there are some really nice touches (voice ads for holidays on other planets, animated hologram billboards, giant robotic spiders with beam weaponry, flying vehicles etc), and rotating camera views were revolutionary at the time. For maximum carnage, get your hands on the aforementioned satellite rain, nuclear grenade ("cataclysm!"), or the graviton gun - you can kill everyone in a city with this baby with about 5 shots. Blowing down builds is also lots of fun - whether you need to or not. The animation going up the space elevator is worth a look too (but it's short).

Someone earlier said that this was a foray into the action genre - I heard a rumour that the original design spec was to allow for a FPS interface as well. Obviously that feature never made it to the final cut.

All said and done, the original was a better game - I wish someone would remake S Wars with current technology and useability in mind - there are still some good ideas in there.

[Vlokkuh]

This game.... was so FAT back then..... legendary.

[Roggah]

Hey guys dont be so sad here comes the rescue... I have the solution for your problems ... But I still got 1 problem I cant zoom in or zoom out and the key configurations tells me that Zoom in is the home button and zoom out is the End button but nothing happends I have even tryed to change the keys to Z and X but nothing happends .. Here comes the solution to start Syndicate Wars...

You need VDMSound program, just install it and a patch for syndicate Wars called SNDFIX.EXE (try google and get it somewhere)

when you installed that launchpad you must rightclick the PLAY.BAT and select Run with VDMS (music symbol). youll get a wizard where you must choose between a default or custom one. choose custom -> new configuration from scratch -> advanced and on the program tab (where you start) click the "close dos window on exit" box.

In the compatibility tab: click the video box "enable VESA support" and "enable low-level network support" in MIDI tab DISABLE MIDI box. so NO midi. Also disable Adlib in Adlib tab. Oh yes No joystick either.(dunno why I also read it from somewhere)

In Sound blaster tab enable soundblaster of course and make sure IRQ number is 7, Baseport is 0x220, 8-bit DMA:1, 16-bit DMA:5, DSP ver = 4.05 (soundblaster 16). but I think these are defaults but just make sure. then you are done. Whew

there was a forum with a thread where they explained how to do this I cant find it anymore it did work... looked for hours to find that page again. Else I would paste a link here

Anyway you need to install that SNDFix.EXE in your SYNDICATE WARS folder of course. change PLAY.BAT to .doc and make sure it reads only these lines:

@echo off
dosdrv
setsound
@main /w /g

save it and make it .BAT again. this will make sure you will get through the set sound menu make sure you have NO midi sound on and you have Sound Blaster Pro (EVERYTIME you start up the game you MUST do the Sound check with Sound Blaster Pro or else it wont work.)

:rifle: Happy killing

[JustSomeGuy]

I can't get the game working using DosBox it just goes black and crashes help?

[another_guest]

Originally posted by JustSomeGuy@Mar 13 2005, 01:20 AM
I can't get the game working using DosBox it just goes black and crashes help?
Maybe following the solution in the post just above yours?
After all, VDMS doesn't take up a lot of hard drive space, so that wouldn't be a reason not to try it.

[goblins]

Sydnicate 3 sounds interesting - im sure an open source clone exists somewhere

[Phieeel_NOSPAM_@gmail.com]

So uh, yeah. Absolute syndicate nut here. I own the original disks for Amiga, have a copy of Syndicate Plus and Syndicate Wars for Amiga. Several people have mentioned the music tracks on the SW CD, and I absolutely loved those songs because they went with the feel of the game. However, my disc is past it's prime and showing all sorts of cracks on it. Thanks to this, the music skips a lot. So uh, what I'm asking is for the kindness of a fellow Syndicate nut to help me out here. If you've got the Syndicate Wars CD and some sort of CD ripping software, if you could send me the music files, I would be forever indebted to this person.

If you're willing to help, Contact me at my email listed as my name, minus the _NOSPAM_ part. :ok: We can work out specifics then.

[Mad-E-Fact]

I seriously doubt that you have this game for Amiga. ;)

[Fallen Templar]

hey, I've been looking everywhere to get that game again... (syndicate plsu that is). I haven't had much luck on torrents or abandoneware sites... if possible, you think you could make an iso of that game and send it over?

thanks.

my email is fallentemplar13@hotmail.com as is my msn ID

[Paul]

I loved this game when it first came out. I remember getting it and playing it on my P133 with envy at my friend who had a P166 which did offer a noticeable framerate gain.

I remember getting stuck playing it....and then I quit :(

[Phieeel]

Originally posted by Mad-E-Fact@Apr 11 2005, 03:28 PM
I seriously doubt that you have this game for Amiga. ;)
<.< whoops, didn't notice that typo. Heh, you got me. I own the original Syndicate for Amiga. Not Syndicate Wars. Not that it wouldn't look even better on Amiga >.>

But uh, yeah. I'm about to set up an older machine of mine that is able to run syndicate wars just so I can play it (among a few other ones that I seem to have problems getting to run in DosBox).... I'm running Win2K with an AMD... Athlon XP. Had to go check. Any idea if I'd have better luck with VDMSound? I doubt it, but maybe I'm wrong. I've tried running it with No Sound options, and I keep getting a "Your System is Low on Virtual Mem" error, and it'll play the intro movie, but then just exit. In DosBox, it just runs... at a very horrid framerate. I've tried tweaking my CPU core and Mem settings (dosbox.conf), to no avail. Any suggestions apart from going ahead and setting up my old AMD K6/2 box?

@FallenTemplar: I'll be more than happy to help you. I've added you to my MSN list, my name is Phieeel at Hotmail.com. I did manage to get Syndicate Plus to run through DosBox, which ironically refuses to run on my previously mentioned 'ghetto' box.

[Guest]

Someone tell me how to get those esa games.. (noob question :whistle: :D )


NO WAREZ! - Havell

[Sinisa]

ah, brings back memories, one of my favourites log long time ago :D

[Negativeions]

People, people... this game ROCKED! end of story... That doesn't mean it didn't have bad things about it. If done right this game would have been game of the year no problem. The game had a few problems:
- the game's graphics were overly ambitious for it's time. Moloneaux wanted his cyberpunk vision of a future realized in 3D at a time when 3D hardware was pretty crappy... The potential for greatness is so blantantly obvious. the only thing that really bugged me was the decision to use such horrendously crappy 2D sprites.
- The unlimited ammo thing I thought was pretty stupid compared with the original Syndicate. How about you pick up other people's ammo that you kill? Or buy ammo from a shop in the level?.. jeez, it only took me 2 seconds to come up with that one.

Aside from those 2 things the game blew my mind. The Music was gorgeous. The intro alone was just... bloody amazing. Why in hell hasn't there been another sequel since?? Just because Bullfrog screwed up a little bit with Syndicate Wars doesn't mean the series is dead you *meep*en idiots at EA. You can all go to hell.

The atmosphere and feel of the game was amazing. The sterility and blandness of it did a good job to portray a horrific future of corporate control through the use of deadly cyborgs... Cyborgs kick behind!

Do me a favour people, Imagine if Syndicate came back.. just imagine for a second what it would be like with beautiful high detailed 3D graphics. Add some more game play elements here and there, preserve the feel of sterility and horror... and you got one kick behind cyberpunk thriller on your hands. Just thinking about it drives me nuts.

BRING BACK THE SYNDICATE!

[JMD]

Wow.
Well for what ever it's worth, next year I will have been playing PC games for 25 years.
In all those years and of all the games I have played, Syndicate Wars still stands out like few others.
Great dark mood, excellent graphics for the time and one of the first fully and totally rotating 3D maps.

Beyond that it was one of the first games at the time that had a squad where you could break by your group and send them off indifferent directions for different tasks.
As mentioned, you did not have a very beefy system at the time or you were doomed to play at the lower graphics setting which made the game VERY blocky.

What really killed me was most all reviewers did not seem to know there was a higher graphic setting and panned the game because it was blocky.

Regarding the bad looking sprites: Bulldog was originally a bit over ambitious alright. I recall Bullfrog had to scale back the res on the sprites as there so many the original sprite movements on screen brought any PC at the time to it's knees.

I Really would like to play this game on my new XP system, is there any site / web page that could out line how?

Thanks
in advance

JMD

[The Zoom Factor]

Just as a quick follow up to an earlier post regarding the "Zoom" funstion not working.

The Zoom function in the game is not an independent function of your cyborgs but a function that works in conjunction with the ranged weapon you are using.
You first weapon, "Uzi", has an extremely short range and therefore the "Zoom" factor is nil and non existent..

The first weapon upgrade available that has a slightly longer range is the "Minigun".
Once you either purchase or acquire a "Minigun" you will notice the "Zoom" range begin to work.
It is at its most functional when you acquire the long range sniper rifle.

I finally got the game to run last night and re played the first level.
It is amazing how the opening cut scene in this game STILL gives me goose bumps.
I agree that this game could have been one of the best every but the hardware was not out yet to support it.

Best

JMD

[JMD]

Originally posted by xoopx+Dec 27 2004, 06:28 PM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (xoopx @ Dec 27 2004, 06:28 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> ******QuoteBegin-UberDave@Dec 27 2004, 04:35 PM
Nooooooooooooo! I'm staying with family at the mo and I won't be able to try this for a few days! I rember that the PS version sucked but i'm definetly gonna try athis on my PC when I get back. I'll let ya know what I think then.

there goes a guy who's heading for a disappointment!
i wouldnt waste the bandwidth to try the pc version, its the same as the psx one. its from the days when a psx was better than most p.c's anyway [/b][/quote]
Wow. I respectfully do not agree with that statement at all.

The PSx version was a watered down version because of no keyboard control.

One of the main themes of this game was urban squad gorilla warfare which it pulled off extremely well.

Yes the levels were devilishly hard but you had to plan and use every tool at your disposal such as split up your squad, use the appropriate weapons and the city itself as a shield. One of the big three PC games mags at the time, "Computer Games & Strategy Plus" said: This is not only a great game but it could be thee game!

Best

[JMD]

Originally posted by xoopx+Dec 27 2004, 06:28 PM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (xoopx @ Dec 27 2004, 06:28 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>******QuoteBegin-UberDave@Dec 27 2004, 04:35 PM
Nooooooooooooo! I'm staying with family at the mo and I won't be able to try this for a few days! I rember that the PS version sucked but i'm definetly gonna try athis on my PC when I get back. I'll let ya know what I think then.

there goes a guy who's heading for a disappointment!
i wouldnt waste the bandwidth to try the pc version, its the same as the psx one. its from the days when a psx was better than most p.c's anyway[/b][/quote]
Wow. I respectfully do not agree with that statement at all.

The PSx version was a watered down version because of no keyboard control.

One of the main themes of this game was urban squad gorilla warfare which it pulled off extremely well.

Yes the levels were devilishly hard but you had to plan and use every tool at your disposal such as split up your squad, use the appropriate weapons and the city itself as a shield. One of the big three PC games mags at the time, "Computer Games & Strategy Plus" said: This is not only a great game but it could be thee game!

Best

JMD

[WarCheese]

This game is one of the best. After all these times, I still keep it around in my computer. There are a lot of... getting used to, when moving from Syndicate to Syndicate Wars. Just stick with it. It's an acquired taste kinda game.

By the way, you can slow down the game by pressing "shift -" key. You don't need more slow... In fact, I am running this game with a P4 straight out of the box...

Cheers.

[Negativeions]

After having read some peoples' reviews about how the original syndicate was better I "obtained" the syndicate plus CD and finally got it to work on XP and man... this game is nowhere near as good as Syndicate Wars. The sprites and buildings look crisper but there's like 3 frames of animation per sprite, it's pretty bad. The music and sound effects aren't nearly as good as Wars and I noticed that the agents don't run when you double click. Wars just has a much darker feel to it and a better storyline. And I think whoever said that most reviewers acted like the high rez button didn't exist was right. You have to compare the original syndicate with Syndicate Wars in HIGH REZ. For all the good things about Syndicate Wars you can't say that crappy sprites are unforgiveable. Like, wtf? It's just too bad most systems couldn't handle it very well at the time. The only think I liked better in the original Syndicate was the crisper sprites obviously and the aquasition of ammo. Ammo was eliminated in Wars for some reason. It ads another element of strategy and should be there...

By the way if you want Syndicate, Syndicate Wars or any old DOS games that use dos4gw.exe to work on XP just go here http://dos32a.sourceforge.net/. Rename dos32a.exe to dos4gw.exe, replace the old one with the new one and bam, you got yourself win32 compatibility. If something isn't working right, then use DOSBox (DOS emulator) as well as dos32a and everything should work albiet possibly too slow depending on your system.

Once again the mandatory *meep* you EA suits, you pieces of muck... and BRING BACK THE SYNDICATE!.... which most likely, dispite all our *meep*en god damn cries, will go on deaf ears of course. If EA won't do it why not do it ourselves. If they complain about their precious IP then just *meep* em to hell. Just *meep* em... I'd love to do some kind of remake project. If anyone knows anyone who is interested e-mail me @ negativeions101@yahoo.ca
Hell, how about a Bring back the syndicate campaign for a real sequel!? If we can get just one bastard from the gaming press to mention something, someone will notice. It's time somebody did something about 10 years of denying the world another Syndicate! Who's with me? ....
Ya, because a rarely visited Abandonia forum is the perfect place for recruitment...

[Negativeions]

Another thing I forgot to mention was that, when playing the original Syndicate I found it really annoying that I couldn't rotate to see behind a wall or building.

[Guest]

By the way if you want Syndicate, Syndicate Wars or any old DOS games that use dos4gw.exe to work on XP just go here http://dos32a.sourceforge.net/. Rename dos32a.exe to dos4gw.exe, replace the old one with the new one and bam, you got yourself win32 compatibility.

***********************

I tried this but for some odd reason my system would not allow me to move or delete the original dos4gw from the SWARS folder because it said it was being used by another person or program? Huh?
This was right after boot up with nothing else running.
Sorry, I know it is something simple but what am I missing.

Best

JMD

[Almost running perfect BUT......]

HELP

I followed the advise here and I am so close but still not there!.

First using the Dosbox utility:

I type PLAY in the Dosbox window. I then tap the CTRL-F12 key a few times and the opening starts with the Bullfrog logo and opening movie running perfectly with full sound!
It still gives me a chill.
The menu screens load perfectly and with all the sounds.
I then load a mission and all the sounds and music play as I remember and they sound so sweet. Even the mood music tracks from the CD are playing.
Everything is fine except the game which is so SLOW it is totally un playable. AHHHH!

I have an AMD 2000 with 1 Gig Ram and a ATI X 800XL with 256 mg.

OK I figure from my older gaming days that I will instead run Dosbox in full screen mode which should yield better performance.
Much to my surprise it is worse. The intro is now a bit choppy and the game is even slower.


OK I next try it using VDM Sound while running XP:

I down load VDM Sound, the newest VDM update and the VDM Launch pad and I install them all.
I edited my play.bat to make sure it loads SETSOUND before MAIN.
I follow the suggestions on how to modify the play.bat file by right clicking on it and choosing the VDM Music Icon.
I double click on PLAY.
I choose a midi and sound card choice and both are accepted and I hit DONE.

WOW the game starts in full screen. The BULLFROG logo starts. The opening movie sound is fine but the movie itself is a bit choppy and it seems to skip multiple frames. The in game menus load fine with all the sounds but you can tell the game is running in hyper drive by the way the lights are flashing.
I load a level and it loads fine but it really is in hyper drive.
I tape "SHIFT -" (Shift plus the Minus symbol) a few times and the game slows down to a perfect speed and in hi rez.
The game is running perfect, in full screen mode, I have full sound BUT NOW I HAVE NO MUSIC either from the game or the CD. AHHHH!

I do not get it. In Dosbox the sound is perfect but the games runs slower than your grandmother.
Using VDM Sound under XP the game runs fine after an in game speed adjustment but I have sound BUT NO MUSIC!.
There must be a way to solve this.

ANY suggestions would be welcome.

Best JMD

[orrion_ns]

I played this game many years ago. It was so addictive :)

But I quited at space station, just couldn't figure out how to complete it???
Now after reading all the comment here I'm thinking of finishing the damn thing finally, but can someone please tell me how to complete that mission (it's one before the last, when you're on the space station, you got on by that orbital elevator). Especially what to do with those blue spheres that imprisons your agents if I remember well?!

[Dark_Gamer]

So how do you get It to work on DOS-BOX
:angry:

[A. J. Raffles]

Originally posted by Dark_Gamer@Jul 3 2005, 01:26 PM
So how do you get It to work on DOS-BOX
:angry:
Have you been reading the previous posts in this thread?

[The Unknown]

Is there a way to get this jewel downloaded?

[A. J. Raffles]

Originally posted by The Unknown@Jul 11 2005, 06:10 PM
Is there a way to get this jewel downloaded?
I'm afraid there isn't. It's ESA-protected, you see.

[Dark_Gamer]

I am lost I need help please how do you you run it in dos-box :help:
And yes there is a way to download
I need step by step, help, I dont Know how to use dos_box.

[A. J. Raffles]

Originally posted by Dark_Gamer@Jul 12 2005, 09:46 PM
I am lost I need help please how do you you run it in dos-box :help:
And yes there is a way to download
I need step by step, help, I dont Know how to use dos_box.
Have you read Anubis' excellent DOSBox Tutorial (http://www.abandonia.com/main.php?nav=index&FAQ=1)? I found it very helpful.

[rumor]

Hello everyone!

Look, I ended up joining Abandonia looking for Syndicate Wars, but not the game itself (which I own and for which I have brought back to live an old AMD K6-2 with a custom DrDOS). For the ones looking for a download, you can still buy it (doh!), and there's a bunch of places you'll find it as abandonware. Search better and you'll find it.

But I don't seem to be able to find what I want: the info. I've read several times this game is "ESA-protected", but what does that mean? Who owns its source code? Could we get a copy of its source code, sample art, etc? What is its legal status? Who can we ask about this matters?

Most of us believe it's a great game, even more than just "GREAT". So, why not remaking it?
If 'Wing Commander: Privateer' has been remaked, open source, for XP, Mac and Linux, some of us out here can remake 'Syndicate Wars', and even make it better than the original.

I'm a game programmer and right now I'm coding for myself and looking for a job too; I'm serious about remaking Syndicate Wars.

Drop me a line on any info, ideas...

[Phil Jeary]

A new updated version of Syndicate would be great - who can we harrass to make it?

I borrowed a mates Amiga to play the original, and shortly after buying my own PC Syndicate Wars come out - i'm sure I remember playing it over the network or in some form of multiplayer too. Syndicate Wars

I think its time I revived the beast and got it working again. I have been trying to get Dungeon Keeper 2, Birth of the Federation and Terminator: Skynet working with XP so i'll just add it to the list - no luck so far but having just checked out the DosBox tutorial mentioned above i'm up for having another attempt.

If I do get it working, bring on the Cataclysm!

[rumor]

@ Phil Jeary et al:
A new updated version of Syndicate would be great - who can we harrass to make it?
I do agree, it would be great. BUT...
I've been looking for Syndicate and Syndicate Wars source code, legal ownership of its copyright, etc, and found nothing. There's no Bullfrog anymore, so that's a dead end.

So, I'm thinking about programming a new version or a remake of Syndicate / Wars, full 3D and including shortcut keys to make the camera aim to the four "iso-views"...

I can handle such a project, but I would need some help; should I do it all by myself, it would take me a year or so...

Again: Would anyone team up with me to make it?

If no-one would like to play such a game, I could do it by myself and for myself, not giving it away, programming and modelling in my spare time.

I still hope someone will drop me a line to tell me "count me in".

[Jimbo the Legend]

That would be awesome. couldnt help you out with the programming, but if u needed a play tester then count me in :D:D:D

[rumor]

Come on! It's not just programming: Modelling, animating, making music & sound FX...

For instance, I hate Photoshop; I use The Gimp and PhotoSuite 8.06 (the "not-so-bad" one). Making textures will take me more time than programming a basic camera system. And to speed things up, if no other programmer shows up, I'll be using RAD (Rapid Application Development) tools.

For anyone out there who wonders how serious I am about this: I've contacted Gas Powered Games to ask for permission to use their Dungeon Siege Engine. What I missed the most in Syndicate was REALLY going into the buildings, using elevators, etc.

Is there REALLY no-one willing to team up?

@ Jimbo the Legend: No matter how long it takes, I'm counting you in for BetaT. Thanks.

"Freedom doesn't just give you the right to do things,
it also gives you the ·chance· to do things!"

[Jimbo the Legend]

well ir eally havent got a clue when it comes to programmin artwork animations anythin like that to do with games. would be willing to try and learn if you could point me in a direction to get started on some of the basics

J

[Deireath]

Originally posted by Guest@Jun 7 2005, 03:14 AM
By the way if you want Syndicate, Syndicate Wars or any old DOS games that use dos4gw.exe to work on XP just go here http://dos32a.sourceforge.net/. Rename dos32a.exe to dos4gw.exe, replace the old one with the new one and bam, you got yourself win32 compatibility.

***********************

I tried this but for some odd reason my system would not allow me to move or delete the original dos4gw from the SWARS folder because it said it was being used by another person or program? Huh?
This was right after boot up with nothing else running.
Sorry, I know it is something simple but what am I missing.

Best

JMD
Simply run Windows in emergency mode (dunno how to write it in english, but when you boot system, press F8 in one moment, and choose right mode) and you can override ANY file !

hope this will help :)

[Deireath]

By the way, JMD could you send me that file because it looks link you gave doesn`t exists anymore?

[habzial]

I just signed up, so I am going to do a large post regarding a few comments in the thread. Use the topic headers to skip past crap I am rambling about that you're not interested in.

(if Netscan doesn't pay off, load the game before you blew your money on it).

* Loot your enemies' corpses for weapons you have no use for but which you can resell.

* There are missions which do not cause game over when you fail them. This is not a bug, and the instructions even allude to such missions.
--- For Eurocorp these are missions 4 and... err... I think 10. I do not recall the mission(s) for The Church of the New Epoch. If any of you know the cult missions, please reply with them.
--- These missions are great for earning money and getting research done, especially Eurocorp mission 4. Just get some money, convert some agents, and/or kidnap scientists, then pause the game and select Quit. You will fail the mission, but keep anything you gained/lost during it.
--- You can beat the game with Eurocorp without ever beating mission 4. I believe the same is true for the cult.


(Edit: Made an important update on the PFF tip, added Other section and tips for it.)

[Syndicatehero]

Don't use DOSBox. I'm using Virtual PC and the game runs fine on my Windows XP. I have laptop with 2 gigahertz Celeron processor. You have to have a high-end machine if you want to play the game with DOSBox.

[Gordo]

SyndicateHero

Haven't played around with Virtual PC much. How do you get a VPC "build" of DOS using legacy hardware going? Can you download one from anywhere?

Cheers
Gordo

[WarCheese]

Hello everyone:

As posted before, I think VDMS is better at running Syndicate Wars than DosBox. It's faster, the sound effect is complete. However, I am not able to get the game music to work while under VDMS. I am using Win2000. Can anyone help me?

Cheers.

WarCheese

[mojo]

hi.
i'm new to the game,
somebody please answer these questions:

1. how mission income/outcome is calculated
2. what is the role of bar of agent info, that can be set right/red or left/blue.

or maybe, you can point me, where i can find manual

thanks.

[jrbradley]

I believe Syndicate Wars is one of the greatest games ever, secononly to the undisputable king, X-Com (the orginal).

However, I am completely stuck on level 18 of the church missions. It is the one where you have to go to Bangkok and persuade unguided citizens that Eurocorp have captured and are holding prisioner.

The Eurocorp base is on an island on one side of the map accessible only by rail. The city is full of unguided and doing anything other than sticking to the riverbank will trigger explosions under your agents. There is also frequent satalitte rain.

Does anyone recall how to complete this mission. I can rob the bank, I can exterminate all Eurocorp agents. But I cannot figure out how to get that guy who stands by the dome and won't die. Do I need to persuade him? and if so, how I can't seem to get enough persuading power to do so.

Please Help

[*Happy*]

Originally posted by jrbradley@Feb 18 2006, 08:58 PM
I believe Syndicate Wars is one of the greatest games ever, secononly to the undisputable king, X-Com (the orginal).

However, I am completely stuck on level 18 of the church missions. It is the one where you have to go to Bangkok and persuade unguided citizens that Eurocorp have captured and are holding prisioner.

The Eurocorp base is on an island on one side of the map accessible only by rail. The city is full of unguided and doing anything other than sticking to the riverbank will trigger explosions under your agents. There is also frequent satalitte rain.

Does anyone recall how to complete this mission. I can rob the bank, I can exterminate all Eurocorp agents. But I cannot figure out how to get that guy who stands by the dome and won't die. Do I need to persuade him? and if so, how I can't seem to get enough persuading power to do so.

Please Help
Yeah, mission 18 is really tough. The explosions are either explosives or Trigger Wire. Trigger Wire is hard to spot and explodes if you try to move through it, but it doesn't do very much damage. The explosions under your agents are probably caused by explosives (its been a long time since I played, don't take my word for it) - if you kill an enemy who was carrying an explosive the explosive will blow up in a few seconds. There are 2 solutions - get away quickly or pick it up.

To persuade the agent/soldier (can't remember which) you must persuade a lot of civilians first. So clear out the island, go back to the city and persuade 20 civilians If he's a soldier (appears as a pink blip on the radar) you'll only need 15. That should do it.

I don't remember the map well, but I know that police and unguided are worth 2 civilians when persuading something, but need 6 (police) or 10 (unguided) civilians to be persuaded themselves. So instead of persuading 20 civilians you could persuade 10 civilians and 5 unguided.

[jrbradley]

Thanks, I'll keep trying it then. That has been my general plan, but trying to do it all in one go....

After a while the guy you need to persuade self explodes or something too.

[Syndicate Wars Fan]

Anyone have the playstation version of Syndicate Wars here? I need help with it! How in the world do I research the persuadertron 2, displacertron, and graviton gun with the EuroCorp Syndicate? I completed the game loads of times and never researched it. What am I doing wrong????

[Jenkins]

Originally posted by Syndicate Wars Fan@Mar 8 2006, 06:37 PM
Anyone have the playstation version of Syndicate Wars here? I need help with it! How in the world do I research the persuadertron 2, displacertron, and graviton gun with the EuroCorp Syndicate? I completed the game loads of times and never researched it. What am I doing wrong????
I think if you happen to have your hands on a graviton gun, you'll have the means to research it. Also, I looked on gamefaq and it isn't translated! Also, other faqs gamesite uploaded exactly the same faq without trying to read it and didn't cared if people understand it or not!

I wonder how can you have the research about epidermis and how many agents can you have in the cryovat.

[Syndicate Wars Fan]

Originally posted by Jenkins+May 4 2006, 09:04 PM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Jenkins @ May 4 2006, 09:04 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> ******QuoteBegin-Syndicate Wars Fan@Mar 8 2006, 06:37 PM
Anyone have the playstation version of Syndicate Wars here? I need help with it! How in the world do I research the persuadertron 2, displacertron, and graviton gun with the EuroCorp Syndicate? I completed the game loads of times and never researched it. What am I doing wrong????
I think if you happen to have your hands on a graviton gun, you'll have the means to research it. Also, I looked on gamefaq and it isn't translated! Also, other faqs gamesite uploaded exactly the same faq without trying to read it and didn't cared if people understand it or not!

I wonder how can you have the research about epidermis and how many agents can you have in the cryovat. [/b][/quote]
Necrin from neoseeker stated the graviton gun is used in the last mission, which is the Moon. You cannot research a skin/epidermis, once you pick it up, that Agent will have it on him if you look at his modifications in the cyrovat. I'm sure you can only have 32 cybrogs in the cyrovat, according to my friend.

Do you or anyone else here know how to research the persuadertron II and displacertron with EuroCorp Syndicate in the Playstation version, please let me know. Those are the only 2 things I haven't researched when I completed the game.

[Guest]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Syndicate Wars Fan @ May 11 2006, 06:57 PM) 230081</div>
Do you or anyone else here know how to research the persuadertron II and displacertron with EuroCorp Syndicate in the Playstation version, please let me know. Those are the only 2 things I haven't researched when I completed the game.
[/b] i cant get it helppppppppppp!!!!!!!!1 :sos: :wallbash:

[Kingdomcorsa]

To get a nice frame rate use the following setup with Dosbox:

Environment Settings
Memory: 64
Enable XMS
Disable UMB and EMS
Cycles: 20,000
Up:90,000 Down: 90,000
Turn Sync Up/Down On
Set CPU Core to Dynamic
Frame Skip 0

Once you get into the game and start the first mission, press Ctrl+F12.

[The Fifth Horseman]

I wouldn't agree with this at all.

[another_guest]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kingdomcorsa @ Sep 17 2006, 02:55 PM) 255600</div>
...
Cycles: 20,000
Up:90,000 Down: 90,000
...
[/b]

I guess those 90,000 should be a lot less, more something like a few thousand?

[Morrin]

This is the highly underrated sequel. Might not be so good as the first one, but definetly deserves a place amongst the divine classics. Bullfrog was my no 1 in those days.

[Kingdomcorsa]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(another_guest @ Sep 18 2006, 03:41 PM) 255847</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kingdomcorsa @ Sep 17 2006, 02:55 PM) 255600
...
Cycles: 20,000
Up:90,000 Down: 90,000
...
[/b]

I guess those 90,000 should be a lot less, more something like a few thousand?
[/b][/quote]

Nope, that's what I've currently got it at, and it always runs at a perfect frame rate.

[The Fifth Horseman]

That's... odd. At least.
That is, unless you have a 3gHz-and-then-something machine.

[another_guest]

Indeed :)
Or at 90000 cycles it runs at the same speed as it would run at for example 30000? There is an optimal number of cycles for each pc and game, increasing beyond will slow down the game again. So 90000 cycles could be above the optimal number, and the same performance could be achieved with a lower number...

[Zealot]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Syndicate Wars Fan @ Mar 8 2006, 06:37 PM) 212749</div>
Anyone have the playstation version of Syndicate Wars here? I need help with it! How in the world do I research the persuadertron 2, displacertron, and graviton gun with the EuroCorp Syndicate? I completed the game loads of times and never researched it. What am I doing wrong????
[/b] To research the persaudertron II, you must have a high number of research and persuaded points before the mission you eliminate Maribelle De Saxo.

[negativeions]

I think this game is awesome. Maybe it wasn't as good as the first one for it's time but SW was pretty good. At the very least it's potential was incredible. This game could have been GOD. Some changes were stupid like energy instead of ammo. The first one looked crisp but it's colour scheme sucked. Too many shades of brown. Syndicate Wars entire presentation, from it's login screen to it's cyber punkish grey, purple and black colours, futuristic and sterile looking environments, bloodied corpses, was perfect. I felt like I was in a horrific future. The sound of the voices was really cool. And just the whole concept of Eurocorp vs Church of the new Epoch (one of the coolest named factions in history of video games) was wild. Yes, the sprites looked like crap and the textures were garbage. So what? You have to get over the graphics to enjoy this. Bullfrog or EA could have released the game just as it was with improved graphics a few years later and it would have been great. This game could be really good if done right. EA missed out big time. Molyneux is f'd up now and EA are worthless. They're not going to do a proper sequel. So, I'm going to do it.

[crwydryny]

I used to be a big fan of the original syndicate on the amiga. I used to play it so much I actually managed to compleate the atlantic accelerator mission armed with nothing but a pistol and a energy shield, though only the once after 10,000 failed attempts LOL. my favourate stress relief was massacaring hunddreds of civilians in a bloody rampage :titan:

anyway thanks to a little good fortunate I reciently managed to get ahold of a copy of syndicate wars with the manuel after the best part of a deccade searching for it and am about to try it out in a hope it works, unlike the copy of america revolt I managed to get my hands on for the amiga (stupid degraded disk :angry: )

[JamPaste]

...I can't actually see where to download this!

Maybe i'm missing something, but i'm tired just now and I cant spot a download link :o

[dosraider]

Indeed, no download for this one.
You can't download this game, it's protected.


Later ... later... much later maybe .....

[_r.u.s.s.]

that one is protected=/

[Verwandlung]

Hello, I tried playing this game on Xp.
Dosbox worked but way to slow in hi-res
Got it to run with vdmsound , but the colors are inverted in the main menu and when changing to hi-res ingame.
Does anyone no what causes this and how I can fix it?
Thanks!

(I can play it by using virtual machine and emulation windows98. But that's not perfect because the movies are very choppy etc.)

:nuts:

(P4 3ghz winxp 1024mbram)

[Verwandlung]

:idea:

Oh and this site is very helpful /great for syndicate nuts!

http://syndicate.lubie.org/swars/html/swars_main.php

[The Fifth Horseman]

Hello, I tried playing this game on Xp.
Dosbox worked but way to slow in hi-res
Got it to run with vdmsound , but the colors are inverted in the main menu and when changing to hi-res ingame.
Does anyone no what causes this and how I can fix it?
Thanks!
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showpost.php?p=330116&postcount=840
Tricks for running resource demading games are about halfway through the post.

[Supercalifragilistic]

For anyone with the original CD, there is a better way to play this than running through DOSbox - some wonderful people have taken the effort to port the game to Mac, Windows and Linux:

http://swars.vexillium.org/

You can then run the game at the proper speed, in the best resolution. No more muddy 320x200!

[The Fifth Horseman]

This looks much better than the unfinished FreeSynd project.
Awesome.

[arete]

Ooh, it would be nice to have this on AR. But without being able to add new games, AR is dying :'(

[Mystvan]

I prefer Syndicate than Syndicate Wars. Syndicate Wars Mini-Map seems to be CGA-resolution while game graphics leave a little to be desired.

But I confess that the diversity of Vehicles and Enemies makes the game more attractive. What annoys me a bit is that Syndicate Headquarters in London has so few resources. It seems that the Church of the New Epoch has the advantage and has more technological resources. Why?

It also annoys me that the Cops and your fellow Agents try to attack you while the Unguided Citizens are not disturbed by anyone. U-Citizens are real Cyberpunks... :rocks: :kuger:

Just like in Syndicate, in this game it is also possible to persuade Cops, fellow Agents, Agents of the Church of the New Epoch and U-Citizens aka Cyberpunks. Oh, you can also persuade the Agents (Helpers? Agent Assistants) with lighter Armor.

Just like in Syndicate, I managed to persuade as much as possible of Enemy Agents, Syndicate Agents, Police Officers to guide them on the right path. The exceptions would be the final Missions in outer space...

There is a Mission (hinted by Walkthroughs and Hints) that you persuade a Scientist. This Mission has a loophole in which you can accomplish this Mission as many times as you wish and get “clones” of the Scientist enough to leverage your Military Research. :OK:

A curious thing is that when I released the Civilians from persuasion, they took the weapons of the fallen enemies (Cyberpunks) and started attacking me! :o :omg:

[Mystvan]

I prefer Syndicate than Syndicate Wars. Syndicate Wars Mini-Map seems to be CGA-resolution while game graphics leave a little to be desired.

But I confess that the diversity of Vehicles and Enemies makes the game more attractive. What annoys me a bit is that Syndicate Headquarters in London has so few resources. It seems that the Church of the New Epoch has the advantage and has more technological resources. Why?

It also annoys me that the Cops and your fellow Agents try to attack you while the Unguided Citizens are not disturbed by anyone. U-Citizens are real Cyberpunks... :rocks: :kuger:

Just like in Syndicate, in this game it is also possible to persuade Cops, fellow Agents, Agents of the Church of the New Epoch and U-Citizens aka Cyberpunks. Oh, you can also persuade the Agents (Helpers? Agent Assistants) with lighter Armor.

Just like in Syndicate, I managed to persuade as much as possible of Enemy Agents, Syndicate Agents, Police Officers to guide them on the right path. The exceptions would be the final Missions in outer space...

There is a Mission (hinted by Walkthroughs and Hints) that you persuade a Scientist. This Mission has a loophole in which you can accomplish this Mission as many times as you wish and get “clones” of the Scientist enough to leverage your Military Research. :OK:

A curious thing is that when I released the Civilians from persuasion, they took the weapons of the fallen enemies (Cyberpunks) and started attacking me! :o :omg:

What I complain about this game is the absurd difficulty for Eurocorp Agents to suppress the rebellion:

• Uncontrolled Eurocorp Agents;
• Uncontrolled Armored Cops;
• U-Citizens aka Cyber-Punks / Daft Punks (Rock & Roll!) :rocks: :kuger:;
• The Church of the New Epoch Agents with armed Robots never seen before and totally unknown by Eurocorp;
• Eurocorp is only at a disadvantage and has to work hard to survive and defeat enemies. It would be very tempting to use Cheat Codes!

I think the main Genre should be Adventure, because it is really a long journey to the Promised Land (Moon!).