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General discussion (archive)Release: Sid Meier's Covert Action(112 posts)(112 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted January 16, 2014
Intelligence proper.

Sid Meier's Covert Action, a 1990 classic CIA operative simulator with unlimited number of cases for you to solve, is available on GOG.com for only $5.99.

Let me tell you, if the people knew everything that's happening around the world, they couldn't lead their normal lives. They'd be paralyzed with fear. If they only knew how many times a year the cities they live in become a theater of a silent game between the agencies, terrorists, and crime syndicates they would fear to step out in the street. They couldn't live knowing how many times a steady hand stops the clock on a bomb at exactly 00:01 seconds. How many times a silent bullet shot from a sniper rifle flies just an inch over their head. They can't ever find out. That's why we act silently to stop all threats. All of our actions, are covert actions.

Sid Meier's Covert Action will have you taking on the role of CIA agent Maxine "Max" Remington or her male counterpart, Maximillian, and solving seemingly impossible situations in ver 45 cities on 3 continents. You will tap phone lines, crack complex codes, defeat computerized defense systems, and track suspects around the globe as you put together the pieces to a worldwide criminal plot. The work of a secret agent is never over--you'll be able to stay on duty indefinitely, as the game provides an infinite number of randomly generated missions. Be sure, that each play session will surprise you with something unexpected!

Get undercover and experience all the dangers, excitement, and challenge of a secret agent's life in Sid Meier's Covert Action, for only $5.99 on GOG.com.

NOTICE:
The manual for the game will be added to the bonus section as soon as possible. We have our top field agent working towards acquiring it as we speak!
Posted January 16, 2014
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Ingsoc85: There is a scan of the manual at replacementdocs, just need to ask in their forum to approve it for download.
I bet I know that scan and it didn't meet our standards, unfortunately :/
Posted January 16, 2014
Nice release, I'll still wait for a sale but it is a game I'll definitely get.
Posted January 16, 2014
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Wolfram_von_Thal: A nice addition. But it's another game I would prefer to have the Amiga-Version. Are there no plans for the future to add Amiga-games?
I found this review on lemonamiga which gave me confusions as to which version is better:

"The PC version was absolutely brilliant - unique and captivating, and one of my favourite games at the time. Unfortunately, this Amiga port was pretty awful. The controls didn't translate well to joystick, and the speed suffered too.

And what happened with the visuals?. Half of the graphics are ported directly from the 16 colour PC original - which had a clinical, businesslike feel which really tied in with the subject matter. However, the rest of the graphics have been completely re-done in 32 colours, with a garish, cartoony feel. They look *terrible*. The two contrasting styles clash harshly, completely destroying the atmosphere.

If you can get past that, most of the game itself survived unscathed, and the wiretapping and cryptography sub-games are as engaging as they ever were. But if you want to play this game properly, but you should track down the PC version on play it in Dosbox, it's *much* better than this. ".
Posted January 16, 2014
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damien: ....
Interesting, I was also about to ask whether the Amiga version released one year later would be better.

Does the PC version support sound cards? Being a 1990 game, it could be either. That is one of my pain points for those older PC game versions, having inferior EGA (or even CGA) graphics and having to listen to the awful beeper sounds (or alternatively playing it silent).

EDIT: Hmmm, googling for it, apparently it supported even Roland MT-32, and has also VGA support. How come the screenshots in Mobygames look like poor EGA graphics?
Post edited January 16, 2014 by timppu
Posted January 16, 2014
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ucfalumknight: Am I correct in that Tommo owns the rights to the Humongous games? Does that mean we MAY see Backyard Baseball on GoG sometime in the not so distant future?
They do own the rights to the point and click adventures, which is why I'm holding out hope those will show up sooner than later. I'm not 100% sure on Backyard Baseball, though; I seem to recall another company got those rights from Atari, but I could be wrong. (Somebody could check the PDF assets list.)
Post edited January 16, 2014 by tfishell
Posted January 16, 2014
Nice lesser-known release, and even nicer that it seems to indicate that the MicroProse/Tommo catalogue may indeed be GOGward bound.

To paraphrase Pilate, "Centuwion, wewease the games!"
Posted January 16, 2014
F#@k yeah! Finally!

Is the manual-based face recognition copy protection in place? From what i've read the 'DRMlessed' version was the cause of the freeze-on-break-in bug.
Posted January 16, 2014
I believe I have the manual for this somewhere around my house, from the old Sid Meier's Triple Pack version (which was this, RRT and Pirates!, all on floppies, in one box).

I played the hell out of all three, even though the Pirates! version was a "you must boot from the floppy" game.

I always wanted Covert Action to get a sequel. It is indeed a "collection of minigames linked into a larger game" kind of game, but I felt it was done right.
Post edited January 16, 2014 by mqstout
Posted January 16, 2014
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damien: ....
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timppu: EDIT: Hmmm, googling for it, apparently it supported even Roland MT-32, and has also VGA support. How come the screenshots in Mobygames look like poor EGA graphics?
VGA support doesn't alway mean they used the full color palette. Some companies just made the game work under VGA chipsets, but didn't bother or didn't have money to make the graphics in higher colors.
Posted January 16, 2014
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Arteveld: F#@k yeah! Finally!

Is the manual-based face recognition copy protection in place? From what i've read the 'DRMlessed' version was the cause of the freeze-on-break-in bug.
We didn't encounter that problem and we tested the game exhaustively :)
Posted January 16, 2014
\o/
Another this-is-what-I'm-talkin'about Thursday, keep it up. Go Tomo!
Posted January 16, 2014
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JudasIscariot: We didn't encounter that problem and we tested the game exhaustively :)
If You're using the same execulable that's circulating on the web then You might just get that nasty freeze-of-death one day. Can't get my dos machine up and running to test on the "real thing" though, as it MAY be something with dosbox.
Posted January 16, 2014
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Telika: Only problem i had, some game sections (the car chase) required the num keypad, and i don't have this on my laptop. But heh, the player is so free about his strategies and used methods, i was just avoiding this part.
Ugh, this isn't really good for labtop users.

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Arteveld: Is the manual-based face recognition copy protection in place? From what i've read the 'DRMlessed' version was the cause of the freeze-on-break-in bug.
When I started a new game I was asked how a specific person looks like and I could choose between different pictures. I don't know if this was the copy protection. I chose one picture and the game continued. Perhaps I only had luck by coincidentally chosing the right person. I have to check that.
Post edited January 16, 2014 by Silverhawk170485
Posted January 16, 2014
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Telika: Only problem i had, some game sections (the car chase) required the num keypad, and i don't have this on my laptop. But heh, the player is so free about his strategies and used methods, i was just avoiding this part.
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Silverhawk170485: Ugh, this isn't really good for labtop users.
There ought to be a way in DOSBox to remap the numpad keys to something usable on a laptop.

But even with with a numpad, I found the car chases the least entertaining part of the game. But IIRC, they are as optional as everything else, you are mostly free in the selection of your methods. When I played the game back in the 90s, I simply avoided the car chases and played it as a hacker/stealth/detective game, which worked well and was a lot of fun. Probably similar to Telika's approach.
Posted January 16, 2014
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Telika: Only problem i had, some game sections (the car chase) required the num keypad, and i don't have this on my laptop. But heh, the player is so free about his strategies and used methods, i was just avoiding this part.
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Silverhawk170485: Ugh, this isn't really good for labtop users.
No it isn't. But :

1) Maybe the gog version fixes that (bought/installed it but haven't launched it yet).

2) I think that, later, when I tried on a desktop, I also had control issues with the unrecognised numpad, but maybe that was just me and some clumsiness. But maybe it was an issue with my version.

3) This game is one of my top top favorite games ever, and I've only played it WITH this issue. So, it's not a disqualifying flaw. If it works well now, it can only be even more incredibly awesome (I like this game).

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Edit: Ok at least the desktop numpad reacts well here.
Post edited January 16, 2014 by Telika
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Community
General discussion (archive)Release: Sid Meier's Covert Action(112 posts)(112 posts)
(112 posts)