Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

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Kuokkanen
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Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by Kuokkanen »

Has anyone here tried to play any of Matrix titles with Windows tablets and mobile smart phones? Are games playable on them? On another forum I was told any game compatible with given Windows (XP, 8) should work within limits of the tablet's hardware. Can anyone here confirm this accurate and true?
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d714
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by d714 »

All games I play on tablet now. I don't need no bulky laptop or desktop. You don't either.
See my post #15 in this recent thread on tablets:
tm.asp?m=3749029

There is really no limiting factor in terms of "tablet" vs desktop or laptop that makes them unplayable, the limiting factor is the CPU and integrated videocards and limited memory - but they are making tablets nowadays that are as powerful as many desktops. Another limiting factor may be screen size, how good are your eyes? I wouldn't use the touch screen to play. Suprisingly, the touch screen works for all games like a mouse, it just isn't practical or enjoyable. Just use a bluetooth mouse, and keyboard if you need it (I do OK with just a programmable multi-button mouse).
But because most if not all Matrix games are not CPU intensive, even a moderate tablet will work on them. And they work great.
Your difficulty will also be working with windows 8.1, because some Matrix games will just not work in that OS without some tweaking. But that is regardless of tablet, laptop, or desktop.

Also be wary of the Windows RT, you don't want that. Run away from the windows RT tablets or phones.
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Fred98
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by Fred98 »

My tablet is a Win 8.1 tablet and Matrix games work just fine.



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zakblood
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by zakblood »

Windows RT is only on 8 tablets, the rest if it's windows based are windows 8 or 8.1 tablets or phones, these are fine for gaming as long as hardware is good, and tbh most are now days for most war games as they aren't high spec like fps
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rickier65
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by rickier65 »

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

Has anyone here tried to play any of Matrix titles with Windows tablets and mobile smart phones? Are games playable on them? On another forum I was told any game compatible with given Windows (XP, 8) should work within limits of the tablet's hardware. Can anyone here confirm this accurate and true?

My wife has an ASUS 10.1 Windows 8.1 (not RT) tablet. I had installed Heroes of Stalingrad and JT's Campaign Series on it. I tired them when I first loaded, but didn't have a mouse and they didn't work very well. But I I just now connected a mouse and I just played the tutorial scenario for both games and they seemed to work ok. A little bit slower than desktop, but seemed fine to me (a little small of course compared to a desktop screen).

Thanks
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mikkey
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by mikkey »

I have ASUS T100 with Win8.1 and Command MANO and WitP AE works without problem.
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MrsWargamer
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by MrsWargamer »

Looks like I am not needed here :)

Yes you can play any of the Slitherine Groups games on a tablet. Granted, the play experience might vary from title to title, because some games have a limit before the screen dimensions make it silly. I for instance think putting shooters on the Nintendo DS was a bit strange.

I have bought myself a bluetooth keyboard and a bluetooth mouse so I can if I choose or need one, use them with the tablet. Some games were not optimized for a touch screen not surprisingly, so not surprisingly they will give you mixed results if you don't have access to some input options. My first encounter with this problem for instance, was that you simply can't play Battle Academy on a Windows using tablet without a mouse and keyboard. The release of the game on the iPad will have been of course made to perform on a tablet. I also have played Panzer Corps, but it gave me no special demands so the Windows release is an example of a more cooperative title.
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by Rosseau »

A lifestyle thing, I guess. I like playing on a wide-screen, powerful desktop multi-tasking in a comfortable chair - alone. I could not imagine whipping out my tablet and mouse and playing BA2 on a crowded plane, train or automobile. That's the time to read the manuals :)
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by MrsWargamer »

Well 'powerful desktop' is really not much of a qualifier.

My desktop is not as powerful as my laptop, and the laptop is not really better than today's tablets.

So 'powerful' as a comment means nothing.

A desktop is just a big box you can change parts in easily. Laptops tend to be like em or replace em, and the same with a tablet. But eventually the desktop stops being upgradable, and then it's just a doorstop like everything else. The only reason I still have a desktop, is I never really throw anything out without reason. It's not plugged in though and sits in the corner unneeded.

But my preferred thing is to go for a long walk, to a place I can sit down and rest a while, and the mini computer just makes it possible to do some writing where ever. I'm more likely to be writing than playing one of the games.
Wargame, 05% of the time.
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by VPaulus »

ORIGINAL: rosseau

A lifestyle thing, I guess. I like playing on a wide-screen, powerful desktop multi-tasking in a comfortable chair - alone. I could not imagine whipping out my tablet and mouse and playing BA2 on a crowded plane, train or automobile. That's the time to read the manuals :)
+1
It will also depend on what type of games you want to play. Tablets aren't really so powerful as gaming laptops or desktops.
Fortunately, Slitherine/Matrix games , are not demanding, so they play well on tablets. But try a flight simulator on a tablet....
d714
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by d714 »

ORIGINAL: rosseau

A lifestyle thing, I guess. I like playing on a wide-screen, powerful desktop multi-tasking in a comfortable chair - alone. I could not imagine whipping out my tablet and mouse and playing BA2 on a crowded plane, train or automobile. That's the time to read the manuals :)

For me that's not the appeal of tablets, to play in public. The appeal is the ability not only to play on a comfy but still hard-backed chair - but a couch, one of those chairs that you sink into, a bed, a bathtub, etc. I have an ultimate lazy man set-up - a gooseneck holder for the laptop hooked up to a desk near my bed - I just swivel the tablet around, put a pillow behind my back and sit up in bed, and play..or watch Netflix, whatever. I don't even have to touch the tablet. Want a bigger screen? HOLD IT CLOSER TO YOUR FACE. By the way video quality is HD on even moderate tablets. And yes, you get a top of the line tablet now, and it will play any game out there including flight simulators. Look up the new I7 Razor Edge, which indeed is marketed as a "gaming tablet". Tablets have come a long way in the last few years.
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by MrsWargamer »

I think some are actually AFRAID of accepting that everything a desktop can do, all the other devices can do :)

But I will agree with VPaulus, a flight sim might run on a tablet, but it is likely the wrong environment.

I also know, they don't make office chairs as comfortable as lazy boys :) But I rarely want to do a lot of high volume typing while sitting in one either. I always seem to get more typed at my desk.
Wargame, 05% of the time.
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by Kuokkanen »

To be honest, I'm not sure in what likely situations I could have use for tablet. Tablet would been useful ~6 years ago along in bus trip and stay at the hotel, but instead I spent that time reading Total Warfare. I have no long bus trips or hotel stays in foreseeable future, and iPhone 4 & ebooks & Internet connection are quite adequate time consumers for toilet breaks. Hey, I'm serious here!

I take part to some events where I could use tablet to introduce some games to other players. I imagine playing hotseat would be more comfortable by handing tablet to another player across the table instead changing seats with heavier computers. Though in the longer events (whole weekend) games played are anolog in nature (Settlers of Catan, AD&D 2nd Edition, and the likes).

It has been said that some games don't work with touchscreen. Are there tablets and programs that would make touchscreen emulate mouse, like make the device ( = game) think user is using real mouse? Am I making any sense here? Has anyone used stylus for gaming and would it be adequate for Panzer Corps and the likes?

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

So 'powerful' as a comment means nothing.
Powerful (used to) mean: can play Crysis in full HD resolution with gfx quality settings maxed out, possibly with antialisign. My desktop is already several years old and it can do that.

ORIGINAL: DI7

Look up the new I7 Razor Edge
Yeah, looked it up with Google and some other search sites. Google gives me results for Razer Edge and others give nothing. Check your spelling please.
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by AbwehrX »

I certainly hope it doesnt go this route. It would be a step backwards as there are too many distractions from superior gaming as it is.
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by d714 »

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

Yeah, looked it up with Google and some other search sites. Google gives me results for Razer Edge and others give nothing. Check your spelling please.

Razer Edge Pro. Never trust my spelling. But here is a link. I'm not recommending it because I don't know much about it really, it's actually almost a 2 year design so there may be even better and cheaper and more powerful models out there.
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-edge-pro

Also in reference to the touch screen - it works as a mouse in almost all windows games but it's just not enjoyable to use it, nor is it easy as an interface in games, for a variety of reasons. One of them being, I think, for the left click you have to keep on pressing it then to drag something you have to also keep pressing it. It's just awkward. Just get a Bluetooth mouse.
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by MrsWargamer »

Actually to address two comments directly.

"To be honest, I'm not sure in what likely situations I could have use for tablet." I have a neighbour, and not only does he not need a tablet, he doesn't need a laptop, he doesn't need a desktop, and he doesn't need a console, nor a TV and he also doesn't need a cell phone :)

He's got a great library though, and he doesn't care about our technology at all.

There will always be situations where one thing is worth less than another. I don't commute, at all, ever. But I do like to go for long walks which usually feature a 30 minute rest before going back. 30 minutes to sit with something if I want to. I'm of course unable to take the desktop and laptops get heavy eventually (not everyone gets around by machine). But a tablet doesn't weigh much in my purse.

I prefer a laptop over a desktop, as I do tend to change my mind where I want things in the room a lot. Desktops, they take too much effort to set up. They are not powerful enough to be worth having any more. I have yet to encounter a single game my now aging laptop can't run. All you get with a desktop these days, is a box you can open and change parts with. Other than that, claiming they are special is really just telling yourself what you want to hear :)

"superior gaming" Really, that is a term so massively loaded with boas though.
I don't think War in the East is superior to Strategic Command. It just depends on what you want in the experience.
I don't think either are even close to as fun as the board game Advanced Third Reich.
There isn't a single computer game the equal of Advanced Squad Leader, but, you can sure afford a lot of other games more readily.

There is only one direction I hope wargaming goes in, and that is forward. Forward in grabbing new blood, new fans.
I'm not sure where wargaming is headed though.

Today as I fiddle with The Longest Day on my desk here, I am a bit depressed that so much of the counter detail is so much harder than it used to be :)
Getting older sucks. Board games are better, but, board games sometimes come with fairly fine print too.
There's something to be said for Battle Academy being also a very easily viewed experience.
I'm not sure what is the predominant reason why I think WitE might have been a mistake for me, but, it is likely partly that is it not easy to view regardless of the screen size eh. The details are still a challenge even on a 40 inch TV.

Sometimes a superior game experience is one where the fun outperforms the effort.
Wargame, 05% of the time.
Play with Barbies 05% of the time.
Play with Legos 10% of the time.
Build models 20% of the time
Shopping 60% of the time.
Exlains why I buy em more than I play em.
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by Kuokkanen »

What models of Windows tablets do you use and what are the most demanding games you have got to work with them? Do you ever play without mouse, or do you play anything at all if mouse doesn't happen to be available? Can anyone tell me about gameplay differences between Windows tablet and iPad? How much different is Panzer Corps (for example) to play with iPad compared to Windows tablet?

[edit]
And check your spelling! There are no such things as Razor Edge and HP Omin
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by MrsWargamer »

To contribute, I am using an HP stream tablet running Windows 8.1.

That which makes a game 'demanding' is never iron clad certain.

I was surprised my Battle Academy refused to cooperate without a keyboard for direction keys and a mouse for ease of commands.

I found that Steel Panthers is fine right till you realize there is no way to click Y for yes.

I had no troubles with Panzer Corps and I think that was probably just blind luck.

Strategic Command works ok, but, I found the selecting of buttons tricky, as it demands you have incredible aim.

There are always going to be limits. A desktop is not mobile, and a tablet might have stunted controls.

My main beef with digital, is often you can't just look at the entire board at a glance. Big as The Longest Day is, I can stand here and look at the entire map in a single view.
Wargame, 05% of the time.
Play with Barbies 05% of the time.
Play with Legos 10% of the time.
Build models 20% of the time
Shopping 60% of the time.
Exlains why I buy em more than I play em.
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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by Kuokkanen »

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

That which makes a game 'demanding' is never iron clad certain.
In this case: hardware demanding games, like Crysis and Supreme Commander series
You know what they say, don't you? About how us MechWarriors are the modern knights, how warfare has become civilized now that we have to abide by conventions and rules of war. Don't believe it.

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RE: Matrix games on Windows tablets & phones

Post by aaatoysandmore »

Once again I'll ask the question can you run DosBox on them or old DOS games or old commodore 64 games or Amiga games. Does it work with emulators? It's nice that they run newer games but do they run everything just like a desktop or laptop? What I'm really wondering is how do you get your games to install without a hard drive? Will it accept portable hard drives now? I've been reading something about ONE usb port now? Is it 3.0 or what?
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