Why this page?
Scope of the page
Why is "The Ancient
Art of War" so special?
What does the game looks like?
Where
can you download this game?
A few explanations
How to get
started?
Some hints and cheats
Some additional campaigns
Some
tools and help
Some links
Some things to do on this page
Back in 1985, in a university, the IT teacher was upset of seeing his students playing "Space Invader" (8Kb) and "Sopwith Camel" (34Kb) during class breaks on the brand new IBM PC the university just bought. One day, he came with a 5 ¼ disk and said to us : "You 'd better look at this game, instead of wasting your time; this is something else...". It was then, when he introduced me to "The Ancient Art of War", that he created a computer game addict and a devoted fan of the game. In this page, I would like to thank this teacher, this university, the abandonware community and the game designers Dave and Barry Murry.
This page is for the benefit of fans of "The Ancient Art of
War&". It contains hints and tips, strategies, downloads,
information and links that enthusiasts might find useful, not to
mention the game itself, in its different versions.
In addition,
this page may also be of interest to those (wherever in the world)
who have older PCs but still enjoy good gaming.
Finally, I would like to find other fans of the game and exchange custom scenarios.
The Murry Brother did two sequels: "The Ancient Art of War at Sea" and "The Ancient Art of War in the Skies." This page, however, focuses only on the first game, "The Ancient Art of War." If you look at the back of the game box, you will see screenshots of the PC, Macintosh and Apple II versions. For now, the focus of this page is on the PC version, although I do intend to explore the other versions later.
There are no frames or fancy items on this page. It is designed to be friendly to older machines and browsers.
Before "Age of Empires" (info) in 1997 ..., before "Warcraft" (info) in 1994 ..., before "Dune 2" (info) in 1992 ..., was "The Ancient Art of War" in 1984...
As the webmaster of HOTU put it a few years ago :
Before Dave Murry and
Barry Murry designed "The Ancient Art of War", best-selling
wargames like SSI's "Kampfgruppe" (169Kb)
bear no resemblance to best-selling strategy games like "M.U.L.E."
(info). "The
Ancient Art of War" united the two camps in one masterful
stroke. Here, at last, is a wargame that wargamers would enjoy for
the excellent engine. Implementing tactics based on Sun Tzu's words
becomes the key to victory. Strategy gamers were drawn to the game
for its colorful graphics and intuitive command interface. The game,
like chess, is simple to learn, yet hard to master... In 1989
Brøderbund released the EGA/VGA version of the original
classic, leaving the engine intact. See for yourself why I think good
games never die.
You can read on Mobygames:
"The Ancient Art of War"
is a breakthrough product that introduced several forward-thinking
game elements that still exist in today's products. As a real-time
strategy game, you couldn't just sit on your laurels and think for
hours; the enemy was moving and thinking at the same time you were.
As a result, the faster you moved at thinking and manipulating your
battalions, the better a chance you stood against the computer.
"The
Ancient Art of War" also included a playfield editor. This
extended the playability infinitely, since you could introduce new
battlefields to the computer opponents if you'd mastered them all.
You can even write a textual description of your scenario--which is
printed on on-screen parchment--and give your scenarios to friends.
The graphics in "The Ancient Art of War" are effective,
and there are a lot of them. Zooming in on a battle to control your
troops reveals several nicely drawn backgrounds. Finally, there are
eight computer opponents. Each has a different style of playing.
Absorbing, simple to understand, clever, and engaging, "The
Ancient Art of War" is a must have experience for any serious
wargamer.
What would you like me to add after all this? ;-)
For such an
old and apparently simple game, it has a numerous tactical components
that I have not seen in many current strategy games. Brøderbund
is a company that has always released good software, and this one may
be the ancestor of all real-time strategy (RTS) games.
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More pictures of the different versions of the game (Apple II, Macintosh, PC CGA).
CGA version: Here is my version (153Kb). You will have to copy all the files on a floppy disk and play from your A drive only. Start the game with START.BAT (MoSlo is included and implemented into the startup command).
VGA version: Here is one version (266Kb). You can leave the game files on your hard disk, but you must use the A drive as your data floppy. Start the game with START.BAT (as above, MoSlo is included).
Macintosh version: For this version, please use this emulator disk (430Kb). This version will only run with the vMac emulator. Use this *.dsk file as your boot disk. Unlike any other files on this site, this one is a real (argh !) ZIP file, for the Macintosh people don't know the arj format.
Apple II version: Here is one version (370Kb). The old but reliable Apple2/pc emulator is included.
For other information and variants of these files, please look at the links at the bottom of this page.
Terrain types
Grass
This
is the easiest place to move in. No risk of losing soldiers if they
are in good condition. This is, of course, where your troops move the
fastest.
Forest
This
is a good place for archers to attack and escape. The risk of losing
soldiers depends on the rules (spare/dense). Troops move faster in
forests than in mountains.
Water
The
terrain to avoid. The risk of losing soldiers depends on the rules
(shallow and calm/deep but calm/deep and dangerous). Most of the time
this is not the shortest way to go.
Hill
The
terrain to be on when defending. You have to be strong when attacking
opponents on a hill (or use archers). Otherwise hills function like
grass.
Mountain
Knights
should avoid mountains as much as possible. The risk of losing
soldiers here depends on the rules (low and safe/high but safe/high
and risky). Movement is also dependent upon that setting. As with
water, mountains are not the always the shortest way to go.
Construction types
Village
The
strategic interest of a village depends on the rules you chose:
-
village supply food or not (if not, the village has no tactical
interest at all)
- fort supply food or not (the village is not
such a big importance if forts supply food too)
- food supply
lines are long, medium or short (the shorter the supply is, the most
tactical interest a village has, unless you are a blitzkrieg
guy)
This supply lines management is, I think, what makes this
game different from wargames and the precursor of the RTS games. Food
supply is based on the distance from a friendly village. If a squad's
supply line is cut off by the enemy, that squad's food-supply status
will begin to decline, and its condition will begin to deteriorate as
a result.
I have never been able to figure out if there was a
difference between fighting a battle in a village or in the open on
grass.
Fort
Forts
are important. Again, the strategic interest of a fort depends on the
rules you chose:
- village supply food or not (if yes, then lesser
tactical interest)
- fort supply food or not (big importance if
villages don't supply food)
- supply lines are long, medium or
short (the shorter the supply is, the most tactical importance forts
have, unless you are a blitzkrieg guy)
You need to "own" at least one fort because you only receive additional soldiers in forts. You receive reinforcements during the game, but you can't choose what kind. I think it is random, but it seems that when I have no archers in the fort that is supplying the reinforcement, there are then good chances that I will get archers.
Attacking a fort without archers in the attacking group is useless, unless there are no enemy archers in the fort. Symmetrically, you should always have archers in fort; otherwise you are not protected by the walls.
Bridge
Bridges
are usually a bottleneck, and, as such, should be controlled. The
best way to do it is to place archers just after the bridge. They are
deadly against opponents coming across on the bridge.
Black
flag
These are the points you must capture in order to win,
unless you opt to win by eliminating all enemy troops.
White
flag
These are the points you must protect in order to prevent
the enemy from winning. Thus, you are always playing against the
black computer army.
Soldier types and status
Soldier
type
This is pretty much self-explanatory.
In equal
conditions, level grounds and adequate formation, archers will defeat
knights, knights will defeat barbarians, and barbarians will defeat
archers.
Soldiers
in formation (there are many other possibilities)
This is how
a group of soldier look in the formation windows.
A = archer
K
= knight
B = barbarian
Spy don't show up in the formation
display.
You should put your squads of soldiers in the right formation before any encounter, as this will strongly affect the battle results. Squad condition and terrain are also key factors. I have not been able to determine if any formation type affects the speed at which the group is moving.
Spy
I
have not really been able to figure what is so special about the spy.
He moves as quickly as an archer or a barbarian. He never wins a
battle. It doesn't seems to me that he is hiding better than the
other soldiers.
According to the game's glossary (thanks Chang), the spy is: "One of four types of soldiers. Spies are defenseless but useful for locating the enemy because they can see twice as far as other soldiers. Spies are replaced by barbarians if the rules setting before the game indicates that the enemy is seen always. Spies never fight, and if a squad with spies in it is defeated, the spies will be captured. A squad with only spies in it will look different from other squads.".
Still
standing soldiers
This is what a squad of soldiers looks like
when it is not moving. Be careful, as sometimes you only see one
group but they can be more than one at the same place. The only way
you can check is to move the cursor on the group and listen to the
number of beep you hear, which corresponds to the number of groups on
that spot.
By the way, these sprites make it appear as if the soldiers have spears, but you will not see any during the game! The only weapons used are bows and swords.
Moving
soldiers in good condition
This is how a group of soldiers
looks like when they are moving and in average or good condition. If
you make the squad march fast, its condition will decline faster than
if it marches slowly. As might be expected, barbarians are the
quickest troops. Archers are next in speed, and knights are the
slowest. When you have a mixed group, it moves to the speed of the
slowest member.
Moving
soldiers in bad condition
This is how a group of soldier looks
like when they are moving and in bad condition. Condition is affected
by movement, combat, and food supply.
Encounter
This
is how you know there is a battle going on. First, the computer warns
you with "Warning - Encounter" message. This is time to
rush with your cursor where the encounter is taking place. By putting
your cursor over the encounter, you can then access the battle mode.
After a certain amount of time passes without your responding to the
encounter, the computer will manage the battle automatically. You
then get the "Alert - Fighting" message. Once the computer
has begun the battle without you, you can not access the battle mode
until it is complete.
Small
view of the whole battlefield
This window represents the
repartition of your men on the battlefield. What you can see of the
enemy depends on what you decided concerning the rule on how to see
them (always, when far, when close). It also counts the number of men
for both sides. This is interesting, because by watching this number
you can know when a new soldier has arrived in a fort.
Define the difficulty level
The difficulty level
increase with each campaign. For an easy start, set the rules so that
forts and villages supply food, supply range is long, your men are in
prime shape, enemy will always been seen, water is shallow and calm,
mountains are low and safe, and forest is be sparse.
Of all the opponents... well, Crazy Yvan is definitely not a good leader (and as for the sense of humor, I have not found it yet!). Pick him.
Explore the map
Use the + and - keys to scroll the map
up and down. Take note of where the flags, forts, villages, and
restricted paths are. Then, locate your soldiers and determine their
condition and their formations. Position the cursor on a group to get
information and/or give orders. Finally, find your opponents and
determine what their condition is. (Be aware that keystrokes are
those for US keyboards.)
Emergency (re)action
Depending on the scenario and the
rules you choose, there may be some emergency moves to be made. It is
best to secure a fort, a village, a flag, a hill, a bridge and/or
other strategic point and position your squad for a soon-to-come
encounter.
Establish strategy and tactics
This is about thinking
what to do and how to do it.
Fortunately there is no one way to
win. And the same scenario with different rules (and opponent to a
certain extent) will usually require a totally different strategy.
This is what is great about this game.
Follow the encounters
You can let the computer play
encounters, but there is a real value in commanding your own men in
battles (such as deciding what kind of soldiers attack and retreat,
and when they do it). Unfortunately the computer doesn't wait very
long before starting battle in automatic mode, so you have to be
quick to jump to the right spot.
Study opponent moves
Study your opponent's movements and
strategies as much as you can, depending on the rules (and the
opponent) you choose. It will allow you to react quickly to
unexpected situations.
Watch your troop's condition
Always make sure your men
are in the best condition possible. It helps a great deal during
battles.
The
screen you do not want to see...
These aids will help you to win if you are stuck on a certain scenario. But don't look at these first, as they will surely reduce the pleasure you would have playing that scenario. For a scenario-by-scenario walkthrough, look at the FAQ in the help section below.
Trying to understand how the game logic works, is for me, a big part and a fun part of the game too. So, here are some of the weak points and limitations in the game mechanics.
Keeping the enemy from multiplying
In this game, only 20
squads can be on the war map at any one time. You can keep your
opponent from training more men by detaching squads (preferably in
your fort) until the 20-squad limit is reached. Whenever one of your
squads is wiped out, detach another one to retain the 20-squad limit.
Fort attack hint
Sending two squads against a fort using
archers alone to overrun it can inflict a lot of casualties on your
army. Instead, send two or more groups with a few men each just to
occupy the enemy archers on the wall. Then, send in your regular
units. They'll be able to sneak over the wall while the enemy is
already engaged, and then the battle will take place in the
courtyard, where you have better odds of winning.
The hit and run tactic
If your archer squad is
outnumbered while fighting another squad, fire a barrage of arrows
and then retreat. The arrows still move even after your men are
safely off-screen, so you can whittle down enemy forces without
taking any casualties of your own.
Don't zoom in when non-archer squads attack forts
Armies
can't retreat unless you press the zoom button during the battle. So,
if an enemy squad is dumb enough to attack your fort without any
archers, don't zoom in to see the battle. The attackers won't be able
to retreat, so they'll eventually all be killed.
You don't need a whole squad to capture a flag
You can
capture a flag without tying up an entire squad. Just detach one man
into a new squad, and then just send him to the flag. As long as
there is no enemy lurking nearby, one soldier works as well as a full
squad.
Condition and food improvement
When you join two squads,
the receiving squad transfers its condition and food level to the
incoming squad, regardless of the number of people in each group.
Game save (PC version)
Alt + S allows you to save a game
on a disk. You can only save one game at a time.
One great thing about this game is that the designers included a
campaign editor. The campaigns made with the CGA version of the game
are compatible with the VGA version. Here are some of my own created
campaigns; I hope you will enjoy them:
campaign disk 1 (3Kb)
for the PC version,
campaign disk 2 (8Kb)
for the PC version.
If you have created your owns, please send them to me (see e-mail
address below) and I will publish them here. Thanks in advance.
Some
more (12Ko)
campaigns for the PC version by Claude Martins.
Campaign disk 3
(725Kb) ZIP (yuk !) file for Mac emulators
(vMac, Basilik2) in *.dsk and real Mac in *.hqx format.
The game manual in PDF format
Book 1 : instruction manual (1,2Mb),
Book 2 : strategy guide (1,2Mb),
Book 3 : reference glossary (800Kb).
Those are the manuals (real zip again to be accessible to the Mac world) from the PC VGA version. A big thank you to John Stevens from Chicago that provided the site with those manuals.
FAQ
The FAQ v1.08 (40Kb)
with scenario-by-scenario walkthrough and everything you wanted to
know about "The Ancient Art of War". It is not included in any of the games you
may have downloaded from this site.
Forum - Message board
A discussions group
dedicated only to "The Ancient Art of War".
Please use it instead of e-mail. That way, questions and answers can benefit the
community.
Download tips
You will need to rename the files
downloaded on this site from *.zip to *.arj (tripod doesn't allow
*.arj extensions, sorry for that). If you have any problem making it
work, use the message board, I will try to do my best to help you.
Utilities
I don't think a Windows beginner can really
play "The Ancient Art of War". He/she(?) needs to know about DOS (info). Most of the people getting to this page should already have/know these tools.
But, but just in case :
- Arjsoftware
; where to get Arj to unpack the downloaded files. WinRAR or
PowerArchiver are also effective for this purpose,
- Acrobat Reader from Adobe
in order to read the game manual (should work for Mac and PC),
- MoSlo (2Kb)
in order to decrease the speed of your PC,
- CGA emulators for
Hercules graphic cards (23Kb)
in order to play on old PCs with Hercules graphic cards.
- Concerning DOS emulation in Microsoft Windows, I can now suggest running the VGA version with DOSBox.
If you would like to explore more, here are some links of interest (please let me know if you know some more):
The designers
www.evryware.com
; the Murry brother's web site, but unfortunately not much on the
game
Found in the news, for what ever it is worth ...
Game reviews
The
home of the underdogs, the greatest site for PC
gamers
Macintosh Garden,
another site that also feature the Mac game
Mobygames
has interesting gamer's reviews
The
fun factory gives us a "review" that doesn't say much
...
Byte
magazine, they like it too.
Abandonia,
it is about good old games !
Gamespot,
it is about war ...
Gamespot,
and they like it !
What scholars say
Stellenbosh
University in South Africa with a computer game project
Justin's
course proposal for the San Francisco University in the USA with
a RTS games "chronology" ?
www.gamasutra.com
writes about symmetry ...
www.gamedev.net
another one that references AAOW
Gamers stories and comments
A
gamer's classification , a very practical one !
Scot
another addicted gamer !
Sun Tzu's Art of War
I have found many places on the web
where the name given to Sun Tzu's treaty is "The Ancient Art of
War" instead of "the art of war". Ignorance and/or (to
be more optimistic) a tribute to this game ?
site
1, a site to get the electronic version
site
2, a site with references ...
Some sites that help me with this page
News
search, to know what is happening in the news about The Ancient
Art of War.
Html validator,
to ensure this page HTML syntax is ok.
Mac
Garden, site that has the mac version.
Asimov
ftp, site that has the apple 2 version.
Permanent
URL, to ensure this page is accessible whatever the host.
Find the game manual of the first CGA version (I have not seen it on the web yet).
Find some more campaigns.
Find a complete Mac version (with campaign editor).
Save all the links content on this site.
© 1993 - 2009 The Ancient Art of War fan
page
Portions are copyrighted by their respective owners. All
rights reserved.
http://purl.oclc.org/net/aaow
