Gettysburg

NORTH AND SOUTH, AGAIN

A Review of Gettysburg

On July 1, 1863, Union and Confederate forces squared off and began a battle that changed the course of the Civil War. Now you can participate in this battle and even change the outcome with Gettysburg, a title produced jointly by Turner Interactive and Swfte International.

Gettysburg incorporates segments from the Turner Pictures' production of this famous battle as background information; mini-documentaries are included that cover the geography of Gettysburg, the strategic situation, Civil War artillery and rifles, and the status of the conflict at the end of each day. Also included are readings of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and General Lee's parting address of 1865. Shelby Foote, a Civil War historian, provides commentary at key points in the battle. I enjoyed the narration, particularly the tidbits about individuals involved in the fighting (how a Confederate general saved the life of a Union general, for example).

The simulation begins on the morning of July 1, 1863 and is tracked by a time-line indicator on the bottom of the screen which stops at July 3, 1863, the last day of the battle. With free play the fighting can continue beyond July 3 but time is no longer tracked.

The screen consists of a battlefield view, a commands dialog box, and an optional field notes dialog box whose scrolling text provides combat updates (such as whether a unit is fatigued, defeated, or in retreat) and mirrors the narrator's commentary.

The commands box has controls for starting and stopping the simulation as well as unit controls such as health/strength status and aim. The aim control includes direction of aim for rifles and artillery and for artillery alone, elevation of aim and the type of ammunition used. The ability to use different types of cannon ammunition is a nice touch, and they are described in one of the mini-documentaries discussed above.

Two different views of the battlefield are available: one looks like an antique map of the city and the other is a terrain map outlining the contours of the land. Icons representing the different types of brigades, which include infantry, cavalry, and artillery units, are shown on the map; these can be maneuvered using a click-and-drag method and indicate whether a brigade is fighting, moving, or at rest. Clicking the right-mouse button on a unit icon reveals statistics about the unit such as its name, commander, strength, morale, ammunition, etc. These variables change during the course of the simulation and affect units during combat.

Combat is highlighted on-screen by solid orange circles which surround the unit icons. Small explosions show the effects of artillery fire so that aim can be adjusted. Status reports appear that outline the number of dead, wounded, and missing.. As it stands, you can follow the course of the fighting just fine, but a more detailed view during combat would be a nice enhancement.

The sound effects accompanying combat were quite good. As with the narration, they enhanced the simulation considerably.

While testing I encountered a problem. Online help states that two play options are available: historical play and free play. Historical play works within the historical parameters of the actual battle, while free play allows free reign in controlling the fighting. Each play option allows you to control either one side or both; so, if I choose the Union and historical play, the computer controls the Confederacy and I should not be able to move Confederate units. Unfortunately, I discovered that all of the units can be moved at any time and in any combination of play options. Also, if free play is selected then the details of the actual battle should not apply, yet the narration continues to give status reports of the historic battle and not the action occurring on the screen.

A short phone call to Swfte Technical Support (pronounced "Swiftee", they lived up to their name -- it took less than 1 minute to reach a representative who revealed that the problem is known and should be fixed by the fall of this year. However, the representative was not aware of any plans to offer free replacements to owners of the current version..

On-line help is adequate, although partially inaccurate due to the above problem.

I like the idea of being able to change the course of history in a simulation; Gettysburg indulges this by allowing several different outcomes to the battle. The results are then listed and read by the narrator.

I learned from and enjoyed Gettysburg, but left it wishing for more depth of information and a more focused and comprehensive combat simulation. Overall, I recommend Gettysburg with the warning that it has some rough edges.