Warcraft II

What is it?: An RTS for DOS, Windows, and Macintosh, 1995.
What computer or emulator will it run on?: A Pentium or PowerMac.
Tags: AWE32, Gravis Ultrasound, General MIDI.

Released only a year after the original Warcraft, the sequel quickly outshone it completely. Warcraft II was not only successful, it had an astonishingly long life. As late as 1999, Blizzard released a Windows update, the Battle.net Edition, with some minor changes in gameplay, but none at all to the graphics.

Certainly these cuddly, cartoony graphics were a big part of the game's success. They indeared it to gamers that were otherwise not interested in the RTS genre.

Yes, somehow you simply have to like Warcraft II. Unfortunately, there is no freeform single player game. You are stuck in the succession of missions whether you like it or not. That's why I stopped playing it prematurely. There was this one mission I could not cope with, and I could not jump it either. So I simply let it be.

On the Mac

Warcraft II was among the first PC games to use the Macintosh-typical resolution of 640×480, 256 colors (others in the same year were Caesar II and Transport Tycoon deluxe), so graphics would not be a problem. It still took them a year to come out with the port. Just like the original Warcraft, it proved very popular with Mac gamers.

It will run on any PowerMac (officially, even on a 68040) and is fully network compatible with the DOS and Windows versions.

Colin and Duke on Game Revolution gave the Mac version an A-.
Scott's Addictions

The Series

A short overview of the Warcraft series (links lead to Blizzard's official or strategy pages):

Warcraft: Orcs and Humans	94	DOS, VGA
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness	95	DOS, SVGA
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal	96	Expansion pack
Warcraft II Battle Chest	96	Includes Warcraft, Warcraft II, and the expansion set, both DOS and Mac versions
Warcraft 2: The Dark Saga	97	Game & Expansion pack for the PlayStation
Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition	99	Windows update, small changes in gameplay but still multiplayer compatible with the DOS version
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos	02	Windows/Macintosh, 3D

Hints

To run the map editor without the CD (PC):

Copy the folder SUPPORT\TOMES to your hard drive.
In regedit, search for "Warcraft", or go directly to
```
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft II BNE"
```
Change the key War2CD from the drive letter of your CD drive to the location of the folder.

I found no way to run the game itself without the CD.

Cheat Codes

I found this purportedly complete list of cheat codes on the web. I have not tested them, actually I don't even know how you are supposed to enter them, I just pass them on as I found them.

unite the clans: victory
you pitiful worm: loss
it is a good day to die: god mode
glittering prizes: gold
valdez: oil
every little thing she does: magic
deck me out: upgrade
on screen: show map
make it so: fast build
there can only be one: finale
never a winner: no victory
hatchet: mine lumber quickly
tigerlily: enable mission jump
orc14, human14, etc.: jump to mission #

Links

Jennifer Diane Reitz greatest concern is to find enough superlatives to express her appreciation of the game:
As a final testament, I am currently using the editor to construct Warcraft scenarios which uniquely illustrate each of the thirteen chapters of Sun Tzu's The Art Of War. The fact that this is even possible should inspire the reader to comprehend what an amazing program Warcraft II is.
Doefreaker has some Warcraft 2 levels.
Lord Margas Tribute to Warcraft II Page has puds (missions) and editors.
Running at 3840×2160. Crazy, man, crazy.
Stratagus is a free cross-platform real-time strategy gaming engine. It can be used as a replacement engine for Warcraft II. Development has now permanently halted.
Bos Wars is an open source RTS that developed out of a Stratagus project, Battle of Survival.