Battle for Cronos (C64)
A downloadable game
On a distant moon, a spectacular discovery has been made.
All rival powers in the sector have sent combat forces to secure the find…
About
Battle for Cronos is a turn based wargame for up to four players.
To be successful on the battlefield, you must effectively combine different unit types, take the terrain into account, and plan your supplies strategically.
Requirements
This game was created for the Commodore 64. It can be played on real hardware, or in a C64 emulator like Vice. The game is controlled with a joystick in port 2.
Key Features
- Epic battles with up to 4 factions
- A campaign of 8 missions, each playable in two difficulty levels
- 6 skirmish maps for custom matches
- 10 simulator missions for tactical training
- 20 different units and buildings
- Password system and save games
- PAL and NTSC compatible
Where to get it?
You can download a digital copy of the game and a manual here for free (see downloads below). The digital download is available either as single-file version (prg) or as disk image (d64).
poly.play is publishing a boxed version of the game. The box includes a printed manual and some other extras.
For details and (pre)order visit: https://www.polyplay.xyz
Updates
Strategy Guide added
Download
Comments
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Nice strategy game that is a bit reminiscent of Battle Isle or Dune 2. Our German-language review can be found in our recorded livestream starting at 01:27:17. English subtitles are also available. Subscription to our YouTube and Twitch channel is welcome. 🙂
WoW also the strategy guide!
Very good!
Will it also be printed in the physical edition together with the manual?
Considering the type of game, that is, quite complex, could it be useful, for example, to indicate an email address or some type of direct contact to report any problems encountered?
Thank you very much :-). I wrote the strategy guide yesterday very spontaneously because I realized that figuring out the core mechanics seems to be harder than I thought. I have already suggested to the publisher that they include the guide in the box. Perhaps even an extended one for all campaign missions.
We are always happy to receive all kinds of feedback. There is a contact address on our Website. You can find it here:
https://www.windigo-design.de/about.html
Hi there, first of all thanks for creating a really great looking turn based strategy for C64. We definitely need more of the genre on the system. I tried playing this on my stream last night, and have a few questions, and maybe found some bugs. First of all I think the game would really benefit from some music. We also read the manual, which I hope is not finished, since it's full of spelling errors and bad english. I really hope you have time to fix this before the physical release is published. In terms of gameplay issues, sometimes when I'm attacking enemies, it says I've done damage, but sometimes it increases the enemies condition %, and sometimes it reduces it. I had no idea whether I was dealing damage or not.. Is an enemy destroyed if condition is 0 or 100? sometimes I would do 100 damage and it would only increase enemy condition by 1. Sometimes an enemy would be on 60, I'd do 30 damage and the enemy would be back on 15.. and stuff like that. I can only assume the game is currently broken at the moment. Anyway, the stream is available to watch if you'd like to see my problems demonstrated.
I've pre-ordered a physical copy but I really hope the game gets some fixes and some music before release.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2296822124
Hi, first of all thank you for taking the time to checking out our game :-) To clarify what you identified as a bug: Each unit consists of multiple vehicles. This is the number to the left below the unit (unit size). Unlike other games, it's not just kill or no kill. You can accumulate 100 damage (condition) before losing a vehicle. The remaining damage will be stored in condition. Example: Your unit has 6 vehicles. You take 280 damage. Now your unit has 4 vehicles left and 20% damage. The next vehicle is lost if the unit suffers at least 80 damage. This is explained in the Gunfight chapter of the guide. Maybe not detailed enough. There is even one unit type that can repair itself.
When you play the second map, it's important to merge those damaged units (see reorganisation in the manual). Units below a certain size do less damage.
Having no music ingame was a design decision. Game sessions of larger maps can last quite long, and after some time repeating music may become annoying. Additionally there is a lot of feedback sfx which doesn't work well with music.
None of us is a native english speaker. We tried our best get a proper translation and used spellcheckers. Maybe we missed some errors. I checked the paragraph you mentioned. Can you explain to me what's wrong there? I didn't get it. Maybe you have other examples of errors you found?
To give you an update regarding your question about the manual: the box will contain a revised version.
That's a real shame about the music. The SFX were just a couple of bleeps, I'd rather have just music than any sfx at all. Anyway regarding the condition, I still don't get it. If condition is damage (and 100% = unit destroyed), then you should probably just call it Damage. But that doesn't explain why sometimes the value was going down after I attacked something.
Condition 100% sounds like a unit is at full health - and that number should drop as the unit takes damage.
In the revised edition of the manual it is now referred to as damage.
Example: You have a unit of 6 tanks. All are in good condition. Your entire unit takes 60 damage. The damage is now 60. Your unit is attacked again and takes 80 damage. 60 + 80 = 140. Every 100 points of damage, 1 vehicle is removed. 40 points of damage remain. So you think your damage has gone down, but that's just the overhang after offsetting 100 damages from the loss of a vehicle.
How awesome is this?? Finally! After so many years. I've always thought to myself that the C64 could do a game like this, like Advance Wars or Famicom Wars, like Battle Isle, or something along those lines. <3 I love this! Thank you so very much for all your time and love and effort and sweat put into this!
If you ever put out a campaign editor or something like that, I'll probably get as creative as I can with that!
We are very happy that you like it :-) Advance Wars and Battle Isle were indeed the inspiration for this game. We tried to combine the atmosphere of Battle Isle with the greater accessibility of Advanced Wars. I hope that worked a bit.
The idea with the campaign editor is interesting, but complex and time-consuming. If there is real interest in it, we will consider it.
Nice game !
Thank you :-)
A good turn by turn strategy game. It is kinda punishing, even on level 1. I lost on this map at my first try. Ouch!
Besides this, it is really cool. I enjoyed it!
Thank you for your nice feedback :-) Once you figured out the basic mechanics, the first campaign maps will become quite easy. Everything you need to know is described in the manual :-)
I read the manual before starting my first game. But it will need some more tries to finish level 2. Maybe tomorrow, if I have some free time.
Awesome game!
Great video! A quick note: it looks like you're clicking twice on a unit to start an attack. That is not necessary. As soon as the targets are displayed, you can directly select them.
This is a wonderful niche creation for strategy game lovers, thank you! Battle for Cronos (2024, WindigoProductions)
Thank you for featuring our game on your site!