DukeDublin

With the mention of Warlords Battlecry upon Ross' recent game list reveal, I feel obligated to share knowledge about the current state of the game. The source code has been kept alive by a small yet dedicated community of modders who act like monks atop a high mountain mired in zen like meditation, contemplating ancient code under NDA, awaiting disciples. The Battlecry in the title of Warlords Battlecry divides the RTS from its turn based asset sharing counterpart. The series' iterations, (I, II, III) are best described as standalone full-game expansion packs each with their own campaigns. There have been several "modern" releases of the third installment of the series on platforms such as Steam and GoG, but this game is so obscure retailers couldn't agree on which version number was current. Finding a release version can be difficult outside of an original disc. The Steam version gets a thumbs down from me, especially with the crude language that slipped in with the community patch version they used, outright changes certain assets (I have reasonable doubts about the legitimacy of the Steam publication, the screen shots are from prior games in the series, and most of the content shown isn't in Warlords Battlecry III). And then there's the GoG release, which has a different community patch with its own issues and bugs. An up to date patch for the vanilla experience requires several patch steps, and you can't use either of the retail versions to get there (if you're lucky enough to have the stars align in regards to compatibility). Don't take this as some sort of holy grail sentiment either, while this mythical patched state is almost clear of noticeable gameplay hindrance, there are still issues of modern compatibility and bugs that no one could really figure out without editing the deeper code base. Me, myself and I cannot stress how much I do not recommend purchasing the game online on Steam or GoG, you're better off with a machine of the era and a retail copy, updated to the official 1.0.3. version. Buy a copy then pirate it if that clears your conscience. However the game does* exist in a state compatible with a modern system, but that's not going to be the original version either. If widescreen and windows 10 are factors that will make or break your ability to want to play, then I recommend a mod that goes by "The Protectors" and to my knowledge, is the closest thing humanity will have of a "Warlords Battlecry IV" (as I tend to call it). Its free, standalone and runs on modern systems in full widescreen resolution. Not the perfect solution since its still in development, but its the best the game's code has ever been. Multiplayer even works. There's still a bug or two that require some informed maintenance to fix if they ever come up for your systems specific config, but to say "The Protectors" works better now on windows 10 than the series ever did on windows XP should say something. TL;DR Steam and GoG are janky versions, find a retail copy to patch or download a standalone mod "The Protectors" for free.