For anyone stumbling upon this post, i've read the patch notes on the website
raypack linked above, and i also tested ingame with my own computer and different patches, and i found out the following:
As stated above by raypack, ROC specific game balancing tweaks seem to have stopped at 1.19 (assuming only due to the patch notes, more testing needed with newer patches to confirm changes to unit stats etc. didn't have enough time to test that), but further updates to the game client and several quality of life features added during TFT years did carry over to ROC, such as the toggleable option to permanently show health bars of units(1.22.0.6328), stretched widescreen video options(1.25.1.6397), and even actual widescreen support (1.30.1.10211), although by that point ROC was already merged with TFT, merge of both games with a toggleable button in the main menu happened at 1.28.3.7205 (back when we still had the 3d menus, shortly before reforged update) and it remained that way until reforged launch in 1.32.0.14481, BUT they fucked up ROC specific stats in 1.29.1.9160: "Game data for TFT impacted RoC", ROC ladder games were then disabled in 1.31.0.12071 allegedly due to incompetence from the devs or just deciding that ROC wasn't popular enough to to fix, although that was just forum talk i read so it's questionable. And when they launched reforged (1.32.0.14481) ROC was deleted but its campaigns were ported to TFT (with TFT stats though).
here's an easier-to-read list:
- between 1.0.0.4448 (1.0) and 1.0.6.5551 (1.06) only ROC existed therefore all changes were specific (duh)
- 1.0.3.4653 (1.03) added the ability to select computer difficulty in melee maps (easy-normal-hard-insane(insane is just hard but with cheats)), previously you could only select "computer" which was actually kind of easy (even i can beat it and i suck in melee)
- 1.0.6.5551 (1.06) completely changed how armor system works and several units got their damage/gold costs etc. adjusted, so if you want the original unbalanced warcraft 3 experience in its purest form, stick to 1.0.5.4944 (1.05), or if you are feeling kinky try 1.0, spoiler: ranged units, casters and siege were ridiculously overpowered.
- 1.0.7.5535 (1.07) is TFT debut version
- 1.0.10.5610 (1.10) is the first patch that affects both ROC and TFT, and it added several quality of life features, like being able to set custom keyboard shortcuts with a .txt file, bulding queueing, creep camp markers in the minimap, improved AI for both creeps and AI players (VERY noticeable, massively improves single playing quality), and the list goes on, i'd say this and 1.06 (the armor rework patch) are the biggest changes to the game and the point that divided the original clunky unbalanced gameplay with what we have today.
- 1.0.19.6041 (1.19) was the last patch to mention specific ROC balance changes, without game testing we got to assume it was the last, but game client and bug fixes continued to apply to ROC for years to come.
- 1.21.1.6300 (1.21b) disabled CD check so you can play without it (but you were always able to sail the seven seas and find the free-base-form-of-the-stimulant-cocaine-that-can-be-smoked version of the executables, i even have one for the original 1.0, by none other than razor1911, but i won't publicly tell where or how i found it due to the site rules).
- 1.22.0.6328 (1.22) added the "always show health bars" feature
- 1.25.1.6397 (1.25b) added an option to set the resolution to stretched widescreen (more convenient, but you were always able to force stretched widescreen with some registry editing fuckery, even in the 1.0 version)
- 1.28.3.7205 (1.28d) merged both exectuables with a toggleable button in the menu, but it was buggy
- 1.29.0.9055 (1.29) actual widescreen support (no stretching)
- 1.29.1.9160 (1.29.1) accidentally(?) overwrote ROC-specific stats with TFT ones
- 1.30.1.10211 (1.30.1) allowed the game to use up to 3gb of ram
- 1.29.2.9231 (1.29.2) reverted the ROC stats accident, apparently?:
- Plugged the leak allowing Frozen balance into the Chaos bucket.
- patch notes
(wtf)
- 1.31.0.12071 (1.31.0) disabled ROC ladder games, due to a bug that was causing TFT players to match against ROC players and crashing the game
- 1.32.0.14481 (reforged) doubled down on the "accidents" and just deleted ROC, only keeping the campaign scenarios, but with TFT unit stats.
So what does all of this mean?
- If you for whatever reason want to play the game in it's original iteration, clunky, buggy and unbalanced, try 1.0 to 1.05, avoid 1.06 because it changed the armor system, in preparation to the frozen throne's launch i think.
- if you want the most patched and feature rich version that allows to have only ROC installed, then go with 1.28c (no real widescreen though), bear in mind this version has some bugs, which leads me to the next point:
- The best tradeoff in my opinion, is 1.26a or 1.27b, they have most of the modern features and are far more stable, 1.26a in particular is known to be the "best" in terms of stability, out of the "classic" patches, some people favor 1.27b only due to the map file size limit increase for multiplayer hosting (8MB to 128 iirc), which is huge, but some well-known modders have said that 1.27b introduced some bugs and potential crashes that 1.26a doesn't have, and since you need reforged anyway if you want to play in bnet, my personal recomendation is to go for 1.26a if you want a clean install of classic ROC.
Why would anyone even want to have the game without the expansion?
Well, i can only speak for myself and some forum strangers, but it can be a variety of reasons, from installing the game in an very old computer with limited hard disk capacity, to people who only own the original reign of chaos cd not wanting to pirate the expansion, to simply not liking the expansion at all.
For me personally, it's a mix between the first and the third, i like collecting old computers from the 90's and early 2000's, and most of them have small hdd, specially the laptops, which are the ones i use the most, sometimes after installing the OS and the must have programs, you're left with little space for games, so you either install a few games with all their expanisons, or several of them with just the base game, as an example, i also have a copy of half life without opposing force or blue shift, nor any mods other than counter strike, the expansions barely reach 1gb, but when your total capacity is like 80gb minus OS and programs it's actually a lot.
Then there must be more persons like me, a dozen of us maybe, that simply do not like TFT much at all, i grew up playing singleplayer ROC and that's what's most nostalgic to me, it gives me great joy to relieve these memories as an adult, and while the new stuff added by the expansion is of excellent quality and quite cool, specially the custom maps, it overcomplicates a bunch of stuff i was already used to, the game was fun enough to me without the extra units and heroes, and as an adult, having played all the campaigns, i can say that the reign of chaos ones are more fun and the story is more engaging, i'm quite probably biased because of my own experience with the game as a child, but i genuinely feel like half of the missions from TFT campaigns were added as kind of an aftertought, like filler, lots and lots of maps that are more like concepts for custom scenarios rather than regular RTS missions, not saying they are bad, in fact i think they're of good quality, but not really what i expect from the RTS game's campaign.
And finally, just like i enjoy collecting old computers, i also like to have old versions of software and games, i think to try and experience them how people actually experienced them when the game/software originally released to the public, sometimes patches and updates change quite a bit of stuff and it's not the same anymore. I wasn't even old enough or born at all when most of the things in my collection were new, but i'm still fascinated by them and want to mess around with them in their original form.
