Caster of Magic vs Caster of Magic for Windows

[PyroMancer]

I noticed there are two DLCs both labeled as Caster of Magic but one has the "For Windows" tag on it? This makes no sense as Master of Magic is a windows game so it's DLC should be for windows by default.

I'm an old MoM fan and didn't even know it was on steam until the announcement of the remake in which someone referred to a Caster of Magic expansion which had me search and find this DLC. I still have to original MoM disks but would consider buying again on steam for DLC if it's any good and want to know the difference as don't wanna pay twice for the same DLC.

[Second Duke Revier]

The "For Windows" refers to it running natively on modern day Windows OSes, as opposed to using emulators like DOSBox. As for which one to buy, Caster of Magic for Windows makes Caster of Magic largely redundant except as a historical piece.

[drake178]

Originally posted by PyroMancer:

This makes no sense as Master of Magic is a windows game

It isn't. It's a 16-bit DOS game that requires an emulator to run on anything beyond Windows ME. While XP still had one of those built in, Vista an above need DOSBox to run the game, which is included in the bundle of MoM you can buy now.

Caster of Magic (DOS) is still a 16-bit program and requires DOSBox. It has the advantages of many years of playtesting and tweaking, as well as being possible to run on any device (e.g. Android) that has a DOSBox port. However, its development has been mostly abandoned in favor of the Windows version.

Caster of Magic for Windows is a native Windows application, and no longer requires DOSBox. It also has more features, and is actively being developed. For the same reason though, and because it is a new program, you may encounter some glitches here and there.

EDIT: I generally recommend CoM for Windows unless you need the capability to run on other devices. You shouldn't need to buy both unless you want to specifically support the developer.