Column #138; By Father Beast

[DanQ]

Father Beast returns to voice his opinion on the calibre of the turn-based strategist in his article entitled "Turn-Based Strategy: The Thinking Person's Game".

Comments/questions welcomed here.

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[Christantine The Great]

I think this is a great Column. I agree with Father Beast that TBS requires much more thinking. I remember playing Age of Empires once when I had to defend a small Egyptian town with some axmen and some clubman. I sent the axmen up to an opening in the wood that surrounded my camp. Well that is exactly where the invaders came. Sheer instinct (and a little common sense). When I am playing Civ II there is no little "Obvious" way the AI attacks me. North, South, East, West. All possible attack routes. All can't be watched at the same time.

[Smash]

Another one that pretty much says it all.

Real time games do have strategy but the skill that wins is keyboard dexterity or who has the best controller.At some point your "skill" levels off at your eye/hand/brain co-ordination.

This just isn't so in turn based.ie-In Civ2,even the very best players still learn NEW things.It is constantly evolving into a new game with scenarios,challenges,self handicaps,multiplayer ETC.

No game,turn based or otherwise, has held my attention like civ2.Because of this,turn based always gets the first look from me.I like having to think.Actually think.Not make a split second decision or a reaction.

[Ming]

It's a simple fact of life... as you get older, your reaction time decreases. When a game comes down to who can give the command first... I'll stick with TB games

[Everyman]

I agree with the sentiments in the column. I understand that most kids on the internet play Age of Kings and Starcraft at fast speed. A game that is designed for real-time, multi-player and is geared towards teenagers can never be as complicated as Civilization II. I'm curious about how Empire Earth will turn out but I still think the nature of RTS puts a damper on the level of complexity you can have in the gameplay.

That said, when I'm not in the mood for committing myself to a 15-20 hour game of Civ II, I play Age of Kings. I play at slow speed and pause a lot, somewhat simulating a turn-based game.

Still, I'm hoping that future incarnations of Civilization will speed up the game time by enabling GoTo commands that work and by improving access to city screens.

[Tim Bromige]

A recent letter in the UK magazine PC Zone contained a complaint about Deus Ex, suggesting that there was too much thinking involved. While heavily outnumbered by those that disagreed (or didn't see it as a problem), I think it is symptomatic of the way the games industry is going. Just as every form of entertainment is in always in danger of "dumbing down", so it is with games. People with short attention spans and those additcted to the "quick fix" will always outnumber those who prefer more cereberal activities. Fortunately for us (Civ fans), it is equally true that there are (and I hope will be for a long time to come) developers who eschew the satisfaction of the masses for the sake of producing the sort of games typified by the Civ stable.

[Mercantile]

Great article Father Beast. I much prefer thinking games to click fests, and i also am not in to first person shooter. Perhaps civ has ruined me for other games as i just can't really get into them. Civ is the legend of tbs games, why play the rest when you already play the best

[Smash]

quote: Perhaps civ has ruined me for other games as i just can't really get into them.

Amen!Combat Mission has caught my eye a little and chopping up demons in Diablo can be stress relieving but they ain't Civ.