Poll #2: SCENARIO VS "BIG WORLD"

[MarkG]

poll ended, results at the bottom of the thread....

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related thread on the same subject http://apolyton.net/forums/Forum33/HTML/000046.html
related firaxis diary http://www.firaxis.com/dinosaurs/dia...20000114_1.cfm

[This message has been edited by MarkG (edited January 30, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by MarkG (edited February 24, 2000).]

[Bossman]

All down to preference I suppose, it does look as if the "Why not both" category is the most popular though. Personally I prefer Starcraft to SMAC becuase I prefer a slightly simpler interface. SMAC is however a challenging game and was fun none the less which is more than I can say for CtP.

[NoviceCEO]

Both!!!

It would be nice to go all way through evolution in a Big World in single player. But a scenario based could really rock! How about having a scenario objective "kill all your enemie's herbivorous dinosaurs before he does it to yours".

[Qilue]

Big world for me.

Games like Pharaoh, Caesar1&2&2, etc, are fun, but I always hate it when just as it gets interesting, scenario over and you then have to start from scratch in the next scenario.
In big world games like Civ et al, MOO1&2, BoTF I get to watch my empire grow, develope and expand from humble beginings.

[Vanguard]

I think your poll is broken. Doesn't record "Big World" votes.

[MarkG]

terribly sorry
everyone, PLEASE VOTE AGAIN
[This message has been edited by MarkG (edited January 30, 2000).]

[Pythagoras]

<>Big World, as per my ideas
http://apolyton.net/forums/Forum33/HTML/000058.html?date=16:26<>

[Urban Ranger]

You don't necessarily have to start over every time in a scenario based game. Some games, such as Starcraft, are like that. But there are others, such as Pazer General and Warlords III, allows you to carry a core of units from a scenario to the next one.

I must say there are advantages to both.

Scenarios are shorter and tend to have simpler rules. That is good when you are tired and just want something to while away an hour or two.

But either way, RTS suck unless there is a "pause" option.

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If I can't believe in my own eyes, whose eyes can I believe? Yours?!

[Adm.Naismith]

I voted for "both", because I'm thinking of it like "special missions" into the whole evolving world. Think of them as in Railroad Tycoon, where sometimes a message popup to inform you of a huge business opportunity.
You can try to reach it (juggling it with your global, usual railroad job) or ignore it because you judge it doesn't worth the effort.
So you can have the whole Dino world evolving, then you receive message of fact like:
- Your carnivorous dino are aware of a huge herd passing quite far from their usual hunting fields. Do you want they try to start the hunt? (risking to lose force into a unsuccesful chase or gaining a lot of fresh food).
- Your dinos are aware of lot of eartquakes into last days. Do they decide to flee from actual pasture land and start a quest for a quiet one (and risk to starve) or do they should stay there and risk a major eartquake kill half of your herd?

Well, they are a mix from natural disaster and players opportunity, but you are not only left with a random choice: the better your dinos are evolved to suit some situation, the better you catch info to help your decision.

In my example 1) if your dino developed better senses they have more chance to hunt succesful or if they are strong but slow (more able to hunt by ambush) they are better to renounce to the oppotunity.
In case 2) they can more or less aware of the situation, or be more prone to flee and force you to act so (or half of them will kill themselves anyway, stumbling against the others, running away).

Ok, it's in the line of the random event in SMAC, where you can have better chance if you develop the right base infrastructure, but it should add some deep and forced action to the game.

It can also model some random evolution: "strange eggs are layed from a female of your herd. Do your istinct suggest to eat them now (to avoid the born of a malformed litter, that will end wasting this brooding) or you can afford to wait and see if something good is happening?

It could also differ because (as I voted with previus TBS/RTS poll) I think they could be real time events into the general, strategical turn based whole management of the Dino game.

Anyone like to join this line of thought?

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Adm.Naismith AKA mcostant

[Hugo Rune]

A mix is what is proposed in my thread

[Asmodean]

Definately Big World!!!

Scenario-type games tend to be shorter, which for my part is a turn-off. I just love it, when I can start a game knowing that I will be playing it for a week or more. Furthermore, I didn´t fancy Gettysburg or Antietam that much (and I´m into the civil war in a BIG way).

Asmodean

[Atahualpa]

Big World!

I already said: its soo frustrating to start from the scratch every scenario.

Ata

[NoviceCEO]

I will post again and say Both rules!

Adam.Naismith's opnion is pretty good, although I haven't played Railroad Tycoon. Also, as I proposed you can have some independent scenarios that could be nice.

Ata, it seems to me that you haven't read Adam's post... Too bad you're missing it.

[Qilue]

If the scenarios were of a bonus nature and participation or lack of had little or no effect on the overall game then yes, but if say your in the middle of a game and one of these scenarios starts and failing results in having to restart the game, then no.

[Adm.Naismith]

Hugo, I red it, me too posted about simultaneus turns and TBS/RTS kind of mix.

This time I tried to polish the idea with the concept of Real Time mission into a TBS overall.

Yes Mouse, I understand you fear of a bad scenario can ruin the whole game. In Railroad you can let alone the "specials" without ruin your empire, if you are already wealth enough. OTOH, you can catch the opportunity to put your finance back in black after some trouble, or to surpass that nasty computer opponent. As in real life, sometime you bet, sometime you give up

WIth DIno, the point is that's difficult to add spice to the slooooooow evolution of life. As in movie or theater, we don't like to watch too much "daily stuff", we want some kind of "crisis" situation (by action or by mind) where the main actor/actress react and "play the game" (winning or lousing) in some interesting way.

Who cares of Othello's marriage if Yago didn't push in some drama? Or Hamlet?
Or last James Bond movie without a world danger and some nice girls (if you let me pass with this combination ).

Maybe in Dino we need the general background to catch with the whole effect, still would like some action here and there to keep us awake that bit more from 3.00 AM to 4.00 AM

If you skip the scenery, you can miss some bonus (or malus, it's a challenge after all!). Some player can try to grab the benefit (like the "momentum player"), other can chose to skip and put more effort (and micromanagement, as builders) into general - whole world - level.

It can be difficult to balance but, well, which game isn't?

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Adm.Naismith AKA mcostant