Voluntary "Homework Assignment!"

[Chowlett]

A valid one too. I was just ensuring that your objection was categorical, rather than just specific to those games that are properly illegal.

[Cyclotron]

Of course. I understand that freeware is... well, free, but I have some reservations about procuring it from a source that I know to be violating laws, even if that is not the case for that particular product. However, I have no problem with others doing this... It's not my place to change your own morality. I hope Vel finds some useful information in his search of their database.

I don't want to threadjack this into a piracy/copyright debate thread, though, so I'll refrain from further discussion.

[Velociryx]

Just a note on the topic, but not long ago, I contacted the "Silicon Knights" inquiring after the manual to the classic game "Fantasy Empires" published by them. I had bought the game ages ago, still had my discs, but the manual (copy protection) had vanished ages ago.

The e-mail reply I got from them was that they no longer had any copies of the game, the manual, nor any interest in it, and the owners referred me to the underdogs site to snag what I needed....

Doesn't change the technical illegality of it, but there are clearly instances where the companies who produced the games in question have no problem with it.

-=Vel=-

[moomin]

By the way, Vel, what happened to old man Lib? I seem to recall he was on your boat, but I see no reference to him, nor do I find any recent postings by him here on 'Poly.

[Velociryx]

Lib has been silent both on our board and here at 'poly in general for some time. He signed on with us in the very earliest stages, but then personal life called him away. He has promised to check back in on us now and again, as time permits, to see how we're getting on tho....

-=Vel=-

[ravagon]

Re: Voluntary "Homework Assignment!"

Voluntary homework???!!!

Well, I'm up for it but not until this weekend as I tend to take a very long time for these sort of things [y'know ... save, do, reload, redo ... ].

[I insist you change the abominable title though ]



On the abandonware issue, my feeling tends to be that once something is out of circulation the developers/publishers aren't making money from it, ergo aren't losing money if its available for download. Additionally AFAIK Underdogs has always removed games/apps from their site if/when asked to by the license-holders or if they became available again ...

[SpencerH]

Vel

I know you've probably seen my posts but I recommend you try out Lords of the realm II.

I think in terms of the combat model you have to decide just how much is do-able. For example if you're planning a pop-up screen for tactical control of combat then Shogun is the goal to shoot for. But that may be too complex given your resources. One step down would be shogun without the individual animations. In which case, an alternative would be something along the lines of SM's Gettysburg. It had simple unit controls and graphics but overall its almost as good as shogun for being able to include the concepts of formations, flanking attacks, morale, maneuver, and artillery within a single battlefield.

[Velociryx]

Yep....gonna check that one out as soon as I get home, Sir Spencer!

-=Vel=-

[Cyclotron]

I played Lords of the Realm I a few years ago... I thought it was a very interesting way of combining a RTS with a TBS, although both parts needed some work (especially the RTS). I liked the idea of allocating population (incidentally, that game was part of the infuence behind my population point core rules prototype), and the "food sliders" that controlled how well you were feeding the populous. That (and Lords of the Realm 2, I suppose) would be a good game to look over for more ideas on CBR.

[Spaced Cowboy]

Let's make sure that we do not have a me too game and that we stay as original as possible. I'm not saying that if there was a good way in another game to pull off something that we want to do, then not to, but there are a lot of things in this game that have been done before. Let's try to stay original where we can.

[Velociryx]

Total agreement there, RPM....in my head, I'm just not clearly seeing exactly HOW the combat resolution should play out, so wanted to get some inspiration from other sources.

-=Vel=-

[Mongoose]

I have a major beef with what seems to be all the rage in games with a diplomatic interface. To wit: AI opens diplomatic channels...usually with a threat or a demand. The player is normally frozen at that point until he takes a decision, without any ability to investigate or to recall data which he already possesses. Case in point: Your playing a game of SMAX and up into your diplomacy screen pops Guardian H'minee(sp., sorry). As usual, she either wants a tech or for you to declare war on the Usurpers... You can't check the map (to see that she has a Chaos rover right outside the base where you're a single turn from completion of a critical SP) or any diplomatic data you have (like the fact that Marr is pacted to your near neighbor Santiago.) The game demands that you take the decision almost blind. That's just terrible, in my book.

Imperialism 2 had it better. If entering an alliance would put you at war, the game told you so. If making peace would break your alliance, the game told you that. Furthermore, you could click into the diplomatic map to check for other repurcussions of what you were about to decide.

Consider this a plea for open eyed decision making!

[Velociryx]

You know...Mongoose makes an excellent point, and one I'd not thought of till he brought it up.

Seems to me that one simple way to fix that (in addition to his excellent sugesstions of following Imp2's lead and informing players up front regarding any immediate consequences of the actions they're considering) would be to include on the diplo window a small icon in one of the upper corners--we could even use an "open eye" for the icon, to represent open-eyed thinking!-- so that you could minimize the window and investigate the map and any relevant reports you might need to consult when considering the offer currently on the table.

Outstanding idea, Mongoose!

-=Vel=-

[Cyclotron]

I think a better and more novel way to approach the problem might be simply more time.

For example: Another lord calls me up at the end of his turn, asking for an alliance against another lord. This is not a decision to be made lightly, so I thank him for his request and continue with my turn. At the end of the turn, the diplo box pops up again, and now I can negotiate on the deal, and decide whether to decline it or accept it.

This way, you have all the time you need to get ready for those big decisions, and no extra viewbox is necessary.

[Zealot]

About LR II, the game is somewhat fun, but it had a serious problem with the "market wagon", since you had to click too many times if you wanted to buy ale for your troops, or wheat for planting crops in Autumn (Fall) .

About EFS, dudes, I'm having some dificulties in understanding the game, and my goals there. So here's my fundamental idea:
Don't forget to make a Tutorial, and each button of the interface MUST have a small description of its action in a Tooltip!
Thank you.

edit: I hope you guys know what a Tooltip is. In case you don't, point your mouse pointer to the clock in the Start Bar, in the bottom right corner of your screen. After two seconds of mouse inactivity, you will see a yellow box with some text in it. That yellow box is a Tooltip.