Welcome to the Home of Game Strategies and Stories
20 Feb 04
I have a strategy question and it relates to games. It just doesn't relate to strategy games. Maybe someone can enlighten me. First, a little background. I've played Role Playing Games since Phantasie. Before that I played pen and paper RPG's. I can safely say they're what lead me into serious gaming. Of course, RPG's have fairly directed stories which is why the don't really work well for this site. On the other hand, there are open ended RPG's where you do make your own stories, but they usually have a monthly fee attached. Yes, I'm talking about Massively Multiplayer Online RPG's (MMORPGs).
I don't play MMORPGs not because I don't think they're fun. I fought through a MUD addiction back in college. I have no desire to go back there. I know it would probably be worse if I kept telling myself I was paying for it. I'd probably end up playing nonstop. Fortunately, all that suffered back then were a few grades. Now I've got more responsibilities. Like any ex-addict I don't touch the stuff.
Anyway, back to my question. How do MMORPG developers convince antisocial gamers to play their games? I'm not saying that all gamers are antisocial, but some are. I've never understood the concept of people who only want to solo a MMORPG. I know there are times when there's no one to group with. There are times when it's nice to just go off on your own. I know there are jerks out there who can be hard to avoid. But what is the attraction to a MMORPG if you don't like others? Is it some marketing genius?
I try to mention at least one game each day. Hopefully it give some of you reason to stop by even if there's a lull in the game stories. Today I'm talking about Homeworld 2 (official site). Homeworld 2 is in a rough position. It improves almost every aspect of the Homeworld experience. The graphics are better, the controls, the special effects, the AI and the play options. But the story is not better. That's hardly a failing because it's trying to one of the great stories in the history of gaming. It was a epic and mythic story. It borrowed from the Exodus and exile stories of the Old Testament. It borrowed from the Odyssey. The Bentusi were a conglomeration of mythic supernatural characters. The original Homeworld had a large manual with about 40 pages of back story. The sequel has a much smaller manual that devotes about a page and a half to back story. Losing that epic story makes Homeworld 2 feel much less. If you can get past that, or go straight to skirmish or multiplayer there's much to like here. It also doesn't hurt that the price has dropped and can be found in the $20-30 range. Check it out.
Jason
19 Feb 04
Just a quick heads up. The Hearts of Iron page is now up here. It's got a little background along with CSL's review of the game. I also have a story or two from CSL that will be up shortly. Check it out.
I'm slowly getting things the way I want them around here. Hopefully it's not too difficult to find things around here. I mean the home page is pretty obvious. Games contains all the games people here have written about. The forum is where everyone can go to discuss things. The about and contacts pages are self explanatory. The links page contains links to places I like and that the readers have requested. I also put a page under links that keeps a running list of all the sites I mention here in my ramblings. I can always use more feedback or constructive criticism however.
Talking about Silent Storm and Hearts of Iron has gotten me thinking about WWII games. I decided to peek and see what's coming down the pike in terms of WWII strategy games. There are two coming out this year that seem a little different. The first is Midway (Mithis site) from Mithis Games. Midway, as you might guess, focuses on the Pacific theater. But the interesting thing is that its emphasis is on naval combat. We don't get too many naval combat sims any more. Midway is going for the whole fleet modeling destroyers, submarines, cruisers, aircraft carriers, battleships and the aircraft themselves. Its promising both a campaign and a career mode so the player can try any position they like.
The other game I noticed was Wartime Command (official site, 1C site) from the makers of IL-2 Sturmovik. Of course, IL-2 was a flight sim so when the developer announce they're modifying the engine to make a RTS game, it's a bit unusual. Their goal is to cover all the major battles for all sides from 1939-1945. On the one hand, historical accuracy is emphasized. The weapons and vehicles are authentically modeled. The maps are based on actual battle locations reproduced through aerial photography. On the other hand, 1C wants you to develop an attachment to your men. You'll be able to zoom in and see what they're thinking and feeling. Keep them alive and they'll gain skills and abilities to help you in future missions. That's an interesting mix. We'll have to see how it works out. One thing we can tell right now; the game looks gorgeous.
Jason
18 Feb 04
First a quick note of thanks to my brother. He's been encouraging me in this web site project. For my birthday he send me a copy of Dreamweaver software so I can continue improving the site. This is far above and beyond what we expect from one another for gifts. I just want to say thanks big brother.
I've noticed a bit of drop off in the level of site communication. I could take this to mean that I'm doing less stupid stuff, but let's be realistic. Perhaps people are leaving. I can understand this. After the initial rush of enthusiasm, my little ramblings don't quite stack up to the level and numbers of stories I'd hoped to have. On the plus side, we have quite a few volunteers who are willing to write stories. The down side is that some of them are playing games that take a long time to complete and some are just busy and some are just having a hard time getting together to get the game in. I'm sure things will pick up shortly and I'm editing and formatting a few things that will go up shortly. Please be patient. If you're concerned, there are two things you can do. First, contact me and give me advice, suggestions, stories or criticism. Second, tell more people about the site. More readers equals more games equals more stories. Spread the word.
Steel Battalion: Line of Contact (official site, EU site) is coming out soon. The original Steel Battalion (SB) was perhaps the most detailed mech simulator available for home gaming. It was a $200 package that included a three panel controller plus foot pedals. It also came with the game, of course. You have two joysticks, one for movement and one for aiming. You had a gear shifter with five forward and one reverse gear. There are a total of 40 buttons and switches on the controller. The pedals control acceleration, braking and special sidestep maneuvers.
Much was made of the fact that there was an eject button on the controller. It has a nice plastic shield covering it to avoid accidental ejections. However the big thing was that if your mech (aka Vertical Tank or VT) was blowing up and you failed to eject, your pilot was killed and your campaign progress deleted. Ammunition, fuel usage, aiming physics and momentum are all accurately modeled. You could call it a hardcore simulation.
While the original SB had tactical possibilities for good stories, it came with a structured campaign that told its own story. Line of Contact, on the other hand, is online only. You're playing with and against other people over XBox Live. Hopefully, we'll have some good stories from it. Battles can form dynamic campaigns as factions war over territory. With the ability to record replays of battles, teams should be able to review and improve strategies as well as refresh their memories when writing stories. If you can afford the hefty ante, it could be one of the best sim experiences to date.
Jason
17 Feb 04
It's been a long time since XCom: UFO Defense first graced computer screens. It had several sequels and many tried to copy the formula. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard that a game is "the next XCom." Unfortunately there have been many more failures than even decent games. Last fall "the next XCom" was supposed to be UFO: Aftermath (official site). Even though the reviews definitely put it in decent territory (pushing good), I didn't feel the magic. Of course, I only played the demo. That's part of the problem with a demo. Very few make a game a must buy, but it's too easy to make it a won't buy. UFO had the pieces in place for greatness, but they just didn't fit together for me.
I should point out that games have changed since XCom. I'm not sure you could even put out XCom as a major title today. For one thing, it started brutally hard. The aliens had every advantage. Sometimes only losing half your assault team was a huge success. Heck, you had to hire scientists to research medical technology and engineers to build the medkits before you could even heal an injured team member. Sure towards the end you were a force to reckoned with, but getting there was long, hard, bloody and painful. One of the great features of XCom was that you could rename your team (after your friends for instance). That just made it harder to watch them die one after the other. CSL's story was at least his third restart to get things going well. Just count the bodies. You don't see that much any more.
Strangely, another game has triumphed where UFO fell. It's not even an aliens attack game. It's Silent Storm (official site, JW site) from Nival Interactive. It's a turn based tactical game set in World War II. Though some science fiction elements are introduced, it still provides good WWII atmosphere. Silent Storm has flaws including some superweapons and odd objectives handling, but it captures the addictive nature that was the heart of XCom. Characters grow more powerful. They gain useful skills, equipment and abilities. Of course, WWII automatically captures that sense of world catastrophe. One of the best features of Silent Storm is its use of terrain. It's deformable, so you can destroy that wall or window to get a clear line of sight. It's also 3D so you can hide behind a hill or crouch behind a low wall for protection. I could go on and on, but it's probably best to check it out for yourself. The demo does a good job giving you a feel of the game.
Jason
16 Feb 04
I need to make a couple of clarifications. Please forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but the question has come up again. The counter at the bottom of the page was provided by my web host. For some reason it counts unique visits instead of the more common actual pages served. It's probably possible to change this, but since unique visits is actually a more useful number I'm not going to worry about it. The other thing is site participation. If you want to get involved and help, you don't need to go through an interview or vetting process. I'm not issuing assignments with due dates and follow ups unless you ask for that. We need people who enjoy strategy games and want to share those experiences. There's no set length, no minimum participation level. Yes, we need some people who will go out there and tell the world about the site, but not everyone has to. If you don't think you can write a good story, you can still list your favorite strategies and maps. You can mention a game that maybe people have forgotten. There's lots for everyone to do here wherever they think they can contribute.
I don't know how many people have been playing around with the forums, but I'd like to point out a couple of features. I'm using the open source forum, phpBB (official site). It's really quite impressive. Right now we have two forum templates installed, subsilver and jenova (default). If you see another template you'd like to use, let me know. I can probably add one or two more. I've left polling on. Sometimes it's easier to start a discussion by asking a simple question and giving some options for people to vote on. I've also left private messaging on. Sure, public challenges can be fun, but sometimes you wish to be more discreet. If you decide to keep your email address private, people can still use PM to send you a message. You'll see it the next time you stop by the forum (logged in, of course). Let me know what you think of the forums.
I have one game I wanted to talk about today. It's Evil Genius (official site) from Elixir Studios. There aren't too many games that let you play the bad guy. Sure, it's great to play the hero, but you always hear actors tell you how much more fun it is to play the bad guy. I still remember the first time I unleashed a natural disaster on my Simcity. That was only a taste compared to Dungeon Keeper II. You play as evil sorcerer working to unleash the hordes of darkness on the world of light. That game encouraged you to play the role to the hilt. Evil Genius seems to be following in DKII's footsteps. Instead of a fantasy setting, you play in a sixties spy film. You must set up your headquarters, fill it with deathtraps, hire and train flunkies, and recruit henchmen. These henchmen will conduct missions around the world on your behalf. Your evil scientists will work on dastardly doomsday weapons for you. Meddling governments will send their military and agents after you. They will have to be "dealt with." You can start construction on your hideout in the fall.
Jason
Talk Strategy 2004
