01-07-2011, 06:16 PM
I will admit that the Access-based interface for Empyrean Cluster Wars is prickly and non-intuitive. Vern and his team are working out the kinks during this beta period. I myself have a strong preference for web-based interfaces which do not require me to run client software locally on my machine. (I made an exception for Vern.) I also think it's clunky to require users to send their turns in via FTP.
A web interface should be well designed and perhaps even customizable by the player. It should handle everything server-side. And as such, it would not present much of a problem for even a dial-up connection unless you're doing heavy animations or Flash-based stuff. Since PBM is print-based, it can readily be delivered via HTML, without needing to resort to animated/dynamic images. We're not talking World of Warcraft, here.
Your point is well-taken, especially considering that most applications and web sites don't have good user-interface design.
For simple PBM-like games (like Mafia Wars), the interface is very tight and simple (perhaps frustratingly so). It would be a challenge to deliver a richer PBM-like experience through point-and-click forms, but certainly doable. I intend to try, anyway.
A web interface should be well designed and perhaps even customizable by the player. It should handle everything server-side. And as such, it would not present much of a problem for even a dial-up connection unless you're doing heavy animations or Flash-based stuff. Since PBM is print-based, it can readily be delivered via HTML, without needing to resort to animated/dynamic images. We're not talking World of Warcraft, here.
Your point is well-taken, especially considering that most applications and web sites don't have good user-interface design.
For simple PBM-like games (like Mafia Wars), the interface is very tight and simple (perhaps frustratingly so). It would be a challenge to deliver a richer PBM-like experience through point-and-click forms, but certainly doable. I intend to try, anyway.