04-04-2011, 03:38 PM
I generally agree with your review, Grim. The one redeeming quality I would point out is the "default order set" appended to every turn result. This sets up the initial order code framework, so all you have to do is put in the actual orders. In some cases there are default orders. My three scout ships, for example, have SCAN orders included in this default order set already. All I have to do is leave them in there. They keep getting jump orders to neighboring stars, but I have started overriding them by deleting them. I want these scouts to stay in place for the time being.
In terms of "dryness", yes - there's that. It is a purely computer-moderated game. Any role-playing or storytelling is up to the players. I only just made contact with another player, and we will see how that turns out. I never played Starweb, but I imagine there's some of the same dryness there as well. In the giant Empyrean Challenge games of yore, 25 players were crammed together on a single homeworld, forcing a social network (and an immediate mandate to expand, due to overpopulation) right from turn 1. So that might be a way to improve FH - start with players in contact already (the way you suggested.)
This game has a poorly written manual, but relatively simple game mechanics. I am working on a 4-page guide to offer the game master, as my contribution to the community. However, one of the problems I have is with the way production is handled. Everything is highly abstracted, but you still need two elements in your production pipeline -- mining and manufacturing. You want to have your mining capacity produce as much Raw Material and your manufacturing capacity can handle. On your home planet this means you have equal focus on both. But on other planets, some are easier to mine than others, so you will need more or less mining capacity to stay "in balance".
I would much rather see mines produce RMs, and factories turn RMs into something like "production points". Then you can manage mining and manufacturing independently. Having them sort of correlated just seems like a kludge.
It is also odd that some aspects of the game are highly specific (eg. listing the atmospheric gases that are safe/poisonous for you), yet end up being abstracted away (eg. set your Biology tech above this number and you can colonize.)
I guess I want more specific control over every part of the game, but I acknowledge that that would make it a different game. This is meant to be more of a space opera and less of an exercise in supply chain management. So I'm good. But then I'd like to see more space opera in it, as it seems Grim does.
In a way, this game is sort of a baseline for space empire games. I can see many ways to expand it (in different directions). If this were the '80s, I might have seen paying money for it, but definitely not today. But I could quite easily see myself playing a prettied-up version of it on facebook.
In terms of "dryness", yes - there's that. It is a purely computer-moderated game. Any role-playing or storytelling is up to the players. I only just made contact with another player, and we will see how that turns out. I never played Starweb, but I imagine there's some of the same dryness there as well. In the giant Empyrean Challenge games of yore, 25 players were crammed together on a single homeworld, forcing a social network (and an immediate mandate to expand, due to overpopulation) right from turn 1. So that might be a way to improve FH - start with players in contact already (the way you suggested.)
This game has a poorly written manual, but relatively simple game mechanics. I am working on a 4-page guide to offer the game master, as my contribution to the community. However, one of the problems I have is with the way production is handled. Everything is highly abstracted, but you still need two elements in your production pipeline -- mining and manufacturing. You want to have your mining capacity produce as much Raw Material and your manufacturing capacity can handle. On your home planet this means you have equal focus on both. But on other planets, some are easier to mine than others, so you will need more or less mining capacity to stay "in balance".
I would much rather see mines produce RMs, and factories turn RMs into something like "production points". Then you can manage mining and manufacturing independently. Having them sort of correlated just seems like a kludge.
It is also odd that some aspects of the game are highly specific (eg. listing the atmospheric gases that are safe/poisonous for you), yet end up being abstracted away (eg. set your Biology tech above this number and you can colonize.)
I guess I want more specific control over every part of the game, but I acknowledge that that would make it a different game. This is meant to be more of a space opera and less of an exercise in supply chain management. So I'm good. But then I'd like to see more space opera in it, as it seems Grim does.
In a way, this game is sort of a baseline for space empire games. I can see many ways to expand it (in different directions). If this were the '80s, I might have seen paying money for it, but definitely not today. But I could quite easily see myself playing a prettied-up version of it on facebook.