Re: Flying Buffalo's EMail Address Wanted

From: boutell@vanilla.it.udel.edu (Tom Boutell)

Date: Thu, 08 Mar 1990 19:58:36 +0000

I'm finally in the midst of development and alpha testing on a new strategically
oriented pbm game in a medieval setting. I'm looking for comments, suggestions and
gripes about the genre.

The sort of stuff I've designed:

Varying terrain, simple armies with an experience factor, similarly simple
naval movement and combat.

Economics will be very significant. Food is consumed by town hexes and produced
by grassland hexes; initially only surrounding spaces provide food, but the
player can begin placing directional arrows to move food around the country,
making it possible to establish more towns as resources are efficiently
directed. Troops, similarly, are called up from the areas surrounding the
towns, and an effective way to beseige a town is to grab the surrounding
spaces; both starvation and lack of recruitment will bring it to heel, though
possibly destroying its usefulness.

The basic terrain types have simple properties: forest hexes "hide" troops
from the other players' view. Mountain hexes slow movement, a bit unpredictably
to keep things challenging. Swamp areas occasionally swallow troops.

Trade will be handled by traders, sensibly enough, which can be moved much as
troops can; the basic commodities are lumber, metalwork and food, the basic
unit of exchange the gold piece. Traders, unlike troops, can move from place
to place without conflict and the traders of several players can occupy the same
hex.

One of the best features is the map generator. All initialization is completely
computer- driven. Continents are "grown" from mountainous seeds down to the
swampy, grassy shoreline; players' starting points are spaced and chosen
automatically. There will be no GM interference with that mechanism.

The eventual objective is to become part of a ruling coalition; but this can
take a comfortably long time, given a large gameworld, many players and
an economic system capable of making peace more valuable than war between
neighbors. (Of course, allied troops can coexist, so players surrounded by
allies can still "move out" to a common front when war breaks out.)

So: how does this sound? Is it too commonplace already, or do I have some
original possibilities here? I'll be launching the game soon, with an advertis-
ing barrage in Flagship.

- Tom Boutell, Offworld Productions

CRANBERRIES! ALBUQUERQUE! This is the start of the end of the beginning of
the middle of the last day of the first part of your life! NEWSPRINT GALORE!
Disclaimer: Datclaimer. Elvis is alive and doing my laundry. Turn down
your air guitar, I can't see the band! I lied, he's dead. Have a #$&$( day.

References

///// Tag Update 5.3 \\\\\
tle33710@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Wed, 07 Feb 1990 10:40:34 +0000
Flying Buffalo's EMail Address Wanted
solovay-andrew@CS.YALE.EDU (Andrew Solovay)
Wed, 28 Feb 1990 23:41:16 +0000
Re: Flying Buffalo's EMail Address Wanted
jennifer@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Jennifer Schlickbernd)
Thu, 08 Mar 1990 18:22:08 +0000