Flash of Steel header image 4

Entries from November 8th, 2010

The American National Character

November 8th, 2010 · 19 Comments · Design, Feature:Nations, History

What this is about. There is always a group of people who resist the idea of putting “Americans” in a game as a race/nation/faction. Though you can certainly argue that there is a unique American history that predates independence by a good century, the United States of America is a relatively young nation whose imprint […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

National Characters

November 5th, 2010 · 31 Comments · Design, Feature:Nations, History

If this blog has a recurring motif, it is how history and strategy games are uneasy partners. Despite our tendency to look to the past for analogies and lessons, history is a mess that refuses to conform to rule sets and is constantly under reinterpretation and understanding. Even if “making history come alive” is a […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Three Moves Ahead Episode 89: Elections and Campaigning

November 4th, 2010 · 12 Comments · Podcast, Three Moves Ahead

  No one was in much of a mood to talk about anything this week, but we did it anyway and it was almost topical. Gameshark’s Bill Abner joins Troy and Rob for a rambling chat about election games they’ve played, election games they haven’t played and whether the dream election game they imagine is […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Sword of the Stars 2: Interview Outtakes

November 2nd, 2010 · 15 Comments · Interview, Sci Fi

As I’ve written many times, I am really not a big fan of scifi games, 4x or otherwise. You really need something special to keep my eyes from glazing over. Sins of a Solar Empire did that, Gal Civ 2 did that, AI War sort of did that but even there it was the design […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Guest Blog: Storytelling in Dominions 3

November 1st, 2010 · 11 Comments · Design, Guest Blog, Indie Games

With my life falling apart around me, it’s a good thing that people keep sending in guest blogs. Long time reader Peter Sahui (aka Mind Elemental) has travelled through worlds of wonder as diverse as the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, the blasted Capital Wasteland, the Roman Senate, and the spaceship Bebop. When not adventuring, he […]

[Read more →]

Tags: