I’m waiting for my review of Armageddon Empires to be uploaded before I say any more about what is probably the most surprising game of the year. But until then, please use the interim to read developer Vic Davis’s blog. It has the usual indie developer stuff (here’s what we’re working on, here’s a patch […]
EU: Rome Beta Open
October 25th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Ancients, Paradox
If you want to help guide the design of Paradox’s upcoming Europa Universalis: Rome (please change that title…), you have three weeks to register for the closed beta test. I will not be applying because, a) I will find it impossible to stay silent if they resist my calls to reduce the importance of religion, […]
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Budgetary Decisions
October 24th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Me
I’m faced with the Kingdoms expansion to Medieval 2, Opposing Fronts for Company of Heroes and Asian Dynasties for Age of Empires III on the strategy front. Then I have Mask of the Betrayer and Witcher on the RPG side. What is a man to do? Limited money to spend so how should I spend […]
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Unintended Consequences
October 22nd, 2007 · 7 Comments · Creative Assembly, Design, Modding
For the last week or so I’ve been playing the Europa Barbarorum mod for Rome: Total War. Like many mods, it aims for realism before anything else, even to the point of giving each faction an overly “correct” name. Greeks, for example, are the Koinon Hellenon. The “rebel” controlled cities are given the somewhat anachronistic […]
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Never send a monkey to do a code monkey’s job
October 18th, 2007 · 6 Comments · Me
Nothing could be easier than upgrading your WordPress software, eh? Well, a combination of plug-ins, database mismatches and general incompetence on my part led to a few hours of panic this afternoon as I considered the possibility of losing months of data. Patrick at POEHosting, however, saved my ass as we went back and forth […]
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Flailing Elephants
October 16th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Big Huge Games, Design, History, RTS
From Big Huge Games’ Andrew Auseon at the Asian Dynasties blog at IGN. A good example of when the element of history bowed to the element of fun was the Flail Elephant. The Indian civilization can train a siege elephant that swings a weighted chain from the end of its trunk. The only accounts of […]
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