Flash of Steel header image 4

Entries Tagged as 'Design'

Do These Mix?

January 1st, 2009 · 5 Comments · Cryptic Comet, Design

It’s more like a strategy board game. I like to say a mix of Diplomacy, Dune, A Game of Thrones and Ticket To Ride Vic Davis on what Solium Infernum will be like.

[Read more →]

Tags:

A Question of Character

November 24th, 2008 · 6 Comments · Design

I’ve spent the last few days knee deep in two new releases, the Vae Victis expansion for Europa Universalis: Rome and Tilted Mill’s light strategy game Mosby’s Confederacy. It’s hard to conceive of two games so different from each other on the surface, but both use characters as the foundation of the gameplay. Yes, there […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

More on Halo Wars

November 18th, 2008 · 6 Comments · Crispy Gamer, Design, Ensemble, Preview, RTS

Dan Hsu has an interview with Dave Pottinger and Graeme Devine at Crispy Gamer. It has the now standard “yeah it sucked but we’re going forward” non-comment on the closing of Ensemble, but, most importantly, lots of juicy bits about the upcoming console RTS Halo Wars. Devine adds this bit of development chronology that I’m […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

The biggest strategy map ever?

October 17th, 2008 · 7 Comments · Design, Paradox, Preview

Paradox is promising that their upcoming WW2 strategy sequel, Hearts of Iron 3, will have 10,000 provinces. As a point of contrast, Hearts of Iron 2 had a little over 2600. So, almost a fourfold increase in territories. If my hometown Miramichi doesn’t get a separate territory, I will be a little sad. Why so […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Improving Wargames

October 4th, 2008 · 11 Comments · Design, Media, Wargames

IGN’s Steve Butts is one of the last wargamers at a major game media site. (Before his departure from 1up, Jeff Green and I were in negotiations over how I could contribute there since Grognard God Geryk is too busy for that sort of thing. That may be a dead letter at this point.) In […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Seven Deadly Sins

September 28th, 2008 · Comments Off on Seven Deadly Sins · Blogs, Design

Soren Johnson has posted his “seven deadly sins” of strategy game design, a column that (I think) premiered in an issue of Game Developer magazine earlier this year. His point on scripting (#1) and on story (#7) are two sides of the same coin. If you have a story based campaign, like his examples World […]

[Read more →]

Tags: