Wargamer reports that John Tiller’s Campaign Atlanta is now available. One of the features is “The largest map yet featured in the ACW series. Over 100 miles in continuous length, that’s over 1,300 hexes north to south. More than 500,000 hexes in total!” For those of you who thought my opinions didn’t matter…well, apparently you’re […]
Entries Tagged as 'Design'
Everybody’s Different: Empire Earth III and RTS Design
March 15th, 2007 · 7 Comments · Design, Mad Doc, RTS
We don’t want this place to turn into Media Corner, so let’s get back to strategy games. A few months ago, I had a chance to see a very early build of Empire Earth III. (I wrote up a preview in the April CGM). Since I wasn’t a huge fan of the other Empire Earth […]
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Gamer’s Bookshelf: The Song of Ice and Fire
February 19th, 2007 · 14 Comments · Design, Gamer's Bookshelf
I don’t read a lot of fiction. And I read even less fantasy literature, Tolkien excepted. But I thought that some good fantasy reading would make a nice Christmas gift for my geeky wife and everyone I asked – everyone – recommended the same series: George R. R. Martin’s still-in-progress Song of Ice and Fire. […]
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The Napoleon Complex
February 11th, 2007 · 7 Comments · Design, Gamers
When large groups of troops collide in Forge of Freedom, you have three options – autoresolve, tactical combat or quick combat. The first is self-explanatory. Tactical combat lets you control a battle like a traditional wargame and the quick model is all about placing troops in general stances on a grid and letting the thing […]
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That’s Not Funny
February 6th, 2007 · 7 Comments · Design
“When it comes to humor, I’m very anti ‘jokes’ in games. Most designers try too hard to tell a joke, and it just doesn’t work.” So says Bethesda’s Todd Howard in the new Escapist. Humor is, obviously, very subjective. I was at a job interview last week and one of the students asked me who […]
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Getting at the Core Experience
January 25th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Design, Paradox
Sequels are harder than they look. Though launched to the usual glowing reviews, Europa Universalis 3 is going to be a divisive game. You can see it on the official forums. You can see it on the blog of one of Paradox’s biggest fans. And you read it here first many months ago. Some people […]
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