son_of_montfort

Blue warrior needs NEWS badly! Hey Moon, didn't you say something about an AAR? ;-)

Wow Moon! I'm in for the PB Demo! Let us know when it's ready! Can't wait for the full release, as well! SoM

Well, Brit, after reading the latest map editor post, I rescind my patient praise - I MUST HAVE IT NOW! ;-) Just kidding of course, but the map editor features look spectacular and look like something that code ignorant people like me can use effectively. Your point about MOO3 is accurate. IIRC, the developer wanted WAY more time, but it was the publishing company that pushed the game out early. So thank Battlefront for being very patient people! Unfortunately, although the patches for MOO3 did make the game tolerable, it never made it good. The reason behind this is that some of their base mechanics were flawed, not fun, or not appealing to their market audience. They overcomplicated something simple, adding sliders and buttons and toggles that were too complicated or not needed. They built tons of micromanagement into a game they wanted to be played macro-style (read their design diaries, if they still exist out there). But I don't think you have this problem. From what I see, the design of EoS is elegant and looks fun and manageable. I think your design strategy of "quick fun, easy to learn - hard to master, down and dirty combat, large-scale multiplayer friendly" coincides with the ingame mechanics I see in your blog posts, forum discussions, and info releases. Some people asked for certain elements to add complexity (supply, logistics, convoys, etc.) but, IMHO you can go with Stardock's GalCiv II route - start with a great base and add toggle-able complexity with patches and expansions! SoM

I understand the push to have the MP right, and I respect it. I know I'll be an SP only (or nearly only player), so I'm pleased to hear that the SP is fit and ready to go (and would love it to be released with the promise of an MP patch) but I think it just makes perfect sense to have the thing in tip-top shape. First impressions are important and most people will want MP in their first impressions. So good luck guys! I'll be here when the "Buy Now" button lights up! SoM

Ahem... no new developer diaries... release info... or that AAR? Either that is a bad sign or a very good sign (too busy getting this done to post)! Come'on guys, throw us a bone! <tosses smoke bomb and disappears into the night> SoM

Hey guys! Yeah, I am pretty happy with the options here. I find myself, more and more, playing games that are quick, fun, down and dirty, and randomly generated (to avoid getting bored). I've been spending tons of time with Rogue-Likes, such as Dwarf Fortress and the newest version of Dungeon Crawl. Why am I talking about this? Well, because part of the draw of the old Empire is having a game that changed each time you played, gave you plenty to do and plan, ran quickly but lasted as long as you needed - and lasted only long enough that, if you lost, you didn't feel like you gave up weeks for nothing. Exploration and customization are the two key words! I am posting a URL with a link to a picture of Sword of the Stars's game setup screen from an AAR that I was writing. In the bottom right corner you see two sliders, one for economic efficiency and one for research efficiency. These basically controlled the speed of the research and economy as a modifier, with 100% being "default." A good idea, but remember that changing this can effect game balance, so one needs to have caution. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3630/3328303386_37499dd40a_o.jpg

I'm gonna have to say DennisS, that I kinda disagree with some points. 1. Some of us like fast tech games and want to be able to play quickly and tech up fast. I think the best way to deal with this is to have a "tech modifier" slider, like Sword of the Stars so that both of us can be happy. IMHO I like to have my units changing and more options opening all the time (I also like to have smaller maps, so the fighting is down and dirty). So not all of us want tech to crawl, but I see no reason why this can't be easily modified via a slider when setting up the game. 3. The maps look like a good range of large and small (have you seen the Earth map, it looks rather large) and the ones used on the YouTube vids looks rather smaller. I think this will be pretty customizable. 4. I'm guessing FoW will be customizable. 6. I sort of disagree here as well. 300 turns is fine, but I think the game should be able to be played over long sessions as easily as it can be played over short ones. EoS, like Empire, looks very "beer and pretzels" and I think overcomplication is just not what we need, when so many super complicated wargames already exist. But, I want this to be an academic discussion, because I am hoping the development is far enough along that all these things have been decided and are pretty fixed. I'm really excited about this one, and I hope that release date news will be coming down the pipe very soon! SoM

Ah well, I figured that Theatre of War 2 would be the next Battlefront release. Pity, I'm so stoked about Empires of Steel! Still, I'm happy to see that this one gets more time in the oven so that it is cooked to perfection! Keep us updated though, it has been rather silent here and I would love to see some buzz, more vids, the AAR, perhaps a nice summary of the tech available, any information will just generate more interest! SoM

Man, I hope this one is close! You had me at "shot down a satellite." I like the idea of auto-entrench, a nice touch! So I a, guessing there is no dedicated "engineer" unit. This seems fine to me, as the scale indicates that an infantry unit is probably an abstracted army with support personnel. Besides, this is not supposed to be one of those type games anyway! I don't PBEM, but I would think this game is perfect for it! Don't hold it off on that account, but I would definately look into it for patch 1 or 2. SoM

Thanks Moon for your quick reply! That last statement is an indicator that this game is going to be for me - I find the simplicity of play in the SC series to be top-notch, despite the fact that the games are actually quite complex. One thing that my friends at the Wargamer.com known about me is that I constantly stress the need for a UI that helps the player rather than hinders him or her. SC2 has such a UI and I'm confident from the vids that EoS will too! Anxious about release day then! You guys work hard so that this can be out before my birthday (May 8)! SoM

Hey all! Watched the vids, and I have to say, this game is going to rule my life! I was in the camp of "simple, Empire-style gameplay" and am glad that this one didn't get bogged down with stuff that would hamper what looks to be clear, clean playing! Looks like a great game for all-night sessions or lunch breaks equally! I do have a few questions: 1. I am pretty sure you said there was an AI for single play (although the game is clearly being developed with PBEM in mind) or am I wrong here? 2. I noticed, like other games in the genre (i.e. Advanced Tactics), maps are generated with roads and pre-existing cities. Can you decide how "civilized" you want the map to be? Also, are their engineer style units to built stuff like roads, forts, and airstrips, or is it basically using what pre-exists? 3. I am going to guess that the white circle around units is the range that they will engage nearby enemies (if told to do so), is that right? I think the We-Go element is really going to add a lot to the mix! Best, SoM

509 Thanks!