MacDuff

If some of you remember the old DOS COS, it had ramdom weather conditions; suddenly the land mass would turn brown (mud) in Fall or Spring, or white (snow) in Winter. I think those designing SC2, if it comes out, should consider a more straight forward time line. Don't get me wrong. They way the time scale is set now in SC is a good experiment. I've seen it used with success in other games. The first game that comes to mind is Empire, a miniatures Napoleonic grand tactical rules set. The designer referred to his version as a "telescoping" movement, where during general movement the elapse time was one hour. When contact was made, the turn would telescope would collapse to 15 minute intervals through a series of initiative actions, which ended after both players had completed certain phases (overly complicated - I never like those rules). Columbia games, Bobby Lee and Sam Grant (ACW), uses a monthly movement system, where the number of moves is driven by one or more HQ's capacity to active units. The move alternate between players during the month until both players HQ's have exhausted their capacity to active, or the both players simply pass. This was also an experiment, although more on conventional lines. This is also similiar to SC's timescale, the only differents being a Quarterly timescale, with no randon element that I can see (but I could be wrong on the random aspect of it). All in all, the SC designers are to be commended for this experiment. It was a bit risky going outside the box, but I believe, and hope, it has paid off in sales. I look forward Hubert's next design. Indeed, if it were offered as a pre-pub today I would buy it, sight unseen. Sorry for being so verbose. Rick

Hubert; You mentioned a few days ago, that you would consider designing a strategic game on the American Civil War. I believe this could easily be done. Not only the American Civil War, but also the Napoleonic Wars. As far as the learning curve on these subject areas is concerned, this could be accomplished by reviewing two board games published by GMT; "For the People" (ACW), and "The Napoleanic Wars." The great thing about these games is their reliance on random events (card generated, a large percentage of which you would not use in your design). Of course, this just a suggestion, and my opinion. SC is a great game. Although I'm not a programer, I feel that the SC game engine, with some modifications, could be neatly adapted for those two eras. Thanks again for designing SC. My friends and I thorooughly enjoy it.

The same thing happened to me. I have to tell you, I'm getting a little discourgaged.