[Andrew Lonon]

cannonfodder:

Thanks for the excellent question – which I can only try to answer. Not knowing what you really got from either of the two games mentioned – I will be basing my reply on my own experience. That’s a bit lame but I am glad to say that the Salvo Demo will be out soon (and the program being Gold not long after that) so you can make your own evaluation or read the reviews and comments posted here soon. <I’ll also be posting a note about humility, deadlines and developing computer game. G>


Age of Sail (I’m talking about AOS 1)
I think part of the core inspiration for Salvo was having to wait for that $###@ ship to reload, turn or do anything that I wanted it to in the original Age of Sail game. Speeding up time didn’t really help because by the time you got the game to an interesting speed you started missing opportunities. So – it was speed up in the dull spots, and slow down to try to anticipate when you could maneuver and/or shoot. Salvo is based on a 5 minute ‘turn.’ As the player in Salvo, you can spend about the time it takes to hit the spacebar on that turn, or you can spend hours making sure you move each of your ships the way you want to and picking the exact target to shoot at.

OK – Im waiting for an upload to go through – so that’s why I here. <G>

Age of Sail II+
Apart from the real time aspects – the thing that is most different about Salvo is the absence of what I tend to call the Stealth-Fighter-Heads-Up-Display . With the (I don’t remember what they are called – so bear with me) list of ships on the right (Max12 or so?) as well as the course, bearing and other panels persistent on the screen, the display seems to be more appropriate for a much more technologically advanced subject. Add in the ‘life’ thermometers, movement & firing arks and those colored rings around the ships and the system – for me – looses a lot of the appeal of the genre. Salvo takes a fresh approach to both individual ship control and grouped ships, trying to put the impasses on having just the right level detail for ship finesse as well as solid controls for a squadron or fleet while maintaining some connection to realistic command.

Are you an English Teacher? “Compare and contrast X and Y.”

Fence Straddling between the two?
I would have to say no, but there are arguments against that stand. First of all, Salvo is Salvo. Quite frankly Salvo is more of a ‘Game’ and less of a ‘simulation.’ This puts Salvo way beyond AOS 1 on the distant AOS 1 side of AOS 2. <What?> For example, Salvo is abstracted from real time and also abstracted from real movement. AOS 1 was abstracted from realistic movement and other functions but not abstracted from time in a meaningful or fun way. Some aspects of Salvo provide a more 3D world than AOS 1, but its not a full 3D world and no where near the 3D rendered graphics that are common in games today, or even in AOS2 c 2002. <sigh> I’ll start a note about Salvo II soon, but for now, the view options of Salvo do not change game play, they just help you choose and pick your moves.

I hope this helps. In any event the real answer is close.