Welcome Star Legacy Development Group!

[InfStorm]

Computer can handle a lot more today then they could, but the evolution of a turn base game comes down to a couple simple factors for combat resolution. Actually controlling your ships in combat is only good for single player games. If you try and have manually controlled combat in a multiple player 4x game, regardles of wether or not it is RTS or by turn, someone, somewhere is going to be sitting there waiting for other players to finish their combats, and deciding to go do something else. Combats need to be auto-resolved in order to keep 100% of the people at their computers and interested in the game.

In your single player game, it totally acceptable to give the person control of the fight, because he stays involved in the game 100% of the time. Wether it is RTS or a frm of turn based combat... that depends on other elements of the design and come up to a designer decision.

[Edi]

Originally Posted by InfStorm

Computer can handle a lot more today then they could, but the evolution of a turn base game comes down to a couple simple factors for combat resolution. Actually controlling your ships in combat is only good for single player games. If you try and have manually controlled combat in a multiple player 4x game, regardles of wether or not it is RTS or by turn, someone, somewhere is going to be sitting there waiting for other players to finish their combats, and deciding to go do something else. Combats need to be auto-resolved in order to keep 100% of the people at their computers and interested in the game.

In your single player game, it totally acceptable to give the person control of the fight, because he stays involved in the game 100% of the time. Wether it is RTS or a frm of turn based combat... that depends on other elements of the design and come up to a designer decision.

I agree with the MP aspect and if the game is to work for PBEM, then having the autoresolution done Dominions 3 style would be the best option.

[jars_u]

Originally Posted by Edi

I agree with the MP aspect and if the game is to work for PBEM, then having the autoresolution done Dominions 3 style would be the best option.

[Xrati]

Maybe combat could be broken up into say four (ex.) segments. Four segments would constitute one combat turn per game turn? After each segment, ships could be re-ordered to continue, change tactics, reinforce, or disengage!

[jars_u]

With SL rekindling my interest in the genre I just wanted to share this article I found in my surfing that might be of interest to this group:

history of space empire games 1980-2002

[Xrati]

Wow, I've played and still have some of those games all the way back to Reach for the Stars! Avalon Hill put a couple of board games out that weren't even mentioned in the article. I still have the box games from AH. I've played about 97% of the games mentioned in that article and I never realized it!!!

[jars_u]

I've played many of them myself and thought it was a fairly good history for the time frame it covered - couldn't really find anything comparable for 2002 - Present. But this covered some:

http://www.spacesector.com/blog/tag/4x-game/

It does show how far we have come in a lot of respects from 5.25 floppies to now. I understand the need for MA$$ appeal - good game design often I think has to be about capturing those KISS compromises without succeeding in simply making everyone unhappy.

Here is another good article about what made MOO2 the "gold standard" for many:

Master of Orion 2: The Formula behind the Success