Everybody tends to think too linearly, even when being devious. :P
Dave Farrell is right in that you can't expect to suddenly sell the game with no Trek in it. But that doesn't mean you couldn't make an amazing simulation with the same talent that went into the SFB and SFC games.
One of the appeals behind SFB has always been that it has rules that allow it to operate. Starfleets have fixed assets, limited resources, and ship classes that evolve, etc., and you can play out a great sci fi battle in great detail. That's a paradigm. It's the evolutionary step from Matt Jeffries licence plate number being on the Enterprise (NCC 1701) to having the numbers make sense (and notice that on the official programs the numbers didn't actually make any sense, they were just there.)
We have a set of rules (e.g. I fire a directed energy weapon from my vessel at yours, at a certain range, and it does X amount of damage. If your vessel's shielding cannot block the energy of the weapon, then it will damage the components of your ship based on the following criteria...).
Nothing is stopping anyone from creating an entirely new set of interesting, galactic spacefaring empires built around the "policy" that all of the most important details need to be filled in AT THE START. Those empires could then engage in battles using science fiction weapons in outer space, all of which simply follow a set of strict rules of operation, analagous to the SFB rules and concepts.
The guys that made Dungeons and Dragons haven't gone out into the world trying to sue everyone that used the concepts of "hit points" and "mana points" in their fantasy computer games. Why, then, would there be a problem with assigning numerical values to energy beams and missiles and armour plating? Lucasfilm doesn't try to sue anyone that has a sci fi movie or game with laser guns or "armoured soldiers" with helmets etc., in them. And I've been seeing games with guys that had laser swords that had nothing to do with Star Wars for years.
How do you sell this to the public?
You produce your computer game and beta test it and play test it until it confesses. The same patience, sense of fairness, and tenacity that went into SFB and its balanced rule set are not proprietary works; they're the combined efforts of a bunch of talented and dedicated people. You would take those talented people and have them polish your game design for you until it's fairly rock solid. Then you pull out all of the stops and try to get people in the mainstream to play this game and say, "this is the coolest game of strategy I've ever seen."
Oh and one more thing: There's absolutely no rule that says that a game has to be a 3D shoot-em-up extravaganza. Log onto any gaming service at any time and the most number of players are doing what? Playing freebie internet java games like card games or chess, or playing redone "old" video games from days gone by. If you got $5 from each of those people, you'd be very wealthy indeed.
That's not to say there couldn't be nice looking artwork or something, even sounds, etc.
Imagine a fusion between a "board game" or a "pen and paper" RPG/strategy sim, an old-school computer game, Adobe eBooks, and DRM. You could sell a game that was both complicated and fun but left certain things to your imagination. It's not as if reading fantasy novels has gone out of style. Maybe even get some creative people in there and write accompanying stories and add new material. And it would all be distributed on the internet for a very low cost per user computer.
Hmmmmn.....
Topic: Steven V. Cole's Recent Statement on Star Fleet Battles Software (Read 13905 times)