Heh...This system predates The Dynaverse...StarFleet Command online Campaign...AKA SFCC
I helped Dennis playtest this...I still have the rules and the cyberboard kit...
The Dynaverse 2 made most of this system moot....as there was now a way to play an active multipleplayer real time online war....where as...in SFC1...there wasn't...
Dennis wasn't the only working on such things....IIRC...there several active campaigns...
And I'll say this this without any reservation what-so-ever....
Some of you peeps don't have the stomach for this style of play....
First...with any type of Play By E-Mail (PBEM) game based system...there is a LOT of waiting around checking your e-mail...then a frenzied rush to co-ordinate reaction moves and get them sent back out....then more waiting to co-ordinate battles...and then waiting for the map to be updated.....then more waiting for the next empire to formulate and send moves....then your team sits out for another few weeks and there is nothing happening on your war front as other empires wage battles on other fronts...
A whole lot of sucky waiting around kicking stones......a whole lot of late night battle crams and nasty looks from the wife for playing WAY too late because no one else showed up to fight the 23 battles the need to be resolved before the map can be updated....
Did I mention waiting?
The whole system had a slinky effect of going complete boredom to near panic because of both time allowances and deadlines for moves and battles...
IIRC...empires had 72 hrs to make moves, opposing empires had 48 hrs to make reaction moves , empire then had 72 hrs to resolve battles or the attackers could fight AI, then map updates for killed routed units....then next empire turn...
As you can see....it takes a huge amount of real time to play short periods of game time...
Now...the GOOD stuff...
Battles....
Since we often were short pilots and short on time (and mostly testing the system anyways)....we often chose not to break down the battles (a defenders rule option for stability and reduction of attrition by AI death *stupidity* )....
This made for some really glorious battles...Huge fleet engagements...with all the chaos of war...
And IMHO...that's the way this game was meant to be played...balls to the ball......not the pvp chess style matches of old men sucking on pipe and sipping brandy...or scotch...heh heh...
But I digress...
Some reasons that some people wouldn't like this style of play are some of the things I like about it...
Un-even battles....impossible battles...suicide missions...holding actions..pinning a force....picketing a front....ambushes and interceptions...a finite number of units...routing...disruption of shipping lanes...
All the actions a good war game should have...(the carrier engagements and base assaults where utterly cool...very large engagements)
Getting assigned 2 F5's to mount a pin and break up and attacking force while re-enforcements rush to defend a Base....knowing the outcome of this battle could greatly effect the attackers fleet strength....because loosing this fight means the pinned ships can rejoin the attack on your base...
The outcome of one small battle can have more gravity to the players than any single action or mission in the DV2...
And such pitched gaming can be very stressful and bring about un-meant un-civility....in this style of gaming one has to remember that these are the empires assets....and not your own....loosing battles is part of the game...getting routed or ambushed and loosing a small fleet is part of the game...Having your fronts rolled back in the face of attacking fleets knowing the only thing that is going to save you is production of Superior units later in the game can be very disheartening....a few peeps walked away before we ever even got to mid game...much less end game...
Max is working on something along the lines of F&E....and looking to automate many of the game functions that are drawbacks to the system...
The biggest obstacle I see is over comming the one inherent Superior quality of the DV2 over anything else as of yet...the ability to log on and play 24/7.....you just dint have that without AI...or when battle have to be structured or fought in segments...
If someone can meld the structure of F&E to the real time 24/7 ability to play then you would have a valid alternative...but not before...
But rather than an alternative....I rather fix ,finish, and flesh out the DV2...SQL will do alot...and many things that require manual edits and stuff and be automated...OOB of some kind can be enforced my the game itself...special missions can be generated by what you are flying and where you are at...etc..etc...
I still think the best is yet to come for the DV....No need to write off what can be fixed IMHO...
Topic: Talk about OLD SCHOOL (Read 1177 times)