Supporting continuing development for Empyrean Challenge / Cluster Wars
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I remember looking over my new turn once during the Cluster Wars beta, when one of my kids was watching and asking about it. I told him it was a game, but it looked nothing like the computer games he had seen. Tables of numbers, order codes, status reports, etc. I explained that this was a game of imagination, and that I was playing a space empire just like in a computer game, but I was imagining the star destroyers and mega-factories. "This is one of my scout ships. And that is an orbiting space station that builds a special kind of steel..."
He was glad to see me enjoying myself, but quickly lost interest. This came to mind recently when I just installed a PC game called "Rimworld". It's very much a clone of a super-nerdy game called "Dwarf Fortress", that has a rabid cult following, but is almost completely unknown outside very geeky gaming circles. You start in a procedurally-generated world with a handful of individuals -- each of whom has hundreds of different stats outlining their skills, temperament, physique, psychology, etc. You set up orders on what to do -- "chop wood", "plant carrots", "build house", etc., and they do what they can to meet your directives.
But every thing is broken down in great detail. Want to make fish stew? You'll need to catch some fish, but first you'll need to make a fishing rod, and before that you'll need some of the right kind of wood in your stockpile, and some thread. All of these are tasks that you have to set down. And you'll need an oven, of course, and fuel. And a table at which to serve everyone (with chairs) -- carpentry! Then hopefully one of your people will have some level of cooking ability and not poison everyone. Don't forget to make beer -- dwarves get angry or depressed if they don't have beer.
It goes on and on, and it becomes quite challenging to get your clan to survive, build up some sort of safety net, recruit new members, and fight off the occasional monsters or raiders. The parallel with Empyrean Challenge is clear -- you want a star destroyer? What kind? How many guns, of what kind? How fast? How much crew? What else can it do? Build a factory network to make all those parts! Educate a qualified crew! Research the tech to make it easier! Deal with the shortages! Fight the aliens!
Well, "Rimworld", a "new and improved" Dwarf Fortress, has sold over 1m copies, I recently learned. It is every bit as geeky and procedurally intense as Dwarf Fortress, but it uses a much better graphic interface, and it's much easier to set up orders for your people to work with. If we somehow make dramatic improvements to Empyrean Challenge, such that it retains all it's meaty detail, but just becomes a lot easier to play (especially on a phone), then it could turn into something big. "1m copies sold" big.
I'd suggest that UI improvements ought to be the main focus of any work we do.
Thoughts?
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I agree.
For a turn-based game I foresee having order validation with immediate feedback on test turns. While it is simple to associate the order with the S/C "source" the "targets" should also see that order. No, not emery S/C you will fire on but when you look at a system audits orbits you should be able to see which S/Cs have orders to probe it this turn. Also, a robust help/calculation system, so you will not need to do any side math.
Now if we go into a real-time format we just opened up the possibility for an iPhone App to send you push notifications when your SHPs are built or at least email you a few hours before a SHP shows up in your Orbit 11, so you can decide to send a diplomatic message or write your PME/PMM orders.
I have the better part of a week off coming up, so I may play around with a prototype of a real-time version as a proof of concept.
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