saaf@joker.optics.rochester.edu (Lennart Saaf) (02/12/91)
I just wrote a message to a friend of mine describing Strategic Conquest and Spaceward Ho! I thought the descriptions might be of general interest so here they are. They are not complete, but hopefully they give some idea of what the games are like. ************************ The company is pretty cool. It's called Delta Tao (Yow!) and they are pretty lo-budget. They cater to Mac-intensive people and they don't pander to you in the manuals (there's no explanation of what a "menu" is, etc.). Also the games aren't copy protected and you don't have to turn off all your inits and run under finder and use system 1.0, etc. STRATEGIC CONQUEST In concept it is similar to Risk. The world consists of about 10 islands on a grid of about 70 by 70 spaces. You start off with one city. All the geography is hidden (black) except for your immediate vicinity. You have to move armies, ships, or airplanes out to see what's around you. Once you explore an area it remains visible. You play against the computer or a human on the network. Each city can produce one type of supply at any given time. Some of the supplies are: army, troop transport (boat), fighter plane, battleship, sub, carrier, bomber, destroyer. I think that's it. Different things take different lengths of time to build. Most islands have a few cities on them that you can attack. Some are occupied by the enemy and are more difficult to conquer. Once you take over a city it starts producing for you. A big part of the game is deciding the relative amounts of producing the different types of weapons. Some things are very vulnerable (like troop transports) and must be well-defended. You have to patrol a lot because you can't see the enemy units unless you are close to them. An army can see all the enemy armies in its immediate vicinity, but a sub will not be seen by an undefended battleship until it is attacked. There are 15 levels of play. I first played level 1 and basically walked across the map unopposed. Last night I played at level 7 and got slaughtered because I overextended my forces and left lots of ships and armies vulnerable. The graphics and sound are minimal--the strategy is emphasized. The success of a single battle seems to be random. Of course, if you have 10 armies to the enemy's 3, you will win most of the time (like Risk). So you try to destroy the enemy before he destroys you (cut it off, then kill it). SPACEWARD HO! This game has the same basic premise (take over the world/galaxy) but is more whimsical. You start off on a planet with money and "metal" (raw materials). Your goal is to explore the planets around you, colonize them, extract their raw materials, and put in cable TV (just kidding). To get from one planet to another you build spaceships. Spaceships cost money (lots for development of a new type) and metal, which is a limited resource in the universe. Some planets have conditions favorable to human life and can be colonized. Other planets are to inhospitable and are only good for strip mining. You have total control on how your money is spent. First you divide it up between the planets and also allocate some for R&D. For each planet you split up the money between shipbuilding, mining, and "terraforming," which improves the climatic conditions on the planet, stimulating growth. R&D money increases the capabilities of your shipbuilding over a period of time. The R&D categories are: speed, range, weapons, shields, and miniaturization. Miniaturization allows you to build ships for less metal (though more money). So you go around exploring and colonizing planets, and then you run into the enemy (or he attacks you). Then you have to build some fighter ships and send off a fleet to wreak havoc upon him. Stronger and/or more numerous fleets prevail. The game can end when you destroy the enemy. I went ahead and extracted all the metal in the universe and colonized all the inhabitable planets. Designing ships is cool because it shows a picture of the ship that changes with every design change you make. For instance, faster ships have larger rockets at the rear. The economic aspects are the coolest--you have complete control and money is usually abundant, unlike SimCity. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Len Saaf, The Institute of Optics, Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY | | Internet: saaf@joker.optics.rochester.edu Bitnet: SAAF@UOROPT | ------------------------------------------------------------------------
duqu@quads.uchicago.edu (walter bismarck duque de estrada) (02/12/91)
IMHO, better that Strategic Conquest, although not totally equiva- lent is Global Dilemma: Guns or Butter by Mindscape. The game takes place in a randomly generated continent with limited labor resourceand sequential production (ie you can't make plows if you don't make iron which has to be mined and processed). At the Expert Level (the one really intended for play) you have seven other opponents in the continent and their is a period of Diplomacy(tm) :-) where alliances aare made in basis of who is liked and disliked (this is the program handling all the seven personas) Strategy in both fighting and allying is the key to this game.
6600kato@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Bryan Kato) (02/13/91)
After reading the description of Spaceward Ho!, I was wondering, is it merely a souped up version of "Reach for the Stars"? -Bryan