Three Moves Ahead

Gameshark's Editor in Chief Bill Abner joins Troy, Rob and Bruce to talk about Disciples 3, Heroes of Might and Magic, Jagged Alliance, King's Bounty - strategy games with tactical components. To what extent are these RPGs? What differentiates a good one from a bad one? Bruce mentions Odium again.The good doctor also promises to write something.

With E3 2010 in the books, Troy talks about what he saw and is generally concerned about "everything fits together". Julian gives us a preview of Risk: Factions and Rob runs down what 1C has coming your way, based on what he saw in San Francisco.Also, bonus tip on how not to prepare vodka.

Promises to listeners are not kept, so Troy flies solo for an interview with Jon Shafer, the lead designer of Civilization 5. 15 minutes of Hex Based Strategy Gaming.

This week, Troy, Julian and Rob are joined by PR pros Joe Ziemer (Triple Point PR, Paradox shill) and Stephanie Schopp (Tinsley PR, Stardock water carrier) to talk about marketing strategy games in this gaming and business environment. Is strategy gaming really dead? How do you find new audiences and keep the old ones? How do PR people deal with media and developers?

Oy. Troy breaks his computer and therefore sounds like he’s calling in from a submarine. But the rest of show is a long discussion about Games Masters experimenting with RPG and miniature mechanics. Julian and Rob discuss a fascinating game session before the team digresses onto iterative learning in game design and whether games do a good job of teaching through systems at all. Promised images will have to wait until I have a computer that can resize them properly. Stupid netbook.

Good Old Games has made the classic SimTex games Master of Orion, Master of Orion 2 and Master of Magic available for low, low prices. So Troy, Tom, Bruce and Rob spend an hour talking about what made SimTex special. What do we mean by personality in strategy games? Does the UI hold up? Which of these games has aged the most poorly? When is tactical combat an impediment in a turn based 4x game? We answer these questions and more in this new analysis of classic game design.Troy’s Revisionist History on SimTex Tom’s Retroview on Master of Orion II Buy Master of Orion 1 & 2 and Master of Magic at Good Old Games. Master of Magic Intro

Tom Chick returns after a month away from the podcast to join Troy and Rob in a discussion about designing tutorials for strategy games. Is the failure of tutorial design a root of the decline in strategy gaming? Can you really integrate a tutorial into a story based campaign? What are the responsibilities of the gamer to learn what he/she is doing on a battlefield? Dave Perkins’s tutorials for Solium Infernum

Just Troy, Julian and Rob again as they ad hoc a podcast about types of games and settings that they would like to see in the strategy arena. Is there a really good Tolkien strategy game? Where is our fort game? Can we fill in our history a little more? Pack the comment section with your own suggestions.

Tom and Bruce are absent again while Troy, Julian and Rob dissect the still in beta Frozen Synapse, a small team tactics game from Mode 7. Troy finds it too difficult, Rob loves the potential for story telling, and Julian digs the puzzles. Listen as we talk about tactical games, the union of art and design, indie game marketing, a digression on Ancient Trader and an apology from Troy on his terrible mailing skills. Frozen Synapse Rob Zacny on The Hunter (Escapist), Sins of a Solar Empire (Game, Set Watch) and Birth of America (UGO)

Another wargame show! Troy, Julian and Rob are joined by NorbSoft’s Norb Timpko and Jim Weaver to talk about Gettysburg: Scourge of War. Learn more than you ever wanted to know about how to make a civil war game. Why is the AI so recalcitrant? What are the lessons of leadership here? How do you make a map like this? And where do history and gameplay collide when the AI hasn’t read the books you have? Scourge of War: Gettysburg The Maps of Gettysburg : An Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3 – July 13, 1863 Buy Take Command 2nd Manassas

Troy, Tom and Bruce look at the classic Frog City/SSI games Imperialism and Imperialism 2. What makes this series one of the greatest grand strategy experiences of all time? Can a game this difficult and time intensive be made again? Bruce has a theory, Tom keeps calling Colonization the wrong name, and Troy is focused on diplomacy. Bruce’s Revisionist History on Imperialism Troy’s essay on Imperialism’s maps Tom vs Bruce: Imperialism 2

Troy, Rob and Bruce participate in the wonkiest Three Moves Ahead ever, as Dr. Geryk makes up for weeks of absences with another tour de force rant. How does Achtung Panzer compare to Combat Mission? What do we expect from a WW2 tactical game, and how do these expectations mesh with reality? Turn based, real time and replay – how do they fit together? Bruce also recommends a bunch of books. Achtung Panzer Tom vs Bruce: Combat Mission David Glantz’s BARBAROSSA DERAILED: The Battles for Smolensk, July-August 1941 David Glantz’s Armageddon in Stalingrad: September-November 1942 (The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 2) (Modern War Studies) and To the Gates of Stalingrad: Soviet-German Combat Operations, April-August 1942 (Modern War Studies) David Glantz’s The Siege of Leningrad: 900 Days of Terror (Cassell Military Paperbacks) John Erickson’s The Road to Stalingrad (Cassell Military Paperbacks)

Troy, Tom and Rob talk about Code Force’s Distant Worlds, a 4x Space RTS that tries to tackle the challenge of ceding control. How can a game get past player paranoia about letting the AI handle things? When does a player choose to intervene? How can the AI failure at basic tasks undermine your confidence in everything else? Why and when does Distant Worlds work? Also, last chance to win one of two copies of Making History. My first crack at the virtual viceroy problem Distant Worlds at Matrix Games

With the post con exhaustion, panelists running around like crazy and Julian Murdoch fighting some sort of bug, it’s sort of a wonder we got a show together at all this week. Rob, Julian and I talk about why we loved PAX East. What makes a fan con different from a trade show? Is Microsoft Surface the future of board games? What strategy game was my surprise of the show? Probably one of our shortest and slowest shows, but we promise a stronger one next week. Listen to win a prize. My thoughts on PAX East Julian’s Thoughts Rob’s Thoughts

Troy, Tom and Julian devote the hour to dissecting the surprisingly good Supreme Commander 2 and the disappointing Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight. Why does SupCom 2’s deviation from the franchise formula make the game better? Why is it like Sins of a Solar Empire and Demigod? Do we want to gain experience points in our RTSes? When good design meets bad design in the same package, what wins? And come hear how disorganized we are for PAX! Tom Chick’s review of SupCom 2 Tom Chick’s review of C&C 4 Troy Goodfellow’s review of SupCom 2 Quarter to Three Community podcast on SupCom 2 The Flash of Steel Store

We throw together a show on some of the strategy gaming news and ideas coming out of this year’s GDC. What do we know and not know about Civilization 5? Is Sid Meier coddling players in his psychological approach? And why is Julian on the side of evil in the Facebook wars? We announce the winner of the King Arthur steam code and begin planning for PAX East. Fear and Loathing in Farmville Gamasutra on Meier’s Keynote Julian’s article on Facebook games Chris Hecker on the rewarding boring activities A Theory of Fun for Game Design Pre-order Sid Meier’s Civilization V Rob Zacny on the bias against strategy games Match Defense: Toy Soldiers

Two games this week. First, Tom Chick and Troy Goodfellow report on their experiences in the Starcraft II beta. It’s an old school RTS that eschews fifteen years of evolution in favor of keeping things as they were in 1998. What do we like so far? What do we not like? Meanwhile, Rob Zacny asks questions about Blizzard’s continued relevance in the genre. Then, Rob leaps to the defense of Napoleon: Total War. Hear why he will be probably be giving it a very positive review and why Tom still thinks Creative Assembly should be embarrassed. Stay tuned to the end for a reminder to enter the game draw for a special prize.

Troy, Julian and Rob wax rhapsodical about the glories of indie strategy game developer Introversion. What makes Darwinia a “different” RTS? Is Defcon the best multiplayer game ever made? And can you make a game about terrorism? Listen to the end and learn how you can win a prize. Seriously. I have one for you. Gamers With Jobs talks to Chris Delay Introversion’s Tough 2008

No agenda this week beyond a few of my favorite clips, some chat about the podcast’s high and low points and what we’d like to see in the coming year of podcasts. Learn about Tom’s other podcasts, Bruce Geryk’s origin story, whether or not Julian is a game reviewer and how Rob makes his girlfriend cry. Lots of self congratulation, too, so if you don’t like that sort of thing, maybe you shouldn’t listen.

Troy is joined by Tom, Julian and Rob to talk about the new expansion for Sins of a Solar Empire. How does Diplomacy work in a multiplayer game? Does it add more personality to a game with rather bland sides? Does Tom cheat? How should Rob refer to his significant other? Where does Julian go when the podcast is over? Listen to the final podcast to find out why this is expansion made all of us fall in love with Sins again.