In the world of realtime 3d networked multiplayer gaming, does anyone think a networked multiplayer turn based game has a chance? I miss the games where you spend about 30 minutes a day handling your economy and executing your move. If the graphics where superb, I think it would catch on.

www.shareplay.com
or even better
monarchy.shareplay.com


~ Mad Keith ~
**SoftwareMode**

I really liked Alpha Centauri, very addictive. But the problem is that most people nowadays don't like singleplayer as much as they enjoy multiplayer, and turn based mplayer games is really no hit.

When I played Alpha Centauri in mplayer with my friends, we spent most of the time nagging eachother to hurry on, and we got tired of turns that took 10 minutes or so.

But the Baldur's Gate approach of turn based gaming is really good though, because you get more of a "pen-and-paper RPG" feeling while the game isn't too slow.

From a developer point of view, turn based games is a dream. Forget speed and network lag. Just make the turns as good as possible and the gameplay somewhat flowing, and you've got a really good turn based game.

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Daniel Netz, Sentinel Design
"I'm not stupid, I'm from Sweden" - Unknown

Edited by - Spiff on 3/21/00 8:36:38 AM

I would have great idea for multiplayer strategy game that might create whole new genre, and wouldn''t really need lots of developing because it doesn''t use any cutting edge - technology at all, but old 2D and it is possible to create also with volunteering work... But the thing is that I''m so lazy, and nowdays I actually design games for different groups, and code only really small amount. If some advanced coder would be really interested about creating this game, I could inform more about the idea...

Now I just throw this fast: turnbased WH40K style - game, with absolutely new playing system that would be next step from old hex-grids. No next-generation effects or anything, only bitmap graphics.

It''s not in the same genre of games, but what about Worms for an example of a turn-based game that works really well? The turn based nature of the game, and the tension that comes from not being able to do anything while another player makes their move, is what makes the game so addictive.

I like this aspect of turn-based play. It allows players to use real strategy rather than the quick-fire skills better suited to action games.

Some of my friends in high school used to play a pseudo-turn based strategy game. In it the other players wouldn''t nescesarilly have to wait for the others to go.
I think it worked like this: Every new player gets added to the bottom of the players list. Every player has a set amount of time to complete their turn [a day I think, but your could make it very 3 hours or so.] At the end of the turn the changes were made to the world, starting at the top [or maybe the bottom, to be more fair] of the list of playes, and working progessively through all the remaining players, commands were executed changing the world [well, actually universe] before the next players commands were executed.
You might have to tweak the round length and limit the number of players per map/continent/world/galaxy to make it more playable and fair. Eh, JMTs.

I remeber playing X-Com Terror from the deep.

It was turn based, but if left a unit with the energie to shhot (not use all thei turn) they were able to shoot during the oponents turn. It wass coll for stategie.

A turn-based strategy game is economically viable, but you have to realize that your target audience is *not* going to be adolescent males between the ages of 14-18. Sure, you might sell to a few of those, but they won''t be your average demographic.

A turn-based game where you spend 30-60 minutes a day will appeal primarily to older players (say 20 and up) with careers and families. Players with a *lot* of free time will be frustrated by the slow pace, or, at best, they''ll be involved in several games/scenarios at once.

It''s not a demographic you can easily get rich off of, but it *is* a demographic where the price is almost a non-issue. If they enjoy the game, they will pay for it.


DavidRM
Samu Games

Back in highschool, my friends and I used to play a game like SonicSilcion suggests called Assasins. Each player was allowed to select a certain number of moves (move around a maze, fire weapons, etc.) and then when everyone had finished, the moves were executed all at the same time (ie, everyone''s first move, then second, etc.) This put a lot of strategy into the game as you had to try and figure out what your oppenent would do so that you coul get into the right postion to shoot him. Pretty cool idea, you could probably make something like that work and it would be even cooler if you could work the command delay into the storyline somehow (satelite photos of the battleground are only updated every 10 min... or it takes time to send your commands to your soldeirs or whatever...)

I''m currently playing a web-based game called Utopia (http://games.eesite.com/utopia). Each turn is one hour, so you spend about 5 minutes every hour or so taking your turn. Everyone takes their turn at the same time.

Demographic on this game seems mostly 15-19 year olds. There are a fair number of older 20-30 players, however. A lot of the players are from Sweden for some strange reason. The server itself is run in the midwest, I believe. The game is free and run completely off banner revenues. In order to encourage people to click on the banners, they give in-game freebies out once a day for clicking on a sponser.