DarkIce,

something like X-Com could be cool. I''ve been wondering recently how one could take a game like Baldur''s Gate and just make it as a series of combat situations against interesting enemies. (Ie. not bother so much with the ''plot''). Maybe that would work.

What about personality conflicts and motivation for characters? Would they have their own motivations, and you could watch the way that the characters grow and progress without having too much control over them. See them grow from a weak and wimpy novice wizard, to a mage with his own castle and a stable of racing dragons, or a retirement plan of owning his own state.

I recommend playing Majesty and studying the gameplay.

It gives only a few ways in which you as the player get to interact with your heroes. First, you get to place rewards out in the land. Heroes of different types will go for different types of reward (there''s an ''explore this area'' award, and a ''kill that monster'' award). The rewards are placed around with little flags (or coins, can''t really remember, with the amount of it depicted on it. Thieves will quickly set out, for even a little bit of money. Rangers like to explore. Fighters like to kill. You get the picture.

Another way to control your heroes is by calling your fighters back to a specific location (the place where you build the fighters barrack that recruited the fighters). This requires a little bit of money I think (500?).

Other than that, you''re pretty much stuck as the king on the throne, just watching what goes on around you. You get to decide what buildings to build around your castle (of which towers are my favorite, because they can be upgraded to protect the city you''re building. The choice of buildings will create different sorts of heroes, and give them different sorts of equipment. If you have an expert blacksmith around, your heroes will be able to buy better equipment with the money they make. As they buy equipment, you can collect a part of that money in the form of taxes. The taxes can be used to give out rewards for the heroes to collect. The money gained from rewards can be spent on better equipment, like magic potions and sharper swords. Etc. Etc. It''s an endless cycle, and that''s what I think I particularly enjoyed about this game.

I wish the engine was a little deeper developed though. And perhaps something like you suggest, with special quests to set for the heroes, a little more variety in gameplay, will convince me to like it