Flash of Steel

Three Moves Ahead Episode 169: Out of the Park Baseball and Managing Things

Troy Goodfellow — Sat, 19 May 2012 00:10:08 +0000

This week, Bill Abner from No High Scores returns to the show along with new guest Dirk Knemeyer from Conquistador Games. What do they have in common? Both have better OOTP league teams than Troy does. The trio talk about the improvements in OOTP 13, what makes the OOTP series so special and enduring – [...]

Should You Choose To Accept It

Troy Goodfellow — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:32:54 +0000

General Chernyayev has taken Tashkent. We do not know why. – Russian Minister of the Interior, Pyotr Valuev, 1865 Strategy games are, at their core, about greed and ambition. Yes, almost every game is a power fantasy, but strategy games properly understood are about gaining the most while spending the least. Since most strategy games [...]

Three Moves Ahead Episode 168: Return of Bomber Command

Troy Goodfellow — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:31:21 +0000

Lee Brimmicombe-Wood returns to the podcast so Bruce Geryk can talk more about bombers and commanding them, in the recently released board game Bomber Command. And unlike last time, we let them talk it all the way through! More on design decisions, simulating the air war and balancing history and play. Plus a detour into [...]

Solving All Your Problems

Troy Goodfellow — Sun, 06 May 2012 13:49:32 +0000

Last year, we gushed about Tropico 4 on the podcast. Though it’s not a difficult game in most respects, and can get repetitive towards the end, it had enough challenge and more than enough colour and variety for me to recommend it without much reservation. Well, I had reservations about the stereotyping and character silliness. [...]

Three Moves Ahead Episode 167 – Naval War: Arctic Circle

Troy Goodfellow — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:01:05 +0000

Jan Haugland from Turbotape Games drops by to talk to Rob about the art and science of designing a modern naval sim. Radars, ships, scenarios…is Naval War: Arctic Circle the spiritual successor to Harpoon that I have been waiting for? Listen here. Register at Idle Thumbs then join us in the episode thread! (This is [...]

Three Moves Ahead Episode 166 – Strategic Tee Ball

Rob Zacny — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:53:38 +0000

Jon Shafer joins Rob, Troy, and Julian to talk about challenge in strategy games. What kind of challenges do we want from strategy games, and how does it get botched? Why are people still surprised when AI opponents aren’t very clever? Why are they so hesitant to take on multiplayer? What’s the difference between good [...]