Thursday, Jan 5th

Quote:
Original Comment by Trapper Zoid on Jan 5th
I've always wanted to make my own simple 4X game, so I've been following the development of your game for a little while (and I'm impressed with the style you've chosen for the game!).

I'm intrigued by the next stage on your checklist; players get to place planets? Is the construction of the galaxy part of the gameplay? This sounds rather interesting; how are you planning to make it work?

I guess it's time I explained what Galaxy Conquest actually is. GC is a turn-based strategy game. The title derives mainly from the single-player campaign mode, where you conquer a galaxy by beating AI opponents on various maps. These maps are like what I've been showing off so far. What I've been developing so far is the "quick play" version of the game, used for battling AI opponents or hot-seat multiplayer action (online play will come towards the end of development). The basis of GC derives from an Othello-like concept - you want to change other player's peices (planets) into your color in order to acheive certain victory conditions. You do this by placing a peice on a square (system) to claim that square on the board. Placing 2-4 additional peices will cause that system to explode outwards, clearing the system and spreading the extra planets to the adjacent systems, converting any opponent planets in the process. It's all rather vague and hard to envision - I'll provide a more detailed description once I have the gameplay implemented and I can use screenshots to illustrate the concepts. A variety of victory conditions spice up the gameplay - You have Conquest mode, where you simply have to eliminate all other players from the board by taking over all their planets; Domination mode determines the winner after a certain number of planets have been placed (15, 30, 45 or 60) based on the player with the most systems controlled; Likewise, Equilibrium is the same except based on scoring to determine victory. Points earned for taking over a rival planet is based upon that player's prevalence on the board, hence balancing out scoring since the less planets a player has on the board, the less they will be worth to take over; Imperialism is the same as Conquest, except systems become shaded the color of a player's planet, and players can only place planets in systems shaded their color instead of anywhere on the board.

Hopefully upon returning from vacation I'll have some basic gameplay implemented so that I will be able to demonstrate it with screenshots, because it's really hard to explain without them [smile]

So, sorry Trapper - I'm not quite developing the game you thought I was, hee hee. My "placing of planets" is simply the player dropping a game peice onto the board. But thanks for the question, I had forgotten I had never really explained what the game was really besides a turn-based strategy game.

Tonight I got started on planet placing and the game loop. This will most likely be my last entry until I return from vacation on the 14th. So have a great week everyone. See you upon my return.