stockwellpete wrote:"I wonder if there are any coders who might be interested in getting involved with the Field of Glory project to add all these small tweaks and polish that the team don't have the resources to add?"
Iain McNeil (Slitherine)
First of all, I ain't no coder so no help there.
More than willing to use my time to test, change and otherwise be used to bounce ideas off.
But a few questions come to mind....
1. Small tweaks and polish? Far as I can figure, we're talking about a wholesale change to the combat-system.
(which, since this is a war-game is kinda important
)
Granted, we could start with changing the D6 system to something a little less random, but it'll still leave horde armies insanely powerful.
We also need (off the top of my oddly-shaped head): Some way of dealing with the attrition making Superior troops worth the points, some kind of Command/Control rules linking BGs into larger units moving together (making hordes harder to control), improvements to the missile-casualties (making massed arrows actually effective), Army morale (so that units no longer fight to the death until some arbitrary BP line is crossed)........
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it. Hell, fixing just some of the idiosyncrasies would probably bring me back into the FOG fold.
I'm just not sure it'll be merely tweaking.
2. Will we lose some of the target audience?
One huge advantage of FOG over e.g. HPS' Ancient Wars is that it plays easily and fast. That, and the graphics are 10 times better.
What worries me a little is that Slitherine/HexWar has a market for WargamingLite.
This isn't meant as a snide remark, it's simply the way it is, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with entry-level wargames.
So when we add this rule, and that rule, and have phalanxes moving one hex right when in mêlée to cover their exposed flanks etc. etc. we should perhaps be aware that the game is designed as a Tourney game (hence the point-sized armies), and as a fast-playing one.
One of the reasons TT FOG is so popular is (or so I believe) because it doesn't get bogged down in combat-tables and 'chrome' rules.
One way to circumvent this particular problem would be to have Optional Rules, making it possible to play with the level of realism the players are comfortable with. Though this makes scenarios a lot harder to balance than they already are.
3. Copyright issues.
In order for this to work, first someone has to talk HexWar into surrendering the source-code.
Now, knowing wargamers in general, and modders in particular, what happens when the New and Improved FOG sees the light (wishful thinking, but bear with me), and the modders/coders want to distribute this new game for free?
Even if this becomes available only for those with FOG already registered, I can see an argument for launching this as a new game (FOG v2.0 if you will), and charging people accordingly.
I can't contribute significantly, so I have no opinion either way, but if I was a coder spending time on this project, I'd be a little miffed if someone subsequently charged me for the end-product.
Having said all that, count me and my meagre skills in!
The fact that FOG, despite all the wonkiness of it, has never left my HDD completely is perhaps saying something.......
Though I have thrown my mouse through the room in disgust from time to time
Cheerfully
