Tuesday Screenshot – A GrogHeads’ Exclusive Sneak Peek at Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm
Yep, we’ve got ’em first and hot off the… well, the computer monitor (boy does that sound anti-climactic).
Anyway – here they are and ENJOY!
08/13/13
Category: Featured Posts
08/10/13
Democracy 3 Preview
Developer: Positech Games
Publisher: Positech Games
Author: Son_of_Montfort
Have you ever watched the news or CSPAN and thought, “I can do better than those guys?” Well, with Congress’s approval rating at a low of 15%, chances are that you have. Cliff Harris and his UK-based company Positech Games (known by Grogs for Gratuitous Space Battles and Gratuitous Tank Battles) want you to put your bragging to the test in their upcoming governance simulation, Democracy 3. I got a chance to look at a near-Beta version of the third incarnation of Positech’s game of political intrigue and national management and I am happy to report that it is a news junkie and amateur pundit’s dream.
Democracy 3 follows the model of its predecessor fairly closely and, at first glance, the changes appear to be subtle. Like many of Positech’s newer releases, Democracy 3 now sports full HD resolution and a fairly simple but functional UI. The simplicity of the UI used by the Democracy series allows players to get a plethora of information with very little effort, hovering over key policies and modifiers or hot linking from faction to faction. This is extremely important, given that running a Democracy, not to mention winning elections (perhaps the most important goal of the game), requires a well-informed player. Just like the previous title, Democracy 3 has players make decisions in running the country in two main ways – implementing new policies from a fairly detailed list or altering already implemented policies through a simple slider. In order to implement or change a policy, the player must have and expend a certain amount of political capital that accumulates each turn, influenced largely by the player’s choice of ministers in his or her cabinet.
08/8/13
Prosciutto – Hamming it up with the di Parmas… Part 17
In Part 16 Oberto’s forces supported by the mustachioed legions of Bulgaria all but destroyed any effective armed resistance against his claim to independence. In this part he achieves his ambition, has a fine Italian woman on her knees and cleans up the mess……
Beaten, stripped of wealth and facing ruin, Matilda kneels before Oberto and offers surrender. The first part of his plan has finally been completed, his promise to his father as he lay on his death bed has begun to be fulfilled.
08/3/13
Civilization V – Brave New World Expansion
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Author: Son_of_Montfort
Historians, when defining the term “civilization,” emphasize the fact that all civilizations include gatherings of people, have some form of social, political, military, and religious hierarchy, and enjoy cultural developments in art, music, and literature. When playing Sid Meier’s Civilization V, it was quite easy to simulate the urban focus attributed to the great civilizations and the player could easily grab the reigns of social, political, and military authority. It was not until the Gods and Kings expansion that players could form their own religious authorities, conferring the benefits of belief to their citizens and attempting to spread that belief through zealous use of missionaries and prophets.
Still, Civ V gave short shrift to one major aspect of civilization, culture. Yes, players gained social policies through culture growth and could eventually build a theoretical “utopia project” to achieve a cultural victory, but this did not accurately represent how cultures really influenced one another by trade, proximity, aligned ideology, and how some civilizations cultivated a rich and popular society full of music, art, and writing. What I really mean is, until Brave New World, Civ V did not offer the option for players to use The Beatles to conquer the world.
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08/2/13
GARPA 25 – GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory
GARPA #24 – Dan Pinkham & Lloyd Sabin
Let’s face it, a long work week can get to all of us. And in the summer long weeks can feel even longer.
I focused on this point just a minute ago when my co-worker came in said good morning to me, found something on his desk and then said, “What fresh Hell is this?”
We’ve all been there. And that’s where GARPA comes in. You work yourself to the bone to get some money, and hopefully once the family is taken care of and the bills are paid, you have a bit leftover for yourself. We are here to help unload you of that burden as well as forget about any “fresh Hells” you had to endure to get it by providing updates on the best looking crowd-sourced games coming down the pike. Let’s get to it!
Board/Role-Playing Games
DemonWars – Reformation by R.A. Salvatore
$14,057 pledged of $50,000 goal, funding ends August 30
Speaking of fresh Hells, DemonWars – Reformation is looking to set your world on fire quickly and efficiently. Set in R.A. Salvatore’s world of Corona (not the one in Queens, NY) DemonWars-Reformation will have a game system akin to older tabletop board and role-playing games from the 1970s. The setting of Corona includes creatures that any self-respecting demon-slayer should expect to find: goblins, evil monks, and of course demons, along with intricate maps, in-game lore books, and a detailed gemstone magic system.
Want more detail? OK: DemonWars-Reformation puts the player in the role of a monk in the Abellican Church. The player is thrown against a rebellious church faction under the command of Marcalo De’Unnero. Confused yet? Me too. No worries though. The plot of DemonWars-Reformation is set after the events taking place in Salvatore’s novel Immortalis.
Clearly, fans of Salvatore’s work will be delighted to pick up DemonWars-Reformation. They will also be ecstatic to know that the game is in a working prototype mode right now, and play testing has been going on since the beginning of this year. Originally intended to include every faction in the DemonWars universe, Salvatore and his team have honed this down to the Abellican Church for the initial launch to flesh the faction out. With success, other factions from the books will be covered in future game modules.
It is refreshing to see a new game in production set in an untapped world. I know for me personally reading through the Kickstarter info got me interested in the DemonWars backstory and it looks to be progressing well enough with 30 days to go.
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